RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
https://i.imgur.com/O1Tqsci.png?1

Sitting right outside of the healer's den, one red shecat pawed at the ground. Finding her 'voice' in the whole gathering event had been terrifying. Thank the starclan for her brother. All of the fear and anxity still seemed to cling to the camp like mud. How could she help her leader and clan?

Sitting around and doing nothing just didn't suit her. The question was, what could she do?
@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)11/14/2019
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/575140556708118539/644332747799658517/Rabbitleap_1.png

Rabbitleap slipped out of the Warrior's den with a quick stretch and a lick down on her fur. She hadn't been summoned for that morning's patrol, but still wanted to be up just in case she was needed for something. When she lifted her head, red fur caught her eyes. She smiled and bounded towards the medicine cat apprentice.

“Morning, Cardinalwhisper!” She purred at the other female. It had been a joy to see the apprentices grow in their practice. Rabbitleap admired these cats who seemed to fall into their purpose effortlessly. She hadn’t felt that for herself just yet, not being the strongest cat nor the best huntress. Perhaps some day though. “I hope the training is going well.”
@RuSilverDragon

RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
Settled into soaking in the morning sun, Cardinalwhisper closed her eyes a moment. Then, her name was called and her attention pulled towards the tri-color shecat. From silence, she gave two short bursts of purrs with a smile. After the greeting, a steady rumble of purring settled in as naturally as her ever present smile.

Curling her tail around her paws, Cardinalwhisper looked at Rabbitleap. With enthusiastic confidence. Cardinalwhsiper gave her answer with an accompanied sharper purr.

After, she tilted her head at her companion. Rising her right paw, she batted at the air with claws extended a moment. The claws retracted and her paw lowered as she nosed her head towards Rabbitleap. Once her paw was down, she tilted her head to the other side as she waited for her answer.
@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)11/14/2019
Rabbitleap beamed at the other's confidence and positive reaction. It was so nice to know that despite the hardships in this cat's life, the rumblings within the clan, and the harsh leafbare, that she could still have such a great outlook on everything. What a cat!

Her tail flicked in thought. "You know, despite everything, I'm doing really awesome. I feel constantly hungry, but I think most every cat is. The Gathering was crazy emotional, but honestly I'm just really happy I got to go. Its such an honor to be chosen to go to one of those. Plus! I got to see some of those that went on the herb journey with me. They're some amazing cats, let me tell you what... I wish everyone could have been there to see these savior cats and how they really pulled through for Foxcry and everyone else..." she sighed at the memory with a mix of emotions. It had been hard, changed her brother so much, and even made her wonder during it if they would make it in time, but it had still been a life changing experience.
@RuSilverDragon ((lolol got the talker rolling))
RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
Leaning forward, Cardinalwhisper hardly blinked as she kept her ears glued to the other. The cold chill down her spine had nothing to do with the air around them. If she never experienced that terror again, it would be too soon!

Rabbitleap bring up the trip enthralled her. The things they must have seen, the herbs they might have found! Oh how she wished to have gone on that trip too!

Edging closer to Rabbitleap, Cardinalwhisper jerked her head towards the camp entrance then toward Rabbitleap and encouragement to keep going. What was our there beyond the area she knew?

@Fable (Irish) (two great conversationalists, one in words and one in purrs)
Fable (Irish)11/14/2019
Rabbitleap grinned at the other. Apparently she had found a topic worth listening to! Then it hit her- of course she'd be interested! The herbs, silly. "Oh, I really wish I knew what you knew, Cardinalwhisper. We found so many different plants, but hardly knew what was what other than what we were looking for. Some cats seemed to know a thing or two so those were the things we brought back, but there was still so much out there..." she trailed off, tilting her head in thought, ears flopping over along with. "You know what? If you don't have any training today, do you wanna come along with me to look? I'm not going to climb that mountain again, but there is some unclaimed territory just near by we could go take a peek at!" she paused a moment, tapping her chin with her paw, "Only thing is, not sure what survived the leafbare snow, but if you think its worth a day trip to look around I'd be happy to show you!"
@RuSilverDragon ((I knooow Cardinal is precious XD ))
RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
Rabbitleap just nearly finished before Cardinalwhisper was on her paws and running. She ran around Rabbitleap once, purring up a storm before leaping and bounding to the camp entrance.

Only then did she even pause, looking back at Rabbitleap. In what resembled a play bow, she hit the ground with her front paws, tail in the air and pointing outward. 'Let's go!' She didn't need words to all but scream that.

@Fable (Irish) ((<3))
Fable (Irish)11/14/2019
Rabbitleap burst into laughter, prancing after the other she-cat, "I think you're in the right line of work there, my friend!" If the other could get so excited for plants, then Rabbitleap was happy to help. "Be sure to grab something to eat before we go. Let me just go mention our trip to Wildflower so no one will worry then lets be off!"

-- time skip if that's ok --

Rabbitleap led the way out of camp and towards the east side of their territory. She was pleased that she got the blessing to escort the medicine cat apprentice, even if the instructions had been followed with don't go too far.. be back before sundown the next moon cycle... So on and so forth. She didn't plan to go very far with just the two of them that was for sure. With just semi full bellies she knew they couldn't make it long. If they could just catch something along the way... it would certainly make it better.

She looked over at her journey partner, "The forest in our territory extends a bit further out then runs into some wet lands. Followed by some more forest and mountains. We definitely can't go into the mountains, but if you think the forest closest to us or wet lands would work better...?" She had a good feeling she'd be learning a lot about where to look for herbs after this.
@RuSilverDragon
RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
Waiting even a moment was hard on the apprentice. They were both lucky Rabbitleap thought before Cardinalwhisper leaped!

-timeskippy-

Trotting along, Cardinalwhisper stayed close to Rabbitleap. At least, she did between every NEWTHING. Absolutely nothing plant or otherwise escaped without through investigations.

The moutain received a long look. Rabbitleap said they couldn't go, Cardinalwhisper heard 'this place must be explored'. Maybe not with all the snow, though. Retreating back to her traveling companion, she weighed the possibilities.

Water this deep into leafbare didn't seem safe so she took a step towards the forest, here eyes drawn to the mountain once more before going back to the safer of the two options offered.

@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)11/14/2019
With such a longing look it was almost hard to not want to tell the other cat no! Even so, the memory of almost losing her bother on those peeks made the female tremble slightly. If a group of cats had to huddle together for warmth... she couldn't imagine how quickly the two of them could become ice dinners for some feather brain.

Rabbitleap nodded at the other, "The forest then. I like that idea for this kinda weather. Who knows, maybe when the snow melts and newleaf comes around, we could gather a whole group of cats together to explore the waters. I bet there is a ton of stuff that grows there!" she said enthusiastically. Some of the others hadn't been so happy to get their paws wet, but Rabbitleap was actually curious about the new waters. It generally meant life sprung up around it right?

"Who knows, maybe a band of cats will explore the mountain tops again. Perhaps you'll get your mountain climbing adventure in some day!" she laughed as their territory slowly slipped past them. Soon they'd be smelling the scent markers that marked the edge of their territory and they'd be in open land. As it neared she did feel a sense of concern. Loners could be out there or Lightning Clan. Would they be kind to the pair? She had more faith in Lightning Clan being so than Loners...
@RuSilverDragon
RuSilverDragon11/14/2019
New leaf! Oh how she longed for it. Not only because of food and warmth, but all the herbs should be back. Anything that grew could be harvested and kept for the next leafbare. The season taught her more then anything else could about needing to prepare!

Nodding, she purred harder at the idea, nuzzling Rabbitleap's shoulder as she suggested more exploration when it was warmer. Count her in! First name on the sign up roster would be Cardinalwhisper!

Lacking Rabbitleap's fear, the red medicine cat went about exploring the area. Anywhere she could smell Lightningclan, she'd jump back and adjust course. Medicine cats could normally travel between the clans, but no one told her that. Instead, she just avoided the unfamiliar scent markers and kept poking around. There wasn't a near by bush she didn't stick her head into, leaf pile she didn't disturb or rock she didn't push over.

Finding shriveled up traveling herbs, she paused to point at them and purr harder. Not any good as they were, smelt a little rotted, but fresh they would have been wonderful for an empty belly. Happy enough to draw attention, it was back to the hunt. Not even low hanging branches were safe.

@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)11/20/2019
Rabbitleap laughed and head bonked the female back, "I'm glad that gets you excited. It was cool, except for the looming death of our clan mates over our heads. I bet we would have found really neat things up there if we had had more time.." she shrugged it off though. Now was the present and they had a more important job for the now.

She couldn't help chuckling at the other. She certainly was meant to be a medicine cat. She watched the other work for a minute, taking in the scenery around them not only for how beautiful it was, but also for any other cats… Her eyes landed back at what she was trying to show her and she squinted. Looked familiar… Didn’t they eat these? “I’ll keep an eye out for them!” she said excited she could actually help.

She followed a few paw steps away from the other, digging into snow piles and whatever else she could find. She’d peek up at the other now and again to see if she was doing it right and to also ensure they weren’t being watched. The further they got the more nervous she got, but also assumed perhaps the hunting would get better. With no cats out here the prey should be plenty, right?

“I’m gonna see if there is anything out here.” She called to the other. “I’ll keep my eye on you so we don’t get separated so feel free to keep doing your thing.” She waved her tail at the other before slinking off. Her assumptions had been right when she returned with two mice in her mouth, dropping them at the paws of her friend. “Look what I got! How’s it going for you?” It wasn’t a big meal, but it would be enough for now.
@RuSilverDragon
RuSilverDragon11/20/2019
She had a point there, no worse feeling than to have sick clanmates and be helpless. That was a feeling she never wanted again. The only solution was to get better, smarter and well stocked.

Naturally, that meant collecting more unusual things. As Rabbitleap went looking for food, Cardinalwhisper started pawing at trees. Finding her own treasure, the red shecat proudly presented a mouthful of Adler bark.

Purring her furr off, Cardinalwhisper held her head high as she presented her find, eyes bright and tail dancing with delight.
@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)11/20/2019
Rabbitleap gasped and pushed the mice aside so she could get closer and peer at the find. She sniffed it a couple times before taking a step back, "Nice work! What does it do? Need me to carry any?" she flicked her tail excitedly, practically dancing on her paws. It was their first find! It meant they wouldn't be going home empty pawed! @RuSilverDragon
RuSilverDragon11/20/2019
Cardinalwhisper stopped purring for a moment. In that moment of silence, she nudged Rabbitleap's jaw with her mouth full of bark. At the same moment, her purr kicked up again. How cool was that?!

The rumble of her stomach had to battle against the enthusiasm of her purring. Joy of discovery taking full control.
@Fable (Irish)
Fable (Irish)12/13/2019
Rabbitleap grinned at the other trying to hold back laughter. She couldn't say she had fully understood what the other had communicated through all of her joy. Even so, to see her so excited about it meant something good, "That's fantastic! I can't wait to see what the others will say about it... or what else we might find."

She looked towards the sky to gauge how long they'd been out for. It seemed that had just enough daylight... The rumbling made her ears twitch and she looked back at the other, "Cardinalwhisper, why not take a moment to eat so we can be at full strength? Maybe then we will be able to find and carry way more stuff back!" she nudged the kill towards her friend. "While you take a break I'll keep poking around, alright?"

She turned her gaze to the area around them. She gently picked her way through the snow and dead plant life. Bark, huh. Guess she'd have to not only look at the ground, but upwards as well. @RuSilverDragon
RuSilverDragon12/13/2019
How could she eat at a time like this? There was so much to find! Dancing on her front paws a few seconds, the red medicine cat apprentice calmed down to eat the caught prey. Wouldn't be good to not listen to her escort. She made sure to keep the bark safely to her side. She might have taken a full two minutes ensuring the safe space was completely safe for the found items.

Content, she went to eating the prey offered.

Shaking off the relaxation, now fed she-cat went back to hunting for other amazing finds. Oh it was so hard to decide what to keep of everything she found! So many choices, thank the Silverpelt!
@Fable (Irish)