Peculiar Scents

[Shinko]

Blazetail inhaled deeply. The crisp midmorning breeze brought the odors of spring to his nose. Flowers were in bloom, and the forest was coming back to life after the hard leaf-bare.

The DarkClan medicine cat breathed inwards again, sifting through the scents of the forest in search of the herbs that were his only reason to venture out of camp. He was no warrior, needing to stay limber and strong, so he got all the exercise he needed running around the camp to tend to the hurts of the elders and nursing queens.

Suddenly the flame colored tom tensed; what was that smell? He had never scented anything quite like it. He headed nervously towards the source of the odor, all of his senses alert for trouble.

It was coming from the Lone Oak, the site where apprentices learned to climb trees. Blazetail looked up into the boughs of the massive tree, and what he saw made him bristle with horror.

A nesting eagle had made her nest in this vital training ground.

[alkaryco]

Above Blazetail, Falconbite and Hollyheart were in a tree. "I can't believe you dragged me into another of your mousebrained schemes," Falconbite sighed, one eye opened as he sat on the limb in agitation. "If I hadn't given my word to Riverstrike to protect you, you could go tackle the eagle alone. But no... deputies don't have any hold over bad-tempered sisters!"
"Oh, shut up," Hollyheart muttered crossly. She chewed on her lip absentmindedly. "Okay, I admit, this wasn't the most well thought out plan. But still!"
Falconbite grimaced. "I'm leaving. Right now. And you're following me. That's an order from your deputy, Hollyheart. Now!" He twitched his ear first and then his tail and made to jump to the branch below him. Hollyheart glared after him, but followed reluctantly.
"Deputy, deputy, deputy. Can't have any fun around-- oof!" Hollyheart had jumped into Falconbite, sending the black cat off the tree and straight into Blazetail('s)....

To Be Continued by someone else to decide what Falconbite lands on... bum bum bum..

[Shinko]

...Back. The medicine cat yowled with surprise, spinning around instinctively and raking his claws across Falconbite's shoulder before he realized who it was.

"You great lump! Get off me! What kind of mouse-brained deputy attacks his own cursed medicine cat?" The flame colored tom screeched with rage. "I aught to keep clawing you!"

[alkaryco]

Falconbite snorted indignantly, limping off the medicine cat with one eye half-closed from where Blazetail had gotten him. "More like you should look where you're padding for raining cats," he muttered. "But on the serious side, Hollyheart decided it would be a great idea to tackle the eagle and then pushed me out of the StarClan-forsaken tree!" Falconbite looked at his scarred shoulder grumpily. "Why does everyone go for the injured shoulder?" he sighed. "Oh, and Blazetail... sorry about your tail." In fact, the black tom had gotten several clumps of fur from the medicine cat's tail, and now it was looking rather patchy.
Hollyheart looked down at them from high in the tree. "That must have hurt," she murmured, looking at Blazetail's irritated expression, "Falconbite falling on him like that." She had opted to stay in her tree and out of the reach of claws... particularly ones that were attached to a bad-tempered Blazetail. She vaguely wondered where his apprentice, Fallowpaw, was, but shook it off and dropped down a branch into thicker needles.

[Shinko]

((I was not aware I had an apprentice... Thanks for the heads up.))

Blazetail snorted up at Hollyheart, "You're more mouse-brained than your brother if you think you can take down an eagle on you own! We aren't squirrel-clawed LeafClan warriors, to be running around in trees!" He rounded on Falconbite, "And you are the deputy, for StarClan's sake! Stop being such a kittypet and stand up to the she-cat once in a while, would you?"

Th medicine cat stood, his patch-furred tail held high with dignity, "Come on, you two. Fallowpaw should be getting back to camp with more marigold soon. I'd better treat those scratches before they get infected, much as it would serve you right to leave them be."

[alkaryco]

Falconbite bridled and spit, "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be alive, Blazetail! I appreciate you saving me from eating deathberries, but I've also saved your sorry pelt from warrior attackers. Count your blessings. Next time, I might not help you."
Hollyheart looked at Falconbite in shock. He was usually much more easygoing than this. "And you!" he rounded on Hollyheart. "YOU will listen to me! I am not only your brother but your deputy, and I say that you will never leave camp alone again. You cannot be trusted to obey the warrior code, and I've had enough of your mousebrained schemes!" His blue eyes flamed and he rounded on Blazetail. "If you think I'm not a worthy deputy, take it up with Flamestar. But for now, you will listen to me and you will listen well. I will not take these insults with a mouse's tail. You can find someone else to attend to your complaining nature. Now, you finish up collecting your herbs and get back to camp, alright?" His voice softened a bit and he looked at Hollyheart almost sadly. "I'm sorry that you feel the need to disrespect your Clan every waking moment. You might think I don't know, but I do. Oh, I know all about it. You still reek of guilt!" He snapped his eyes around to Blazetail and snarled at him. "I'll see you back at camp." Without further ado, the black tom disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving behind a stunned Hollyheart.

[Shinko]

Blazetail watched Falconbite stalk off, unimpressed. He turned to Hollyheart, "Getting offended at what I say when he knows I insult everyone and everything does not convince me of his maturity. I hope by the time he gets to camp he's cooled off enough to let Fallowpaw treat his wounds. If he's going to let his temper get the better of him, he can deal with the consequences when that scratch gets infected." Flicking his tail, the medicine cat added, "Since our noble and wise deputy had said you can't be out of camp alone, want to help me get some more dock leaves?"

Despite his facade, the medicine cat was worried. Falconbite's explosion was clearly something that had been brewing for a while. The normally unflappable deputy would not have exploded that way just from being insulted by the notoriously short-tempered medicine cat. Blazetail made a mental note to speak with Flamestar about the deputy; not about his unworthiness, because the orange tom did not truly think Falconbite wasn't a good deputy, whatever he said to the contrary. No, he need to find out what was over stressing the deputy to the point that he would verbally claw his own sister so harshly.

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart, shaking her head in bewilderment, meowed, "It's not just you. I think he thinks that the Clan regards him as weak... unworthy, if you know what I mean. He does his best, I suppose... I'm quite worried about him, to tell the truth. Oh, and he knows how to treat his own scratch wound and probably didn't appreciate the comment about it," she added. "Asked one of the other medicine cats at a Gathering. Figured it would be dead useful if the medicine cat had been injured or killed for some odd reason." Hollyheart scuffed her paw on the ground. "I teased him mercilessly at the time-- we were apprentices," she looked bewilderedly at him for a second, "I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not like you care. And why not, I have nothing better to do."

What has befallen our mysterious and apparently insane deputy? Find out with.... whoever posts next.

[Shinko]

Blazetail's amber eyes were serious, "I'm more concerned for the Clan than you give me credit for, Missy," he growled. "Just because I happen to not be a socialite like Briartooth doesn't mean I'm not concerned for my Clanmate's well-being. Why in StarClan's name do you think I decided to become a medicine cat?"

The tom seemed about to say more, but then he broke off. "Ah, never mind. You wouldn't believe me anyway, as I've done such a good job of alienating everyone. Come on, lets get that dock, and while we're doing it we can figure out what to do about Falconbite's mental well-being. This much stress and self-doubt isn't good for any cat."

[alkaryco]

The black-and-white she-cat blinked. "I believe most anything, nowadays. Truth just gets stranger and stranger..." she broke off, looking at him seriously. "Mental well-being? I don't think I've heard that term used. And yeah, you're going to have to describe the stuff, I've always been a mind for battle moves, not leaves... ferns... bushes... herbs! Yes, herbs." She mrrowed with laughter at her own stupidity and pointed with her tail towards the eagle. "Oh, and I wasn't going to attack it. I was going to tackle it out of its tree. Pretty non-thought out plan considering, but I figured i'd have a nice eagle pillow on the way down, eh?"

[Shinko]

Briartooth snorted, "And before you were halfway to the ground it would have savaged you with it's talons. We'd be short a good warrior, and the eagle would still be nesting in our territory."

The medicine cat stood up before Hollyheart had a chance to react to the fact that he had refereed to her as a "good warrior." It was as close to a compliment as Blazetail was ever likely to come. He inhaled deeply, and finally trotted over to a small shrub growing about shoulder-height. It was covered with long, narrow, and very wrinkly leaves. "This is dock," he meowed, "memorize the scent, as you're more likely to be able to distinguish it that way than on sight."

((Ha ha, I had to google dock leaves to find out what they look like XD))

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart gaped at him openly and then purred, something she had never done when the medicine cat was around. "You've got a point there, Blazetail. But hey, I would take it out and it would take me out. A relatively noble way to go, I'd say, protecting apprentices from death by talons." She paused for a moment, catching up to the medicine cat and giving him a nice swat. "Good warrior? Oh, may StarClan have mercy on your soul for that one. Did you know that I went to the Moonfall when I was an apprentice? I wanted to talk to StarClan.. and I did! Well, technically they threatened my tail and my sanity if I ever returned, but still, it was pretty cool." Hollyheart smelled the dock, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Hey, Blazetail?" she questioned after a moment: "Do you think StarClan could really take my tail?"

[Shinko]

The medicine cat's amber eyes glittered with amusement, "As it happens, I did know. I just never said anything about it." Naming his now gone mentor, Blazetail went on, "Apparently they gave Dawnsky an earful about it at the next halfmoon. She, in turn, told me on the way back to camp."

Plucking a few leaves off of the dock plant, he mumbled, "As for the danger to your tail... I'll leave that up to your imagination" He grinned around the herbs in his mouth, "After all, it could been fun to watch you squirm."

He sobered, "But in all seriousness, I need to ask; what is it that the Clan is saying that is making your brother doubt his worth? It can't just be me; everyone knows I would insult StarClan if I was cross enough."

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart grinned (as much as a cat could) and tucked her tail close, giving Blazetail a half-amused, half-terrified look. "I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out anyway, thanks," she muttered, "I'd rather have my tail and wonder than know without a tail." She grabbed some leaves in her mouth to promptly spit them out again to answer Blazetail's question. "I'm not my brother's keeper," she enforced, "but I think he's been dreaming. He's muttering in his sleep again, which he hasn't done since our mentors died.... oh," her eyes alighted with an unreadable emotion, "They were found dead, remember... I wonder who would...?" Hollyheart picked back up the dock, careful not to bite too hard as to release the juices-- she didn't know what dock tasted like and didn't want to find out.

[Shinko]

For a long time the ginger tom padded through the pine forest silently, clearly lost in his thoughts. Not my brother's keeper... Sorrelwind used to say that. Remembering his sister always put the Medicine Cat in a morose mood. They had been close as kits despite Blazetail's grouchy nature. She was well known as the only cat who could calm the medicine cat down when he was in a foul mood. However, not long after Dawnsky's death, when Blazetail had taken over as full medicine cat of DarkClan, their bond had soured. The ginger tom's caustic remarks and barbed tongue had offended no few cats, both in DarkClan and out. Sorrelwind was called on more and more to talk her brother down, and before long she came to resent it.

His amber eyes saddened as he remembered the last time he had spoken to her. She had been shouting at him for being so short-tempered, for always making enemies, and for forcing her to take time away from her warrior duties to soothe fur he had ruffled. He shouted back that he didn't care what any cat thought of him... and then he had said the unforgivable.

"If you're so tired of dealing with me, why don't you stop then?" he had snarled. "I don't need your pity, I don't need your help, and I don't need you!"

She had left the camp, seething... and a few hours later, they had found her lifeless body, the dead rattlesnake clutched in her jaws telling them what had killed her. Blazetail had never forgiven himself for the cruel words that were the last thing he had ever said to the she-cat.