Pushing the Limit [Ashfoot]

[Tiny]

At this time of day it probably wasn’t wise for a newly made warrior to go out on her own into the territory…especially without telling anyone. The she-cat had just been so excited and eager to get up and get moving she had gotten up before dawn even struck. She had just glanced at the fresh-kill pile to see it was low and decided on hunting. Anything she could help the clan, she would definitely do. The calico she-cat had just been made a warrior within the past few days. It had been the best day of her life, and having her brother named a warrior with her was a dream come true.


Kestrelstream had barely slept the previous night, so many thoughts swirling through her brain. She had ended up waking her brother up from her constant shuffling. After apologizing, she had decided it would be better for her to get up and moving and actually do something. Her brother had just grunted, and gone back to sleep. And that is how she got to this point. She allowed her paws to take her wherever they wanted to go. Hunting down a few pieces of prey was always a good idea, and Kestrelstream had nothing better to do.


Already on her journey through the woods, the she-cat had located a squirrel and buried it alongside a mouse she had caught. Looking up into the sky, Kestrelstream saw the faint sign of dawn. Well…at least she had gotten a few things for the clan. But she still felt so energized and needed something to do. Her ears perked up at the sound of fluttering nearby. Maybe a nice bird would do to round out her hunting trip. Just as she was turning around to grab it and leapt into the air, it flew away and Kestrelstream landed awkwardly on a rock. Shaking her head to clear it, she sighed at how foolish she had just been. Maybe she should just cut her loss and head back to camp. But just as she took a step, she felt a searing pain in her paw. What exactly had she done to it? Letting out a mewl of not only frustration, but pain aswell, she realized it would be some time before another cat came along hunting, everyone was just now starting to wake up.















Word Count:

[/color] 392
Tags: Ashfoot [Poppy][/size][/center]
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[Poppy]

In the early dawn, a white cat with all black paws was found gathering special herbs for his clan. Dark blue eyes shined brightly in the rising sunlight, his black paws lightly thumping on the ground in a rhythmic pattern. The cat's name was Ashfoot and he was the medicine cat of SunClan doing his duty twice a moon of gathering herbs for his stock pile in his den. His had a mouthful of many different varieties of herbs that can do pretty much anything to help a cat in need.

Ashfoot looked up at the sky as birds started to take off into the morning sky to hunt for food. He smiled and had the thought of a kit wishing he could fly one day. The tom sighed and looked straight ahead of him at the dirt path he was following to get some cobwebs. His ears flicked forward at the sound of a pain-filled yowl. It was his job as medicine cat to heal the sick and injured. Ashfoot scented out the cat and stored his herbs quickly in a safe place so another cat steals them.

Ashfoot arrived at the injury site and saw a calico she-cat crying out in pain, he ran over to the warrior. "Where are you hurt at?" The white tom looked at the she-cat's paw and saw that it was swollen, he could tell that her paw was badly sprained. Ashfoot would have to keep her in his den for a couple of days.

[Tiny]

Instead of trying to move again and have that searing pain go through her paw and eventually throughout her body, Kestrelstream decided on staying in the exact same spot she was in. If she could just rest here for a little bit, then maybe she could move again in a little while. That sounded like a good plan to her. Curling her tail around her paws, the calico she-cat sat down and kept her weight off her hurt paw.

Her eyes were closed and though she should have known better, her mentor had always gotten onto her for not paying better attention, she did not hear the approaching pawsteps. Kestrelstream was focused on the sounds that dawn brought into the forest, the birds chirping, squirrels roaming around, mice squeaking, leaves rustling. When she heard a voice speak she jumped a little, forgetting about her paw for a moment and just shifting the slightest weight on it made her grimace in pain.

”Oh…hi Ashfoot. I didn’t know you were out here. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

[/color] she mewed, ever so politely. But that was Kestrelstream, always having manners and pushing what was wrong with her to the side for a moment. Her gaze shifted to the black and white tom and she held out her injured paw. ”I was hunting and landed awkwardly on a rock. It hurts to put weight on it or just move it.”[/color] she responded to his question.

Kestrelstream definitely wasn’t a medicine cat, though she had spent some moons during her apprentice days to help out the medicine cat if needed. She was much easier to get along with than her brother or any of the other apprentices at that time. And Kestrelstream didn’t mind helping, if she could help out her clan by aiding the medicine cat instead of hunting or being in battle, she did it. She just hadn’t been into Ashfoot’s den since she was made a warrior. She had been bouncing off the walls and going on patrol after patrol to keep her busy.
















Word Count:[/color] 343
Tags: Ashfoot [Poppy][/size][/center]
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[Poppy]

Ashfoot saw that Kestrelstream had her eye closed, and when he ha spoken to her, she had jumped. He listened as the calico she-cat answered his question. He definitely seemed like it was sprained. "Your paw seems to be sprained so once we get back to camp, you'll have to stay in my den for a couple of days maybe until next moon. You'll also keep me company." He smiled at the comment and gently lifted her paw up and looked at it, there was a small cut on her pad. "Lick the cut, it will remove the blood and stop it for a little while. I have some poppy seeds that will help you with the pain and it will help you sleep." The black and white tom stood beside the she-cat. "We are going back to camp and I'll send another warrior put here later to gather up your prey you caught." Ashfoot looked at Kestrelstream.

[Tiny]

Of course it would be sprained! That would make perfect sense. The day she decides to be very productive she would hurt herself. Now her brother would have to face his fears of their father all on his own. She wasn’t there to be the buffer. Her heart sank at this. Hopefully Quailtail could manage on his own. Usually the she-cat was in a good mood, but now the medicine cat was telling her that she would have to be in his den for possibly a moon? How could she be useful to the clan by just sitting around? Her ears flattened at the thought. Sure she would keep Ashfoot company, but what use would she be to the clan?”Figures that I would make such a mousebrain mistake. Even my brother wouldn’t be this foolish.”

[/color] Kestrelstream murmured, casting her eyes downward.



Kestrelstream braced herself when he took her paw and examined it, thinking it would hurt. But no, he was gentle, and she let a sigh of relief out. She listened to his instructions and did what she was told, wincing as she had to actually move her paw to lick the pad. She tried not to yowl in pain, and her rough tongue did not help either. When it was finally clean, she carefully situated herself so none of her weight was on that paw as she sat. Ashfoot had mentioned poppy seeds and how it would help the pain. That is exactly what she needed. But when he mentioned that it would help her sleep, she realized she had whined a little. Looking quickly back to the ground in embarrassment she couldn’t believe she had actually done that. Sure she was disappointed that the pain reliever would mean she would go to sleep, but was it worth going to sleep when she still had all her energy to burn?



Admitting defeat she just nodded. ”Alright, but just know I don’t like that this means I can’t patrol for a while. I like to be useful. We can send my brother to get it, he knows my usual hiding spots for the prey anyway.”[/color] Kestrelstream got onto all four paws, lifting her injured paw the moment it touched the ground. In that split second it did touch the ground she did mewl a little. She couldn’t wait for this to be over with so she could get back to being her normal self again.

















Word Count:[/color] 405
Tags: Ashfoot [Poppy][/size][/center]
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[Poppy]

Ashfoot felt bad for the warrior, she had hurt her paw while hunting and now she would have to stay with him for a moon. "It's not so bad, you could actually be useful by helping me with my stock pile." The herbs! He would have to go get them on their way back to camp. When Kestrelstream had whined when he told her that poppy seeds would help her, he chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll be back doing patrols in no time." He promised her, Ashfoot smiled at the warrior. He could feel his heartbeat slightly quickened at the sight of her. Was he falling for the she-cat? Does she feel the same way as him? It would be really weird in the next couple of days for him, especially now since Kestrelstream will be staying with him in his den for a whole moon. The white tom could feel his pelt begin to grow hot. "Let's get you back to camp and into an empty nest in my den." He smiled and slowly started to walk beside the she-cat just in case she needed help getting to camp.

[Tiny]

Just those comforting words from Ashfoot was all it took for Kestrelstream to look at the tom with hopeful eyes. She could be helpful to him? Well that would be helping her clan, by helping the medicine cat. He had just solved the big debate going on in her head, and he probably didn’t realize how much of a relief it had come to hear those words. She grinned at him widely and nodded eagerly. ”I can help you with whatever you need help with. Just something to keep me busy. I don’t want to have to just sit around all day bored. That doesn’t do anyone any good.”

[/color] she purred.



She hoped that he was right about the second thing, that she would be on patrols again in zero time flat. It was in her blood to be moving around and helping out. Kestrelstream could worry about other things now that she felt more reassured. Like why was she feeling so different around Ashfoot? Sure, she had been with him plenty in the past, she had helped him more times than she could count. But what exactly was this new feeling? He was just so calm and knew exactly how to keep her calm. Who would have thought someone could actually keep her this calm and not have a panic attack about not being able to patrol for a moon. ”Just as long as I have you as company I think I’ll be able to manage it.”[/color] she murmured, half to herself. She realized she had said this outloud and not in her mind and felt embarrassed once again.



Kestrelstream found herself nodding once more at his words and took a tentative step forward. Well, that wasn’t so bad. But the next step involved her injured paw. Wincing in pain, she realized quickly that wasn’t a good idea. Looking to Ashfoot she realized she would have to use him to help her continue back to camp. She felt her fur brush against his and tried not to jerk back in another round of embarrassment. There was absolutely no way she could be falling this fast for a tom. Taking a quick look to Ashfoot, she hid a smile as she took a few more steps. With his help she knew she could make it. Maybe the first thing she needed to do was admit she needed help. Hopefully they could get back to camp soon so she could lay down. This sore paw was giving her too much grief and she could already feel her body becoming tired, most likely due to her not sleeping the night before.


















Word Count: 439
Tags: Ashfoot [Poppy]

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[Poppy]

Ashfoot slowly walked along the little dirt path he was originally taking, with Kestrelstream beside him. The medicine cat saw his herb bundle and decided not to pick it up until later on in the day. He had more things to think about than herbs anyway. Like his rapidly growing crush he has on Kestrelstream, but he doesn't know if he would be able to focus when he had to take care of her. Ashfoot kept walking away from his herb bundle, and glanced sideways at the calico she-cat, then quickly back ahead of them. "The clan should be waking up soon, hopefully I won't have to take care of anymore cats today, because I'm more worried about you." His blue eyes grew wide, why did he just say that out loud? He could feel his heart starting beating and his pelt growing really hot. This was not going to go well. Espically, since the warrior was going to stay in his den for moon, how would he handle that? He pushed the thoughts away into a far corner, hoping they wouldn't come back. Ashfoot laid his tail around Kestrelstream's shoulders. It was a good start, maybe the she-cat wouldn't have a bad reaction. "Kestrelstream, I know we barely know each other and I've never had a mate before so I'm new at this. I like you." The medicine cat looked into Kestrelstream's eyes, his were filling with growing love. "Please don't be mad at me, I will understand if you don't like me back."

[Tiny]

Kestrelstream was beyond grateful that the cat that happened to find her was the medicine cat. Sure, she would have found a way to go back on her own if she absolutely had to, but having the one cat that would know exactly what was wrong and how to fix it was a bonus. Plus, it wasn’t her brother who would nag her so much. As she hobbled along beside the medicine cat she blinked at him. ”I hope I didn’t interrupt anything you were doing earlier. Coming out this far means you were probably herb collecting, if I need to stay here for a moment while you go collect it I don’t mind.”

[/color] she said softly.



She blinked at him as he began to speak again. What did he mean by all of that, surely her injured paw wasn’t something serious. No…it sounded different than just that. Maybe he wanted it to be just the two of them in the den? She sure was glad that her fur was mostly ginger and black and not white, it would be red with embarrassment by now. But the moment she felt his tail on her shoulders all thoughts in her brain ceased. It was like a calming storm had just occurred. The doubt and fear and embarrassment was gone and in its place was comfort, and she felt safe.



And here it was a confession she didn’t expect to hear. She had to stop for a moment, sit down and really take a good look at the tom. Was he being absolutely serious? Was some other cat putting him up to this to pull a prank on her? No, he was actually serious. She couldn’t contain the smile on her face. She had been so deep in thought she realized she hadn’t spoken yet. ”If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never had a mate before either.”[/color] she said in almost a whisper. It was true, but then again, she was still young and barely a warrior.



”How could I not like you? You are so caring and kind, and you make me feel things I didn’t think I would ever feel, good things. And you don’t have to worry about me being mad at you. I don’t think I could ever be mad at you.”[/color] Kestrelstream said, the smile widening. ”Where do we go from here?”[/color] she asked.



















Word Count: 400
Tags: Ashfoot [Poppy]

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