Web Earth Online

Cedarleaf twitched his paws, a small purr coming from his mouth as he dreamt.

“Brother! You’re so much bigger now!” The tiny kit standing below him was glowing it seemed- in his dream, Cedarleaf was still an adult, and his brother the same age as he had been when he died.
“Yin… I’ve missed you.” He murmured, nuzzling the kit gently. Regret and longing filled him, the ‘what ifs’- if it had been Kin to die and not Yin, if his little brother would have grown into an adult alongside him…
The tiny kit’s face grew serious. “Nik, stop it. You gotta stop regretting it brother- it wasn’t your fault, so don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t my choice to die, but it was a part of your destiny. You’ve always been the stronger one- your destiny is what makes you stronger. I’m happy I died for you, Nik.”
Cedarleaf’s heart twisted in grief- his little brother had always been like this. He didn’t care about his own life and happiness. As long as someone else was happy, then Yin didn’t care. “I can’t forget, Yin… I promised I wouldn’t replace you.”
“You don’t have to replace me, brother. But open your eyes- there’s so much for you to live for now! You don’t have to live for me or killing our father anymore. Live your own life, with your own choices. Be happy in the world that I cannot.” The kit’s words sounded very odd coming from his small body- like Yin had continued to grow in mindset, but his body never followed.
“Yin, I don’t want-“
“You can’t lie to me brother. I know you too well.” The kit’s eyes sparkled with sadness. “I regret nothing, nothing but never being by your side as you grew. But you have so much to live for now… Sister, Raven, your new home- so live.”
“… I don’t want to forget.”
“You don’t have to.” The kit reached upward, closing his leaf green eyes and touching his older brother’s nose with his own. “Don’t forget being happy, Nik- but create new memories. Memories without so much sadness…”
Cedarleaf watched his brother’s form begin to grow fuzzy, disappearing into thin trails of dream-mist. “No, wait, don’t go yet-“
“I’ll always be with you. Wake up, Brother.”

“Wake up, Nik! Get your lazy butt up already, you stupid, worthless cat!”
Cedarleaf bolted upright, coming face-to-face with a very angry looking Springsand.
“What the heck were you trying to accomplish by worrying me?! I thought you were dead, Nik! You wouldn’t wake up!”
The tom blinked his eyes. His sister looked absolutely furious, but there was a distinct concerned look mixed in her gaze. He muttered a quick apology before looking around him. Something was missing…
Where was his Teacher? He scrambled forwards, wincing at the sharp bolt of pain that travelled up his left leg. “Where is he?”
“Whoa, wait- if you mean Ravenfeather, he left a little bit ago. I thought you chased him out. Now be careful, Nik- you’ll just reopen your wounds… you need to get those treated right away, anyways.” She casted a concerned look over his wounds- a torn and bloody ear, a scratch going across the bridge of his nose, and a nasty looking gash on his left shoulder. “C’mon, we’re going back to camp.” The she-cat supported her brother’s left side, and together they awkwardly limped out of the tunnel.
“You’re hurt too, Kin.” Cedarleaf muttered, staring at the wound near her neck’s base.
“Yes, well, be grateful- I went out to look for your sorry behind instead of getting treatment.” She grumbled, making her way towards the camp’s entrance and away from the bramble thicket. She felt her brother leaning more and more of his weight on her, and she glared at him, trying to still appear angry with him. “Hey now- don’t go fainting before we get inside the camp.”
Cedarleaf squinted his eyes tiredly as the two attempted to walk through the barrier at the same time. Needless to say, it was quite difficult, and he was certain that half of his pelt was by now stuck in random thorny bushes throughout the ravine. Springsand hurriedly limped into the camp, keeping an eye out for an available medicine cat as her brother laid down, tired from the ordeal. “You’ve lost a blood, idiot...”
Cedarleaf simply grunted, curling up into a ball next to his sister's feet. “Wake me when someone gets around to treating me. I was having quite a dream before you had to wake me up.”

Leafpool padded hurriedly from the elders' den, a wad of cobwebs in her jaws. She quickly took note of the remaining cats needing treatment and ducked into her own den, gathering some basic herbs for pain and fighting infection. Out in the clearing, she spotted Betel, the rogue leader, and bounded over to him. "Lie down, please, so I can get a better look at your wounds. And don't even think about refusing. I know Firestar promised you herbs and other medical supplies after the fight. Consider this a little demonstration of how to use a few of these, if you want."

Leafpool frowns at Betel's protesting. She had hoped he'd be too tired to really fight her. Rolling her eyes, the she-cat turns to her little pile of herbs and separates four small seeds. Poppy seeds.
"These will definitely make him drowsy. They may even knock him out, but it will be gradual," she explains to the tom who had suggested sedation. "Do you think we can get him to take them?" The thought of forcing these down Betel's throat make her frown, but she'd do it if it was required of her.

Leafpool sighs, then nods at the tom helping her. "He's not the first to refuse their medicine under my care." The she-cat takes a small leaf from her supplies and folds the poppy seeds neatly inside of it. Her voice hushed, she turns to the rogue. "Just tell the others to hold him still, and I'll stick it in his mouth while he's busy yowling." She pauses, glancing at the furious leader, squirming under the weight of the other cats. "He'll probably put up a fight when I hold his mouth shut, right?" she mutters warily to the rogue, tail twitching. I'll need to do this quick. There are others needing my help, and I can't rely on Jaypaw for everything.

Leafpool gives a determined nod and steels herself. Just please, do not take my paw with it! She leans forward and, just as he opens his mouth for another stream of curses to be thrown her way, sticks the bundle of herbs right into his open maw. Before he can close his mouth, Leafpool jerks her fore-paw back and gives an outward gasp on relief. "Shut it, and hold it tight until he swallows!" she orders, forgetting these are not ThunderClan cats. Without waiting to see if they manage to do so, Leafpool grabs the necessary herbs. Dock leaves for soothing the wounds, horestail to prevent infection, cobwebs to keep it all on...
The she-cat carefully prepares the poultice of dock and horestail and lays the on the thick patch cobwebs. She turns back to Betel now and begins tearing the cobwebs into smaller bandages. After cleaning the blood and dirt away from the wounds, she presses a piece to each spot and bounds them tightly with more cobwebs. Thank Starclan I gathered those extra few I had lying around, she thinks as she works, he'll need a lot.

Leafpool allowed herself a mental pat on the back. Betel seemed to have calmed down. She continued treating his wounds, ignoring every little sound he made, then stepped back. "Should be fine in a few days," she mews, then gives Betel a sharp look, "As long as you don't go fighting anymore wars to the point of utter exhaustion." The medicine cat made a tsk tsk sound and shook her head, mumbling something about 'half dead' and 'knowing when to stop'. Then she gathered up her supplies and padded away. Her eyes caught on the shape of the two newcomers. "Springsand!" she called, quickening her pace to a lope as she hurried towards them. "Can you get him to my den, or do I need to treat him here?" she asked through the bundle of herbs while circling Cedarleaf, already assessing his state.

(I don't have much time anymore and you guys are soooo active. I've decided to quit this roleplay, sorry!)

((OOC: Can the author of the topic be changed?))

The charcoal-pelted tom strode back into the clearing, hiding his limp as best he could; it still showed slightly, however. His eyes surveyed the situation, pausing for a moment in amusement as he spotted Betel being restrained. Knowing him, he had probably tried to refuse treatment. It seemed several of his companions were already grouped around their leader, but where were the rest? He rolled his shoulders in a shrug, they were probably off seeking treatment and would show up sooner or later. He sighed inaudibly, he should probably find someone to take care of his paw. He wasn't a fan of relying on others, but bites were nasty things and usually ended up infected if not treated properly. He recalled a memory of a cat who had refused to allow anyone near his injuries, not only had the cat ended up losing a limb, he was lucky it hadn't turned into blood poisoning.
Silently he scanned for the medicine cat. His eyes settled on a feline carrying a bundle of herbs, but it seemed she was preoccupied; she was currently circling a cat in much more dire need of treatment than he. He flicked his ears and turned to sit near his fellow rogues; he had no desire to distract her from her work at this time.

Springsand glanced up to see who she presumed to be the healer of the clan- she smelled of many herbs.
"Dunno... He's a pretty deep sleeper, but I don't think I can carry him back. And if I wake him up, he'll just start saying that he's fine and doesn't need any treatment, the mousebrain." She snorted at the thought while turning her yellow eyes back down to the sprawled out form of her brother. Thankfully, the gash was on the side he wasn't laying on, so if the healer wanted to she could easily treat Cedarleaf now. Wonder what he's dreaming about... she thought to herself, watching as her brother's paws twitched slightly.

"Who are you?" Cedarleaf growled threateningly. He knew this was a dream, but he couldn't seem to wake up. The other cat wouldn't respond, and he couldn't help but see the odd resemblance this cat had to the dark brown tabby tom from his new home and Snake. The only difference between this cat and Snake was that Snake had green eyes while this one had burning amber eyes.
"A distant relative of yours... but you don't need to know any more." The cat's voice was silky, but sinister. Cedarleaf supressed a shiver and glared at the other cat.
"What do you want?" He sneered, glaring at the cat with golden eyes. The other simply blinked at him, a blank expression on his face. Then he smirked.
"I'd like to cut a little... deal with you." The amber eyes tom paused for a moment, eyeing the other's confused expression before continuing. "In return for your loyalty to me, I will give you all the power you could ever want."
Cedarleaf sniffed. "Like I care for power..."
The stranger frowned slightly. "Not even the power to see your dead little brother at will?"
At those words, Cedarleaf stiffened. As much as he wanted that, he couldn't help but think of Yin's words- to live freely. He swallowed nervously. "How do you know about him?"
The amber eyed tom smirked again, and tilted his head in a cocky manner. "I have my rescources."
The clancat hesitated, before squaring his shoulders. "The dead belong where they are- dead."
The tabby's smirk fell. "Careful, you might just tick off the dead. And the dead don't forgive very easily."
"Hn... like I care. The dead can't hurt me." Cedarleaf grunted and closed his eyes for a moment.
Quick as a flash, the amber eyed tom had his teeth buried in the other's leg, causing him to screetch out in pain. The amber eyed tom jumped off of him after a moment, licking the blood from his jaws. "Come again?"
Cedarleaf stumbled backwards, snarling at the other cat. "How the heck is biting me supposed to prove your point?"
"Contrary to many beliefs, kit, the dead can hurt you. I'm dead, and I drew blood."
"I'm not a kit, and how am I supposed to know that some creep in my head is dead?"
"Your brother is dead, and yet you can talk to him."
Cedarleaf's heart clenched. "That's different..."
"Perhaps it is. You longed to see him, while I am the one to intrude on you. But, if you don't care about killing Snake in revenge, I suppose you can leave..."
"Wait!" The yellow eyed cat began to talk slower, "If you promise to make me strong enough to kill my father... I'll do whatever you say."
"Deal."