"Oi! Where are we going now?" Smallfire called out from behind the travelling group, his paws limping heavily against the grass, a large cut scarring his back leg. "I thought we'd stop back at the harbour!" he complained, trying his best to catch up.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't taken the time to walk off to find that sound we wouldn't have gotten ambushed, and we wouldn't have lost Cream!" Wolfnost snapped, her eyes angrily snapping towards Smallfire as she walked, her tail lashing in anger and frustration. "Since we've lost another member, we have no need to stop at our planned locations, so stop complaining and walk you small piece of fox-dung!"
"Wolfnose, you might need to calm down, it wasn't his fault, almost half the group said that it sounded much like a kit, and we need to help anyone we come across, especially kits." Branch said calmly, padding alongside the she-cat. "Besides, we also lost Mouse in that ensuing mess, and we couldn't find his body. Don't forget we also nearly lost Smallfire, we need to rest so we can recover."
"Yeah, listen to Branch, we need to rest. I'll collapse in another hour or so!" Smallfire said, Branch flicking his tail at the tom as a way of telling him, "Shut up!"
Wolfnose stopped to think about it, everyone else stopping behind her. "Fine, find a place to bunker down, me and Foxfire will take first watch, the rest of you, prepare yourself, cause it'll be a cold night," she announced, beckoning Foxfire to where she was and walked off deeper into the forest.
Smalfire rolled his eyes as he was approached by Branch, his brown tabby pelt looking like it was shining in the moonlight. "So, let me take a look at your wound, it looks nasty, I think Leopard might have some ideas on what we should do about it, so you might want to check with him." Branch flicked his tail over to the spotted ginger tom.
"Yeah, I know, I think he'll be a nice replacement for Crystal," Smallfire mewed. "But- what if he doesn't know how to fix it? I know he's been learning a lot under your mentorship but-"
Branch interrupted him with a tail flick. "You'll be fine, I'll do the advanced stuff, he'll do the basic stuff. You'll be fine, c'mon, where's that cat I met just two moons ago?"
Smallfire looked at Branch and let out a snort. "That cat died when we lost all those cats," he muttered. "But… thanks anyways, for real. I appreciate it."
"No problem, just make sure once your done with your checkup you come directly to me, I'll hunt you down if you forget!" Branch called after Smallfire, who responded with a flick of his tail as he made his way over to Leopard.
As he walked by he saw the other cats that he and WolfnosE had recruited into the group. Most were kittypets who longed for an adventure, and others were rogues and loners who just wanted cats to travel with. They were now fifteen cats strong, and they tried their best to make everyone happy, and Smallfire thought they were doing a pretty good job at it.
He turned his head and found Misty with Splash and Dew, all cuddled up and sleeping together, her tail wrapped around Dew and Splash pressed against her chest. Smallfire couldn't help but smile, especially at Splash. He couldn't help but feel bad for him, the poor soul had been through so much in so little time, it was almost heartbreaking. Smallfire, however, couldn't show weakness, he had to be tough, so he went on.
Alright, think Leopard, what would you do if a cat's leg was cut? Well I'd clean it, make sure there isn't anything that could infect it, then I would… Leopard didn't have time to finish his thoughts as an injured Smallfire entered the small hollow he had claimed for himself. "Oh, Smallfire! You're… earlier than I expected, haven't enough time to even prepare the stores, is your cut doing fine?" he asked the smaller tom, his tail flicking to an empty, quickly built nest.
Leopard was quite a large tom, tall but lean. His skills were more useful support other cats rather than fighting, and that's what he wanted to do. He could remember when Smallfire came across him in a back alley in a city. It was the first time he'd ben part of a group, and he didn't feel like leaving anytime soon.
"Hey Leopard, mind checking out the injury? Branch says you need to do the checkup, and he'll do the complicated stuff he'll teach you later with Shell." Smallfire plopped himself into the nest, wincing a tiny bit as the moss was tightly packed around him.
"Sorry Smallfire, I didn't have time to make the nests before you came in so-"
"It's fine, I won't banish you over a small mistake Leopard, trust me, you'll be staying here for a long time," Smallfire hummed, adjusting his leg so that it would be more comfortable to lay down.
"Yeah, sorry, just a bit insecure about this y'know?" Leopard murmured, looking at all of the herbs he had already. A few cobwebs and some dried leaves of an herb he couldn't really make out. "We don't really have a lot of herbs, Branch and I need to head out, after the check-up, I need you to relay that to him." Leopard grabbed a few of the cobwebs and padded over to Smallfire, laying next to him.
"I'll be sure to tell him," Smallfire said, wincing as Leopard lightly pressed his cut.
"Sorry, just checking for any infection. It doesn't look like it'll be infected, but have Branch look at it, I can't be too entirely sure." I'm not even sure if I'm doing the correct thing… Leopard thought darkly, applying the cobwebs to the cut, making sure that it could block out any form of bleeding it could.
"Thank you Leopard, I'll look for Branch and have him know what you need," Smallfire said, beginning to get up, being stopped by Leopard pushing down on his torso.
"Don't, I'll bring him here and then I can… actually, nevermind. I think you can walk by yourself, just… don't ruin anything else, Branch will have my pelt if he finds out that I let you go without letting you recover," Leopard said calmly. "Just tell him that I finished my duties, alright?"
Smallfire nodded, smiling at the tom as he stood up and flicked his tail goodbye as he stepped out of the tree hollow. I hope Branch doesn't get too angry… he murmured to himself.
Leopard nodded his head goodbye, despite Smallfire already being outside. "Now then… back to testing…" he muttered to himself, about to sit down when a tom entered his hollow.
"Hey, mind checking out something for me?" the tom asked him, Leopard flicking his tail as a sign of waiting.
"What do you need check- oof!" he grunted, being knocked down by the tom and his eyes covered.
"Guess who?"
"Seeing how Smallfire let you pass without any confrontation I'd say… maybe Shell?" Leopard guessed, shivering a tiny bit at the sudden contact.
"Hey! You got it the first try!" Shell said happily, getting off of the tom and shaking his fur.
"Wonderful, now, what do you need me to check out?"
"I had this cut for a while, maybe you could check it out? If I show it to branch he'll use it as an excuse to go out into the forest to, 'search for herbs.' " Shell said, letting out a small chuckle.
"Well, has it been itching you?" Leopard asked, looking around Shells body, examining it to find the cut.
"Well, it just stings, actually, I think it's getti-" A yowl from the forest cut him off, both cats looking towards the sound. "That sounded like… Smallfire?"
"No time to question, just go!" Leopard said sharply, running out the hollow towards the sound, heading into the forest, again.