The next day, his chest didn't feel as heavy when he woke up. His nose didn't seem very wet either, so he got up without problem. He gulped down a small mouse the dawn patrol had brought back, and was soon called up by the deputy, Emberjaw. "Can you go hunting? Try near the outskirts of the territory, we haven't poked around there too much yet today." The black and brown tom asked. Swiftwater obliged, turning and quickly making his way out of camp.
He'd found his best luck yesterday was where he'd… Met Fallow. Hopefully trying there again would prove successful. Making his way over, he was pleasantly surprised to pick up the scent of blackbird, and spotted it no later scuffling among the roots of a tree. Crouching down, he pulled himself forward, silent as possible. He tried to stifle his breath as he began to wheeze again, and wasted no time in pouncing. The bird tried to flutter up, but Swiftwater's name rang true.
His paws outstretched, he managed to claw the bird's wings and drag it down. He swiftly finished it off with a bite to the neck. "Great catch!" Startled, he jumped, head swinging over. Fallow stood outside the territory once more, in the same place, tail curled up, eyes bright.
"Fallow!" He meowed, voice sounding surprisingly animated for him. He took in another breath to speak again, but only found himself coughing, looking away briefly.
"Oh, no, I hope you took some of the frostmint and rabbit nose like I said." She spoke, worry in her voice, and Swiftwater waved his tail. Finally regaining composure, he spoke next.
"Fallow, are you sure you didn't make those herbs up? My medicine cat had never heard of them." He confronted, scraping some leaves over his bird as he approached her. Head tipped to the side, Fallow gave a mrrow of confusion.
"Medicine cat?" She echoed.
"Yeah. He has a bunch of herbs, and heals the clan when we're sick or injured." He explained. He assumed they all just knew about herbs in Fallow's group, so no wonder she was confused.
"Oh! That's cool. He's really never heard of those two before though?" She asked, whiskers twitching in surprise.
"Err… No. I'm gonna guess you found them outside the territory. By your group." He guessed. Fallow dipped her head.
"Would you like me to grab you some?" She offered. He blinked. Would she really…?
"Would you really not mind sharing your herbs?" He asked. She chuckled faintly, giving a shake of her head.
"Of course not! Just wait here, I'll be right back." She insisted, turning and bounding away into the undergrowth. Swiftwater obeyed, glancing back to make sure his blackbird remained buried, before sitting. Fallow did return soon, her jaws stuffed full of herbs he'd never seen before. She dropped them at his paws, and pawed the two separately. She pushed a white, leafy plant towards him. "This is the frostmint. Take two leaves." She instructed, pawing at one.
Swiftwater bent his head, nipping off a leaf and chewing it, before repeating the same with another. It tasted bitter(no surprise), but also like… Frost, he figured. After swallowing it, he looked at the rabbit nose. It was a small little… Puff ball, almost, with a pink bud on the bottom of it. It had leaves, too, budding from the bottom. He scrunched up his nose as he imagined having to eat it.
"Don't worry, this one is different." Fallow chuckled as she saw the look on his face. She peeled off the leaves, and clawed off some of the fluff as well. "Eat the leaves and the pink part. If you get some of the fuzz in your mouth, that's fine. Be sure to swallow it, though, as irritating as it is!" She churred, pressing her paw on the remaining fuzz, and moved to his side. Swiftwater lapped up the leaves and the bud, chewing thoroughly on it. He struggled to swallow with some of the pieces of fuzz, but managed anyways. He could feel Fallow pressing some of the fuzz into his scruff, and flicked an ear.
"Why are you doing that?" He inquired.
"This helps in the revival process. Not sure how, but it seemed to work a miracle for
Flower." She informed, brushing her paws against the ground after she finished, standing and trotting back in front of him. As Swiftwater sat up, surprisingly enough, he felt his chest was less heavy. He coughed slightly, anxiety stirring inside him as he felt his lungs catch fire. Has she tricked me? As it continued, though, he realized it was more similar to frost than fire, and it began to slow down. "It will feel weird, but the feeling goes away." She explained, although it didn't do much to calm the tom down.
"I don't like it." He muttered, grimacing as it slowly began to ease away.
"I understand. I don't think anyone does." She admitted with another churr of laughter. "Your lungs should feel a lot more clear, though. I'm sure your nose does, too." She commented, bringing a paw up and gently bopping him on the nose. Swiftwater was startled by her action, but didn't condemn her on it, instead offering a small, breathless purr.
"You're right. It does feel a little more clear." He breathed in deeply, coughing from the action, but that was to be expected. "Thanks." He croaked out after his small fit, his eyes locking with her own, amusement passing between the two.
"Of course. You're a nice cat, Swiftwater, and have a long life ahead of you I'm sure. I'd never turn down a cat in need." Fallow responded genuinely, nudging the rest of the herbs towards him. "The illness seemed rather contagious, so why don't you take the rest back to your clan just in case?" She suggested. Swiftwater couldn't feel more grateful, considering more than half of his clan seemed to be sick.
"Yeah, that will really help actually. Thanks, again. You, uh... " He stopped short. Fallow was nice, and very caring, but in case of anything in the future that could come back on him, he couldn't give away too much. He couldn't let her know that his clan was literally falling dead around his paws. Maybe Fallow was nice, but her other friends… Not so much, possibly. He didn't want to take the risk. "Yeah. Just… Thanks. Is there anyway I can repay you?" He offered. He wanted to do something, just, of course, he was limited.
"Just with your friendship, I suppose." She responded, sitting up with sparkling eyes. "I'd like you to visit our camp, once, at least. Some of the kits there know about your clans too, and they're very curious- We all are. We'd love to hear stories." She answered. He was a little startled to hear that, but he didn't really mind, at all. He'd like to see what her group was like, admittedly. How they worked, how many there were, and so forth.
"Of- Of course. I can probably come in a couple of days, if that works. I have a lot to do around my clan, so getting away will be hard." He admitted. Fallow's eyes flickered, and her head tipped to the side.
"Is it? Are you very important to your clan?" She asked. Swiftwater couldn't say that he was just a warrior like anyone else, but his clan was dying so he needed to step up, so he chose his words carefully.
"Every warrior is important to the clan. They all help out, and that's how we all survive together. Everyone has an important role, from the smallest kit, to oldest elder." He explained. Already he could see Fallow was curious about this, but also seemed to accept what he said. He'd go as far as to say she enjoyed his words.
"I see. Okay, I understand. It sounds like you're all very close to each other. That definitely has the foundation of a strong bond." She purred, rising to her paws. "I'd love to know more, so I hope you can tell us when you visit."
"I will." He agreed with a dip of his head, pushing himself to his paws as well. "What's better for you? I can usually do only early morning, or late evening." He informed.
"Morning would work better. Does three sunrises from now work for you?" She offered. Swiftwater couldn't be too sure, but he dipped his head either way.
"I-I mean, I can stop by around sunhigh here briefly, too, within the next couple of days. If you wanted to, y'know, talk or whatever." He suddenly put out, scraping his paw lightly against the ground. Fallow purred softly, tail curling up.
"Sure! I can do that. I'll let you get back to your clan, now, since you're really busy. I'll see you tomorrow." She chirped, reaching to touch her nose to his ear, before turning and bounding back through the foliage.
"Yeah, tomorrow! Bye!" He called after her, watching her tail disappear. He sighed, a warm feeling crawling through his chest. She's so wonderful. He couldn't help but think to himself as he bent down to pick up the herbs, then trotted back over to his blackbird. He pulled it out, stuffing that in his jaws too as he made his way back to camp.