Talon fights the urge to let out an exhausted huff as the remaining cats of the patrol step into the alley. The sound of cheering grows a small smile upon his face as he pushes on, trying his best to hide the amount of difficulty walking forward costs. He must have lost a his fair share of blood on the way home, the amalgamation of gashes on his chest still slowly trickling down a thin trail of red into the snow under him. The warriors that stayed behind to search for food have caught up with the wounded a while ago and now at last split away from them again to deposit their finds on the food pile, while the wounded head for the healer's den. Venom sits before the entrance to it, observing the warriors in their approach, seeming to scan the injuries from afar already. At her side sits Grail, who's cheering stopped at the sight of Talon, a look of genuine worry filling her eyes. As most of the wounded head straight inside, Talon stops by the two she-cats first
„Good news precedes us, I hope. Greetings, Venom, Grail"
Venom looks at each of the cats moving past and into the healer's den with concentration before returning her eyes to Talon, her gaze immediately drawn to the clawmarks on his chest
„Indeed. A victory, we expected nothing less. Looks like it didn't come for free though. Feeing alright?"
Talon nods, playing off the throbbing sting of the gashes with a chuckle
„I may have lost a drop or two on the way back, but I'm fine."
Venom rolls her eyes and motions into the den
„That is for me to determine. Get in, I'll take a look."
Grail remains silently half a tail-length behind Venom, observing Talon still. Her right ear begins to flick as Talon returns her gaze, the worry in her eyes partially fading
„I'm glad to see you're out again, Grail. I bet your siblings will be relieved."
The russet she-cat nods with a small smile, a few subtle spasms moving through her right front leg
„Of course. I'm fully back on my duties. I hope you recover soon too, Talon"
Talon nods and turns to move into the healer's den
„Compared to what you had, this is a trifle. Although I'm sure Venom will find a way to correct me on that. See you later, Grail"
Pushing through into the healer's den, Talon slowly moves to one of the empty nests, most of the ones closest to the entrance now already occupied. He stops briefly by one of the nearest free ones, a strong desire to relieve his legs of the weight they carry and let himself fall into it, right by the other cats that fought alongside him today, lies like a heavy blanket over much of his mind. A deep frustration spreads through him and a sigh escapes. What if Kestrel returns with informations? Or something else occurs that not everyone needs to hear? Narrowly avoiding pulling a grimace at his displeasure at not being able to rest at the side of the other warriors, the red eyed tom drags himself further into the den. He finally lets himself fall into a nest near the far right wall of the den. Shifting a few times for the nesting not to touch his wounds, neither on his chest, nor his shoulder, he at last finds a comfortable position.
From a little distance he watches as Venom moves from one wounded warrior to the next, checking their injuries and instructing Rain on the herbs he is to make ready for her, the small male immediately at her side from the moment she stepped back into the healer's den. With a small chuckle to himself, Talon watches the young tom take in every word Venom speaks, before bounding away to their storage and sorting out the leaves and herbs he's been told to. Such an eagerness to learn. In time, he may very well become a great healer under Venom's guidance.
After spending a bit longer by Frost's side, feeling his leg, presumably trying to find wether there is a fracture or not, she lastly approaches Talon.
„And here we have the triumphant leader. Let's see"
Knowing the procedure somewhat by now, Talon shifts to allow Venom to access the wounds without much trouble. He grinds his jaws as he feels her tug a bit on him with her paw to see exactly how deep the cuts go, observing it, cautiously scenting it, before sitting down.
„Well, it's a lot of swipes, but none got deep enough to hit anything worthwhile. Otherwise you would not have gotten back on your own paws anyway. Bit of poultice to prevent infection and to encourage healing, and you'll be just fine. But beyond the gathering tomorrow, you should remain in a nest for at least a few days"
Talon nods for a moment, between the pain, the still slightly present mallow after battle and the thoughts about the found kitten not entirely present. It takes several heartbeats, as Venom already tuned away and heads to the storage to make use of the herbs Rain has sorted out for her, that a deep annoyance washes over the red eyed tom. He is supposed to meet with Ashfur after the gathering… Angrily sighing to himself, Talon considers his options. He could disregard Venom and go anyway, but not only would that prompt the she-cat's petty vindictive side with certainty, he might not be of much use anyway in his condition. The last few streets before arriving back home had been difficult and it'd take a few days at least for him to regain his strength after losing that much blood. But he can't tell the Thunderclan tom that he'd not be there either. After how their last meeting went, not showing up risks damaging Ashfur's resolve in their training, putting at risk the entire thing. How to solve this mess now…
Talon's displeased pondering is interrupted by a soft mewling nearby. Turning his head, he sees movement in one of the nearby nests, a small brown ear moving briefly in and out of vision over the nest's edge. Rain bounds over, checking on the little one deposited there for warmth, a soft smile on the otherwise slightly nervous young tom as tiny paws try to blindly bat at his own. Part of Talon's frustration eases off of him at the sight
„Do we know if Daze will take her on already?"
Rain slightly jumps as he is addressed, dipping his head at Talon
„No, Talon! But Venom told me to go ask as soon as everyone got first treatment."
Talon nods with a quiet hum, looking over at Venom. The tortoiseshell she-cat wanders back and forth between Rain's neatly prepared packets of herbs and her patients, lost in deep focus on her work
„I believe she can take it from here. And the earlier we have an answer on the matter, the better. Go ask Daze now."
Rain nods quickly and deeply, immediately taking off out of the den on his new assignment.
„Dependable boy, let's hope he loses the skittishness in time, eh?"
Talon looks over to the origin of the remark, Frost laying in the nest, his injured leg stretched out from him as Venom cautiously cares for it. The Amber eyed tom looks after Rain for a moment still after he raced out of the de, before returning Talon's gaze. Talon lays down his head on the edge of the nest
„Learning under Venom, he'll become a little more assertive in time, I'm certain. Well fought today, Frost. I'm sure a few of us will be adding new teeth to the collar after this. They weren't half bad"
Frost nods with a grin
„I might actually, yes. Did not expect mine to go for a low bite, got me pretty good. But we showed them! And you did too! A doghunt and a rogue incursion beaten back to report, the other leaders will see that you defend the clan as Scourge once did when we tell them"
Talon scoffs with a small grin
„I doubt Scourge would be lying in the healer's den after this, but sure. But I fear that the focus this gathering will be on the trouble between Ice, Snake and Wrath anyway."
„Trouble on one side, a protector and unifier on the other… Maybe some of their cats will rather run off and join us instead before they begin slaughtering each other up there."
Talon looks ahead at nothing in particular, thoughts mulling in his mind as his gaze grow a bit more distant
„Maybe… we did hope for that after the forest raid and the result then was less overwhelming than we hoped. But if nothing else it'll remind them that we're willing to fight to keep our own safe still."
Frost chuckles, leaning back a little, his tail flicking behind him
„That they will. Heh, some cats are feeling safer under your leadership for sure. I know Grail doeaaaaah!"
The white tom thrashes slightly, looking up at the healer at work on his legs, his narrowed eyes quickly softening as they are met by Venom's gaze. The small, polite smile on the she-cat's face utterly fails to disguise the blazing of her eyes down upon the warrior, one of her claws down one of the small yet deep wounds of his bite.
„Need to get the poultice deep in there, Frost. Lest this little sore leaks something it's not supposed to… Some things take time to get better and trying to rush it isn't helpful. Got it?"
The amber eyed tom nods slowly, his tail swaying in annoyance but recognising his current disadvantage sufficiently to not answer back as he huffs from the sudden pain. Venom keeps him in her sight a few heartbeats longer, before slowly getting back to treating the leg, rather than mistreating it. Talon is left a bit out to dry with the sudden end of the discussion, his only consolation the sight of an accomplished warrior shrinking under the healer's wrath. Grail… if any cat would have an excuse to feel less safe around Talon it'd be her after the doghunt. Unless that is not what they mean at all. With mild embarrassment burning in his ears, Talon has to admit that it would make sense of a few things. Comments, looks… it'd explain whatever unspoken words had been going between Venom and Grail while she was in the healer's den. She's a beautiful she-cat for sure. He hadn't thought of it that way yet, his mind always too occupied, but Grail's presence has indeed always been pleasant. But even so, is this the right time? Talon looks down at the gashes in his chest, the feeling of weakness in his legs and a lightness in his head still very much present. Matters will only become more dangerous from here on. Even the attempt at mateship could end up making Grail a target. After his doghunt already left her injured and possibly damaged for life, he could end up putting her in danger yet again, for even more selfish a reason this time.
Shaking his head slowly, the dark grey tom tries to clear the matter from his thoughts for now. This can still be addressed later. Venom stalking over to take care of his wounds after seeming to have finished with Frost for now, he shifts again for the she-cat to be able to work with no obstructions. As she wordlessly goes about her task, Talon's thoughts drift back to the forest. He needs to find a solution to this before the gathering tomorrow still, making it the current priority. Giving some semi-conscious grunts as poultice is licked deep into the wounds, causing a stinging pain to flare up, the red eyed leader's thoughts circle. He's useless as mentor in his current condition. But perhaps another wouldn't be. Frost, Kestrel and Silver are all in the know about Ashfur. Frost is confined to the healer's den and Kestrel is not the greatest of fighters by a long shot. But Silver, he has helped many of their younger warriors train and is easily one of the most trustworthy cats Talon knows. Not to mention that he took the news of Ashfur's training very calmly, opposed to Frost. Perhaps… Talon would need to ask the older veteran warrior if he could do him this favour given the chance.
A bit of calm enters the dark pelted tom's mind again as the issue occupying it holds a solution it appears. Looking over, he watches as Venom diligently and carefully closes the open wound with cobwebs and larger leaves. The healer finishing up her work, Talon gives her a grateful nod. Past the tortoiseshell female though, Talon's eye catches a motion among the gloom near the den's entrance, the sparkle of an eye reflecting the light from outside. Moon sits silently there, her gaze on Talon. A slightly troubled expression paints the experienced veteran warrior's face as she waits patiently for Venom to leave Talon's side before she approaches. The tip of Talon's tail taps against the bedding, the feeling that some sort of trouble is afoot laying heavy in his gut at the sight. Has something occurred in the brief time he's been in the healer's den? No, there would likely be more commotion outside…
„Greetings again, Moon. Anything to report?"
The black pelted female sits down by Talon's nest. She casts a brief, discreet look over her shoulder with her good eye at the other current inhabitants of the den, turning only back towards Talon once she seems positive that everyone's attention lies somewhere else than them. Her tone is quiet, almost silent enough to be hard to hear for Talon, even up this close, though his bloodloss no doubt is partly at fault for that.
„Yes. The kit was not all there was behind the dumpsters."
Talon raises one brow, slowly turning to lay semi comfortably again, visually intrigued at her words. With a flick of his nicked ear, Talon urges the veteran warrior to go on.
„Dog meat, Talon. We've all wondered why what we got off that dog didn't last us longer… It seems some never made it back to camp and ended up there."
Talon's eyes narrow, his neck fur bristling slightly as anger courses through him. So there was more after all. Stolen from under their noses, from under Bloodclan's nose, while they now need to worry about a possible famine. But it could not have been the rogues, the dog was at the border with Wraith and under guard while they harvested what they could off of it. The traitor… this must be the work of the traitor Scourge spoke of
„So… at best we have a filthy thief and hoarder among us, and at worst some cat has lured food desperate rogues onto our territory on purpose with meat we desperately needed ourselves…"
Moon slowly nods, her claws pressing against the stone under her, the agitation very real in the usually calm she-cat
„So far only the warriors that stayed to gather food after the battle know what was hidden there… and I'm afraid Rover noticed that I was on edge. He managed to get it out of me. He knows to now"
Talon's tail lashes back and forth, but his pelt slowly lays back down. Understandable, but unwise. Until the traitor is caught, s few cats as possible should know.
„You should not have told him, Moon. Rover is certainly not the first I would suspect, but every cat more that knows grows the risk of the hoarder finding out what we know."
She nods again, keeping her head slightly lowered. Talon scuffs and shakes his head
„No helping it now. Since he knows, he might as well help solve this. You two return, search the area. Anything you find, you report to me, not a word to anyone else… And get Kestrel in here. If any cat might know something worthwhile, it'd be him."
„As you command, Talon"
The black pelted warrior nods one final time before getting up and padding out of the healer's den at a quick pace. Talon sighs and lays a paw onto his head, a slight headache forming. All of this is assuming the hoarder wasn't among the other cats that stayed to salvage food after the battle… the culprit could have been among them, already aware that their stash has been discovered, trying to erase any trace leading back to them. Moreover, if the traitor wasn't just hoarding, but deliberately luring rogues onto their territory, then what was the goal of it? Testing their reaction? Diverting attention from something else? The only cat with the means to find out if something else is going on within reasonable time, and the ability to help coordinate measures against any further surprises is his second-in-command, Kestrel. Talon silently huffs as he lets the paw atop his head trail down his face. How ironic that he already must lean this much on the cat he'd been suspecting for the longest time. The idea that one of his own would be stealing food when the clan needs it most, for whatever the reason, twists Talon's stomach to knot. The traitor must be found, for the safety of the clan, lest they cause even more damage…