Blackpelt walks to the bottom of the Highstump, and sits down, tail flicking about. He seems.... unstable, like he hasn't had a good night's sleep in almost a moon. He takes a deep breath, and licks at his chest, trying to calm down. I'm not seeing any of them....yet. Why am I so jumpy? Am I coming down with something? His eyes flick from one cat to another, bloodshot and somewhat wild. His small frame, matted pelt, and wild eyes make him look somewhat crazy.

As she felt the grey tom’s tail twine with hers properly, Spidernose too began to purr, as much in contentment this time as it was to comfort Stonefall. She still couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling or how stressed he must be, but the she-cat knew she would be willing to sit at his side and offer him any support he could possibly want. One ear angled slightly backwards to catch the deputy’s words, though her eyes faced forward and gave her full attention to their leader whilst Fernstar prepared to make her announcement.
“And I yours...I know you’re deputy now and that’s important but...if you need a shoulder to lean on.” You always have me. While it might not quite be official yet, if Stonefall ever did ask her, well, Spidernose would undoubtedly say “yes”. Or perhaps, when an appropriate time presented itself, she would ask him herself...

She couldn’t quite finish the sentence before Fernstar began addressing the Clan, but she hoped the quick blink she gave the tom would convey the rest of it well enough. “We are very glad to have you back, Fernstar. A lot happened in your absence." the warrior held her tongue from saying much more, however, allowing Duskwing to explain things herself. No doubt Fernstar would want to speak to her deputy about this...

Frogkit hadn’t been in the nursery when the rogues arrived in camp and the Clan deputy had sent them into the den, and perhaps that was for the best, there was no telling the questions she would have bugged them with. Who are you? Where’d you come from? Why do you smell so stinky? To name but a few. In fact, the small kit had spotted Blackpelt and Fernstar leaving camp earlier and taken that as a prime opportunity to sneak into the medicine cat’s den and explore.

The tom never let her look in his den, it wasn’t fair! There was no need to be so darn mean, he acted like she was going to eat all his herbs, but all Frogkit wanted to do was look around, honest! But with the medicine cat gone, the little tortie-and-cream kit was easily able to slip past the unsuspecting eyes of her older Clanmates, all preoccupied with some sort of important “grown up warriors” thing that Frogkit didn’t really care about, and wiggle her way into the den.
Using her nose, she followed the strong smell of herby-ness towards the herb store, her eyes shining brightly as she began running from one crevice to the next to investigate its contents.

Thankfully, Blackpelt had kept all the dangerous herbs high up where a little kit like her couldn’t reach - though she tried, and after a few jumps, which ended in her falling back to the ground on her bottom with a bump and an annoyed huff of air. The she-kit’s tail lashed and she instead found the cobwebs. She’d never touched those before...they looked interesting. So, she stretched forward to push her nose into the silky strands, only to pull a face and jump back, her tiny tail shooting straight up and her fur poofing out with a squeal. “Ewwww, it’s slimy!!” she squeaked out to no one in particular, she was the only one in the den after all, but that wouldn’t stop Frogkit from announcing her displeasure. She shook herself out crossly, sneezing several times from the small amount of cobwebs that had stuck to her nose and only succeeding in dislodging one clump, the other still hung there fluttering in the breeze as she got distracted by the next most interesting thing.

Some sort of bug, she didn’t know its name, but it was brown, and quite big, and it waddled really funny, skittered across the path of her paws and the tortie-and-cream kit was soon skittering after it. As she came out of the den, she noted the rest of the Clan all seemed to be gathered in quite a big group and she suddenly noticed the raised voices as Blackpelt and Fernstar had clearly returned. Raising her little nose to sniff more, she made another “icky” face as she caught the scent of strange cats, and...something very, very smelly that they’d apparently rolled in. Gross!

Frogkit looked across to see Spidernose trotting away to join Sunfur and Stormheart, and though she’d started towards her big sister she was dismayed to find them heading for the camp entrance. “Noooo, Spidernose waittt don’t leave! Spidernoseee!” she whined, but it was too late and the warrior was out of earshot, her tail disappearing through the entryway before Frogkit could get to her. “Spiderrr, where you goin’, why’s the nursery so stinky! I gotta sleep in there!” the kit sighed dramatically and flopped down onto her bottom in the middle of camp, her stubby ears pricking up as she managed to catch just a few words exchanged by the leader and deputy.

What was a rogue? Was that what smelled so horrible? She spotted Duskwing across the camp, heading for the warrior’s den, and bounced across towards the older she-cat to ask her. “Duskwinggg, there’s somethin’ icky in the nursery! It smells funny and I live there, that’s not nice! Why’s it smell, what’s everybody so excited about an’ an’ what’s a rogue?!” she blurted out every question on her mind all at once, the little piece of cobweb from the medicine den still hanging off her tiny black nose.

His ears flick up, and he bolts to the warriors den, flying past the warriors frantically. He skids to a stop, and grabs Frogkit by the scruff, picking her up with a low growl. He's very, very angry and scared for her safety. He holds her there for a moment, just letting her dangle by her scruff, ignoring any protests. He sets her down after a bit, his eyes slits. She's never seen him this furious. "Frogkit! What have I told you about messing with my herbs? You could easily get hurt, or make yourself sick with them! Never, and I mean never, touch them without my permission. Do you understand me?" He stares at the little kit, tail lashing behind him in anger, ears pulled back.

As Fernstar instructed Spidernose to resume the hunting patrol with Stormheart and Sunfur - which Sunfur had been about to lead anyways before the leader and medicine cat arrived back at camp - the brown-and-cream she-cat dipped her chin in confirmation, her tail flicking up to brush along Stonefall’s flank soothingly as she passed him, almost as if Spidernose were trying to tell him that everything was going to be okay, and she’d come to sit with him later once they were both back in the warrior’s den later. Then, she hastily trotted over to join the rest of her patrol, the three warriors leaving camp so quickly and so laser-focused on hunting that she didn’t even hear her younger sister calling out to her before they were out into the territory.

She kept her ears up to listen, and every few paces opened her jaws to try and draw in more scent, but most of the trails seemed to be stale by now. The whisps of their breath blowing from their muzzles were a dead giveaway.
"Where do you think is the best place to hunt? Stormheart asked, but Sunfur beat her to the answer, so the she-cat simply twitched her whiskers in agreement with the older tom.
“Sunfur’s right. Most of the prey will have gone to ground by now, and I don’t fancy our chances of digging them out. Even if we do get through the snow, the ground’ll be hard by now in this cold, we’d never get through it before we tore our claws or worse.”

That did not leave them with very many options, unfortunately, but flushing voles and mice out of the roots was probably their best bet, right?
"Spidernose, you're the lightest of the three of us. Do you think you could climb this tree…”
Oh, no… Spidernose’s heart sank in dread at the ginger tom’s suggestion. She couldn’t deny that he was right, she was the most slight of build in the hunting patrol, and had the best chance of the spindly, snow-laden branches holding her weight. But it was still only a chance, dear StarClan what if she fell?! She could break a leg!

But she couldn’t very well refuse either, the Clan’s fresh-kill pile was utterly depleted, with at-best more friendly mouths to feed sitting in their nursery, and at worst, suspect rogues that they may need to fight if things went sour. The Clan needed food. She had to go.
So, despite her trepidations, clear from the way her hackles bristled with unease as she padded up to join Sunfur at the base of the tree trunk, Spidernose peered at the branches in question and nodded. “Y-Yeah...Yeah, I think so. W-Worth a shot, right?” she laughed, hoping it would get rid of her nerves, and sprang up to dig her claws into the bark as well as she could, inching herself up the tree trunk until she was level with the branches where the birds had made their nests.



Although Blackpelt hadn’t been rough with the kit when he picked her up, Frogkit hadn’t been expecting to suddenly be whisked off her paws and into the air, and so the movement startled her enough that it still made her squeal in shock. She dangled limply from the medicine cat’s jaws, as all kits did when they were grabbed by the scruff, though soon became indignant as Blackpelt began to scold her and the tiny kit began to twist and squirm in his grasp in an attempt to break free. “Gerroff me! Put me down, y’don’t gotta be a foxbreath! Duskwiiinggg, make him put me doooowwnnn I can walk on my own I don’t gotta be carried!” the tortie-pointed kit whined sulkily, scowling up at him as he did, thankfully, set her down again. Frogkit’s tiny tail shot straight into the air and she let out another huff, sneezing for the final time as the piece of cobweb continued to tickle her nose. This time, it seemed she had finally dislodged it, and she was distracted from her sulking for a moment as she giggled triumphantly and poked it with one paw, then pounced on it to pin it to the ground.

“Aha! Gotcha, ya dumb gross sticky thing! I got it, Duskwing, look, I’m a real hunter now!” she boasted to the warrior proudly, forced to turn back to the medicine cat as Blackpelt continued to scold her about being careful with his herbs. The she-kit rolled her eyes, having heard this lecture too many times to even count on her paws anymore, she could almost recite it in her sleep. “Yeah yeah, we’re not supposed to touch things ‘cause it’s dangerous, I know, Blackpelt!” she sighed dramatically, apparently not seeming to understand what she had done wrong, because she still hadn’t apologised for it. “What’s the big deal anyways, I didn’t eat nothin’, I just touched ‘em! I’m not a dumb kit anymore, I’m big now!” she insisted, puffing out her chest.

He snorts. "Oh really now? Tell me, do you know what could happen if you eat the wrong herb. Hum? You could get sick, or even die. Some of my herbs can't be eaten, they're just applied, because they're dangerous. It's my job to make sure you're back to full health, not to watch careless kits who can't seem to keep their paws where they belong!" His tail lashes around, betraying his seething anger. His eyes are slits, and it's evidently taking all of his self control not to cuff her ear with a paw.

Stonefall realized he’d been almost...zoned out for a moment as cats mulled and moved around him, falling into the roles they were assigned. Meanwhile he’d just...sat. Vanished into the warm feeling of Spidernose next to him, got absorbed by the doubts and worries about the rogues that had crept into the camp, all of his insecurities about not knowing how to protect this Clan as their Deputy...and then Fernstar was padding up to him and he realized Spidernose was gone, off to hunt like the strong Warrior that she was. The grey tom shook his head a little bit, pulling himself from his solemn reverie, straightening his body and wrapping his tail tightly around his paws. ”Sorry, Fernstar,” he started, ears flicking back with a little bit of anxiety. ”I didn’t mean to space out. I’ve got...a lot on my mind.” He took a breath, eyes glancing down at the snow for a moment before he focused his gaze back on Fernstar. ”The rogues found their way into our camp, claiming that they were escaping from a raccoon, but something feels...off. I had them put in the Nursery so that Duskwing could watch them, made sure that Honeypaw and Moosepaw were away and safe from them. Then Sunfur was organizing a patrol to go hunting, and then you got back. But as far as the rogues go, they said they were escaping a raccoon but none of the patrols, myself included, scented any hint of racoon on our territory. Neither did Maplestream. But she did scent the rogues themselves at the edge of our territory, so there’s a chance the racoons were just beyond the border, but…” he twitched a little anxiously, voice lowering in concern. ”But Maplestream is a good warrior. I feel like she would have scented the racoons as well. Something feels off but I don’t know what. What he didn’t voice were his doubts about how he had handled it, worries that his tendencies to overthink were going to be his downfall--the Clan’s downfall? No, never, may StarClan take me first--and that he didn’t deserve this post at all.