Crowpaw stared down into the hollow, it had several small dens around the edge as well as pile of prey in the center. It really is just like a Clan camp! Crowpaw realizes, finally feeling a sense of familiarity. Beside Crowpaw, Flint stepped into the hollow with confidence. Crowpaw was slightly less confident, unsure of the cats he would meet or what they would think of him. He awkwardly followed Flint down into the hollow.
The first cat Crowpaw spotted what a sleek black she-cat with deep blue eyes. "Where have you been?" The she-cat asked, looking at Flint with a mixture of emotions. One of them was soft, the other was a bit harsher.
"You know," Flint shrugged, facing the she-cat. "The usual."
"Starting fights with dogs?" The she-cat lashed her tail. "You know have two kits right? You can't risk your tail by running away from dogs."
"Both me and my tail are fine." Flint purred. "Plus, no dog can outrun me." He puffed out his chest. It was at this point that the she-cat noticed Crowpaw standing just behind Flint.
"Who's this?" She questioned. "He looks new."
"This," Flint stepped back and nudged Crowpaw forward. "Is Crowpaw. I found him by the river, he's got a hurt paw. I was thinking Ivy could take a look at it."
The she-cat narrowed her eyes at Crowpaw. "You'll have to ask Cooper first, but I'm sure he'll allow it."
"I think so too." Flint held his head high while the she-cat stepped closer to Crowpaw.
"My name is Sabra, by the way." She said kindly. "As long as you're nice to the cats around here, Cooper should welcome you."
"Cooper?" Crowpaw tried to stop his voice from trembling. Cooper sounded like the leader of this group.
"Cooper is sort of our leader around here." Sabra explained. "We're free to come and go as we please, but while we stay here he kind of makes the rules."
"I see." Crowpaw mewed, Clan cats didn't have the option to come and go but at least this group had a leader.
"Speaking of," Flint stepped in beside Crowpaw. "I'm going to take him to Cooper, he's here right?"
Sabra nodded. "I think most everyone is, they're just in their dens. I'm pretty sure Leo and Rudy are out hunting."
"Wonderful." Flint leaned in, touching his nose to Sabra's. "I'll be back in just a bit, tell the kits I'll be there soon."
"Will do." Sabra purred, looking at Flint with just pure love in his eyes. She nodded towards Flint and padded towards the closest den. Crowpaw could get the faint scent of milk from the den, it reminded him of the nursery back in MoonClan. They have kits here too, but it looks like everyone has their own separate dens. Crowpaw noted.
"This way." Flint motioned with his towards a den at the very back of camp that looked larger than the others. Crowpaw walked with Flint, with a slight feeling that eyes were watching him. How many cats lived here? Sabra said that most everyone was in their dens.
They crossed the small camp and reached the den where Flint poked his head in. "You in here, Cooper?" He questioned.
"Yes," A deep voice replied. "What is it, Flint?"
"I found a stray out by the river." Flint explained. A stray? "He's got a pretty nasty wound on his paw, I think Ivy could look at it."
"Let me see." Flint looked back at Crowpaw and nodded with his head to step inside. Crowpaw followed despite his slight tremble. Inside was a large mottled brown tom. The way he held himself reminded Crowpaw of Owlstar. "You're the cat? What's your name?" Crowpaw felt slightly intimidated, but he swallowed his nerves and answered.
"Crowpaw." He replied, keeping his voice steady. He held his paw out for Cooper to see. Cooper looked at his paw, giving it a slight sniff.
"That is pretty bad." Cooper nodded. "I'm sure Ivy will be able to take care of you. Come with me." Cooper brushed past Crowpaw and Flint outside of his den. Crowpaw turned and watched Cooper walk to the den next to his own. "This Ivy's den, Ivy is my daughter and she's been taught about herbs." He explained. "Ivy," He poked his head into the den. "Can you come out here, please?"
After a brief moment a she-cat stepped out into the light. Crowpaw couldn't help but stare when he saw her. She was a beautiful gray tortoiseshell with soft, kind green eyes. On her forehead she had a pure white marking in the shape of a star, it reminded him of the star in his dreams.
Ivy looked at Crowpaw with curious eyes. "Hi there." She greeted with a sweet voice. Crowpaw had to take a moment to shake his head.
"Hi." He replied awkwardly.
Beside Crowpaw, Flint let out a chuckle. "I'll leave you all to your business." He flicked his tail over Crowpaw's ears and went over to his and Sabra's den.
"Ivy this is Crowpaw." Cooper explained. "Flint found him and he has an infected wound on his paw. We were wondering if you could treat it?"
"Let me see it." Ivy stepped forward and Crowpaw held out his paw. The she-cat gave it a sniff and then looked up at Crowpaw. "Yeah, I can treat this. I have the herbs for it."
"Great." Cooper dipped his head. "I'll let you treat him, let me know how it goes." He looked at Crowpaw for a moment before returning to his own den.
"Come with me." Ivy mewed kindly and turned back into her den while Crowpaw awkwardly followed her. Her den was spacious and smelled strongly of herbs, it brought back memories of the medicine cat den. "Sit down." She instructed kindly and grabbed a mouthful of herbs, including cobweb and the golden herb that Skyclaw used.
Ivy chewed the herb into a poultice and rubbed it on his paw. The juices of the herbs were instantly soothing to Crowpaw. "So, where are you from? Are you a kittypet? Rogue? Loner?" She looked up with curiosity as she wrapped his paw with cobwebs.
Crowpaw thought for a moment, he supposed that he was a loner. Since he had been living away from the Clans for over a moon. "I'm a loner, but I'm not from around here. I came from quite a long ways away.
"Oooh." Ivy purred. "Sounds interesting." She started cleaning up her herbs. "So what's your story?"
"My story?" Crowpaw asked, tilting his head.
"Every cat has a story. Why are you travelling?" Ivy turned back to look at him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'm just interested." She licked her chest out of embarrassment. "Sorry if I'm being nosy."
"You're not." Crowpaw assured her, he never considered that every cat had a story. His own wasn't exactly a happy one.
"Good to know." Ivy's eyes glowed for a moment, then she looked at his paw. "I should be able to treat the infection, but it might take a while for your paw to fully heal. I'm sure my father would let you stay here, but when you're better you would have to provide."
"Provide?" Crowpaw questioned, looking at his paw.
Ivy nodded. "Every cat around here is required to provide through hunting. You won't be able to hunt on that paw, but when it's healed you would just have to hunt for us for a while and then you would be free to go, well you're always free to go but you'd be expected to hunt."
"I see." Crowpaw thought for a moment, wondering if staying here was a good idea. He would have his paw treated and he would have plenty of prey. Maybe it would be good for him to live with a group again, plus he could leave whenever he wanted. Not to mention, part of him really wanted to get to know Ivy. He wasn't sure what is was about her, but she had already caught his interest. "I guess I'll stay if you'll let me."
Ivy's lit up. "That's wonderful. Let's go tell my father." She stood up and helped Crowpaw to his own paws. They stepped out of Ivy's den and Crowpaw noticed that two more cats had stepped inside the camp. One was a huge golden tom with fur that puffed up around his neck like a lion. The other was a smaller, yet still pretty large brown tabby she-cat.
Crowpaw turned his attention back to Ivy who was approaching her father's den. "Father," She called before stepping inside, Crowpaw stepped inside after her. "I can treat Crowpaw's wound, but he won't be able to care for himself for a while. Could he stay here with us, at least until he's better? I already explained to him that after his paw is healed he will have to hunt as well."
Cooper looked at Crowpaw with interest in his amber eyes. "You understand that you'll have to hunt when you're healed?"
Crowpaw nodded. "Yes I do."
Cooper dipped his head. "Then you can stay here." He stood up. "I should tell the rest, and we can find you a den to stay in." Crowpaw followed Ivy and Cooper outside of the den where more cats had stepped outside. They all looked to Cooper as he stepped into view. Crowpaw also felt several gazes burning into his. "Everyone," Cooper called out, his voice echoing similar to how Owlstar's would during a Clan meeting. "This is Crowpaw, a cat that Flint found and brought back so he could have an infected wound treated by Ivy. He will be staying with us at least until his paw is healed and he has hunted for us." The brown tabby she-cat from earlier muttered something to the large golden tom as they looked at Crowpaw. "I trust you will all make Crowpaw feel welcome."
With that, Cooper turned back to his den and Crowpaw heard the squeaks of kits. He turned his head where he saw sleek, thin she-cat with tan fur and darker markings step out of a den with two kits running out from behind her. Both were tabbies, but the she-cat had green eyes and was golden brown. The other had amber eyes and was a darker brown. They stopped and looked at Crowpaw with interest.
"You're new." The she-cat pointed out, looking at the tom for a moment then back to Crowpaw. "Who are you?"
"I'm Crowpaw." He said awkwardly.
"That's a really weird name." The tom snorted.
The tan she-cat nudged the kits. "Finch, Buttercup, don't be rude." She scolded lightly. "Go to your parents, they're back from hunting." The kits let out squeals of excitement and bounded off towards the golden tom and the brown tabby she-cat. The tan she-cat faced Crowpaw, he was slightly taken aback but her bright blue eyes. "Sorry about them." She purred. "Kits will be kits."
"It's quite alright." Crowpaw mewed. "I've been around kits before, and they're right; my name is weird." He heard a slight giggle from Ivy beside him.
The she-cat's eyes were soft. "My name is Raindrop. Welcome to our little camp, Crowpaw. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you." Crowpaw felt touched by the she-cats kind voice. He felt Ivy nudging him forward.
"Come on," She said playfully. "You should meet the other cats. There's not many more, but still." She urged forward and he followed. They approached the two cats that he didn't know, the parents of Finch and Buttercup.
"You must be Crowpaw." The large golden tom greeted. "My name is Leo and this is my mate Rudy."
"It's nice to meet you." Rudy said kindly, looking down at Finch and Buttercup while they wrestled at their father's paws.
"You as well." Crowpaw dipped his head, feeling grateful that all the cats he had met were so nice.
He heard squeaking and looked over towards Sabra's den where he saw two more kits come tumbling out. One of them was black and white and the other was a black tabby, both she-cats. Flint quickly followed them, his amber eyes resting on Crowpaw.
"Crowpaw!" He exclaimed. "How's your paw?" He questioned, looking at Ivy. "She didn't hurt you more did she?" Ivy snorted but Crowpaw could see the playful look in her eyes.
"No." Crowpaw chuckled. "And it's feeling better, thanks to her."
"That's great news. I also heard that you're staying here." Flint's eyes sparkled. "That's pretty cool too. Also," He turned to look at what Crowpaw assumed were his kits. "This is Firefly and this is Starling. My two daughters." He held his head proudly. Firefly was the black and white she-cat and Starling was the tabby.
"It's nice to meet you, Crowpaw!" Starling exclaimed and her sister nodded along.
"That's everyone." Ivy said, her voice light. "There's not many of us, but we all work together, I'm sure you'll be pretty close with everyone here shortly."
"Everyone's been really nice so far." Crowpaw looked at Ivy, her eyes soft. "Thanks for welcoming me."
"Of course." Ivy purred. "Now let's get you a den, you need to rest that paw." Crowpaw agreed and followed Ivy as she led him to an empty den near her own. He couldn't help but feel a glimmer of joy and hope, what was his future with this group of cats? Maybe he had finally found his new home.