{BaNdAgInG tHe WoUnD}

[Shadow Spirit]

Flowers color her fur...

Step, step, step. Just a few more fox lengths and she would be in StoneClan's camp, their main camp; their home. As strong a leader as she was, Lillystar never found it easy to enter another's camp. It felt...wrong...like it was a boundary she shouldn't cross, but she had a reason for being here. A mission one might call it. She heard from her patrols around the StoneClan borders that their medicine cat was not looking well. Brief conversations between her clanmates and theirs had unearthed the mystery of Chainless's dissapearance from normal life. She was miserable, or at least everyone seemed to think so. As leader of another clan there wasn't normally anything that Lillystar could do for StoneClan's medicine cat, but this situation was dramatically different.

With Snowstar's admittance, she padded calmly across the middle of StoneClan's camp. The stone felt ice cold underfoot and she hoped that Chainless would be easy to find. Coming to a stop in front of the medicine den, she scented for the white she-cat with the wondrous eyes. Sitting and curling her thick tail over her chilled paws, she called out and into the den.

"Chainless, are you in there?" she addressed the cold rocks. "This is Lillystar, and I want to offer you something, would you come out and speak to me?"

...justice rules her mind.

[Chainless]

Misery was a kindly word to describe the medicine cat’s true condition.

She had been sleeping in the furthest back of her den, as she actually did much these days, when a voice reached her flattened ears. The tone nor the words were not made out at first, it was probably another apprentice looking to get a bramble from their paw…seemed to be enough of those lately. Or her brother, checking up on her, but those visits were less frequent as the white she-cat faded away. It took a struggle, paws scrabbling at the ground feebly, nearly in a panic when she realized her strength had faltered so much she could hardly even stand, before she managed to truly claw her way to her paws and head to the entrance of her den.

“Yes?” Her voice called out, still as soft and beautiful as the entirety she once possessed. This cat was no apprentice, no Stoneclanner, but the leader of Mistclan herself. “What do I owe for the honor of this visit?” Respectful, impeccably polite, the skinny medicine cat wavered weakly on her paws before sitting down, leveling her gaze on the leader.

It had to be something important, for Lillystar to come all the way into Stoneclan’s camp, instead of speaking with her when she was out gathering herbs…although those days might soon end anyway.

[Shadow Spirit]

The leader's gaze softened immediately when she saw the condition of StoneClan's medicine cat. Her body was as weak as a newly-hatched chick, seeming almost to tired to keep her on her paws. Gazing into those haunting, mismatched eyes, Lillystar saw nothing but pain reflected in them. Lowering her voice an octave, she spoke again.

"I see the rumors were true...dear Chainless...what has become of you?" she asked, feeling choked with compassion for the mother of one her own clan kits.

Perhaps Starpaw would have been a StoneClan cat, had she been born to another...but because of her circumstances she was not. This poor she-cat had entrusted Lillystar with the life of her very own daughter. What had caused her to fall so far from the once proud medicine cat she had been?

[Chainless]

Ah, there was still pride, so much pride. At the hint of pity from the Mistclan cat Chainless stiffened, gathering strength she should not use for this, raising her head and giving Lillystar a good strong look. Even as she straightened, did her best to belay the enviable, her front legs shook – begging for release from such suffering. “Life is life, Lillystar. I cannot change the fate Starclan chose for me no more then any other feline can.”

But then…that burst of strength faded and the medicine cat seemed to sink back into the body that confined her to this waking world. “I tire. Tell me what reason you sought me out, so that I might once more return to my rest.”

[ooc ;; They grow shooorter.]

[Shadow Spirit]

Lillystar stiffened. She hadn't meant to offend Chainless, not at all. How to phrase this suggestion...she didn't seem to have that much time to ponder it.

"Chainless, I can see you are faltering...not to bring any cruelty upon you, but clearly you are suffering...and I would like to try and better some of it..." she started, tripping over words for maybe the first time in her life. "How would you like it, if I brought your daughter to see you, just for the day?" "She's grown so much, even been made an apprentice now...I truly think you would be amazed at her...she is a wonderful little cat..."

Lillystar waited, chest tight with anxiety.

[Chainless]

It hadn’t been much of an offense; in truth…she just no longer had the energy to worry about it becoming an offense. The she-cat sighed tiredly, tail flicking a few times as she calmly waited for what the Mistclan leader had to say – and wondering herself about something she too wished to ask the leader not that she was here. But Lillystar answered her question before it could even be uttered, speaking about the current state of her daughter, Starpaw, and a new light of quiet joy joined the pride in the white medicine cat’s mismatched eyes.

“I’m glad that my daughter has done your clan some good…and I would love to see her again before…but what will you tell her, concerning such a visit?” A quick change of subject indeed. Had Lillystar broken her word, and told the young apprentice her roots were not actually in Mistclan – but from another clan? Or had Umberwings; Chainless had never been close to her half sister and only spoken to her a pawful of times; but felt deep in her heart that her sister would not have said anything she knew that Chainless would not want said.

[Shadow Spirit]

This question made her falter. Just how would she phrase this to the snowy kit she thought of like her own kin?

"I suppose, I will tell her that it is a tradition...an old tradition...to take a very special apprentice from our clan and let her spend a day with a wise cat from StoneClan..." she said, stumbling over the right choice of words. "I don't think she'll challenge me on it, no matter how absurd it sounds...but I'll ask her to keep it a secret from her friends, since she's been picked out special and all..."

The mottled leader paused and gave Chainless a worried stare.

"I promise this is all for you, my friend...so don't fret...I will bring you together, you need only set a time and place..."

[Chainless]

“…and what kit would doubt the word of her clan leader?” Chainless continued what Lillystar had been saying, looking wearier and wearier. Lying down, Chainless appeared unwilling to budge from her spot – it was comfortable enough here. No one…really bugged her much anymore; aside from Loveless popping in. She wondered why? Still, it would be nice enough to see her daughter again before the enviable eventually came along…and she was rather tired.

“Pick the time and place, Lillystar? Any time and any place is enough, as long as I can see my daughter once again.” Settling her head in her paws, Chainless watched Lillystar, thinking to herself – “I can still make it to the clan borders. Tell me when I must be there to see her, and I shall.”

She didn’t wish to have little Starpaw brought directly into Stoneclan camp. They were nearly identical in looks, save for ages and of course current health, and the medicine cat did not wish for someone to say something concerning it while the young cat was present. She was happy, apparently, in Mistclan…and knew no differently to her true origins. Chainless did not wish for that happiness to ever change.

[Shadow Spirit]

Sympathy glowed in the leader's eyes once again. She hated to pity Chainless as she was once such an incredible force for her clan, but now...she seemed only half herself. Thinking carefully, she decided that Starpaw would meet her mother as soon as possible.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken Starpaw is out on a hunting lesson with her mentor Shadowstreak...so as soon as she returns, I will bring her to the border between our clans," she said, watching Chainless calmly. "Come to the border just before the moon rises...and you shall see your daughter.

Realizing she'd spent quite enough time away from her clan, she trotted quickly away. It was never a good idea to overstay your welcome in another clan, no matter how civil they seemed.

[Shadow Spirit]

OOC: Umbee-luff, are we still going through with this? It's been a long time in coming and I hope Chainless is still alive...o-o