Venomrose dipped their head to the guards of ShadowClan's camp as they passed by. Thankfully the obvious bundle of herbs held in their jaws was all they needed to get in. They weren't exactly feeling up to explaining themself to strangers today. It still felt weird making these trips alone. They sighed around the leaves in their mouth and started heading towards ShadowClan's medicine den when suddenly a chill ran down their body, from their nose to all the way to the tip of their tail. It wasn't particularly cold out that day... Something was wrong. The young medicine cat looked around, trying to be discreet about their sudden discomfort, and when their eyes locked onto the leader's den, they suddenly felt like snakes were slithering up their legs and around their neck.
Something bad was lurking there.
Breaking from their trance but trying not to draw anymore attention to themself, they forced their paws to carry them to their original destination as calmly as possible. When they neared the herb-scented cave, they cleared their throat. "Waspsight, are you in?" They called, but didn't wait for an answer before entering, they could smell his scent. They hoped Waspsight would forgive the rudeness, but this visit had suddenly become much more dire. Now that they were away from the eyes of ShadowClan, they began to tremble ever so slightly. They carefully placed down the bundle of herbs before looking at their fellow medicine cat with huge, shaken eyes. "I'm sorry, I just... I just got the most awful feeling when I looked at your leader's den! Please tell me you've felt it too, I-I think there's something wrong." Their tail lashed anxiously as they met Waspsight's gaze, hoping that they didn't sound like they'd lost their mind.
W A S P S I G H T
Waspsight sighed quietly to himself as he finished putting his herbs back into place among the rocky shelves of his den. He had to admit, he was quite tired today. Emotions had run rampant in ShadowClan recently. Since Juncostar lashed out at Hareflight, rumors of their leader's change in attitude spread rapidly among Clanmates. Few had been present to witness the outburst from the somali tom, but Waspsight had heard personally from Crashingtide the circumstances and what he knew had been said from what his mate shared with him. The Clan was worried and cats gave Juncostar a wide birth when they passed him. Things were tense and the anxiety of his Clanmates seemed to weigh on him.
He knew the reason, of course. He might be the only cat in all of ShadowClan to truly understand the situation- that there was an evil spirit possessing their leader. What an outrageous claim it was, but it was the truth, even if no one wanted to admit it. Even if Juncostar himself didn't want to admit it. Sometimes he wondered if he should have changed his approach when he told his leader that something was attached to him, since he didn't listen at the time. Maybe now, he would? Or was it too late?
A familiar voice calling into his den roused his attention from his thoughts. Oh, that's right! I had sent word to Venomrose that I needed to borrow some herbs from them. That must be them now. "Coming!" He called, getting to his paws and making his way towards his fellow medicine cat. Upon seeing them, Waspsight's bi-colored eyes widened slightly in surprise. Venomrose appeared to be rather disturbed, their pelt ruffled and their tail lashing anxiously. In all the moons he had known the younger feline, he had never known them to be someone who lost their composure easily. In fact, if he recalled correctly, he remembered the black tom being sturdy and reliable in the face of the commotion at the last Gathering. What could have ruffled them so badly?
When they spoke about what they felt coming from Juncostar's den, Waspsight relaxed a little, as he knew exactly what they meant. "Ah, yes. I'm sorry you had caught onto that. I'm sure it didn't feel pleasant." The calico tom took a step aside, motioning for Venomrose to settle in the spare, open space of his den. He hoped that he could get his friend to calm down from the unsettling feeling they caught a moment ago, so he remained a certain level of aloof as to not rouse their anxiety any further.
Since the night they had met at Venomrose's medicine cat apprentice initiation, the understanding of Waspsight's ability to see spirits was common knowledge between the two of them, so he explained the situation to his friend without hesitation. "On the night of his nine lives ceremony, Juncostar brought something home with him. It appeared to be to be an evil spirit that latched onto him. Though, I sensed it has a high enough level of intelligence that it knew I could see it, so it hid itself away deep inside of him." The ShadowClan healer paused, a weighted sigh leaving him. Once again, he began to doubt himself in his actions that night. Maybe he could have done something different to prevent things from getting this far. "I told Juncostar what I saw, but he's always been a bit afraid of the paranormal, so he didn't take it seriously... And now, I think that evil spirit is surfacing. Juncostar has been acting all sorts of out of character and the whole Clan is uneasy."