I Never Meant For This To Happen[Icepaw/Open]

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Riddlehawk ran into a camp, a streak of brown fur that darted into the medicine cat's den. He stopped, laying Icepaw down gingerly as he looked around for Rainwing. "Rainwing. He needs your help." He panted, his shoulders still bleeding a good deal from where the little tom had gotten in a few good blows. His single gold eye was a bit worried. Had he just ruined Icepaw's life the same way Froststorm had seemingly ruined Rainwing's?

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Icepaw had stopped fidgeting a while back for fear of doing more harm to his foreleg again, but as soon as he felt solid ground below him again he snapped back. The pale tabby scrambled onto his belly and looked around with wide, fear-stricken eyes. Everything around him smelled of ThunderClan. He couldn't be there! "Look," he gasped, still breathing quickly, "I have to get back to RiverClan. Like, right now!" His good paw used its claws to work at the moss in anxiety.

He glanced at Riddlehawk, but then looked away just as quickly. Being in ThunderClan was one thing by itself. Being in ThunderClan with Riddlehawk so nearby was another. What was he supposed to do? One part of his mind, the most dominant at the moment, told him to get out of there as soon as possible. Another part, smaller but also strong, told him to lash out at him with his good paw. It felt wrong for the scarred tabby to be so near and for Icepaw to just be laying there. But there was nothing he could do in this state except lay there, looking at his crooked leg and bearing the pain.

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"Hmm, what seems to be the problem?" The younge medicine cat padded out of the deepest part of his den, yawning and smell of soothing mint was on his fur. He blinked, the scent of Riverclan filled his nose. It was a familiar scent to him, almost as close to him as the scent of Thunderclan. He blinked, then frowned. Why would he scent Riverclan so close? He saw Riddlehawk first, the Icepaw and realized what probably happened. 'Darn you Froststorm....' He thought, cursing the dead warrior silently. He studied the little apprentice with a careful eye before looking up to Riddlehawk, eyes serious and unhappy as he saw the Riverclan tom's injured paw. "What happened Riddlehawk?"

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The sound of another familiar voice made the fur on the back of his neck prickle and his head swivel around. His claws made a complete hole in the moss nest when he saw the second-most cat he'd never want to be helpless around. It sounded stupid, seeing that Rainwing was a medicine cat and had never really done anything to harm him before, but the same instinctive dislike for this tom was almost as strong as his for Riddlehawk.

Icepaw pushed that needle aside. "Just forget about it," he mewed quickly, wincing as a twinge of pain pierced his paw. "Can you just ask some warriors to take me back to RiverClan? Miraclefur can take care of my leg back at camp." At least there he would be more comfortable. Why did it have to be these two cats?

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Riddlehawk looked at Rainwing, his eyes...erm...eye filled with remorse. He felt bad about breaking Icepaw's leg. "I came across Icepaw whenever I was on patrol. Words were exchanged and we got into it. I fear I might've broken his leg...." He said, moving between Icepaw and the opening to the den. Rainwing's den smelled of mint and it calmed the big tom's mind. Atleast he could think a bit more clearly now.

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Icepaw wanted to growl. Stop ignoring me! The only reason he didn't voice his inner thoughts was due to the fact that he felt so out of place and awkward. But that wasn't enough to silence everything in his head. "You fear you broke it?" The apprentice's eyes at first widened in disbelief before narrowing in anger. "What does it look like? Does this look fine to you? I wouldn't be here if it was!" His ears fell back against his head. The anger was coming from the irritation he felt from being in the ThunderClan cat with the two toms he was told to hate with everything he had. But all the same, he was still repressing the fear from still being near Riddlehawk. He wanted to be back in RiverClan camp right then and there.

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"What's with all the yelling, I can hear it across the camp?" Twitchpaw mewed, entering the den with some fresh herbs before looking at the new apprentice in the den. She dropped the herbs and looked at the paw, "Your not going to be able to train for a while with your paw like that, would you like some poppy seeds for the pain or deal with it?" She looked at him, not worrying that he was yelling. She knew pain caused cats to become very irritated and rash when they fear that more harm could happen. She looked at Rainwing then Riddlehawk, "What do you two look..... off?"

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Rainwing studied Riddlehawk, an unreadable expression on his face. Icepaw was just an apprentice, no match for a cat like Riddlehawk. So why had Riddlehawk gone along with the fight? Just like Froststorm had...He broke away from his thoughts as he turned to Twitchpaw and Icepaw, frowning as he examined the leg as well. Thankfully, it didn't look too terrible. "You can't make the trip to Riverclan in that condition Icepaw, that would only make it worse. You could end up with a permanent limp." He meowed calmly before looking to his apprentice. "It's nothing Twitchpaw, can you please fetch the poppy seeds and supplies to make a splint?"

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"Sure," Twitchpaw mewed, heading off to get the supplies, hoping that Icepaw's paw would heal properly. She came back, setting the poppy seeds in front of Icepaw, "Make sure to eat them all, since setting your paw properly will hurt rather badly if you don't and since your uncomfortable, it will also help calm your nerves," Twitchpaw mewed with a smile, trying to ease the apprentices unease, knowing that his feelings could make dealing with his paw much worse.

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Riddlehawk turned and snarled at Icepaw whenever he voiced his comment. "Look you little snot-nosed mousebrain kit, If you hadn't gone and launched yourself in my face and tried to blind me I wouldn't have hit you back. But you did so it's your fault your in this mess. Understand?" Irritation rolled off this tom's fur and his fur was slightly raised making him look even BIGGER. Why did he have to be so large? Must have been the fact he was an only kit and the fact that his parents both had small bobcats in their heritage. Great. He was destined to be a freak from before birth.

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"Riddlehawk, enough!" The voice of the young medicine cat overpowered that of his elder and he turned to him sharply. Starclan only knows the scorn of medicine cat.... He wasn't as large as his former mentor, no, and he definately didn't have the fighting skills he did, but here he was the boss. He growled angrily, eyes narrowed in pure impatience. "I don't need you two fighting it out in here. I don't care who started it, but I do know that you are the deputy of Thunderclan and he's just an apprentice! You are both to blame for this reckless behavior, but I want you out of this den now while I tend to his wounds." He stepped up to his mentor, face determined and angry as he looked up to him. "Do you understand me?"

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Twitchpaw agreed with her mentor, not wanting to listen to Riddlehawk's anger, she wanted to yell at the warrior but she knew she wasn't in the position since she was still in training. She sighed and looked back to Icepaw, "Don't mind him, he seems to have a temper today." She smiled before looking at the apprentice's paw, wondering if they could set it back without him being suffering from some sort of limited movement.

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Icepaw glanced up at the other apprentice as she spoke something about the herbs and his healing. He muttered something along the lines of a "Thanks," and sniffed the herbs without much enthusiasm. The young tom wasn't very fond of their strong smells and their assumedly bitter tastes.

But then at Riddlehawk's sudden snap, the apprentice recoiled in a start. His blue eyes widened in fear at first. He'd forgotten how scary the older tabby could be. Icepaw did not take well to the insults and jabbing comments made about him though. Once he'd recovered from the heartbeat of surprise the pale tabby tom just looked away with anger written across his face. But there was also embarrassment there as well. He could deny it all he wanted, but Icepaw couldn't call Riddlehawk a liar. He had been the first to make a move.

Wait! His mind snapped back into perspective. He was letting his guard down. Didn't he know who this was? This was the murderer cat who'd almost added Icepaw to his list of bodies. Why was he admitting so easily? Backing down now would go against everything in his head. Icepaw let out a quiet hiss of irritation; "Then go ahead and finish me off if I'm such a thorn in your side."

Rainwing's exclamation almost startled him as much as Riddlehawk's had. He blinked up in surprise. He hadn't been expecting any defense from this cat. It wasn't as if Rainwing had any reason to do so. Icepaw hadn't considered himself to ever be on good terms with the ThunderClan medicine cat or anything. But if he could get Riddlehawk out of the den, all the better for him.

Icepaw looked back to Rainwing's apprentice. She at least seemed to have a decent attitude. If I'm going to be stuck here, he thought, I might as well see if I can't make it any less miserable. "Icepaw," he introduced with a grim smile before glancing down to his leg. "How soon do you think I can get out of here in one piece?"

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Foxflight had seen Riddlehawk come into the camp with the injured apprentice. He had to smile at the spunk of the little ball of fur in between licks of his grooming. Even from outside the medicine cat den, he could hear the protestant mewls and arguing ensuing between the two. He'd never met the young tom, but was surprised at how aggressive he was towards the deputy. Why was that?

He had to hold in a chuckle as Rainwing began to raise his voice too. The calm medicine cat was losing it between the deputy and this new arrival. Finishing the grooming he had been doing, he got onto his paws and padded towards the den.

Sticking his head in, he spied the medicine cat looking irritated. His eyes traveled to the apprentice of Rainwing who was busily helping, then to Icepaw, whom he locked eyes with and quickly looked away to meet Riddlehawk's. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you'd like to go hunting Riddlehawk. The fresh kill pile is getting low and I thought that Rainwing could do without you for a bit, if that's not a problem," he finished with asking the medicine cat.

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Icepaw looked over to the entrance as yet another cat poked his head it. It was getting far too crowded in here for his tastes, especially since they all loomed over him like trees. Even Twitchpaw- although that was only because he was stuck there on his belly and unable to stand.

But he didn't care much for the look the warrior gave him, either. It made his whiskers twitch. They weren't exactly hostile, but not any other emotion he could easily pace all the same. Icepaw shifted in his nest, and looked a bit to the side as the warrior began talking to Riddlehawk. Why'd he have to be in this situation, anyway? Why had he crossed the river boarder like a complete mousebrain? He could still have been in RiverClan with Rosepaw, Miraclefur and Needleheart instead of being in the company of all these enemies.

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