habitual heart ; open, herb interest

it was similar to drowning. below the cliff of which he peered over, standing precariously close to the edge, waves crashed against dark rocks below; resembling the threatening voices in his head: the shouting never ceasing. the impending urge to jump over the cliff and onto the jagged rocks below was a dark intrusion to his normally quiet thoughts, like a red silk fluttering through pale fog. it was poetic, he figured, but he couldn't find the interpretation. he tore his gaze away from the rhythmic tide break as a red flower amidst the field of pale, rather colorless, wildflowers caught his eye. green eyes glossed with gold scrutinized the red petaled blossom, and, as a light of recognition gleamed in his eye, he was swept off his feet by a powerful gust of wind that sent him down, down, down towards those rocks which he feared.

with a gasp of breath, he awoke. chest heaving, and a mind alight, he set off; leaving his bed of pine needles and rabbit fur behind, the remnants of warmth slowly ebbed away with every step further he took. just before he exited the den, his bed being one of the more further back than the rest of the kits' whose mothers hovered over them, his eyes flashed towards the spot where his mother would've lain in the blood-red room. with a flick of one dark ear, he quietly left, soft and quick footfalls left no trace behind as he raced past the junkyard towards the forest, of where he had only ever hear rumors of what lie on the other side of the woods.

but he knew why he had risen from his slumber, for sleep had eluded him these past few days, his mind plagued with haunts of nightmares of failures and of deaths. the image fluttered in his mind again, a silk in the fog, a red blossom. it was hazy, but it was there. he grasped onto what remained of his dream and, keeping his head to the ground, eventually caught scent of what the red blossom was. a poppy.

he heard many properties of herbs, one could even say he was versed in it, his mother being somewhat of a medicinal cat. his interest in herbs bloomed after his mother died, wanting to carry on her legacy. and this, was what he needed. not to carry on her legacy, but for a more practical problem as of now. sleep. sleep eluded him like the moon pulling on a tide, and poppy seeds are exactly what he needed. a wave of relief crashed over him, he could finally rest easy. one by one, his pink tongue slithered out of his mouth to reach down and consume a seed. he knew how much would affect him, his mother had helped him to rest when he was young and afflicted with insomnia. it was like drowning. waiting for the wave of calm and relaxation to hit him as he scooped up the rest of the seeds and the flower. "herbs remind me of my mother," he wondered aloud, his voice quiet yet resonating within the small clearing. "poppy seeds for sleep, and now dock leaves to soothe."

literally don't match if you don't want to i just wanted to flesh out his character a little

viperkit's train of thought was immediately interrupted once a large silhouette obscured his view, the insensitivity jolted viperkit, he hadn't expected a clanner to question so brashly, and certainly not one a few moons older than himself, by the look of it. dark ears flicked backwards as he murmured, "she's gone, dead, if you would put it so bluntly." a wave of grief washed over him; her death still fresh on his mind, he could nearly picture her now-decaying body in the midst of the woods as fungi sprouted and butterflies flitted about her corpse.

he couldn't tell if the cat was simply insensitive or couldn't read social cues, but decided insensitive was a better way to put it. insensitive to other's emotions, it seemed like, but viper shouldn't be so quick to judge, especially if it was his first time meeting the new cat. but the idea of inconsideration by the caesious quickly rooted itself in his mind as another question, unnecessarily stating his opinion of herbs crossed the air. by this point, he knew that caesious was rather unsympathetic, but he was tired by this point.

as another cat joined the fray, viper bowed his head in acknowledgment before regarding caesious's question, "herbs remind me of my mother," he reminded, before continuing, "herbs do fascinate me, there are many properties to them, it's amazing how simply by ingesting one it can change your physical state for a minute, such as yewberries, which are poisonous, or poppy seeds," he gestured towards the red poppy he was currently picking, "can help with stress or shock. why do you find them 'lame'?"

viperkit flicked an ear at the approaching cats, aloepaw and ethel, in acknowledgment. quickly finishing up his conversation with caesious, he turned his attention to the new cats at hand. "my mother was a bit of a naturalist herself," he explained, although despite his confident-appearing words, he still never truly understood what his mother had done for a living. perhaps that was a mystery to solve another time.

at aloepaw's announcement, viperkit shot a small smile in appreciation. it was nice to know that there were those who supported him in the matter.

viperkit turned his head ever so slightly at the approaching newly-appointed healer. keen eyes sought her fawn face, an unreadable expression on his own sleek visage, as he took in her prickled fur, her coppery hues, her bobbed tail. while tearing his attention away from aurora, he nodded towards aloepaw and the others, further enforcing aurora's words. while he had never met aurora himself, he did hear her name mentioned in waspwing's retirement soliloquy. "herbs do have many healing properties," he chimed in, yet knew he failed to mention those that have more poisonous properties, perhaps to rid the stigma of herbs only being used for villainous deeds.