Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jan 16, 2020 1:58:35 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jan 16, 2020 1:58:35 GMT -5
Cupcake couldn't help herself but cry out in distress as Wildberry almost bowled her over, showing absolutely no concern for the kitten, her anger rolling off in waves. The sudden appearance of the strange who had no regard for the kittnes left Cupcake equally disoriented and frightened, and, shaking, she backed away and attempted to see past the large angry cat, but had no success and felt herself being forced out of the den in no kind manner by the hostility of the single cat. She backed out of the den near Cinderkit, left with a great uncertainty of whether Ebonykit would be okay or not.
She turned round and was faced with a large group of big cats looking this way and that as they entered the camp. She gulped and took a step back, not liking any of what was going on as she was almost stepped on by Wildberry and then met with several gruff looking large cats. it was incredibly unnerving for the kitten who was new to this environment, leaving her dazed amidst all of the chaos.
Ebonykit was completely passed out, unresponsive, save the occasional moan that didn't respond to any stimulus, instead just sounding out, almost of its own volition. For a kitten so small and fragile, it almost smelled of being the side effect of a sickness--perhaps brought about by his awful wounds. Like they were inflicting him with something worse.
Shadowpaw, as they drew closer to the camp and whatever struggles might be awaiting them there, drew closer to Hazelrunner, pressing his pelt up against her's and finally admitting a quiet sigh amidst the tension of Wildberry. He felt an overhanging sense of stress, that was growing the closer they grew to camp, but he tried burying it in the comforting presence of Hazelrunner. Even amidst the craziness that was encompassing them, there was the slightest comfort in pulling a couple pawsteps closer to her and hoping that she could push this insanity away.
The large patrol was met with a surprising amount of commotion, though perhaps it wasn't as surprising when most of the clan had been incredibly worried about the leader. Amidst some of the cats approaching, Ravenfang was equally shocked and relieved to see the true leader back in the camp. Breathing a loud sigh of relief, he approached with a smile. "Rainstar! Thank Starclan. I was fearful that something had happened to you. You...you look very well." He sighed in relief a second time. It was such a relief to see the leader returned. It took him a couple moments to notice the three friends bunched together, carrying a collective exhaustion; Mousepaw, lone and looking no better, and Hawktail, looking incredibly aggravated. Furthermore, it seemed Rainstar didn't look thrilled or full of energy to be back, something that left him a bit disconcerted. He gulped, trying to figure out what was going on amidst this patrol. None of the cats held their particular auras as normal, and it was concerning him. He couldn't help but rest his gaze upon Leafpaw, who's eyes met his unevenly, with her expression almost seeming surprised as she gazed at him. Blinking, he surrendered to not understanding what was going on.
There wasn't much change in Whispersong's expression as the medicine cat explained what had happened with the other medicine cat. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. If I didn't know that you..." She cut herself off for a moment, turning to glance back at the mouth of the den, before turning back once she saw it was empty. "...If I didn't know better about you, I might do the same." She murmured quietly, finally letting herself be lowered onto the ground by her tired legs.
She leaned forward and took a bite of the frog that was still lying afront of her, before pushing it back to the medicine cat. Her eyes widened a little as he claimed he had met with a dog, and though it lacked any context, it still didn't keep her from feeling particularly unnerved. He had come face to face with a dog, and he had made it back with little more than bleeding paws? The way she saw it, that made him lucky. "I think, all things considered, if you survived a dog, whatever went on...whatever it was that happened today, Starclan saw fit to guide you and keep you alive." She cleared her throat. "They think you're worth being kept alive." She quietly finished speaking, whatever her half-prediction half-belief was. He had been so helpful to her, and she couldn't help but believe Starclan saw that and spread some mercy upon the medicine cat.
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Jan 16, 2020 19:46:29 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jan 16, 2020 19:46:29 GMT -5
The queen had stepped away from the den, not knowing where to go. It was a hard blow to her seeing the look of fear in her kits’ eyes. Her legs had felt shaky and unstable underneath her. Speckleflower found a spot on the edge of the clearing trying to scrape her fractured thoughts back together. She knew she wasn’t the best mother, but she really tried to be. She knew she shouldn’t have reacted to Cinderkit that way. She continued to look first towards the medicine cat den and then towards her mate. She could still feel the frigid air that lingered between them. She had to acknowledge that she was responsible for. that growing divide. Swallowing thickly she went back to looking towards the medicine cat den contemplating whether or not if she should make her way back to her kits.
Her eyes widened as Wildberry burst back into camp. She pushed herself back up to her paws before the kits were clumsily ushered out of the den. Only Cinderkit and Cupcake were the only two kits that stumbled out of the den. Shooting across the clearing she became rather urgent to get to the kits again. She forced herself to slow to a walk as she approached the kits not wanting to alarm them..again. Her eyes quickly flickered from her kit to the medicine cat apprentice, who was still standing there rather stiffly. Seeming to realize after a moment that Speckleflower was looking to him for answers. Still trying to search for words Proudpaw quietly looked towards the nursery.
It was a silent suggestion of what she should do, still with no idea of what was happening inside. Staring over the apprentice’s shoulder, her heart clenched when she saw the calico she-cat carefully hunched over Ebonykit’s still body. “I-is he..?” She trailed off before Proudpaw stepped in her way again simply shaking his head to her unanswered question. With a hesitant nod she looked down at the kits. “Come on.” She urged, her tone wavering as she did so. She quietly waited for the kits to follow her back towards the nursery. It wasn’t good for them or herself to be her. And she could see that Cupcake staring wide eyed at the battle-hardened cats surrounding her. Of course the speckled tabby hadn’t been entirely calm around the kittypet kit either. Unfortunately it was a trying time for them.
Cinderkit had almost immediately tried to turn around to scamper back into the den. There was no way he could leave his brother like this. He had to be there when he woke up. A well placed paw kept Cinderkit from running past Proudpaw. He froze when he heard his mother’s hurried steps coming towards them. He watched the exchange expecting Speckleflower to demand to let them past. Instead Speckleflower ushered the kits away. His mouth hung open as he gapped at her. Stubbornly standing planted he almost thought about refusing, until she turned back around and looked at him for a long moment, with hollow green eyes. Swallowing he trudged forwards, shuffling his paws as he went.
Wildberry could hear a commotion just outside of the den, but didn’t stop to look. All her focus was the frail kit laid in front of her. Muttering quietly to herself she monitored his breathing before moving on to sniff his wounds. Something beyond the kit’s injuries was causing this. Her first thought was an infection. Peeling away the wound she recoiled at the smell. There were fresh cobwebs and dressing. Her mind raced as she moved to rouse the kit by prodding his side sharply.
Hazelrunner could feel the tom hovering at her side the rest of the way back to camp, his side brushing against her side. After sitting herself down she leaned into the tom. She could sense the fact that he was seeking some sort of stability in the insanity they’d found themselves in. A gentle purr rumbled in her chest as she leaned in closer to Shadowpaw. There wasn’t much she could say at the moment to make him feel better.
Frogstrike rolled his eyes as se implied she would do the same if she didn’t know who he really was. “What are you talking about? I have never met someone who didn’t instantly like me.” The medicine cat scoffed, as if offended by the thought. He seemed satisfied as she finally took a bite of the frog. He was personally responsible for her well being whether they liked it or not, so he had to make sure she was eating properly. He’d blame it on his training as a medicine cat.
Flicking his tail he didn’t seem entirely convinced by her interpretation of the events. He had managed to survive the dog thanks to the help of a monster, probably not sent by Starclan. “I’m starting to doubt that. There haven’t been any signs from Starclan in a while.” He grumbled as he stretched out on the floor of the den, carefully keeping an eye on the entrance of the den. Any word suggesting that Starclan wasn’t favoring Nightstar and his new bloody plan for the clans it would be as good as treason.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Jan 19, 2020 5:49:18 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jan 19, 2020 5:49:18 GMT -5
It seemed so early for an infection; Ebonykit had only recently been mauled by the foxes, and that he was already passed out and that his wounds smelled so terrible seemed unlikely, but it was so. His breathing was labored, but not unexpectedly so. It was unclear to the medicine cat what had made him pass out, but tiny trickles of sweat might have given her a hint; or maybe they were just from his body fighting against the infection.
There was so much happening and so little understanding for the outsider kittypet. So little was said in the short half a minute, but so much seemed to be communicated and so much was happening. She had only just met the kitten and suddenly he had fallen asleep and wasn't responding to anyone. Was this how these clan cats lived? Even the little babies could just fall ill so easily, and be injured so easily? She tried to remember the words Cinderkit, and especially the injured Ebonykit, had been saying just moments before, as she was ushered away from the medicine cat's den towards the nursery.
As they finally found themselves in the camp, Shadowpaw gave a quiet sigh of relief. Nothing gave him more comfort than when the three of them drifted off to the side of the camp, and all three of them plopped upon the ground. While Leafpaw focused on the commotion that was occurring from the medicine cat's den, Shadowpaw was losing his ability to concentrate of stressful situations, and when Hazelrunner pulled in closer, and the rumbling purr from her chest drew closer to his ear, his eyes slowly slipped shut and he leaned even closer to her, beginning a subconscious purr that began as a quiet murmur and grew into a rhythmic, louder sound that contained his relief and his...his appreciation for her. In sync with her purr, he didn't have to try hard to block out the justifiably tumultuous situation that was surrounding them.
"May I sleep? Please?" It was a quiet whisper from the tom-cat, and didn't sound like an attempt at humor, moreso exhausted and weathered from their experiences during the day. It wasn't even late, but he felt absolutely beat up upon after how much they had been through in a short time. It was likely the fault of how little experience he had dealing with hardship outside of...being actually beat up on. He was almost begging permission to rest, knowing that he wasn't meant or supposed to yet wanting nothing other than to curl up in the embrace of Hazelrunner, like their night out of the camp, and forget about what they had looming over them.
Leafpaw couldn't miss the kittens being marched away from the medicine cat's den, and the panicked looks upon their little faces. She bit her lip and tried to figure what was going on, quickly trying to take in the look on Speckleflower's face to understand what was happening, though it was hard to see anything specific from this distance, paired with the sheer fact she simply looked exhausted, one of the best covers for other emotions.
She turned to look at her friends as she heard Shadowpaw asked to be able to sleep, then glanced around the camp. She sucked in a hard breath as she saw Rainstar entering the camp. She had a feeling that soon, none of them would be able to sleep. Rainstar was back, and they had a lot that they needed to get done. But by Starclan, did she empathize with him. It was all she wanted.
Ravenfang noticed almost immediately as the patrol returned to the camp; he was standing about the middle of the camp, frequently checking in with the injured Ebonykit, trying to see if Proudpaw needed anything without really having enough cats to get anything, and trying to avoid the ancient warrior in the elder's den, his friend who he had demanded back down from doing work to get better.
His relief quickly turned to preparation as he saw the dutiful appearance of the leader. Rainstar marched straight towards him, not looking particularly peeved but also not appearing to be thrilled either. He was uncertain what she was feeling and it was making him difficult to know exactly what he needed to be ready to hear as well as say.
"Ravenfang," Rainstar's voice greeted him, and finally the deputy caught a note of relief in her voice. She looked him up and down, taking in just how absolutely bedraggled, worn down and terrible he looked. "What in Starclan's name have...Have you forgotten to lick your fur down since the battle?" It wasn't chastising, frustrated pushing, instead motherly concern and maybe just a drop of guilt, but he didn't pick up on the latter. "You look horrible. Have...have you even slept?"
Ravenfang swallowed the saliva in his mouth and had to take a few moments to gather his exhausted thoughts. He had expected business and duty, but she was almost acting just like Wrenflight had been towards him. "Well, no. But we have needed constant vigilance. You weren't back. I needed to do what you did and make sure that we were safe."
Rainstar breathed in a deep breath and released it in a heavy sigh, looking down at her paws. She didn't say anything for several long moments, and it began putting Ravenfang on the back paw, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He was picking up that she wasn't happy with what he had said and once she looked back up at him he knew what was coming.
"You're not me. You're the deputy for a reason, and you always have cats to rely on. Go sleep. I don't want to see you out of the den until...in fact, find Wrenflight. I bet she doesn't want you working yourself to death, so she can tell me when you're rested up." She visibly saw the expression on Ravenfang's face darken, and she figured her guess had been correct. Wrenflight had seemed like a strong and vocal cat to the leader, not one to avoid voicing when she wasn't happy with what she was feeling. He was silent for a few moments, and she awaited some sort of challenge from him, before he bit his lip, turned away and padded off without saying anything.
She began focusing on her breathing once he had stepped away. She could see the various frustrating and argumentative thoughts running through his head in those moments, and yet he still sucked it up, listening to the leader. He knew she was not wrong, and that reminded her why he was the deputy, even if he was struggling so much right now. Releasing her second breath, she focused on deep breathing for almost half of a minute. Pulling in a breath, holding it, releasing it. Repeating.
She scanned around the entirety of the camp. Exhaustion, confusion and fear was all she saw. With confusion she spotted a kitten whom she had never seen before, shuffling nervously alongside Cinderkit. She saw how exhausted Shadowpaw, Leafpaw and Hazelrunner seemed to be, the two of them pressed so closely together they could fall asleep and not budge or slip an inch. She thought she saw a flash of Longshadow, appearing foul and suffocating within the confines of the Elder's den. Wildberry was in the medicine cat's den now, ready to tear apart some cat's throat. Lavenderfur and Speckleflower were, strangely, in almost opposite corners of the camp, the former sulking silently with his face to the wall of the camp.
Her focus on breathing broke, and she let out a shaky sigh. Why did every cat look so terrible? Their camp was in such disarray that she could hardly believe there was food on the fresh-kill pile.
"We're not going to make it like this." It was almost a silent statement, the quietest of murmurs to herself as she took in the status of all of the cats in her clan. "Something has to give..." Her gaze slowly turned up towards the skies above them, towards the invisible Silverpelt above them, obscured by light and rainclouds. "Please...Give my clan some hope. Something. Anything. A beacon." She stared up at the clouds, rain falling on her face and forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut and turn away after just a couple moments. She needed to focus on breathing. In. Hold. Out. Repeat.
Whispersong failed to stifle a guffaw at Frogstrike's comment, quickly placing a paw over her mouth, turning back to look at the entrance of the camp for a few seconds, before she turned back to the piece of prey and sighed quickly with relief. Then, she returned to a light smile as a response to his comment. She didn't need to say anything--he had said something funny, a moment they could have together that escaped what was just outside of the den.
She rose her head to look back up at Frogstrike as he admitted that there hadn't been any signs from Starclan. It gave her a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, as she had to consider that perhaps, Starclan couldn't, or would not, do anything about the landscape of the clans right now. "M...maybe they know that...well...anything they said to you wouldn't be..." Her thoughts started to trail a similar line as his. "It isn't like you could..." She glanced back again at the entrance of the den, her paranoia increasing the more they spoke. She turned back to him quickly. "...tell Nightstar everything he's doing is against the Warrior Code." It was unbelievably dangerous to say something like that in this place, and she imagined Frogstrike may not have even heard someone say it in some time.
Her head hung a little, as if by its own will as her shoulders sagged. It was one thing after another--it seemed like the starry warriors had no intention of contacting them, even just to help moralize them, to let them know the stars were at their back. "Is any of this...going to mean...anything...?" It was a quiet whisper from the she-cat's lips, and it wasn't clear what exactly she was referring to--but she was deep in memory, thinking of all they were trying to do back in the Windclan camp.
Ravenfang searched about the camp, having lost track of where Wrenflight had gone. In fact, he was struggling to focus on what exactly she had said to him, just remembering more of a general irritation with him that she had been feeling. He wasn't looking forward to telling Wrenflight she was in charge of making him sleep after he had basically avoided answering her about when he was going to sleep. More than that, he didn't want to sleep. He needed to be doing something, to make sure the camp was safe and that they were stockpiling prey. Or that they were getting training. He had been neglecting the apprentice's training! That thought hit him very suddenly, and he grew really frustrated and gave a frustrated grunt as he searched for Wrenflight.
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Feb 1, 2020 13:31:09 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Feb 1, 2020 13:31:09 GMT -5
It didn’t take much sniffing about to rule out infection. Shaking her head she paused to try to observe the kit for a moment. She might be at a disadvantage not being here to see how the wounds had progressed, but that wouldn’t excuse sloppy work. Of course, she probably would have blamed that on some other cat too. Wildberry wasn’t in any mood to own up to her own mistakes. Placing a paw on his sides that were already becoming slick with sweat, she began to understand what was happening. Muttering a curse out loud she hoped it reached Starclan. Snaking the end of her tail she turned sharply around.
Even if her back was turned to the entrance, she knew from the shifting shadows that her apprentice had stepped back inside. Snapping her head over her shoulder Proudpaw completely froze as if petrified. “Get in here and help!” She hissed through gritted teeth. Wheeling back around she didn’t actually bother to see if he was actually moving. The medicine cat practically had her nose pressed into the pile of dried-leaves shoved in the crevices of the rock. Her tail kicked up dust behind her seeming to practically have a mind of its own. Proudpaw took one look at the tiny kit and hurried out to get water.
Speckleflower wasn’t entirely conscious that her paws were even carrying her anymore. She caught the pelt of her mate facing away from her. She wanted to box his ears. She needed his support now more than ever. The only thing that was keeping her moving forwards was the dragging pawsteps of the kits behind her. Ducking low through the entrance the queen went right to her nest. The speckled tabby slowly settled herself down. Ushering the kits into the nest she draped her tail over Cinderkit’s back. It didn’t fall down over the other side of his back like it had when he was younger. Still, Cinderkit didn’t object to it. He crouched low to his mother’s side. Speckleflower didn’t offer any response. to the other queen’s anxious questions as they realized that Ebonykit hadn’t come into the den with them.
Hazelrunner had closed her eyes to the commotion going on around them. The sounds from around camp were slowly drowned out by the loud purrs of Shadowpaw answering her own. Still, she angled one ear around the clearing, trying to catch any sounds of camp. There was only a few moments of this however before the purrs died and Shadowpaw’s voice quietly rose. Opening an eye she quieted her own purring. Her blue eyes searched his face. The sun wasn’t even threatening to set yet but, the look on his face told her just how much this day had already taken a toll on him. She glanced towards Leafpaw who was laying down beside them then at Rainstar across camp. It had done quite the number on all of them. The young warrior knew better. Now wasn’t the time to rest, but even the thought of standing up again was a dangerous one.
“For a little while,” she relented. There were things that could be done, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to do any of it. A selfish part of her wanted to steal away from camp for a while. Hazelrunner to forget all the horrible things that were lingering in camp. She wound’t of course, but it was the only thing she could hope for right now. She offered Shadowpaw and weak smile. Her smile didn’t have any of the certainty or conviction that she had once had.
Wrenflight had purposefully gotten herself lost in the camp from Ravenfang. Every time she caught even a glance of his ruffled fire she felt the irritation rise up in her mind again. She’d kept out of camp most of the day if she could help it. She told herself it was because she wanted to practice hunting rabbits. The she-cat could almost convince herself that it wasn’t because she didn’t want to be there with Ravenfang pushing himself like this. Either way it had paid off as she was able to contribute to the fresh-kill pile. Afterwards she had gone to the elder den to see how she could help. Of course she was quickly driven out by Longshadow who had practically bitten her head off for disturbing the peace. Ducking out of the den she was blindsided by the fact that Rainstar was nw back in camp, talking very intently with her deputy. She didn’t watch long, but she didn’t think she was imagining that the leader looked just as beaten down as her deputy.
With nothing else she could think that needed to be done. She finally let herself settle down to smooth her fur down. She couldn’t exactly preach to Ravenfang if she walked around puffed up like a newborn kit. The former Riverclan warrior paused when felt eye on her. Looking up again she wasn’t sure how to react when she caught sight of Ravenfang trudging his way towards her like he was a schooled kit. If she had to guess Rainstar had ordered him to get some rest. Inclining her head to the side to gave him a silent question, before turning her head to motion to the open spot to her right. A silent invitation to join her, even though he looked like he was about to snap in two.
Frogstrike could see the paranoia shining through her eyes. A lot of his own anxieties were reflected, not that he could let that show. “Possible...” He trailed off, careful to keep his eyes on the entrance. Even the den walls had ears. “If I wanted to lose an eye then I would march right up to Nightstar.” Thoughts of his previous mentor flashed in his mind. That had been a good lesson in not daring to even imply that what was happening in Shadowclan was going against the will of Starclan. Shrugging he realized he probably should have kept that to himself. That was information that not every cat needed to know. It put every cat on edge to think that Starclan had abandoned them.
“I’m hardly the first cat they’d feel the urge to talk to.” He muttered, perfectly alright with discrediting himself in the process. “Just because the medicine cats might not get any signs doesn’t mean they aren’t speaking to some cat.” The petite tom refused to believe that Starclan, as involved as they had always been would be silent now.
He frowned when she questioned whether this would all matter in the end. “Of course it will, if we manage to survive all of this.” Of course it would make sense that he was more focused on surviving then anything else, maybe not just his own, but the survival of the clans as a whole. All storms had an ending didn’t they?
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Feb 2, 2020 11:44:50 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Feb 2, 2020 11:44:50 GMT -5
Cupcake was left on her own, physically and emotionally, as Cinderkit huddled close to his mother and the two seemed to resign themselves to a dull quietness in the face of the crazy that was happening. This was so scary to the foreign kitten, and she couldn't help but regret having been brought here as she thought of how unpredictable and frightening everything had been. Even as Ebonykit just managed to say something encouraging, he dropped to the floor from fever or whatever it was.
Wishing she was back at home with her mother, she began to quietly and pointlessly sob. Why did a dog had to get through today? They were always stuck in their pens, and one managed to get through today, and it had to be their yard? It was so unfair. Why couldn't it all go back to normal?
It wasn't clear what sort of conflict was running through Hazelrunner's head, but Shadowpaw could see that the answer wasn't a simple, easy 'yes' like he wanted to hear. Yet, whatever searching she did of him and Leafpaw caused her to say something other than what might have been the right answer. He sighed with a little bit of relief. He could deal with only getting a little bit. If his half open eyes could tell correctly, the sun was just approaching its peak, and he wouldn't have a lot of time. That still didn't stop his eyes from reflexively shutting as he sank down further into Hazelrunner, beginning to purr once again, more quietly, somewhat surprised at how his body was giving in to its exhaustion so quickly as he shut his eyes. He was going to be drifting off pretty quickly.
Leafpaw's attention then drifted to Ravenfang, who only seemed to grow more ruffled speaking with the leader. She sucked in a breath as wondered what could possibly be so important to him that Rainstar being back was setting him more on edge. It certainly wasn't Leafpaw. She didn't seem to be of import to him at all for the last while.
With a lingering bitter taste in her mouth, she turned back to her friends as Hazelrunner acquiesced to the other apprentice's want. She quickly found her bitterness being diluted as a smile twitched onto her face seeing, despite the warrior surely knowing there was work to do, that she couldn't come to tell him no. He is really your weakness, isn't he? She thought with a quiet chuckle as she turned back to the rest of the camp, her mood brightened just the slightest bit. She could leave Hawktail's snide comment outside the camp--she didn't think anything could keep Hazelrunner and Shadowpaw from...well...
It felt weird to think that way. It didn't seem like they had the time to be thinking like that with everything that was going on, but then on the other paw, wasn't that the whole point of fighting? The whole point of making it through this? To her it seemed like they needed that right now. Like they needed to be able to enjoy that. Oh Starclan, my head hurts.
Ravenfang quietly sighed to himself as he caught the silent question from Wrenflight--or was it more of a grunt than a sigh? Either way, he avoided her gaze for just a couple moments as he plopped down, like looking was acknowledging that the leader said Wrenflight had been right. It was pretty kit-like for the adult deputy, but it lasted no more than a couple seconds before he cleared his throat and lifted his gaze and looked over to her. "Umm...Rainstar said I need to rest up. And that, uhh..." He glanced to the side, a little annoyed at having to say this. "I can't do any camp duties until you say so." It was a little bit of a rephrasing of Rainstar's words, but there wasn't anyway to say this that didn't make her sound like his mother and he her kit, so...he wasn't going to let Wrenflight actually trap him in the den to sleep until she said so. He'd sleep until, say, dusk. Then he could get up and she'd see he was rested and he'd get right back to helping out.
It was strange to Whispersong to hear the medicine cat so boldly state what he would do if they weren't in an environment where any statement could lead to death. Sure, here and now he was just a survivor, but to think of him exerting such boldness felt a distant possibility, and yet he said it with such certainty. Biting her lip, it drew her from her dark thoughts for a few moments.
She didn't think he was a bad cat after how much he had taken care of her, but now she was starting to wonder if he wouldn't be a good cat for Shadowclan in general if they reached the end of this, ever. It was an abstract and far-reaching thought--a Shadowclan after what they were living with now. How could that exist? Frogstrike, Lilyheart, Tawnyface, Shadowpaw? Who else?
"That's a big if." She muttered it darkly, a bit of an unnecessary statement in their context. He was well aware of that. She tried to pull away from that line of thought, feeling trying to see a future path was so murky and hard that it wasn't worth the effort. "I wonder what Lilyheart would say if she saw what you're trying to do here." She quietly murmured. "I bet she'd be proud of you." She gazed at him for a few moments, going quiet and locking eyes with him. She couldn't say it, but she was grateful for all he was doing. Perhaps trying to find a way to give him a little moral was a way of saying thanks--though she had been the one to ask for hope in the first place. Or at least, to question its possibility. She cleared her throat awkwardly and her gaze darted to the side, glancing outside the den.
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