[graves]

Originally Posted by Charmer

Nightpaw listened in perfect silence as Daypaw let loose a torrent of troubles and worries that haunted them in their sleep. She felt her fur lying flat and her shoulders raising involuntarily as if bracing herself against the terrible onslaught of pain that engulfed her friend nightly, a chill running through her as she thought of what it must be like to feel the pain of dying when they slept. Nightpaw had come pretty close dying once and that had been enough to leave some kind of scars in her own dreams, but she at least had nights of peace every now and then. During her time in the medicine den, there had been nights in which Daypaw didn't sleep, and nights in which they did and in Nightpaw's memory, it had never been peaceful. And Daypaw's father... Nightpaw only had faded memories of her time with her own family. It was hard for her to imagine what it must be like to experience their death, but if it was anything like how she imagined it would feel if Daypaw, or Goldeneye, or any of the cats she'd come to know and care for, she didn't know how she could ever bear it! Nightpaw wished desperately that there was something she could do to help Daypaw somehow: an herb to feed them, and word of encouragement to say, anything to help them experience relief. But there was nothing. She was powerless to help. She dipped her head, not looking at Daypaw as she searched her mind for the perfect thing that would make everything instantly better. A cool breeze swept through the clearing, carrying with it the clean smell of water and muddy earth as another lark joined the first in song, filling the air with their sweet melody, and making the silence sitting between the two friends that much more tense and painful. Finally, Nightpaw lifted her green eyes and looked squarely into the enby's her gaze warm, and sad, and placed a paw gently on their shoulder. "I don't know what to say right now...I'm just really glad you told me. I wish I could make it better."

A thick silence followed, and Nightpaw struggled with whether to say more. Would it be good too? Maybe she'd already asked too much. Surely Daypaw already had enough to worry about living with their problems without having to talk about them. But then again, if Nightpaw couldn't take Daypaw's pain away, could she maybe help the enby hold it all? Just listen so that they would know their not alone? She wasn't sure if it would help, Daypaw was not the sort of cat to continue a conversation if they didn't want to, and would no doubt make it very clear to Nightpaw the second she set a paw over the line. "How did your father die?"

Daypaw felt a slight relief when he heard so sympathy in Nightpaws voice. It calmed them almost. Countless times theyve tried to tell cats about their problems and all theyve gotten was pity. Pity pity puity. Oh, Daypaw cant sleep, eat or even walk right with out limping at this point, poor them ! They were sick of it. Its partly the reason why they were hesitant about talking to anyone about their problems. But they felt..at ease with Nightpaw. Sort of in a little sister sense. At her question they thought for a moment, closing their eyes and thinking. It was hard to relive their past, and they had only been a kit when Moutianfog had died. ¨Died from fighting a darkforest cat in his sleep. Before I was born there was an evil era, evil leaders and rose to the top and so did the dark forest. Attacking any cat they could.¨ They could remember their fathers lifeless body on the ground, the look on his face in pure shock, blood oozing from his throat,mouth and eyes. It was a traumatizing thing to see as a kit, and that was possibly why Daypaw had taken on the role at the medcat of Shadowclan. Their tone sounded emotionless. It was weird, they werent grieving over their fathers death. They weren't close to him in anyway so they lacked empathy for his death, but with the nightmares they had their father almost haunted them in a sense, them and Moutianfog dying over and over and over, the same images replaying in their head like a sick movie. It was exsasuting, but it felt good to talk about it with someone.

Originally Posted by fenic!

of course he loved whisperblaze, of course he wouldn't look at anything differently- whether he was born in riverclan, joined as a loner, or joined as a former shadowclan cat- nothing would make him less worthy of russetstar's love, because russetstar was the one who might not even be worthy of his mate's affection in the first place. entwining his tail with whisperblaze's in a soft smile, the leader couldn't help but feel a lot less stressed out when he felt his mate's fur against his own, as if everything else which had brought him down had begun to drown out, to fade away. "...whisperblaze, i'd never look at you differently. you can tell me everything, it's alright- i love you more, i love you to the ends of the earth and i'll never stop loving you no matter what happens."

Hearing those words were probably the biggest comfort to Whisper. He had never met anyone who had loved him as much as Russet did, who took care of him and would give endless affection until the day they die. It was comforting, it made him feel less alone with Russets acceptance. he was speechless honestly, he knew he didnt deserve his mate, but he would gladly accept his affection endlessly. ¨I love you too.¨ he meant those words with all of his being, with every fiber in his body, every hair on his pelt. No matter how many times he said those words, he would never get over them. Moons ago he was Russets best friend and admirer, longing over him for what seemed like decades, but here he was now, the father of their kits, leader of a clan with him right by his side. Life couldnt get better then this. ¨On a lighter note...¨ his mew was soft, though you could see a small smile form on his face,¨I want you to meet our kits.¨

Originally Posted by Clover

Geckoleaf sat in the silence, blue eyes burning silently with tears; for all the finesse she thought she possessed, sometimes letting the quietness invade was the only thing to do.

Since she was coasting on autopilot, her eyes darted across Daypaw's body, a habit she had developed after seeing so many patients; she subconsciously checked anyone who entered her den, to try and ascertain what was wrong before even they had. And she noticed something that disturbed her, deeply; the enby was ridiculously skinny- starving, even. Their skin sagged down from their bones, and she could count every prominent rib. Daypaw's face seemed hollow; sunken cheeks and eyesockets, further accentuating the features of their face that should have been far less angular.

Another soft growl rumbled in the back of the medicine cat's throat; it was one of motherly anger, that something had been stolen from her child. That thing, at least to her, seeming to be caring towards personal health. "Daypaw. We talk about my intrapersonal connections like this, while you lay there, withering away to nothing. I-I love you, I really do, but you can't stay like this." Leaning over Daypaw, she snagged the brown trout by an auburn tail fin, dragging it until it lay in front of the golden medicine cat. It reeked of RiverClan; the stink of fish compacted into one rotting corpse, putrid and smelly, although at this point eating it was still safe.

With a stern, pointed look, she frowned at Daypaw disapprovingly. "Eat," she muttered, gruffly, giving the enby's bony shoulder a purposeful shove, though the bone dug into her side slightly. Geckoleaf herself was slim; though, she had not expended any calories during the flood, and, with the influx of patients, steadily gaining weight as she regained mental fortitude. But, on the other side of the river, Daypaw had not been eating regularly; instead, they seemed to waste away to a skeleton.

Not wanting to again broach the topic of her relationship with Juniperpaw, Geckoleaf arduously pushed herself to a sitting position, muscles gooey with exhaustion, and scooted slightly away from the sunlight-colored feline, though her tail rested gently against theirs, making it clear she would not talk to them until they'd eaten. And beyond that, she probably wouldn't dare talk about anything touchey until they'd consumed a healthy serving. "Eat... Please," she repeated, leaning back on her haunches, willing to wait patiently until Daypaw had begun.

Daypaw was utterly stubborn. They let their eyes gaze at the fish for a long while, eyes drawing over each and every scale, the soft brown tones mixed along with green, the faded grey eyes symbolizing it was dead. Not much had been eaten out of it an still reaked of Riverclan scent. they scrunched up their nose, looking up towards their mother and opening their mouth, an closing it once seeing the rather disapproving look on her face. They gave an irritated huff, looking towards the prey as if it were a person they hated, giving an hesitant sniff. They could find a queen,kit, or even one of their patients that could use this fish much much more. Despite the first initial flood injuries starting to slow down, there were still cats to heal.

¨Someone else could eat this.¨ their mew sounded tiny mainly because they knew Geckoleaf would yowl a whole essay on how what they were saying wasnt true, how they had just as right to eat as any other cat in this clan. They sighed.

Leaning forward, they took a bite.

God, did it feel good. They didnt know when the last time they ate was, they didnt even realize how hungry they really were until they felt food in their mouth. They didnt even care that it was fish-compared to the lizards,frogs, and rodents they would eat at home. They gulped their small bite down with in seconds, not even bothering to chew. After they swallowed, they opened their mouth(to a very wide extent, almost looking like it was gaping) and taking another large bite before swallowing it and repeating the motion over and over again. At first Daypaw had been hesitant, but the feeling of their stomach actually slowly filling up felt...nice. They didnt feel as physically weak any more, they didnt feel like they were going to collapse from walking to much, or shake despite not being scared. It was a new feeling, one Daypaw had felt in awhile.

Maybe it was silly to make eating such a big deal. But to Daypaw, this was something huge. No one had convinced them to eat since their fathers death. When they did it, it was usually out of respect for those around them. Cats offering a piece of prey here, a piece there. It would be rude to decline such an offer. besides that, they had a major struggle. Mainly because they kept themselves cooped up in the medcat den to really think about eating. Constantly checking up on others, reorganizing the entire den for what seems like the upteenth time. But here they were, taking tiem for themselves to eat under the simple gaze of their mother.