[Doom]

 

Originally Posted by Jayvines

If Thunderclan was dealing with a deathly disease... Sparrowstar repressed a shudder at the thought. She hadn't seen anyone rasping or coughing around camp, so Greencough was probably out. Perhaps the tom had picked something up during his captivity with the Two-legs??? Either way, she needed to bring him out of the warrior's den before more cats were unfortunately confronted with a body a few nests over.

"May Starclan guide his paws," she sighed, nudging her way through the opening of the den and carefully picking her way through the scattered nests and sleeping warriors towards a somberly still form. Cautiously, the young leader sniffed around Wildspark's body. She... didn't smell anything similar to sickness, but just to be safe she grasped his nest with her jaws before gently pulling him back towards the clearing. She would ask Sundust or Rosepaw to double-check before permitting cats to touch him, but for now their mourning could be done at a distance.

Slipping back out into the open, Sparrowstar quickly pulled Wildspark's nest and body to the center of the open space before stepping back and bowing her head for a moment. Her last interaction with the tom... Had been less than polite. She had projected so much of her own grief and anger onto a cat who had done nothing to deserve that ire other than being given a gift.

"Sundust or Rosepaw!" she finally called out, raising her head towards the medicine cat's den. She needed this body looked at before anything else happened; she couldn't allow other clanmates to get sick if there was any chance of a passable illness, especially not just as they were approaching leaf-fall.

[ @Naiad or @Shade. for a quick check-up before touchy-mourning is permitted ]

How could she earn the respect of the stars, and was she even on the right path to doing enough as a leader?

This seemed to be the contemplation of the day, and Sparrowstar gave a frustrated huff as she rolled over in her freshly made nest before cracking an eye open to gauge the positioning of the sun. The dim light cascading in between the roots of the willow held the slightest tinge of blue, so her cue to rise seemed to be here. A large yawn split her jaws as the tan molly shook off a few stray pieces of moss and began to give herself a quick groom before taking on the day.

While she had been unsure of how exactly to express her gratitude to Roosterflame for cleaning out and livening up the leader's den... She couldn't deny that it definitely made a difference to wake up in an organized space rather than what felt like a dingy hole in the ground separated from her peers.

Ah well, there was plenty to reflect on and no better way to churn through her thoughts than on her usual race through the underbrush. Perhaps she'd double-check the Shadowclan border for any two-leg junk that Dawnstar had warned about...

So caught up in her thoughts was she, that the sudden call of "good morning" as she padded out into the clearing froze her in her tracks. There... wasn't usually anyone up and about at this time, and so unprepared was she for face-to-face interaction that the only response she could give to the well-wisher (Lightbreeze, that was his name) was a confused blink before she gave her head a quick shake and mentally chided herself and swiftly returned the head dip his way.

"Good morning to you as well Lightbreeze," she stated, clearing her throat in an attempt to warm up her vocal chords this early in the day. "I'm uh... Well I usually head out for a run this time of day. Gets your heart pumping, wakes you up, also is a good way to check on the territory before the clan rises..."

Slowly the tan molly trailed off her rambling, electing instead to give the unexpected tom a quick smile as her brain whirred in an attempt to kickstart her social gears that usually weren't ready this early in the day.

"Do you... also like to run?"

Stars, what kind of question was that Sparrowstar??? Mentally groaning at her choice of words, Sparrowstar quickly attempted to backpedal; this interruption to her usual routine seemed to throw everything off kilter.

"I mean uh, what are you doing up and about this early in the morning? I don't usually see many cats when I leave."

LIGHTBREEZE
✦ THUNDERCLAN | 30 MOONS | TOM [HE/HIM] ✦
✦ TALL WHITE TOM WITH BRIGHT YELLOW EYES ✦

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A warm smile lit up the warrior’s face as Sparrowstar replied, followed by a slight raise of his eyebrows as she continued to ramble on. My my! Seems like he severely underestimated her interest in chit-chat! She remembered his name, too, which was an even more delightful surprise.

When an opening to speak materialized, Lightbreeze rose to the occasion, hoping he didn’t miss a beat on her bullet train of thought. “Oh, you like to run! That's really cool! Seeing you take off every morning makes much more sense now, heheh.” He chuckled lightly before pausing, attempting to buy himself time to ponder her whirlwind of questions. Her energy somewhat forced his brain to reboot, jolting an energy through him that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was new and exciting, and he kinda liked it. “Er…well, I can’t say I run much myself, but I’m not opposed to it! And, uh, I’m just up to watch the sunrise.” He gestured his tail toward the warm glow in the distance, which had begun casting gorgeous waves of pink and yellow across the once blue sky, turning both of their pelts a warm rosy color. “Beautiful, isn' it? It really helps me slow down and enjoy the little things in life, ya know?” Lightbreeze took a deep breath, basking in the warm glow, then exhaled slowly. “The air is sharper than normal – the first sign of Leaf-fall. My favorite seasons are just around the corner now…hopefully the cold won’t bite us too hard this time around, eh?”

His chest tightened at the end of his sentence. Shoot, now he was the one rambling. He was suddenly very aware of how they were both just awkwardly standing in the middle of camp. Lightbreeze quickly cleared his throat, fighting the urge to shake his rising pelt. “Oh, uh, sorry! I’m just sittin’ here ramblin’ and wasting your time…I tend to get lost in thought. Please feel free to go run, don’t let me stop you!” His meow was followed by a deep purr, hoping she’d catch his lighthearted tone. Gosh darnit, I’m such a birdbrain sometimes…now Sparrowstar’s gonna think I’m some weirdo.