[goddess of ducks]

Originally Posted by Hexict

(so sorry for the late reply! :c)

Despite his sapphire orbs gazing around the clearing in search for the white and orange molly, he heard her voice before seeing her. The onyx tom turned around and smiled when he saw Sunbreeze making her way towards him. His orbs light up when he saw her padding towards him, waving her tail in a happy and friendly manner. He was pleased to see that she seemed happy to have found him in the clearing. For a moment, the tom wasn't sure what to say at first as he sorted through his thoughts about possible topics.

He was glad to see that she seemed alright. There was a lot he had wanted to say to her. Colby knew how much Sunbreeze had hated Bucknight, so he was sure that she was pleased with his fall, though Colby was left suspicious of Russetstar as well, and wasn't sure how his friend - and crush - felt about the subject. He wondered if she would trust him easily. He was sure that the majority of the clan was just relieved that Bucknight was no longer leader, not caring too much who ended up with the title as long as they weren't like the tabby.

Plus, he wanted to ask her about her kits. Ask her if they had all been alright after the battle. Colby had tried to be there for his friend after she returned after the floods, separated from her Shadowclan mate and some of her kits had stayed with their father in the neighboring clan. So he hoped that her kits were fine too. The ebony cat realized that he hadn't shown too much interest in the kits despite Sunbreeze being one of his closest friends. He hoped that none had been hurt in the battle, nor any were sick. It was leaf-bare, and sickness was quite common around this time.

"Sunbreeze!" He called in return to her after she had called out his name and had reached him, waving his black time in response to her friendly wave. He smiled when she was first to start a question, asking how her friend was doing. He instinctively gave a glance around the clearing. He didn't like others listening to him, even though it wasn't a secret conversation and therefore didn't matter whether someone heard or not. "I'm doing good," he began. "How about you? I mean, how are your kits? How's Smokekit? Is she doing well, settling into the clan alright?" It felt strange for the tom to be asking about kits, but he did really care for Sunbreeze and found it strange how little interest he had shown in her kits, even the adopted ones... though Willowpaw kind of unnerved him. She had never acted like a kit, and seemed so mature for a young molly.

He flicked his tail for a moment, unsure if he was asking too much about the kits. Colby felt a bit embarrassed in case he was asking too much about her kits, especially Smokekit, her newest adoption. "And how do you feel about Russetstar?" He cocked his head as he asked this. "He doesn't seem bad, you know? But still... he wasn't deputy, and now is leader after our previous one was killed - which is how Bucknight took control, right?" The tom wasn't trying to worry the queen, but rather just know how she viewed it. If she wasn't worried then he would possibly calm down a bit, but if she was then he would keep an out eye on their newest leader.

Sunbreeze felt almost instantly relieved as she entered the presence of Colby. It wasn't that she depended on him for everything, but that she knew it was easier to go through life with some one by your side. Going through situations was tough when you were alone, with no one to lean on. She knew that from experience. Once Twigstreak killed Mottlekit and Littlefang blamed her, she had felt utterly lost, alone and defeated. It wasn't until she got back that Cokby had been the first to help out. She smiled great fully at the dark colored tom. She knew that he cared for her, though she wasn't certain whether it was for her in a friendly way, or something more. The thought of him liking her as something more made her queasy. Obviously her last relationship hadn't gone as planned and she had ended up a single queen with no father to help. The thought of taking a new mate was a bit scary to her, but she had to warm up to it sometime, unless she wanted to not have love again for the rest of her life.

Sunbreeze pulled away from her thoughts and focused back on the conversation. She could help her tail flocking behind her in happiness. It was true, they hadn't had time to talk in quite a while. "Well, I'm glad to hear you've done well. Obviously not too much harm done in the Liberation. As for me I'm doing fine. Really, I'm not making anything up for you. I'm, happy. For the first time in a while, I feel content and at peace, and it's such a relief." She sighed happily. It was true. The depression and lasting grief that had swamped her for the past moons seemed to be lessening. Not that she was forgetting her lost kin, but that she was learning to cope. "They kits, Smoke, Willow Phienix, they're all doing great. Smokekit has adapted fairly quickly, after getting over the initial shock that she would never seen her mother again, but she calmed down rather quickly." She said, her tongue rambling on. She couldn't contain how leased she was. The moons in the nursery had not been too much more than helping out other queens and dealing with newborns and rambunctious kittens. It was a relief for her to be able to speak to a warrior who wasn't consumed in thinking about kits. "Oh Russetstar?" She asked, her voice lowering so that if any cat was eavesdropping, they couldn't hear the words anymore. "Russetstar seems like a nice cat. I know Bucknight did too, but the main difference is that he took the suffix -star. Bucknight did that to show his rejection of Starclan." She said, her voice steady and somewhat serious. "And I can see your point, how there was no deputy, but really, did you really want Bucknight's deputy to control the clan? Geckoleaf said that Starclan sent her a message about him. The least we could do is try to acceot him right? I see your concerns and I will admit, I can't fully trust any role of leadership right now, but it will take time. Trust and loyalty doesn't happen instantaneously, it had to be earned, especially after a time like this."