Deputy to Deputy [P]

[Willowfern]

Dogbark
He/Him
__
It had been almost a moon since Dogbark had really spoken to anyone, dead, or living.
He’d kind of holed himself up after his recent series of talks, curling up in a small cave he’d discovered. He’d set it up like the Warrior’s den with moss nests and branches over the entrance. The only thing that was missing were the sleeping ThunderClan Warriors for Dogbark to share the nests with.
Dogbark hated being dead, he missed being deputy and helping his clan any way he could, even in spite of some of Aspenstar’s orders. Surprisingly, he hadn’t run across her while he wandered the starry plains, not that he wanted to, but that must have meant that she had found her way back to life. What joy. The undeserving still lived, while the one who wished to right his wrongs and serve his clan once more was holed up in StarClan, absolutely dead and gone in the minds of his former clanmates.
He hated being dead so, so much.
Dogbark chose a nest near one of the walls of the den, where he’d scratch a claw mark into the soft rock. The amount of scratches were much too high for Dogbark to ever be happy, as they served as counting how long he’d been dead. And it amassed to be much more than three moons.
Dogbark rested his head on his paws, a small tear trickling down his face and onto his paws. Dogbark hadn’t cried in a long, long time- and he wasn’t going to start again now! He sniffed and quickly wiped away the tear, feeling embarrassed, but then remembering it was impossible that anyone had seen or heard his moment of weakness.
He curled his thick gray tail around him, thinking of home and his clan-
His clan!
Great StarClan! Who was in charge of ThunderClan now? He had hardly been keeping up with current events! Was Aspenstar still ThunderClan’s leader? Even worse, what about Nectarflame-
No, wait, Nectarflame would make an excellent leader, Dogbark only was thinking that because she exposed his weak points. He disliked her because she told the truth about him and ThunderClan. Dogbark sighed, he knew he could be such a kitten at times, and the amount of times had grown significantly since he’d woken in StarClan in the body of his young Warrior self. (Which was still really weird for him to get over, time had literally been reversed on him.)
Perhaps… perhaps Dogbark should check up on ThunderClan’s leadership, for… for… okay, for personal reasons, but that was fine! He would just pop in, give some advice, possibly, and then go, easy.
Easy?
Dogbark felt himself falling into slumber, and he just kept repeating in his mind that he wanted to see the Deputy, hoping that would be enough for him to enter a dream walking state.
Soon, the area around him moved, and he found himself in ThunderClan territory, it was sun high, and prey scents were abundant in the air. Hm, perhaps the current deputy had been dreaming already, and Dogbark had entered their dream? That was an interesting idea, he’d never thought he could actually intrude on preexisting dreams.
He looked around, curious as to whom he was going to run into while in the dreamers version of ThunderClan’s territory.
Suddenly, he spotted a snatch of a pale-brown pelt in the distance. Who could this be? Dogbark hadn’t ever been able to familiarize himself with all the pelts in his clan, so this cat was a mystery for the present. He padded forwards, careful not to make a sound if the mystery Deputy was hunting dream prey, and climbed into the lower branches of the tree to see if he could get the cat’s attention.

[ @Jayvines ]

[Jayvines]

~ Sparrowflight ~

It seemed like there was never enough sun in the day to complete everything she wanted to accomplish. While she certainly didn't regret accepting this position, it certainly had added a whole pile of things to her plate. Heaving a sigh as she quietly padded into the warrior's den, Sparrowflight was careful not to step on any of her peers as she made her way to her nest and eagerly flopped into it. Deflating into the moss now that she could simply exist in the dark hours of night, the tan molly wasted no time in slowing her breathing to drift off into the familiar relaxation of her dreams...

***********************************************

She was running again.

The warm sun of Greenleaf dappled the forest floor in its rays as she flew through familiar territory that seemed just slightly more lush than reality. The ferns were a bit too large, the moss a touch too vibrant to be real, but the feeling of the breeze in her fur and the ground beneath her paws felt real enough for her to simply let go and enjoy the moment.

A soft but familiar trill echoed from a nearby bush as she rounded a fallen tree and she quickly slowed her pawsteps and scented the air. Quail... Her mouth watered at the prospect. She hadn't allowed herself to indulge in the plump birds that she had retrieved a few cycles earlier, but stars above they smelled delicious. And it was HER dream, so she would HAPPILY partake this time.

Gently creeping forward through the brush, the tan she-cat took slow, measured steps until the chonky birds appeared in her view. They were bobbing around and pecking at the ground unawares, so she watched them for a moment... two... Before eagerly adjusting herself into a crouch. Bursting out from the leaves that concealed her, Sparrowflight leapt towards the throat of the chunky bird with outstretched claws and determination steeling her gaze. It's frantic flapping and sudden warning call were abruptly cut off as the deputy latched her jaws onto it's throat with a rumbling growl of victory. It thrashed for a moment, shuffling further into the brush as Sparrowflight pressed her jaws ever tighter before finally going limp in her grasp.

Lifting her head, it seemed like the remaining dream-quail had vanished. Odd, but one was plenty for a single cat. Especially one as thin as herself.

Dragging her successful catch over to a lovely looking patch of sun, She settled herself onto her haunches before moving to take the first bite of the delicious smelling bird... But an oddly familiar pelt caught her eye as she lowered her head. Pausing once more, the she-cat glanced up into the tree to see that there was, indeed, another cat watching her. Her head cocked to the side momentarily as she tried to place their familiarity. Were they a figment of her dream, were they someone she knew, or were they a member of Starclan...

Oh stars, ABOVE!!!

The realization hit her like a falling branch and she leapt to her feet as the pieces fell into place. "Dogbark?" she asked, her voice cutting through the peace of her dreamscape with astounding clarity. It seemed all of the forest sounds faded slightly as she made the connection. "Is... Are you really here, or is this some odd twist of my dreams?"

He looked... Well he looked tremendously different from the last time she had seen the tom. His identifying scars were gone, and if she concentrated just hard enough she could see the tell-tale signs of stars in his pelt. If he was here-as in visiting her from Starclan-she wasn't quite sure what she should do. What was the proper etiquette you followed when you were visited by cats from beyond the stars??? She certainly didn't know, as this was a first for her.

[ @Willowfern ]

[Willowfern]

Dogbark
He/Him
__
She noticed him quicker than Dogbark had expected, but no matter.
She turned to look at him with a rather surprised expression on her face, as was natural when a dead cat suddenly invaded your dreams, he had to guess, and Dogbark recognized her.
Oh! Sparrowflight! She became Deputy? That’s much better than I thought!
He gave a slightly awkward half grin, jumping down from the tree with unnatural grace and ease,
“Yeah, it’s me,” He rumbled, looking her up and down, “But who’s to say if I am or am not part of your dream? Heck, I could try to convince you, but so could any figment Dogbark. Nice to see a living cat after all these moons of being in dead cat land, though.
He sat down his tail tapping the ground next to him thoughtfully as he thought of what to say to her, perhaps he should ask how ThunderClan’s doing? Who the new Leader is?
”Uhm… forgive me for the lack of formality, Sparrowflight, but surprisingly, I didn’t receive the dreamwalking book of etiquette,” He joked, hoping to lighten the mood and break any ice, “So, you’re the new Deputy, then? Much better you than some cats, you seem perfectly able,” He meowed, shuffling his paw in the dirt as he thought of what else he should add, “I’m… not exactly caught up with current clan politics, so how’s ThunderClan? Is it thriving? What’s changed since I… ehm… died?”
He also half-wanted to ask how the clan had reacted after his disappearance was discovered, but he thought that that was an unwarranted question, and it would make him seem selfish, like he was looking for some sort of assurance that he had been mourned.
Yes, it would hurt if the clan had just moved on, but Dogbark was an adult, and he was strong emotionally. Even if no one remembered him or anything like that, Dogbark wouldn’t have really minded, to be truthful, since he was planning on finding a way to come back, anyway.
Hopefully he’d be able to come back soon.
He looked momentarily at the quail that Sparrowflight had caught and was about to begin eating directly before she saw him, and he pointed at it,
“Nice quail,” He meowed, looking at it, “They don’t have many of those in ThunderClan territory nowadays, do they?” He added, almost getting lost in thought as he remembered the few times he’d eaten quail, and the one time he’d managed to catch one.
Though, Dogbark often got too lost in thought, so he didn’t allow himself to do so this time, as it often caused him to zone out and seem uninterested in whatever anyone had to say, and that was something he needed to stop.
Traumatic and/or wholesome flashbacks could wait until later.
Speaking of flashbacks, Dogbark really should have seen the medicine cats about that when he was alive, they could have given him something to keep him from having any dreams while he slept or something, it could have changed his whole demeanor during the day.