Open Camp ashes to ashes, dust to dust | guilt

[Petalpaw]

Dearly departed - Dig to find where my heart is

Petal, now Petalpaw, had remained more distant than usual as the clan found its footing an cats settled into the new routine. Every glance his way set his heart pounding, every murmuring whisper made his blood race hot and his pelt prickle with unease; he couldn't shake the idea that cats knew. That cats knew he and Peonypaw were the cause of the fire. It made him want to run away but where could they even go? He liked the barn and liked the cats and now here this was the closest they had come to a home. But did they deserve it? Petalpaw didn't think so. The small lilac tabby felt nothing but dread as he went about his days, following along after the tunnelers to explore the new burrows and finding himself enjoying the monotony of the tedium of digging - he wanted nothing more than to stay in the cool dark underground away from prying eyes forever. But he had to surface for food, water, to see his brother, to see if any cat approached him with a knowing look to take him by the scruff and throw him out alongside Peony - fire starters, he can hear them say, killers they would condemn. It was enough to make him want to just admit they had been the source, but how did he even go about that? He couldn't explain, not in a way that would be well articulated and his brother sure as the sun wasn't going to come clean. As he clambered from his hole to move through the tall grass the tiny tom walked headlong into another cat and bounced back with a spring, tail up and hackles raised-this was it, it was over! They were going to get rid of him!
But as he bristled in a panic he realized the other cat was just as concerned by his display as he was and he relaxed slowly, head tilting to awkwardly brush his tongue over his shoulder fur to smooth it down before nodding his head in a low bow and slapping a paw down onto the ground between them with a sheepish smile.

OOC- Any cat can be the one he walked into!

Sign Translation- Bowing head patting the ground with one paw in an almost reverent posture = An apology.

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Cause I'm buried beneath all the dirt & debris - the only flower left in your garden.

✿ Petalpaw

—⊱ Tunneler Apprentice of WindClan
—⊱ He/Him
—⊱ SH Lilac Tabby w/blue eyes - Is Mute.