TW: Sensitive Content Open Territory Hiding in the walls of my mind [passing out] I can't sleep

[flowercloud]

{$title} Tw: Altered Mind State — After being told to rest, she instead fights the urge and ends up passing out in the forest.

'you should take a walk, flowercloud, I'll take over for you!'

'or maybe some rest? You look tired...'

At the point she couldn't remember who said it, or why. Shed been pressing brambles and mud into the walls, reinforcing dens- bringing moss and directing apprentices to help change moss in different dens. Warriors were capable of doing their own, and they could be particular- she thought. So she left that den alone, and instead, focused on others.

But when directed to take a walk, or rest- she decided she'd go hunt. The birds chirped and sung, and normally, shed find solace in it, but instead- her teeth ground against each other, her paws stepped heavy against the mud- leaving indents.

The sun shined bright, ripples of light filtered through leaves didn't seem to be a relief against the heat. Puddles were lapped at, but left her thirstier. Was she going in circles?

She couldn't tell anymore.

She wasn't even certain she recognized where she was.

Her breaths were ragged, no longer really aware of what she was doing. Her mind spun, and eyes flickered.

"Rosebelly?" Was but a whisper out of her mouth- her eyes suddenly widening- pupils slit as she felt like she shot forward. But as she thought she gripped her son- instead her paws gripped the trunk of a tree. Her head shook, her body swaying.

She should get home.

Shed always been stubborn, but maybe? Shed gone too far this time. Her body felt like a tree as she walked, her vision wavy and disoriented with each step. And when she took another step forward, her body went too far- and she ended up with her face into the dirt, and paws extended underneath. Shaky breaths, turned into soft breaths as her mind fell into its slumber she needed. Her chest rose and fell, and for once since these past few weeks, she looked peaceful.

Anyone can be the first to find her!! She's fine, just passed out from exhaustion and heat!//

flowercloud - 35 moons - skyclan warrior - mentoring none

 

[cygnetscratch]

Cygnetscratch purses her lips as she leads the patrol. Flowercloud has been gone for... admittedly too long, and given the recent revelation that no other Clan truly honors the code - well, suffice it to say, her Clanmates were worried. The young molly finds that her heart beats no different than a bird's wings: harsh, thunderous, and nearly disorienting. Her tail flags behind her as she follows her mother's scent around the territory, the older molly clearly on a mission for the first part of her endeavor and then... not. Her path wavers and loses direction several times. It's nearly only by luck that Cygnetscratch is able to find the deputy at all. Thankfully, the greenleaf scenery makes her auburn pelt stick out like a sore paw.

"Flowercloud -!" she calls out, following with a sharper, "Mom!" They've not been on good terms in moons, but Cygnetscratch wants to believe that any estranged child would be alarmed to see a slumped body. She tenses her jaw as she trots ever closer, holding her breath, fearing the worst - all until she sees her mother's chest rise and fall. "She's breathing. Thank StarClan, she's breathing..." but why is she asleep out here? She looks to have some welt on her face, dirt smatterings over her pelt. Nothing makes sense to the young warrior. Perhaps all she can do is wait it out, or... "Does anyone know if Swallowbreeze is out?" If her mother is ill or injured enough to sleep in the open like this, she'd rather the medicine cat take over.

 

[Cherrydawn Cherrydawn]

CHERRY OF SKYCLAN

Cherrydawn trotted over to Cygnetscratch, worry clear in her expression. Her mismatched eyes flicked over the older molly, searching for something, an explanation, a spark, anything to ease the knot forming in her chest. Her ears twitched back instinctively, betraying the uncertainty she tried to hold at bay.

Flowercloud had been... going through the motions, Cherrydawn supposed. But something about her had felt off lately. Could she truly blame the molly? She had lost Lavenderpaw... And now she had lost her son, Rosebelly too... The Gathering had been a mess, a bloody mess as far as she understood and... Ah... At Cygnetscratch's question about Swallowbreeze, Cherrydawn blinked and finally shook her head. " I think she's still back at camp. " she said softly, glancing back toward the path. " Do you... do you want me to run back and get her? Or maybe... " her gaze flicked toward the sleeping form of Flowercloud. " Maybe we could wake her? See if she's alright? Or... or we could both carry her back together? "

She frowned, chewing on the inside of her cheek. What had their deputy been doing out here anyway? Her movements had been strange, wandering from one spot to another with no real focus. It was like her paws moved without purpose. Was she sick? Lost in her own mind? Cherrydawn had heard stories... back in her kittypet days, her sister once whispered about a friend who had changed, started acting different. And then... they'd just never seen her again. That thought made her paws itch with dread.

She stepped a little closer, voice gentle. " What do you want me to do, Cygnetscratch...? " The words were soft, but full of quiet loyalty. She just wanted to help.

THROUGH DIRT AND SHADOW I GROW ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— I'm reaching light through the struggle

 

[DUSKPOOL]

DUSKPOOL​

He'd been out with Sweetpaw, likely practicin' their huntin' skills on the more difficult prey, when Cygnetscratch's sharp call snapped him to attention. "Stay close, kid." He rasped to Sweetpaw, wooly plumage curlin' around her shoulders, urgin' her not to dwindle as he surged forward on bulky paws.

The Sun Guard carried himself like a boulder, shoulderin' past everythin' to see her crumpled like a broken shadow against the sunbaked earth with sprawled limbs. For a moment, just one raw, heart-stoppin' moment, Duskpool thought the worst. He thought she was gone.

The breath just about left his lungs. His lips curled into a silent sneer, forcin' the warbled words caught somewhere between a snarl and a plea down his throat.

He was by her side in a heartbeat, muzzle brushin' against her cheek, silently checkin' for breath. And when he felt the shallow whisper of life, Duskpool felt relief flood his chest. "Stars above, ya stubborn idiot." He rasped, quietly pressin' his forehead against her temple for a brief second. "Tellin' me ya don't need me, but ya do shit like this and gave me a damn heart attack." He muttered somethin' raspy, pullin' away to stare at Cygentscratch and Cherrydawn.

"One of ya go get moss soaked in water." He rumbled, yet loud enough to ratle the trees. "She's nothin' but overheated with this dman weather makin' us sweat like dogs." He grunted. "Gonna have to find someplace cool than restin' her underneath a tree." He rumbled steadily, head liftin' to peer at the patrol, features deadpan.

"Now one of ya come help me lift the kid." The Sun Guard shifted his stance, prepared to hook a shoulder beneath her limp form, lips curled, tryin' to maneuver her bulk onto his back with the help of others. "Someone go on and fetch Swallowbreeze if she ain't already heard the commotion." He ordered to the closest cat, timbre a low, guttural rumble.

The heat made everythin' harder. The fur along his flank matted, and the sun beatin' down on his dark frame with a vengeance, turnin' the world hazy around the edges, but nothin' he ain't used to come the warmer weather. "Ya ain't light, ya know that?" He muttered to her unconscious form, huffin' as he adjusted himself, prepared to head to camp to use one of the dens to cool the amber-furred molly.

we're only haunted by the things we refuse to accept

ooc

information

main ref

• @sweetpaw
• 

  DUSKPOOL he/him a storm carved in flesh and smoke, duskpool towers with the bulk of a maine coon and norwegin forest cat. his wooly black pelt bristles with ghost-stripes and scars—old wounds etched like lightning through dusk. one copper eye burns like molten steel and the other a mangled ruin of war. every step is heavy, thunderous—war-born, death-burdened, and unflinchingly alive.
  
  ᯓ★ sun guard of skyclan during coffeestar and hawkstar's reign (mentor to sweetpaw)
  ᯓ★ father to almondpaw and cinderpaw
  ᯓ★ brother to outlawbite & thistlestrike, half-brother to flowercloud
  ᯓ★ eighty-three moons; ages on the 1st of every month
  ᯓ★ speech thought action
  ᯓ★ peaceful/healing powerplay permitted
• ​

 

[cygnetscratch]

Her gaze lingers on Cherrydawn first, annoyed that Swallowbreeze couldn't simply manifest in places where she's needed. A useless frustration, certainly, and one that Cygnetscratch attempts to dismiss quickly. She observes the sleeping, exhausted form of her mother for a few long moments as the other warrior weighs their options for them. Eventually, the younger one murmurs a quiet and uncertain, "... I don't know."

Her mother isn't dead. She's not safe alone out here, but she's not dead. And that's all that Cygnetscratch seems to want... right? She doesn't wish to leave Flowercloud here, but allowing the molly to know she cares, after moons of insisting she doesn't...

Before she can make the decision, it's taken from her. Like a petulant child, the white-furred warrior furrows her brow towards her uncle. "I could've told you that she was alive..." She felt like an idiot apprentice again, wandering into the fog after a soul she'd never see again. Duskpool makes demands and instructs them in different directions, but the molly remains stiff. She tenses her jaw as he heaves Flowercloud onto his back, the want to bark something towards the older tom slowly lost as he tries to pull her into some shade.

She's fine. Cygnetscratch lashes her tail, turning from the commotion. She waited too long to help; someone else acted where she couldn't. She doesn't need me. She's fine. Not listening to Duskpool, the young molly meanders away from the patrol and leaves each of them behind.

[ out! ]