Something isn't right.... [closed// Plot phase three ]

((OOC: Phase one in the Denial plot. This doesn't occur close to after Phase two, this topic takes place maybe a few weeks later, so Smallbean's mood has increased and his sleep has decreased, as they had been meeting at night OOC

Phase description :

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Smallbean awoke with a start, his heart beating like he had just ran the border of Windclan territory. Raising his head, he surveyed his surroundings. He was... back in the warrior's den? Sun shone through the holes of the den wall, one ray landing right on him, warming his thick pelt. After a moment he lowered his head back down, eager to return to his dream. It was early, after all.

Then it hit him. The sun wouldn't be shining through the den at that angle if it was early. Quickly darting up, he raced outside to find that it was already after sunhigh. How could he have let himself sleep that long! Looking over, he spotted the fresh-kill pile, stocked with fresh kill. That meant that the dawn patrols had already returned, and by the look of how empty the camp was, the next wave of patrols had already left as well.

With a small sigh, he padded toward the pile and chose a small starling. He didn't need to eat anything big, and he really didn't deserve to until he went out to hunt himself. Choosing a spot at the other side of camp, he settled down and began to much on his starling, eating it rather quickly. He needed to finish the starling do he could get out and be productive, and to hopefully catch a few things to add to the fresh-kill pile.

When he was almost finished with his meal, he saw a shadow cast over him. Lifting his head, he found Wildflower, looking a bit anxious, as she normally did. "Hey there Wildflower, h-how are you?" He quickly blinked away what sleepiness there was left from his eyes. He really didn't want Windflower to find out about Cedarheart and why he had been waking up so late the past moon or so.

He quickly finished his Starling and stood up, arching his back in a stretch. "Well, i should really be going, i need to get some hunting done." A nervous smile spread across his face. He almost always went out before sunhigh, hopefully Wildflower wouldn't question him.

She didn't want to do this at all. Wished Crowspirit could've. But she was a bit more empathetic, perceptive maybe. Hence, his nightly disappearances. The ticked warrior never slept well, but she almost always curled up near her father and tried to sleep. A few hours into a nap, Wildflower might wake, and find Smallbean's nest just an empty patch. One, two nights? Nothing to worry about. Dirtplace, maybe. But it was a substantial amount of disappearances and it'd been going on for a while. Something had to be done, and it was time to do that now. She didn't know what was going to happen, and she didn't want it to be bad.

"Dad... I'm not doing great, but I'm fine. I know you're not and I want to help." Stepping closer to her father, she swept her tail around him, blind eyes gazing down at him. "You've been going out, or doing something, at night. A lot. For a while. And I want to help you, I really do. But I can't do that if you shut me out. Tell me what's wrong. Please."

(OOC: I'm tired and out of motivation, sorry for the short trashy post :,0))

The small tom began to internally panic when he realized that Wildflower had noticed his nightly disappearances. Although he appreciated her worrying about him, he really didn't want her finding out about Cedarheart, even though they were just friends. It really wouldn't look good if someone found out he was sacrificing sleep for a she-cat from another clan, and he couldn't bear to be judged for something like that, or even worse, punished.

"It's okay Wildflower, i promise you i'm fine. I've just been taking walks every night." That wasn't entirely a lie. He did take walks every night to make it to Fourtrees. Yet he still felt guilty about it. Hopefully it didn't show through his voice.

Maybe if she could've seen Smallbean's expression, things would've been different. But there was just the slightest change in his mood as a wave of panic seemed to roll off of him. She didn't believe him, as much as she wanted too... Something just didn't feel right. Wildflower sighed. He'd promised, and she was going to hold him to that. That's all I can do without making him feel worse right now, I think. She nodded gradually, expression still wary. "If you say you're fine, I'd believe you, but look. It's after sunhigh and you haven't done anything. You need to get more sleep, okay? For the Clan, sure, but for your own welfare. Please, Dad." She hated to guilt trap him in the way she was right now, but it was for him. Clearly these walks weren't doing him any good, despite what he might think. "If something's wrong... I'm always here."

(OOC: Sorry for the trashy post heh, i need to get the next topic up)))

He felt his ears grow hot when Wildflower mentioned how he hadn't done anything yet today. "Oh- yes, i'll get hunting as soon as possible, and i'll try getting more sleep. I'm sorry." He rested his tail on the she-cat's shoulder, trying to make his apology more sincere than it sounded. He was never really good with talking about feelings, or really anything relating to them, so it was a bit hard to show it. He usually kept certain feelings bottled away, to deal with later.

"Well, i'll be off. I love you Wildflower, thank you for worrying about me." He started to walk away, his tail sliding off of Wildflowers tail. Hopefully he could catch enough prey to make up for how much of the day he had slept. Head down and tail dragging behind him, he exited the camp.