A Break by the River[closed for Katzjump]

Spiderquill sighed wearily, though he wore a contented smile on his face. Thornpaw had assured him that she'd hold the fort, probably because she'd gotten sick of all his sighing and dozing off. She said he needed a break, so here he was. On break. Although, he couldn't justify a break to himself so it was more of a herb patrol. A chill one, but a herb patrol nonetheless. He looked behind him, making sure the silver tabby he'd nonvinced to join him wasn't struggling to keep up. Lilypaw was walking fine and her legs had healed over well, but Spiderquill couldn't help but worry. Was this what Ivystar felt like every time she looked at his face and saw the bags under his eyes? How Stormbringer felt whenever he refused to take a break from his duties, even for a minute? How Honeytongue felt when she spotted him working restlessly in the dead of night? He shuddered. He must be a handful of a son. He shook the thoughts from his brain. He finally had the opportunity to spend time with Lilypaw, he wasn't going to let his stupid thoughts het in the way. He stopped just short of the river, sitting down. "We're here, Lilypaw. I know this is technically a herb patrol, but you don't have to put too much effort into it. You're not a medicine cat, I won't treat you as such. Just let me know if you find a particularly smelly plant." He smiled gently. "More importantly, how are you? Are your legs feeling okay? I hope it's not too difficult doing your training with your legs still healing, I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself more. Is your mentor nice? Is your training hard? is-" He stopped himself. StarClan, he sounded like a kit again. Always talking people's ears off. He gave Lilypaw time to answer, simultaneously beginning to sniff around for herbs.

Lilypaw padded along behind Spiderquill.  She was excited to go on her first herb hunt with him!
"I'm fine," she told him, "and so are my legs! I also like Wisteriabloom, she's a good mentor." she told him.

Spiderquill sighed in relief. So she was doing fine, and her legs were better than ever. Good. Noticing a bright yellow flower from the corner of his eye, he plucked the dandelion's leaves from the ground and placed them by his feet. "Wisteriabloom, huh? I hope she's not too harsh on you. Have you learned anything new? Any hunting tactics or cool moves to wow me with?" 

Spiderquill smiled, his heart lifting a little. So she missed him as much as he missed her, that was oddly comforting to know. Though he wasn't lonely in the medicine den by a long shot thanks to Thornpaw, he was spending a lot less time with Lilypaw now that she was all healed up and out of the medicine den. It was nice to get this time to hang out with her. "I miss our time together too. I'm glad you're all better, though. But hey, once you graduate to warriorhood you'll probably have more time to spend time with me without all that training."