green finch and linnet bird [closed]

Underneath the guise of a calm, setting sun, a bustling camp prepared for the night that was swiftly approaching. Queens shuffled their restless kits back into the nursery, and warriors burst through the camp entrance fresh off of the dusk patrol, prey hanging between their jaws. Though most of the Clan were getting ready to lie down for rest, Dustcloud lay restless just outside the elder's den, her heart and mind racing synchronously. Anxiety riddled her old, aching bones, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to quell the sinking nervous feeling nestling within her chest. Pacing had done nothing but exhaust her, and distracting herself with the kits in the nursery wasn't much better on that front- unusual, considering she usually adored spending time with them. With a deep, raspy sigh, Dustcloud pushed herself onto her paws and leaned into the elder's den, peering at her denmates. They'd shared this space for several long moons now, and had become closer than the trio had ever been in the process. A faint smile settled onto her maw as she glanced back out at the sky- the sun hadn't quite made it past the horizon yet, so they still had time. With a bit of effort, she mustered up the energy to call out to the two of them, "Ferretnose, M-Mossbloom... Care t-to go on a w-walk with m-me?" She rasped out quietly, suddenly a bit calmer than she was before. The two she-cat's had become her best friends- her comfort whenever she was feeling down.

Mossbloom had been snoozing, her chest slowly rising and falling with each quiet breath as she occasionally peered through half open eyes to check what time it was or to calmly investigate some ruckus. Her ears twitched as she heard her name called, and her head rose to see Dustcloud. She blinked at one of her closest friends and got to her paws, shaking out her fur as she stretched each aching limb. "Of course, Dustcloud. I love walks." She purred as she moved to join the other elder, touched her nose to hers gently before turning to look at Ferretnose, prepared to offer her assistance if it should be necessary. The sun was setting and the camp was preparing for bed... But they should have enough time for a quick walk. Besides, Dustcloud seemed burdened by something, an excursion into the territory would be good for her.

Ferretnose was feeling foggy, but even she could sense the tremors that constricted Dustcloudstarmapledustdustdust... No, just Dustcloud's... shrunken frame as she walked. She was troubled, but by what, the other elder could not quite discern. She clung to the two she-cats, Dustcloud and Mossbloom, more now than she ever had in her entire life. They were the only piece that felt untouched by the slowly encroaching mist of confusion that surrounded her. She did not know the names of her grandkits in ThunderClan, nor their stories. She was vaguely aware, when it was pointed out to her, that her granddaughter had left this clan and gone to RiverClan to have her kittens. But Ferretnose did not see how this could be true. She must have remembered the conversation wrong. Not Cedarheart's daughter. Not till StarClan fell to earth. It made her feel stupid, and so she retreated far into the recesses of the elders' den. She tried to be polite to the apprentices who tended to her, and ignored their discomfort and alarm.

Mossbloom and Dustcloud never treated her any different, and it seemed that her memory responded well to it. Only sometimes did she forget the things they had seen together, and if she ever did forget, she could just ask. They did not shame her. At some point, Ferretnose resolved, she'd have to ask them why her tooth was chipped. She ran her tongue over it curiously. Had it been like that yesterday?

"Mhm," she trilled, leaning up against Mossbloom to hoist herself up. Though, it did seem a very odd time for a walk. Without most of her sight, Ferretnose relied on her internal clock, which had clearly seen better days. "But, is it... moonhigh?"

Dustcloud's gentle smile remained as Mossbloom and Ferretnose agreed in turn, and she simply shook her head at Ferretnose's questionable observation. "Mm, it's a-almost sund-down, Ferretnose." She replied, offering her own frail shoulder for Ferretnose to lean on- as if it were strong enough to support anything but a short twig. Twig... That fairly accurately described what Dustcloud looked like. Her ribs were obvious against her thinning pelt, and her graying fur gave way to weak and fragile bones that stuck out sharply in every direction.

A frown spread across her face as she tried to remember what she looked like before all the scars and burns, many moons ago when she still had her dearest Marshstorm in her life. Even before that, when she was with Blacktwig... Her memory had gotten so fuzzy she could hardly remember anything beyond when she made her return to ThunderClan. One of the most vivid memories she had was when she was just as skinny and frail as she was now, just sparing most of her scars, and she had gotten lost... Had kits and gotten lost... In the old twoleg alleyways. That's in, she got lost and shortly after had Blacktwig's kits. Without the help of a medicine cat and a Clan of warriors to feed her litter as well as herself, they were all weak. A fox... Oh, that was a terrible memory. She didn't need to relive that right now. Her attention turned back to her two best friends as they slowly padded outside of camp together, three elderly she-cats with nothing better to do. The kits had gone to their nests for the night, and there were no apprentices around to pick the ticks from their pelts. All they really had was each other to lean on, so that's exactly what they did. "Th-Thank you, f-for this." She mewed softly, still feeling that dull sense of anxiousness in the pit of her stomach. it slowly seemed to ease away the more steps they took, and Dustcloud found herself knowing exactly where her paws were taking her as they moseyed along.