Watermelon Paradise (closed)

Since that night in Fourtrees Stoatclaw hadn't stopped thinking about his friend, about how her burnt body had been left unattended while the others in her clan rushed around. It had been utter chaos yes, but they had left Lighttail alone for entirely too long. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that she would still be recovering by the time the next gathering rolled around, but another dark thought had crossed his mind since returning to camp. What if Lighttail had succumbed to her wounds on the trip back to her camp? The thought of never seeing his friend again was something that the tom wasn't ready to deal with just yet.

White paws sought out the only other presence that could soothe his fraught nerves. The thin tom was easy to spot, and in mere seconds Stoatclaw was at Astershine's side. It took him a while to find the words he wanted to speak, but he had eventually been able to strain something out. "Can we talk for a bit?" He needed something to take his mind off of Lighttail even if just for a couple of minutes. Pleading, tired eyes stared at Astershine. He felt selfish for trying to drag the tom from whatever it was he was doing, but he just couldn't help himself.

Astershine had been sitting by himself when Stoatclaw approached him. In a secluded part of camp, he lay on his side, far enough from the camp's ceaseless clamor to rest his eyes a bit. Resting, but not asleep. His ears raised when he heard footsteps approaching him, and his eyes flickered open to meet the cat who had walked up to him. A pleasantly familiar pelt brought him halfway to his paws, upright enough to to face Stoatclaw, but eased enough for him to relax.

Stoatclaw said nothing, so neither did he. When the other tom laid down beside him, Astershine let his weight lean onto him, simply enjoying his presence. Something was troubling the other tom, but he didn't say anything. Not yet.

Eventually breaking the silence, Astershine looked over to Stoatclaw and nodded at his request. "Oh, yeah. Of course." The pale tom's eyebrows tilted with concern. "Is there something up?" Astershine wasn't the most aware of the emotions of his companions, but something about Stoatclaw's demeanor concerned him. His pale blue eyes met Stoatclaw's dull, tired ones. They'd spent enough time together that he didn't really need to say anything to know if there was something wrong. Astershine had memorized Stoatclaw's patterns by now, there was something wrong.