Keeping Yourself Busy [Open Patrol]

Nightheart sighed as she padded towards the camp’s entrance, after Lionfur’s death and her daughter’s disappearance she had decided to drag herself on a border patrol, hoping that it would be enough to keep herself busy even if just for a short while. She finally could walk without limping and her wounds had healed enough to stop bothering her, so the medicine cat couldn’t say anything to force her to stay in camp and rest anymore…and in all honesty with all the nightmares haunting her lately she hadn’t rested that well to begin with “Anyone up for a patrol?” Her voice was low and lacked that energy that was so characteristic of her, but she didn’t even notice.

"I think I'm up for a nice easy border patrol." Brindlewhisker mewed, eyeing Nightheart's dreary state with a wave sympathy for the older she-cat; what an ordeal to have to go through. "I could use a walk; sitting around in cold makes my legs stiffer than the oldest tree in the forest." She admitted with an undertone of amusement in an attempt to lighten the mood, stretching each of her legs briefly as she spoke. Bushing her thick fur out, Brindlewhisker glanced around the camp; wondering who else would join their patrol.

~

Cloudpaw hurried forward at the sight of Nightheart and Brindlewhisker looking as if they were preparing to leave camp. He was tired of lounging around in camp all day; he needed to leave and get some fresh-air before he went mad. "I'll join as well, if that's all right." He mewed, dipping his head to the older she-cats, using his usual polite-but-detached voice. Flicking his tail, he stared up at the two warriors, his oddly colored eyes filled with the faintest bit of excitement.

Redpaw's head perked up and her ears shot forward at the mention of the word 'patrol'. The ginger she-cat hurriedly swallowed the last bite of a rather skinny field mouse which she had plucked from the fresh-kill pile after tending to her apprentice duties for the day. Springing to her paws and bounding across the clearing, the young apprentice stood next to her clanmates. She dipped her head in greeting at all three of the small crowd of cats before asking, "May I join too?" Blue eyes stole a quick glance at her favorite white-and-grey WindClan cat, Cloudpaw, before looking back to Nightheart, awaiting her answer.

Duskstorm padded over to the group of cats. "Nightheart, why are you looking so gloomy today?" he asked worried about the older warrior's wellbeing. "I think you need a good hunt to cheer you up!" he piped when he took a look at Brindlewhisker randomly.

Nightheart gave a weak smile to her clanmates as they gathered around her, trying to look fine though failing terribly at it. However, her smile cracked with Duskstorm’s question. She was aware that his intentions were good, but she couldn’t help but feel a wave of grief and sadness as her mind raced to the past with it “I’m just…” Her voice cracked notoriously as she spoke. She shook her head, clearing her throat before getting up and looking at the group of cats “We should be enough for this patrol…let’s just go on” She really hoped that she hadn’t offended Duskstorm nor anyone else with her reaction, but she was fully aware that if she dared to finish her answer she would have yet another mental breakdown and she wanted to avoid that.

Brindlewhisker's eyes filled with understanding and she briefly brushed up against Nightheart as she began to head out of camp, hoping to offer silent comfort. "I'm sure we could all make do with stretching our legs." She mewed briskly, eyeing Duskstorm with a gentle look that warned the tom against pressuring Nightheart. "Hopefully we do actually encounter something to eat!" She mewed, before heading towards the entrance, ignoring the day's bitter chill.

~


Cloudpaw's ears twitched in delight as Redpaw joined their patrol; despite how much time they seemed to be spending together as of late, it always thrilled him whenever they were able to do even a mundane task such as patrolling together. "The more, the merrier." He rumbled, stealing a quick glance at Nightheart's form. Quickly stretching each leg, the young tom looked at Redpaw with his usual ambivalent stare, "Coming?" He questioned as he began to pad towards the camp entrance.

Happy he had noticed her presence, Redpaw flicked her tail in acknowledgement and padded quietly to Cloudpaw's side. Nightheart's reaction made the young apprentice reflect on the Clan's recent past. She had remembered seeing a little bit of the Lionfur debacle when she was a young kit, having vacated the nursery when she probably wasn't supposed to to see what the meeting had been about. Redpaw was pretty sure she had seen this cat crouched over the warrior's lifeless body and realized with a jolt that she must have been very close, perhaps family. She looked at the dark brown warrior with sympathetic eyes before averting her gaze.