Leaf-fall's Chill [Open]

The Skyclan deputy padded into camp with his side's heaving. He had to set down the decent sized squirrel in order to be able to catch his breath. Worried settled in the back of the black and white tom's mind. Rippedsky was not old at all. In fact, he was still a rather young cat. His tail twitched uncomfortably. All afternoon he had felt exhausted and... off. However, he did not want any of this to get in the way of his normal duties. Despite the constant fogginess of his head today, the warrior had managed to just make it through sorting through the patrols and even handling a hunting one himself. Skyclan needed prey if it was to face the coming leafbare. There would be sickness and starvation afflicting many off his clanmates. It was not a season he was looking forwards to. The beauty of the snow as it blanketed the forest was the only good thing that the colder weather brought.

Closing his blue eyes for a split second, Rippedsky took a deep breath. He needed to at least get this squirrel to the pile for his clanmates. Then, maybe he could escape to the comfort of his warm den for a few moments of rest. A chill ran down the tom's spine. His short fur was not a comfort in the chilly weather. But, it would only get worse. He had already survived it as a younger cat and most certainly could now. Determined, he bent his head to pick up the prey. Rippedsky padded towards the fresh kill pile, but stopped suddenly just short of his destination. A ragged cough tore from the tom's throat and he dropped the squirrel to the group. That wasn't good.

Fernpaw had been playing outside her den with a dead leaf, eyeing it threateningly before using her slowly-devolving skills to pounce onto and shred it, when she spied her foster father - and mentor - enter the camp with a squirrel in his jaws.  Shaking the shards of dried leaf off of her claws, the young bi-color tabby she-cat smiled and began to trot over to greet him, her tail high and flicking rhythmically as she walked.  "Hi Rippedsky!  Wow, good catch!  That looks like it will taste amaz-"  She cut herself off as the patched tom's body was wracked with a deep, horse cough, her formerly bright green eyes darkening with concern.  "Are you okay?"  Pressing her flank against his for a moment, she couldn't help but glance fleetingly over towards the medicine cat's den.

Mintpaw was shadowing Fernpaw as usual when she approached Rippedsky. "Hi mothe-
Rippedsky!" She chirped, rubbing against his legs cheerfully. "How are you?
What's going on? Did you know that it's getting colder? Isn't that weird? Why does it get colder?"
The little kit paused, her ears twitching. "Are you okay?"

Smiling softly, the deputy looked up at the pair of apprentices as they approached. He tried to ignore the painful itch at the back of his throat. It didn't feel good. Along with the tightness in his chest, Rippedsky found himself wheezing instead of laughing at the joyful, young Mintkit. He felt awful. It wasn't until the black and white warrior slowed down for the day that he truly noticed how bad things were. Although, he did not want to bring attention to it. There was no time for sickness now as they prepared for leafbare. At their pressing question, he meowed, "Yes, yes, I'm fi-" His sentence was broken off by another coughing fit. He tried to manage another weak smile. Although, that fell away quickly. His blue eyes shone with pain.

"M-maybe not..." Rippedsky found himself hacking again. When had this come on? Maybe he just needed sleep. That had to be it. There was no way he had picked up any illnes already. The deputy would not allow himself to be useless during the leaf-bare season.

Fernpaw flinched away from Rippedsky's heaving flank, his mix of ragged coughing fits and raspy voice making her grow even more concerned.  Her murky eyes widening, the usually boisterous young molly suddenly gained a much more mature demeanor, exchanging a glance with her sister before speaking in a commanding tone; "You are not fine!  Come on, go let Oceanlight and Rabbitfoot check you out!"  Nudging his back leg with her head to try and move him forward, the brown tabby and white apprentice hissed; "Come on you great lump, it won't take very long!"  Despite the humor in her voice, Fernpaw was truly very worried; she remembered hearing about something called greencough, that came with the cold season.  Could he have it?  No, he'll be fine!  He probably just...swallowed some squirrel fur by accident or something!

Mintpaw flicked her tail anxiously, her paws shuffling as Fernpaw took the lead as usual. "O-okay!" She called after them, her murky green eyes wide and anxious. "I-I'll go get Firpaw."
Firpaw would know what to do! She knew everything, right? The small kit turned on the spot uncertainly, but still didn't go to get the older apprentice and then drippy ran out of steam

"I've got a lot to do, Fernpaw. Really there is no need..." The deputy barely managed to choke out the words. It seemed futile. There wasn't anything stuck in this throat. But, it still itched and scratched like nothing he had ever felt before. An attempt at a sheepish grin turned into a grimace as he looked up at his daughter. He tried to swing his head around to glance at Mintkit, but even the thought of the motion seemed to exhaust him. Rippedsky's head still felt fuzzy. However, he stumbled alongside his foster kits towards the den where Rabbitfoot and Oceanlight made their dens.

"Oceanlight. Ribbitfoot," He coughed only once this time before continuing, "I think I must have caught something."