Tinged Feathers. {For the True OTP}

Falconpaw was rather jittery, he had spent most of his time stubbornly looking for his mother before coming to terms that she wasn't among their ranks, somewhere in the afterlife with other loners. he was still suspicious that Rockthorn would pop up any second and strike him dead somehow. With a pang of disgust, he realized that Rockthorn had made him dependent, taking the role of a parent 'protecting' him, 'comforting' him. That awful smile he had when Falconpaw finally snapped and spoke hate-filled words at Rockthorn's death sentence. He had mourned the tom for a long time, feeling the last bits of family leave him. Hawkpaw had turned his attention toward Specklefang by then and the tom he had met at the SkyClan border was no doubt dead or moved on. In his turmoil, he realized he had drifted closer to the border, the mist was cold and his fur was hardening with a layer of frost. He stared at it. Two of the cats he had begun to care about were there, he assumed so at least. Sunpaw wasn't in StarClan. He had witnessed her attack, mortified by his best friend's growing relationship with Specklefang. Shaking his thin, skinny body, the tom crept closer to it, squinting into the veil.

The once-heathy she-cat had been changed by the Mistwalker. Her fur had never regained its former softness, and her mind had melted so her consciousness fluctuated between her normal self and a stumbling, insane killer.
The Dark Forest had had a similar effect on the she-cat. Her fur now had a dull gray color, and her eyes had sunk deeper into her sockets, completely void of any emotions except for fear. They had a dead look in them- completely dead.
Sunpaw stumbled through the mist, sweat, and the tears that constantly leaked from her eyes freezing onto her fur. She paused once or twice to rub her eyes, trying to clear the frost that collect there and froze them shut.
She looked up suddenly as something echoed ahead of her and jumped into a defensive position, her claws out and her fur fluffing up. Only the whites of her eyes betrayed her growing fear.
"Who's there?"

"I had h-hoped I wouldn't -be right..." he mewed. The apprentice mumbled, saddened to see the bright apprentice as dull as he had been in life. It was odd now, Falconpaw looked the same, messy furred, bony to the point of having a visible spine and occasionally, ribs. However, he felt none of it, he felt comfortable sitting, and he wasn't suffering burning hunger and sickness all the time. Now Sunpaw looked like he used to feel. He feared she felt that way too. "How d-did you end u-up like this. Sp-specklefang d-didn't kill y-you... N-nevermind, it d-doesn't matter. It's m-me, Falconp-paw." the tom mewed, he stepped slightly out of the mist so she could see him.

OOC: frick, sorry

IC:
Sunpaw jumped as a very familiar voice floated out of the thick, swirling mist. (Even the sight of mist made her panic, and the voice didn't make it any better). The once-golden she-cat took a small step forward, her dull eyes widening. Her heart beat so fast, she was certain it would make her narrow chest burst. If she was right... if he was here, with her...
She waited for a moment as the voice continued. "Specklefang..." Her voice was hoarse, a thin wavering note that scratched at her throat like thorns. "I prefer not to dwell on my death." The smallest hint of a smile made her face light up, and a brief shadow of her former self, Sunpaw before the Mist, shone through.
"Falconpaw." She stepped closer despite her fear of the mist, her tattered ears twitching as the small tom padded out of the mist. Everything about the tom was familiar, yet somehow different. His scent was richer, and the way he seemed to hold himself higher. No, he too was a shadow of his former self.
Death could be a good thing, she supposed.
"Is it really you? Or am I just dreaming...?"

"I-i don't th-think it m-matters anymore." he mewed, nothing was physical anymore, what separated dreams from afterlife now? He couldn't understand, Sunpaw looked as if she had been seasoned in battle and seen too much, she wasn't the talkative social apprentice he had often only seen from a distance. Her confidence had been rather intimidating then, but now... He couldn't find any sort of intimidation in her. The tom had always had the worst of luck and was forced to make his own hope most of the time. It seemed to get him in trouble and it had allowed Rockthorn to remain a constant burden. Falconpaw now had a bit of hope that the strong apprentice would return. His ears rotated forward as he listened to the Dark Forest. There was a low, constant hum that just barely could be heard in the seemingly dead place. "I w-wish we c-could trade p-places. You d-don't deserve a-any of this." he murmured, shaking his head. The world had always been unfair, at least toward him, this was no different.

Sunpaw laughed hoarsely. "Yes, I suppose your right," She doubled over in a coughing fit and spat a dark red, muddy wad out of her mouth. Wiping her muzzle on her leg, she looked up again just to catch his last few words. "No you don't," She mewed, a faint hint of strength behind her words this time. "You don't want to trade places with me, trust me." She could remember what Falconpaw was like when they were both alive, and she didn't think to relive the hell he went through in life would be possible for him.
"I've done... I've done things others would never dream of. Haha..." She coughed a couple more times before continuing, changing the subject swiftly. "But enough about me. How are things? Who've you met so far? Is Hawkpaw there?"

"H-hawkpaw's here, h-he's usually w-with his parents." the tom frowned a bit. "I-i haven't found my m-mother. S-she must b-be in different sk-skies." He was rightfully disappointed, he missed his mother in ways many cats never had to. He cleared his throat,
that was enough self-pity for now."Th-things in St-StarClan seem to be alright. I-I still get w-worried but... th-that's nothing n-new." He couldn't keep ignoring her coughing fits, from seeing the monstrosity that was Rockthorn's torn throat, he knew that Dark Forest cats seemed to take on their wounds. He still had to make sure. "A-are you alright?"

"Mmm..." Sunpaw closed her eyes for a moment, swaying on the spot as she suppressed the urge to cough. After a moment of what seemed like an intense pain, Sunpaw seemed to come to her senses. She rubbed her face on one of her front legs wearily and looked up once more.
"Hawkpaw? T-That's good to hear. I... I'm sorry about your mother," She meowed, and for a moment the tremble in her voice grew weaker. "D-don't worry." She purred (it sounded rough and gravelly, like stones tumbling down a hill). "N-Nowadays, I do enough worrying for t-the both of us."
His next question caught Sunpaw by surprise. The small tabby took a step back uncertainly.
"Never better," She joked weakly, suppressing another cough. "It's probably just the air, that's all. The cool mist seems to help,"

Sunpaw turned as a twig snapped behind her. Her vivid green eyes widened as she stared suspiciously into the murky, slimy forest behind her.
"I gotta go. Look- I'll meet you here again, okay? Just... don't worry. I'll be f-" More snapping twigs. Sunpaw began to walk backwards quickly, her hackles raising. "One of them is here. G-go, okay? They can't hurt you, b-b-but... I don't want you to see..."

"W-wait! Sunpaw p-please be careful. I-I-I'll try to see you as much as p-possible.
I p-promise..." he hated that he couldn't fight well and help her. The tom gave her a solemn look. "I-i'll find a way to fix this. I'll tr-try to stay out of sight. W-we don't want the others i-in the Dark Forest to have another reason t-to be angry." he meowed, maybe he could get training from other StarClan cats, better than Hawkpaw. They lived among legends now. He'd find a way to help her.

should we close this after your post?))

OOC: ye sure~
IC:

Sunpaw looked back one last time. She tried to smile, but it just turned into a pained grimace. "I-i'll find a way to fix this. " Of course he would. But while he was trying to convince starry airheads to change their twisted ways, Sunpaw would be training with Lionfur. She would fight her way to the top of the Dark Forest. She would fight her way into Starclan if she needed to. Anything to see her family one last time. Anything to be with Falconpaw, to speak to him while she was safe.
But for now...
The tiny apprentice shuddered as she stepped into the dark trees, feeling the familiar terror yet again send her heart into a craze. She gritted her teeth and walked on, ignoring the cats that hid in the bushes, hissing muttered questions.
"Nobody you need to worry about." She hissed, pushing past them. "Nobody you need to concern yourselves with."