Lose Everything But Each Other

Lightstep let out a soft sigh that came out as a faint cloud of fog. It was mid morning by now; the young warrior himself had been in the medicine cat's den for what might have been the billionth time checking on his kin, Icepaw. Goldeneye and Fallowlight were busy and left him to it; he had been on the dawn patrol and come in to check on the comatose apprentice. The time had slipped away, and what had been cold orange morning light had become a slightly warmer yellow as the day carried on. The white tom dipped his head to no one in particular and left the den, padding out to see if perhaps he was needed on another patrol. Every day he went in hoping that Icepaw would wake up and each day he left a little more disappointed.

Lost in her own little world full of darkness and despair, Flurryshine padded slowly out of the warriors' den, her usually beautifully groomed fur a little messier than usual. Usually, she would have stopped in her tracks to lick down the stray white hairs poking up and out of place, but she didn't have the energy to do it this morning. Did it really matter anyway? She was just going to get messy again. Kinda like how she was just gonna lose another loved one. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. Her dearly beloved adopted son Icepaw still hadn't woken up after that unjustified attack from those two roguish ThunderClan apprentices, and now the fear of him never waking back up again was growing closer and closer to becoming a reality every day he lay unconscious.

Not having paid attention to where she was going, she bumped into Lightstep, her missing mate's brother, and she let out a soft squeak. Looking up to see the handsome white tom looking at her with those compassionate amber eyes, she tried to offer him a smile. But it wouldn't come. "Oh, sorry, Lightstep. I didn't mean to bump into you like that. You were coming back from the medicine den, right? Is... Is Icepaw looking any better?" Her voice quivered when she asked the question, her eyes beginning to sting with the threat of tears.

The young warrior had been absorbed in his own thoughts, too occupied to watch where he was going as he stepped out into the dull sunlight of camp. Lightstep felt a soft body collide briefly with his and heard a squeak of surprise. He stopped and took a step back to murmur an apology, only to stop as he realized who he had bumped into: Flurryshine. The white long-furred she-cat's striking green eyes met his, and he felt his heart ache just a little more at the pain in their depths. The older warrior looked weary and full of sorrow - with good reason. The she-cat murmured a soft apology and Lightstep shook his head, a kind smile on his face. You didn't mean to, he thought, but he held his tongue as she went on.

"You were coming back from the medicine den, right? Is... Is Icepaw looking any better?" The pain in Flurryshine's eyes deepened; they became glassy with tears. All Lightstep wanted to do was tell her he was alright: that he was waking up and that he'd recover and be just fine, that soon he'd be out wandering the camp doing what apprentices did. Instead, all the white tom could do was sigh, feeling defeated by the situation once more. "No," he admitted sadly. "They can still get him to swallow herbs and chewed prey, though, so he's still hanging on. He's stronger than we could know." Lightstep feared that the hopeful words were empty. For a countless time, he thought, StarClan, let him live.

The RiverClan tom examined the she-cat before him again. Her normally smooth and lustrous coat was tangled in several places; she didn't look as though she'd groomed herself in days. Her eyes looked sunken with grief and exhaustion. He asked gently, "Have you eaten today?" Flurryshine was grieving the loss of her mother, fearing the loss of her son who hung in the balance, and worrying over the disappearance of her mate - Lightstep's own brother - Aspenstrike.