And I Will Wait, I Will Wait... [Open]

The sky was practically still dark as Honeypaw sat at the reed entrance of the RiverClan camp, her body slumped with exhalation as she watched the heavens turn to a brilliant crimson with the rising sun. She hadn’t gotten much sleep during the last few nights, her mind ablazed with questions of why. Why had Hailsong taken it upon herself to hunt down the fox on her lonesome?

Her eyes were fixed on the reeds, praying that she would see the familiar tabby pelt of her mentor push through them at some point, her tail twitching with anticipation for something that could very much never come. In truth, Honeypaw found herself conflicted. She wanted to be angry at Hailsong, that she had left her without a goodbye, without training. But yet...She also found herself worried sick about her mentor, despite the fact that she barely knew her. The Clan couldn’t deal with another loss, it couldn’t. She couldn’t…

But also, she had accepted that perhaps tracking down the fox that had been drawing to close to the nursery the last few sunrises was perhaps her way of coping with the recent loses. Hailsong, after all, had lost her father and her brother and niece had gone missing shortly afterwards...But surely it was wrong that she had been gone for so long? Why hadn’t she returned yet?

Honeypaw’s shoulders slumped as she shook her head. Shortly after Hailsong had left, her father had offered to assign her a new mentor in the meanwhile - an offer that had become more persistent with the following sunrises as Hailsong’s mission dragged on. But it felt...Wrong. She had been assigned as Hailsong’s apprentice, she wanted to train under her! Besides, she was fine with waiting a bit longer for Hailsong to return and it felt like almost a betrayal to take on another mentor for even a little while she was alive.

….Hailsong was alive, wasn’t she?

Anxiously, Pebblepaw trotted out of the apprentice den to meet Honeypaw, desperate for any possible news, any possible hope that her foster mother could still be alive, could still return... But Honeypaw's look of hopelessness mirrored her own.

For the past few days, Pebblepaw had been unable to mourn the death of Riverclan's leader, to celebrate her mentor becoming deputy, or even to train, although her mentor had been so overwhelmed with her new duties Pebblepaw hadn't wanted to bother her for training anyway. Every day, she had wasted her time laying in the apprentice den, staring at the camp entrance, trying to keep her fading hope alive. Her own parents were already dead, Hailsong couldn't leave her too...

Pebblepaw rubbed mournfully against Honeypaw's fur. "Will she ever come back?"

Honeypaw jolted at the sudden presence of somebody rubbing against her, turning to see her denmate, Pebblepaw. Her ears twitched at Pebblepaw's voice, her heart sinking as it hit her. She...Right, Pebblepaw had been close with Hailsong, she had been a mother to her, hadn't she? Her ears dropped, her gaze turning toward the horizon as she opened her mouth, unsure what to say. What could she say? She didn't know the truth, she didn't know if her mentor was alive or...

"I'm sure she will," Honeypaw offered up, although she wasn't fully sure if she believed it. "But...She left to keep us safe, didn't she? She can't return if the job isn't done." To be honest, she wasn't fully sure what she was saying but she didn't want to burden Pebblepaw with the truth, with what Honeypaw was afraid to admit to herself to be the possible case - that Hailsong was with StarClan already. The Clan had already suffered so much...Perhaps a little hope was what they all needed? "Maybe she is taking so long because she realized there were other dangers out there that she had to stop."

Though she was sure at first that Hailsong would be coming back soon, Ivybrook was beginning to have second thoughts. One of RiverClan's finest warriors had been gone for more than two sunrises, and despite the fact that her apprentice seemed to remain optimistic, the RiverClan deputy couldn't seem to do the same. Surely, hunting down a fox couldn't take such an enormous amount of time? It was, after all, only a fox. If Hailsong was still alive, Ivybrook was sure that she would have returned by now. Wouldn't she? Perhaps she had just taken a couple of days off to clear her mind, or maybe she had just gotten loss... Perhaps she wasn't dead?

Surely, there had to be some reason she hadn't come back...

Ivybrook's gaze faltered slightly when it landed upon Honeypaw and Pebblepaw, her apprentice. Honeypaw- Hailsong's apprentice- seemed to be hopeful for her return, even if it seemed impossible at that point. Slowly, she got up from beside the freshkill pile, padding next to the two apprentices. "Honeypaw," She murmured gently, placing her tail on the younger she-cat's shoulder. "Although we all hoped for Hailsong's swift return, it doesn't appear that she'll be back for a while... I think it might be time for you to consider a new mentor... At least until Hailsong comes back." She added hopefully, meeting the she-cat's gaze with her own emerald one. "I'm sure when she gets back she'll be awful proud of you, don't you think? Maybe I could even take over your training for now, if you'd like?" Her tone held a false sense of hopefulness, because she wanted to be there for Honeypaw.

Her mind quickly shifted to Pebblepaw, and how she hadn't managed to get her out for any training yet. Suddenly, she had an idea. "I could take the both of you out on a patrol and we can look out for her, that way we're being productive and also trying to find her, both at the same time. Would you guys like that?" She shifted her gaze between the two of them, trying to remain optimistic. Maybe, if they were lucky, they might actually find the missing warrior.

Pebblepaw glanced hopefully up at Ivybrook. She hadn't gotten much time to get to know her mentor, but the small corner of her heart that wasn't full of pain or loss for Hailsong swelled with pride to see Ivybrook, her mentor, a strong, capable deputy that could do anything, that could find Hailsong, bring her back...

"A patrol sounds like a great idea!"

Honeypaw jolted at the sound of Ivybrook's voice, turning to look at the newly appointed deputy. There was a pain in her heart at the gentle offer to take over her training, unsure on the offer. She knew Ivybrook meant well but...If Hailsong was still out there, she didn't want to make her mentor feel like she had given up on her, betrayed her! Her eyes flickered out to the horizon, a soft sigh heaving through her chest...Before she closed her eyes and gave the deputy a small nod. She was sure that Hailsong would be disappointed in her if she did give up an opportunity like that.

"That...That sounds wonderful, Ivybrook," she meowed, her green eyes flickering open as she turned to look at her. "I'll be happy to have you as my mentor until Hailsong returns..." her voice drifted off a bit there, being a bit...Unsure on how much she did believe her mentor would return. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, that Hailsong had been gone for far too long... Honeypaw shoved the feeling of dread down, trying to focus on the idea of a patrol - a chance to get some fresh air and try to find her mentor... "Yeah, yeah a patrol does sounds great," she meowed, getting to her paws.