Lost in the Rear View [c]

Primroselight had wanted to speak to Bloodstrike again for ages, but she hadn't expected the cat that had returned from Asylum's prison to be the one she needed to talk with. She also was nowhere near prepared for how much it would shake her, to have him return confused and angry. The only thing to take the blame was Asylum, but you couldn't blame something that no longer existed. She had to stop making excuses. What if he's even more different than I remember?

But she had to do. She would want Muddypaw to do the same thing for her if she went to the Dark Forest and back. "Dad?" The warrior's words were slightly muffled by the mouse tail in her mouth. "Can I sit here?" She was approaching this with much more caution than deemed necessary, but she hadn't forgotten the way he had yelled at Copperfox yet. "So how have you been? Sorry I didn't come speak to you sooner; I've been..." Too scared. "Busy with Muddypaw and stuff. Starclan, I never had so much respect for you and mum 'till that little one came along. He was quite a handful as a kit."

Getting used to being in the sun was becoming easier. Bloodstrike lie out in the open, absorbing some much needed vitamins from the sunlight. His eyes had been closed more often than they were open, something he would like to start changing. But his pain would come back with a vengeance just when he thought it was gone, and only poppy seeds ever seemed to help make him feel better. He heard a familiar voice call to him and his eyes eased open. He saw Primroselight come towards him and he rolled over onto his belly.

"Of course you can." He was concerned with her and the fact that she had been avoiding him for awhile. Maybe now she was here to spill some news onto him that she had been holding back. A lot had happened since he had been imprisoned... maybe the horror stories of what happened in his absence were not quite over.

He listened to her carefully and shrugged off her apology... until he remembered that she couldn't see. "It's really okay Primroselight..." And he braced again for bad news. But it never came... He stared at her for a moment, not quite understanding... then he realized. Muddypaw was... Primroselight's kit. She'd had a kit! His joy was immediately met with guilt that he hadn't been out and about more... I need to pull myself together! No more laying around after today!

"Yes... kits can be a lot to deal with sometimes, but we do it because we love them." He smirked to himself. The memories were fuzzy, but they were there.

"I've been alright... I'm more reluctant than normal to go outside... but it will pass I'm sure. I just need to stop being so lazy." But he knew it wasn't laziness. His poppy seeds had kept him groggy most of the time... but pain free. He had debated with himself a few times if he ought to just learn to live with the pain in exchange to have some of his normal life back again. So far he hadn't changed much from being in the prison at Fourtrees, with the exception of regular meals. He'd gained enough of his weight back that Beechface was at least pleased with his progress, but he still didn't feel quite right.

Still, telling that to Primroselight might only upset her... and he didn't want to do that.