Catching Up [Primroselight]

Beechpaw padded into camp, turning away from Bloodstar as they both dropped prey onto the fresh-kill pile. Glancing up, she spotted a familiar golden pelt, and after a moment's hesitation grabbed the squirrel she had just set down, making her way toward her sister. They hadn't really talked recently, which made guilt prickle at Beechpaw's pelt. She needed to go about fixing that, might as well offer a meal.

"Hey, Prim," Beechpaw greeted, voice somewhat muffled by the squirrel she carried. She set the fluffy piece of prey down before continuing, "How've you been? Squirrel?" She offered, lightly nudging the catch towards her sister. The hunting had been good today, and thankfully not interrupted by a fox, but Beechpaw still felt oddly fatigued. She really was out of shape, and it bothered her. Primroselight could probably hear it in her voice, too. Foxdung.

They were asleep. At long last, they were asleep.

As Primroselight's kits grew, they had more and more energy, and it was much harder for her to get them settled in their nests. Not yet old enough to become apprentices, but swiftly outgrowing the nursery, the three kits were meaning that the warrior valued her brief moments of peace and quiet. Speaking of 'apprentices', "Hey!" She leapt at the offer of squirrel, and continued, "exhausted, but what else can I expect. I don't understand how Mum coped with the four of us-" She resisted the urge to hesitate when saying that: it was just the two of them now "-let alone six in a litter later on." The cream warrior had taken a few large bites of her prey, but soon pushed it back towards Beechpaw after hearing the apparent tiredness she shared.

"Here, you need to eat something as well. Did you catch this yourself? That makes a nice change." She said, accompanied by a gentle nudge. "Bloodstar's making you work hard isn't he? Not as fun being a -paw the second time round."

"Stars, I have no idea how she managed. And your kits get along with each other." She and Dawnhawk had always been at each other's throats, it felt like. And even Dustpaw, who Beechpaw had gotten along with most of the time, could be as brash and stubborn as they were. "I couldn't imagine dealing with six... She looked dead any time I came over to take them off of her paws for a bit. Happy, but stars... I've never seen her that exhausted since." She smiled at the memory, though it faded quickly. It was just her and Primroselight, Ravenclaw and Ashstorm now. "Are you holding up okay?" Beechface knew what it was like to lose a mate, not that Primroselight needed to know that. She felt for her sister, though.

"I did." She grinned, leaning forward to take a bite of the squirrel, "I really don't remember being this exhausted after training with Wolfstar. It's been... more difficult than I thought." She admitted quietly, "I hate admitting it but I think I'm out of shape. And I've been having trouble judging distance properly." It hadn't been so bad when her prey were stationary herbs that didn't move.

Primroselight laughed at her sister's very valid point, bringing back memories of her constant effort to dull the noise of her littermates squabbling. "Most of the time, I guess. It feels like almost every litter fights sometimes." She said, reminded of Waspkit and Hollykit's argument from only that morning. She noticed the smile fade from Beechface's voice, and also took into account how few of her siblings she had left.

"I'm coping," She said, smiling sadly. Was she really though? She had kept herself busy and distracted looking after kits who would never know their father, and constantly been there to console her older children, all to distract from her own feelings. She didn't let the tears start, moving swiftly on to listening to her sister complain about training. "I'm sure you'll get used to it. Hailpaw manages, and I think he manages to be even more stubborn than you." It felt like they were both apprentices again in a way, far from all that they had been through. She took another bite of the prey, chewing slowly. "We could go out hunting together sometime, I'll lend you a paw with the hunting thing. Believe me, it will still take loads of work."

There was a tinge of sadness in Primroselight's expression, and Beechpaw decided not to pry any further than that. Losing a mate was hard, and Primroselight had already lost plenty.

"More stubborn than me?" Beechpaw asked, whiskers twitching. "I suppose training is going well, then?" She hadn't seen much of Hailpaw around, truthfully. Her interactions with the other apprentices had been sparse, and what few there were had been... Somewhat awkward. She wasn't their contemporary, after all, and was older than all the warriors in the clan except for her father.

"Going hunting together would be nice." She agreed, "It feels like it's been forever since we've patrolled together." Finding herbs barely counted, and even that had been quite a while ago now. Beechpaw needed to spend more time with her sisters.

"I know, it's impressive, isn't it? Didn't know that was possible until now!" Primroselight joked, giving her sister a playful nudge. She was still thankful they had moved on quickly from the topic of Sparrowflight - it was nice for a conversation with her sister not to end in venting and tears for a change. "We should, definitely."

"How do you think Muddythorn is doing?" She knew, emotionally, her son had been better, but he seemed to be doing fine in his position, newly alone. Beechface - paw, she needed to get used to that again - would be a better judge of that, or at least she hoped. Muddythorn had always seemed more comfortable in being a medicine cat, finally found his place and happiness. If only the forest could let him have that for more than a few brief sunrises. "I've never known him so at ease with tasks, but I'm worried he might start getting overworked. Maybe I should try and convince him to get an apprentice now, rather than later. There are plenty or apprentices at the moment, one of them might be interested." The second half she said more to herself, but still hoped for an answer.

Beechpaw laughed at her sister's joking. It was something closer to normal... And something she hadn't actually felt in a while.

The question about Muddythorn wasn't unexpected. "I think he's doing fine. He's... handling it better than I ever did." Understatement. It seemed that having someone who actually wanted the position actually made for a happier cat. Shocker. "It's a lot of work, even for two cats. Having an extra set of paws in another apprentice isn't a bad idea." It had helped Beechpaw, though it had taken a while to find an apprentice to begin with. "Do you think any of the current apprentices or kits would be interested in it? Took me long enough to get Muddy, though I don't think any of the warriors would want the position again."