Walk with me [closed]

The air was warmer today. Not by much, but enough for Smallbean to notice. Spring would undoubtedly be coming soon, to his relief. Even his thick fur let the chill of a cold night's air creep within on occasion. The coming of spring made him want to go out and see the territory. He wanted to see if anything new was growing- and he needed to clear his head. He was only back for a moon or two and he already had a lot on his mind. He didn't want to go alone, though. Scanning over the camp, his eyes caught onto Swiftspirit. Hopefully she wasn't too busy. "Hey, uh... Swiftspirit, would you mind coming with me out of camp? I just... want to take a walk and didn't want to go by myself." 'And maybe it'd be a good idea to be out without someone else besides my own thoughts.' He knew he was prone to spiraling, so maybe having Swiftspirit there would help. "Uh, if you want to come, meet me outside of camp." He quickly added before heading toward the camp entrance.

Swiftspirit glanced up at the sound of Smallbean's voice, having not noticed his approach until he spoke. "Oh! Hey, Smallbean," From her reaction, it was clear she'd been a... little bit distracted. Her thoughts kept circling back around to Timbersun and Buzzardpaw despite her efforts to shove them to the back of her mind. A walk would be nice, better than sitting around camp doing nothing, of course.

"Sure," Swiftspirit stood, trotting after Smallbean quickly. Stretching her legs would be nice, she told herself. And it had been a while since she'd caught up with Smallbean now that he'd returned to the clan. Exiting camp, she said little however, struggling to shake different thoughts that she... Really hoped Smallbean wasn't going to ask about. They stood over her like a fox in the middle of camp, one that Swiftspirit was trying desperately to ignore.

Smallbean smiled when he heard Swiftspirit's pawsteps behind him. He looked over his shoulder and muttered a quiet greeting to her. Without another word, he chose a path and began to walk down it, staying close by Swiftspirit. The last thing he wanted was to end up like Fawnsong.

The landscape soon pulled his attention and caused his mind to drift. He noticed the little specks of green occasionally poking up through the ground. Birds only occasionally flew overhead. They stayed their distance, mostly. They reminded him of Rookfire. He felt guilty.

The peaceful landscape provided some balance to the turmoil of his mind. It reminded him of days long past, when he would pace these same trails, repeating murmured phrases to himself. Except now, he's not alone.

"Spring's coming soon." He murmured, casting a quick glance to Swiftspirit. He felt like he had to say something to fill the silence, it probably wouldn't do much, though.

It was quiet for a while after that, the only sounds being that of their pawsteps. Smallbean kept thinking, though. About recent events, mostly. About how someone he thought was a friend turned out to be an enemy. About how the clans could be in danger- considering what had happened to Shadowclan.

"Are you... worried, about the rogues?" He said finally, holding his breath. He stayed quiet for a moment. "Because I am." He avoided Swiftspirits gaze, he kept it on the path ahead. "I can't stop thinking about what could have happened if we didn't stop them when we did."

"Oh good, it's hard to tell sometimes. I'm getting tired of the cold." Swiftspirit grinned. She kept close to Smallbean, allowing him to pick a direction and following. Even with a clanmate by her side, her ears swiveled and she turned her head, gazing out across the snow-covered moors vigilantly.

Smallbean was the first of them to voice a subject that wasn't just mindless smalltalk, and Swiftspirit snorted. "Worried? Why would I be worried about Dawnhawk a whole group of rogues wandering the territories, one of which with a familiar taste in pelt decoration?" The cheerful sarcasm in her tone wasn't forced at all, no. She was perfectly calm and unconcerned with the matter of a vicious group having gotten so close to camp and injured one of their newest warriors. Especially when Windclan had no medicine cat and it was the middle of leafbare. A low huff escaped Swiftspirit, breath clouding in front of her. "We were lucky to drive them off before they reached camp."

"That... it seems like something to be perfectly worried about, actually." He said quietly, noticing the sarcasm in Swiftspirits voice. In hindsight he supposed it was a stupid question to ask, most of his clanmates were worried, but her sarcasm still stung despite not being particularly harsh. "It reminded me of the Asylum. You don't think that's actually them... do you? I thought they were gone, right?" At the mention of the Asylum, he instinctively scanned over their surroundings. His eyes returned to the path beneath his paws. "And Dawnhawk..." He still couldn't believe that he had convinced himself thay Dawnhawk was good before.

"I guess it was lucky that we stopped them. Stars knows how many cats he has. What if he comes back? How many cats do you think he has on his side?" He asked the questions like a worried kit to their mother, but he couldn't help it. He knew that Swiftspirit probably wouldn't be able to answer those questions, maybe her responses would reassure him, though.

Smallbean gave voice to her concerns, and Swiftspirit nodded unhappily. "It reminded me of them, yes... But Asylum is dead and gone. At least, I dearly hope so." She muttered, "I don't know how many Dawnhawk has with him. Quite a few looked like they could've been his family, kits maybe? He also knows our territory-" Unfortunate, very unfortunate, but that mistake had been paid for in blood, "-and I don't think he'd underestimate how many cats he'd need to bring with him. At least, I remember him being smarter than that." Which, Swiftspirit thought, wasn't at all reassuring. "I don't think he has many more rogues than that." At least, she hoped not. Windclan had driven them off for now, but how long would that last if Dawnhawk had a larger force waiting? "We'll need to keep our borders well-checked, at any rate." But even well-maintained borders wouldn't stop Dawnhawk if he was truly determined.