Before I Forget [Fallowpaw]

With Swiftspirit gone, Brackenpaw was glad to spend any time she could with her siblings. Camp or hunting, she'd promised herself she would spend more time with them regardless. Despite that it was a struggle, the marbled tabby found it difficult to get out of her own thoughts and tended towards being more of a lone wolf much of the time without meaning to. Today she'd asked if Fallowpaw wanted to go hunting with her, and so the two had set off towards the flower fields in hopes of finding prey that was taking advantage of the blooming plant life. If she focused hard enough, she could almost ignore the presence of the dark shadows that trailed behind them.

"This should be a good place to hunt." She mewed softly, "I can smell hare, at least. Rabbit too." She wanted to ask how training was going, how Fallowpaw was holding up after... everything. But she hesitated, unsure of how to begin, especially with the dark forest cats lurking so close by.

Even with newleaf’s gentle warmth starting to thaw the snows on the moorland, there was still a stinging bite to the winds and Fallowpaw fluffed out his pelt as he followed his sister to the fields. It was a bright day-- good for hunting, at least. But the brightness only helped accentuate the darkness that lingered just out of the corner of his eye. His ears perked up when Brackenpaw spoke up and his whiskers twitched in response.
"Yeah,” he mumbled. Fallowpaw hadn’t been there when it had happened, but Brackenpaw had seen it all. It wasn’t much of a stretch to imagine she’d be reluctant to even mention it with him, especially when they were always under surveillance. Every shadow had eyes and ears-- and claws, he thought with a shudder. “Should be good eating. Maybe we’ll get as fat as RiverClanners.”

The air still had a chilly bite to it despite the snowmelt, and Brackenpaw couldn't help but shiver slightly at a particularly strong gust of wind. "A full belly will be nice." She agreed, whiskers twitching at the comment about Riverclan. She'd never so much as seen one, even on their shared border of the gorge.

Her humor faded quickly however, Fallowpaw's response to her was a mumble, and Brackenpaw paused, glancing up at her brother with worry. He hadn't seen the worst of it that day, but that didn't mean much when the result was the same. "How are you holding up?" She asked, briefly pressing against his side for a moment if he'd let her. If not, she would move to start searching for prey.

“How are you holding up?”
Fallowpaw flinched not only at the question, but at the sudden press of fur against his own. But he stayed that way, side by side with his sister as he let the question sink in. He glanced sideways at Brackenpaw and met her gaze. He hadn’t been expecting her to honestly ask him how he was. Fallowpaw didn’t really have an answer he could articulate. Instead, he ducked his head and stared down at the budding growth beneath his paws.
All of those big emotions swirled together like the cold, dark swirling waters that gurgled at the bottom of the gorge that separated WindClan territory from RiverClan. If he thought too much about them, he could swear he felt the icy waters lapping at his limbs. For the sake of his remaining family and for his Clan, Fallowpaw couldn’t let himself be swept away by them. He took a deep breath before he answered finally answered her.
“About as well as the next cat, I suppose,” he answered flatly. After a long pause, he lifted his head and looked back at Brackenpaw. “What about you, Bracken? How have you… Been handling this?”

Fallowpaw's answer came after a few moments of silence, through which Brackenpaw remained unmoving, the original reason for coming out here seemingly forgotten. About as well as the next cat... And didn't she know how that felt. The tabby shrugged at the return question. "I'm-" fine, she wanted to say, but that would've been a lie and Brackenpaw wouldn't lie to her brother. "-Handling it, I guess? I don't want to see something like that happen ever again. Especially not to family and those I care about." Not that her dreams would let her forget any time soon, "I haven't been sleeping all that well, but I don't expect anyone else has, either." Not that anyone could be blamed for that.