home in good health (open)

It had been a few days since the climactic final battle, and RiverClan camp was finally clean. All the bloodstains had been meticulously swept over with fresh sand. The scent of decay had been blown away by the warm newleaf breeze blown in by the river. Life was returning to normal. It seemed like the sky had never been so blue, the river never so clear, the sun never so warm as it was now. Still... it took some getting used to. Perchstar had trouble leaving her former deputy duties to Poppyshine; it almost seemed now that she had too much free time. She had patrolled today already, and her friend had stubbornly told her that she wouldn't have another patrol until the evening. "Rest and relax," she had said. But... the concept of relaxing was almost foreign to Perchstar. She had become so used to working down to the bone, using every last moment of daylight in order to benefit her Clan, doing the work of two high ranks at once. But now that the Clan was back to "normal," it felt strange. A good kind of strange, but still strange.

Sighing noiselessly, the gray and white she-cat lay down on the sand, near where it sloped down to the surrounding part of the river. It was sun-warmed, and she felt her pelt heating up. It would be easy for any other cat to give in to their inner laziness... but Perchstar didn't have any. It felt like such a waste to lay around camp, but what else was she to do? Bother her Clanmates? Go swimming? As the minutes crawled on and the sun rose higher in the sky, the new leader found herself-- for perhaps the first time in her life-- bored.

A young voice rippled through the warm air, drawing Perchstar out of her self-induced stupor, along with the nudge of a small paw. It was Brookpaw-- Ashflight's apprentice, if she remembered correctly from the deputy's report the other day. One of Mallowmist's kits. The young she-cat had apparently noticed how uncomfortable the leader was. Sighing slightly-- not at the interruption, but at herself-- Perchstar sat up, shaking bits of sand from her fur. "Is it that obvious?" she asked wryly. A quick glance around camp showed that no one else had noticed her failed attempts at relaxing yet. "For the first time in moons, I technically have nothing to do. It's... strange." Not only did she now have a deputy to share duties with, but the Clans were now-- theoretically-- in a time of relative peace. The prey was running well. There was little to be done other than the daily patrols, which left Perchstar feeling almost lost. "Poppyshine told me to relax, but honestly, I have no clue how to." The apprentice seemed amused... hopefully her opinion of her leader wasn't shattered by the foolish image of her lying uncomfortably on the warm sand.

Ashflight trotted into camp, two small fish and a bird hanging from his jaws.  It had been a successful day of hunting so far, and after he nodded goodbye to the other members of his patrol the older tom grabbed one of the fish and gazed around camp, looking for Perchstar.  Ah, there she is...and there my apprentice is too!  His mate seemed to be chatting with Brookpaw, the young brown tabby engrossed in what seemed to be an engaging conversation.  Whiskers twitching amusedly, Ashflight picked up the other fish he had caught as well and trotted over to join them, dropping one of the fish in front of Brookpaw and the other near Perchstar.  "Hey you two, what are we talking about?  Yes, I'm budging in."  Purring, Ashflight lay down beside his mate and nuzzled her cheek, not able to help the slight flush of his face as he meowed, gesturing to the fish; "Wanna share?"  Most of the clan didn't seem to know about their relationship yet, it wasn't like they made an official announcement, so he was unsure about how lovey Perchstar wanted him to be to her.  He couldn't help it though and placed his tail over hers, head tilting curiously.

Were all RiverClan apprentices this talkative? Beetlepaw, Tinypool, Poppyshine... now Brookpaw. Still, Perchstar couldn't help but smile slightly in amusement at the long list of activities that the young she-cat suggested. They had pretty different ideas on what it meant to relax. But, to be fair, it wasn't like she had much experience in the matter. She used to just go on walks in the territory-- actually, she still did that regularly-- but a lot of the other things Brookpaw mentioned sounded exhausting. Kits in the nursery? A hunting competition? All well and good, but those things took energy. She had to interact with other cats, and be the perfect leader. Going on a walk was probably the better alternative. But was that the only thing that would truly feel restful? Wandering around alone in her free time? It didn't seem like something a leader would do.

All thoughts flew out of her head at the apparition of Ashflight. Her best friend... her mate. His gaze sparkled as always, seeming entertained by Perchstar's attempts to relax, or maybe by his apprentice's antics. His hunting had gone well, it seemed. Unbidden, a rush of warmth rose to her face at the physical closeness they suddenly shared. Though it felt nice... she really was not used to it. But she couldn't say that she disliked it. Her small, amused grin changed to a flustered smile. "W-we were just talking about relaxation," she responded once she regained her voice. "Brookpaw has a lot of ideas... I tend to be bad at relaxing, though. I just never had much time." With a nod of thanks, she accepted Ashflight's offer to share the fish. Would Brookpaw think it was strange that she was so close to the tom? It wasn't like they had gone around talking about their relationship to other cats. It had just happened recently. There was no reason to hide it. In fact, she was sure Poppyshine had probably figured it out by now, if nothing else. She took a small bite of fish, trying to ignore the likely visible blush when a gray fluffy tail swept over her own. "What do you do to relax? I know we take walks sometimes..."