Slow Recovery [Open]

Sootpaw sat closer to the edge of camp, normally he would have been in the middle of it, trying to have fun and talk with all of the other cats in the camp but ever since Mapleleaf's passing.. well he was more somber than usual.

It was a slow process, recovering from that sort of thing, but he was lucky. Or at least he considered himself lucky. He had his father still, plus his siblings, and Poppyshine. All cats he could rely on, and recover from her death with. It was a very slow process, but he was processing his grief. He didn't know how long it would take or if he would ever return to his old self, but he knew that one day he would be better.

A rumbling growl cut the tom from his thoughts. Amber eyes went wide with surprise as he finally remembered he needed to eat. He wasn't sure how long it had been since his last meal, but he knew his mentor would want him to eat so he would. "What should I eat though..?" he asked himself, as he approached the pile of prey the clan built on day after day.

Woolypaw batted at his own tail, bored out of his mind. He was bored often nowadays, as he'd aged out of Mossball yet wasn't able to go out and explore on his own. There was pretty much only one activity, beyond play fighting and talking, that kept him busy in camp: eating. And so he padded over to the fresh-kill pile, giving a friendly smile and nod to Brookstone and Sootpaw. He grabbed a trout before his brain put two and two together and he looked back up. Sootpaw. He'd heard about Mapleleaf, though he hadn't known her personally. Still, she seemed like a wonderful, loving cat from all Woolypaw had heard. Trout abandoned, he slowly walked up to the two cats.

Brookstone had already said something to Sootpaw, and Woolypaw didn't want to interrupt, so he sat down and settled for a quick "Hello, Sootpaw. How're you doing? I was so sorry to hear about... Well, you know."

Sprucekit was excited seeing a gathering of cats nearby.  He walked over to his clanmates in the camp and purred happily seeing his older sister Brookstone there.

"Hi sis!" he meowed with a happy smile.

He didnt know maple at all she had died before he was born.  So he didnt realize Sootpaw was in mourning.


He glanced over seeing them all munching on something about to eat something??.  He was a good kitten and always followed the rules...

This was good but at times it made him a bit of a stickler for rules.

He frowned a little clearly upset "Thats not right" he meowed a little, for a kit he was not shy to share if something bothered him

"The elders are supposed to eat first" he recited the warrior code.  

(OOC: yeah i realize we dont have RC elders but lets say NPC's for the sake of the topic)

He shook his head easily flustered "We cant break the rules" he meowed fretting hard.  

He was the deputy's kit and he had to uphold the warrior code right?? His eyes went wide looking at his sister also looking at the food and offering to share things

"sis... the elders! ... did you feed them first?" he squealed nervously.  "You guys can't break the rules" he said nervous... he didnt want them to get in trouble but the rules had to be followed.

"I should tell momma" he meowed nervous.  He knew it was the right thing to do but these were his friends... But rules were in place to help the clan and so he would follow them best he could.  

"Mommm" he squeeled


(Edit: I realize that idk if they actually started eating yet or were just about to?? So I struck out what I originally had and replaced in bold for clarity I guess.)

The tom looked up at Brookstone when she had approached him. Amber eyes took in the warrior for a moment as he thought about it. He didn't know how much talking he would want to do, but sharing food would be a good start. He didn't know how much he could eat right now anyway, so sharing something would be better than not finishing something. Sootpaw opened his mouth to speak when another voice approached the duo. Quickly he turned his attention to Woolypaw, and then others seemed to follow. Yarrowpaw wasn't a surprise though.

Sootpaw's nose seemed to twitch slightly when Sprucekit mentioned feeding the elders, though Brookstone was quick to handle it. It seemed to be lectured on the code by a kit. Everyone was speaking to him for the most part, so he would answer everyone to the best of his ability. "I'm.. I'm alright." He wasn't perfect but he would get there. "It will just take some time, ya know?"

He turned to Brookstone, amber eyes focusing on the warrior. "I wouldn't mind sharing something. I don't think I could eat a full piece of prey myself right now."

Sprucekit calmed down a lot hearing brookstones explanation. He also loved her nicknames that she had given out “fishy” was the term she used for all her younger siblings and he really liked it. He didn’t need to be offered twice when she beckoned him over. He sat next to her and nudges her a little purring so happy. Ok, if you say so. If they already got fed I guess there is no harm”.

There was lots of talk around for sootpaw and he nodded giving a soft smile , he hadn’t really known maple at all but it must be hard. Yeah the clan is here for you . He meowed softly… of course they were it was the code to look after your clanmates. He couldn’t imagine if he lost poppy.

Speaking of poppy… the kit grinned looking up at her “mum!” he purred with a wide grin happy to see her . I was just worried that the elders were not fed before others started eating he explained after all… that’s the rules he added on. It was expected that sprucekit was a complete rule follower down to the letter at this point.

But sis says they already were fed so is ok he pointed his tail to brookstone… hmm he would have to think of a nickname for her since she had given him the best nickname ever.