my heart catches on every thorn [c]

Stormdance took longer than he would like to admit, deliberating for several days. He wanted to see Poppyshine, wanted to see with his own eyes that she was safe and well, but at the same time a vicious little voice in the back of his head insisted that he would only make things worse for her. The last thing he wanted was to cause more strain on Poppyshine right now. He wasn't even sure how he would do that, it certainly wasn't his intention, but the anxiety did not leave.

It was that anxiety that had him hesitating outside the medicine den. He sat to the side of it so he wasn't blocking the entrance, staring at the reeds over the entrance like they would provide him with some sort of answer. His tail twitched from side to side, disturbing the sand. He sat, and he thought. He thought about seeing Poppyshine limp and motionless. He thought about Rowanpaw, so unnaturally quiet and withdrawn since it happened. He thought about Sleepycloud, he thought about Owlshriek. He hadn't even been able to visit them in the medicine den, their sickness was too intense for visitors. It was like one day they were there, and then the next they were gone. Some irrational part of him was terrified that he would blink, and then the same would be true for Poppyshine. Gone before he had the chance to even put a paw on the reality of the situation.

He shook the thought quickly from his mind. He couldn't let himself dwell on such fears, not if he wanted to stay sane. He took a deep, steadying breath, silently scolding himself. He was being irrational and ridiculous. Just walk in there. She'll be right there if you just walk inside, and you two can talk, and everything will be just fine. He repeated that mantra silently a few more times, until strength found his paws and he rose to his feet.

Stormdance took a deep breath, then pushed through the reeds into the medicine den. He took a minute, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light inside the den. He looked around, finding Poppyshine curled up in a nest. His heart did a tight squeeze, seeing Poppyshine so small and sickly looking. Fear rushed in anew, and he pushed it down violently. She was fine. She was just tired and sick, and she would recover. It was only stress. Stormdance walked over, offering a soft, "Poppyshine?" He kept his voice low. He wasn't sure if she was awake or not, and he did not want to wake her if she wasn't.

Poppyshine

Poppyshine often lightly dozed in the medicine den since she had fallen ill. She was better now than she had been the first handful of days, where her waking hours and slumbering hours were both filled with swirling memories and a hazy grip on reality. Now, Poppyshine was not quite in that state. Her slumber was still filled with reliving painful memories, but when Stormdance called her name and she roused from her light slumber, she recognized him for who he truly was.

“Stormdance,” Poppyshine purred. She smiled, and though her expression was still labored with exhaustion, there was a genuine happiness in her gaze. “It is good to see you. Please, come in—sit down. I don’t bite.” She chuckled tiredly. She rested her chin on her paws. “How are you doing? How has RiverClan been faring?” Poppyshine smiled sympathetically. “I apologize if I frightened you the other day.”

Stormdance's tense shoulders unwound, just a little. Seeing the exhaustion still lingering on Poppyshine's face did make his chest ache, but he was glad to see that happiness in her eyes, see life returned to her and see the steady rise and fall of her chest. It made something that had wound around his heart and squeeze it tight for the past few days finally release and calm. He breathed out and he returned Poppyshine's smile with a shy one of his own.

He sat down in front of Poppyshine, curling up with his tail over his paws. "You don't need to apologize for that." He said immediately. "It was hardly your fault. I'm just grateful you're feeling better, and I'm sorry that things got that bad. If there's anything I can do to help lighten your load when you return to your duties, please don't hesitate to ask. I-- I mean, we all care about you so much, not just as our deputy, but as our friend." He gave another shy smile and ducked his head a little.

"As for me, I am... alright." Stormdance didn't want to lie about his state of being, but he also didn't want to put yet more onto his friend's shoulders, so he moved forward quickly. "As for the rest of Riverclan, they're doing alright too, I think. We all worry for you, of course, but nothing bad has happened as of late." Nothing else, at least. "Prey has still been plentiful, with the river still moving." Wanting to give Poppyshine some good news, Stormdance added softly, "I think I may talk to Perchstar soon about Rowanpaw's moonstone ceremony. He's grown a lot lately. It won't be much longer before he's ready for warrior status." Pride shone in Stormdance's eyes as he said that.

Poppyshine

Stormdance’s company was pleasant, and Poppyshine relaxed fully in her nest. Her smile grew as Stormdance spoke of Rowanpaw. “I’m glad you think so,” she purred. “I wanted to talk to Perchstar about that as well. I think he’ll be deserving of his warrior name soon…of course, I want to be there for his ceremony. So he’ll unfortunately have to wait until I’m feeling better.” She laughed, although it was a bit of a sourer note. She really wanted to get better faster, but she did not know how to. She did what she was told by Doversight; ate her herbs, rested, tried to not stress herself out too much. And yet she was still sick in this medicine den. Poppyshine wasn’t sure if she would be healed before the next Gathering, and that worried her. The last thing she wanted was for the other deputies to worry about her because she didn’t show up.

Looking back to Stormdance, Poppyshine continued. “You’ve been such a good mentor to him, Stormdance. And you’ve grown a lot since I assigned him as your apprentice.” A warm, nostalgic look settled on her expression. “You were such a skittish little warrior when you first got your name, and now look at you. What a fine young warrior you’ve grown into.”

"I think he'd be happy to wait as long as you needed," Stormdance murmured absent-mindedly. And it was true. There was very little that he knew Rowanpaw could and would be patient for, but Stormdance knew for a fact that Poppyshine was somebody Rowanpaw would always dedicate himself to, even if meant being patient for his warrior ceremony.

Poppyshine's next words caught Stormdance off guard, however. His face felt warm at the compliments and he ducked his head shyly, and to his shock, his eyes grew a little misty, too. "I- oh." He hadn't thought much about it, too caught up on his own flaws, but... he supposed he had gained a lot of confidence in the recent moons, helped along by the support of his loved one. "Thank you, Poppyshine." He managed around the lump in his throat, the words laced with more emotion than Stormdance could manage to express right then.