Respite [OPEN]

The fading sunlight cast smudges of burnt orange across the cloud-filled sky, long shadows covering fourtrees as Wolfblossom stared over the clearing. She had taken a spot near the great rock, using it to shelter from the gusts of wind that howled through fourtrees. Patrols would be returning soon, and Wolfblossom hoped that none of them had encountered trouble. The weather would do enough of that for them, she thought, eyeing the cloudcover above. As cold as it was, as much as the snow and continued presence of twolegs were a bother, Skyclan could be said to be doing well enough. They were fed, unharmed, and while there was no sign of Crookedpaw or Blackbear, Dawnfeather's return meant that there was hope for the missing. Birdstar had received her lives from Starclan. Under the circumstances, the clan was practically thriving, as much as any of them could be. Wolfblossom was under no illusions about how quickly that could change, but for now... For now it was enough. Skyclan would survive, just as they always had.

A shadow moved, leaping down from the trees to land beside her, startling Wolfblossom from her thoughts. She recovered quickly however, a purr rumbling in her throat. "Hello, Foxpaw." Wolfblossom greeted the dark-furred apprentice with a warm smile. "Been practicing your tree climbing? How are you finding training so far?" She was happy that one of the apprentices had approached her, and she always tried to check in on their training when she could. Foxpaw hadn't been born Skyclan, but he showed promise and had a bright future ahead of him, she was certain of it.

Foxpaw didn't bother with any of the formalities, and Wolfblossom was grateful for it. They were still clanmates, after all, and she hadn't been doing anything official at the moment anyways. There was nobody from the other clans here, no pressing emergency either, judging from Foxpaw's easy nature, and she was content to simply relax. "That's good, I'm glad to hear it." She would of course, speak with his mentor to make sure things were going smoothly, but from what Wolfblossom could tell Foxpaw was enthusiastic about training.

"I liked sparring more than hunting or tree climbing, I'm sure I was a pawful for poor Ravenclaw, but that seems to run in the family. She taught me well though." She answered, "There was nothing like the great shake, no. This is the first time something like that has ever happened, to my knowledge. We avoided a war with Riverclan, and that was more drama than any clan should need in their lives." And yet, that entire fiasco had seemed simpler than dealing with twolegs and the ground trying to shake the cats off of it. At least there had been a certainty about what would happen, there were only so many ways a dead medicine cat and a murder confession could have been handled. "In some ways I think the twolegs and the ground shaking is worse. The uncertainty, not knowing what will happen or who will get caught in those traps next. Wondering where our clanmates are..." Wolfblossom shook her head. "I'd like to say we know what happens next from here, but I don't. None of us do. With luck they'll return to us as Dawnfeather did."