Save You From Suffering [Minkpaw]

It didn't feel like he had a chance to slow down. Even with his own sickness to deal with, even with the dizzy spells, even with the unbearable fever that plagued him every second of the day. He was deputy after all, Windclan relied on him. He couldn't afford to rest.. Even Daisypaw.. Poor Daisypaw. It wasn't long ago she just stepped into the medicine cat role, and she already had to deal with this? Curse the stars.. The other clans had their own worries with their leaders and deputies having their own various issues, so he couldn't just ask them for help. The striped tom paced back and forth, stumbling occasionally as the dizziness took hold for a moment. In all of his thoughts his daughter crossed his mind, causing the tom to freeze.. Minkpaw.. Where was she? "Minkpaw?" He called out into the crowd, green eyes frantically scanning the crowd for her. Was she sick too? Stars he hoped now. "Where are you?" Trying to keep his hoarse voice from sounding to frantic.

The worse of Minkpaw's sickness had not yet come, though it hardly made the travel any easier. One by one, she'd watched the other cats start to get sick... and though it was only recently that her own cough had started, every breath she drew was raspy and wet, and every pawstep was a hair weaker than the last. The clan cats had already been suffering with the famine, and now this mysterious sickness was blazing through them like wildfire.

At least they'd stopped traveling, for now. Mostly, the cats were milling around, waiting for the scouts to return. Minkpaw had to wonder what would happen, then? How would they establish borders? How would they decide which clan stayed in which spot? What if there were disagreements? The thought of potential conflict in the midst of everything else happening made her pelt crawl, but surely Smallstar and Tigerdance were competent enough to avoid war, unlike what seemed all the other clans.

For now, it was just a waiting game. Minkpaw had carved herself a decently sheltered nest at the base of a dense bush, tucked beneath a set of low hanging branches. It was no real den, but at least the wind couldn't reach her here, and if she lay there long enough, it did get warm. She was there now, nose tucked into her tail, but not asleep, listening to the conversations of others as they passed by or settled down close enough for her to hear. She was listening to a couple of warriors talk about how plentiful prey seemed here in comparison when she heard her name.

Minkpaw lifted her head, tilting her ears towards the sound until the same voice called again. Tigerdance. Dutifully she crawled out from beneath her bush, steely eyes sweeping the surroundings until they landed on the rusted pelt of WindClan's deputy. She gave him an inquisitive blink and a purr of greeting as she approached, stopping a tail length away to look up at him. He looked sick, and she tried - and probably failed - not to show the worry that she felt.  "Yes, father?"

As soon as Tigerdance heard his daughters voice he relaxed. She was still around, didn't get left behind or anything like his mind wanted to believe. "Nothing.. I just wanted to make.sure you were alright." The tom.said, green eyes looking over his daughters body for any sign of damage or wounds.

"Well as alright as we can be in a situation like this. I can't imagine what you must be feeling at the moment." He wasn't too sure how sick she was, if she was even sick at all. He didn't understand how some cats were falling over while some cats walked around perfectly fine, but it wasn't for him to understand he supposed.