Seeking Solace (c)

His mate was dead. His friendship with one of his best and only friends was teetering. One of his daughters was currently missing and he was unable to help search for her. And now, he had grown so ill that he was practically nest-ridden.

With his physical was well as mental wounds still healing from his spat with Firefly and now being topped with this illness, Curlyfluff might as well have been a lump on a log. Laying near the edge of the other sick ThunderClanners, the tom's curl-covered body shivered from his rampant fever, and his weak and aching muscles felt as though they might just slough off his body like a molting snake. Originally, he'd thought he'd be in the clear, but the mystery illness had gotten to him as well. His breathes had grown thin and if he hadn't had so much fur on him, one would most likely be able to see his ribs protruding from his sides.

Hacking up a splotch of blood onto the dirt in front of his paws, the tom took a shaky breath. the corners of his eyes were covered in sickly green discharge and closing them brought him some sort of relief, though it wasn't much, seeing as though his wounds had hardly healed and every slight movement brought him loads of pain. Perhaps joining Rosethorn wouldn't be so bad... seeing as though he hated his clanmates seeing him in such a sorry state, even though it wasn't like it could be helped much.

Acornstem had barely found the time to go out and hunt since they arrival, so focused on her duties and making sure of the safety of her Clanmates... And she had failed. A few cats had perished during the trek, but for two of their Clanmates to go missing while trying to help the Clan, followed by a brutal death of her previous apprentice, Flysnap...

A shiver ran down her spine, followed by a choking back of a sob at the thought. Another apprentice of hers, dead at the paws of a predator - but this time she didn't get to say goodbye. They...They barely even recognize Flysnap's body for what it was when they had stumbled across him during the search for Goldenfern and Larkpaw - mangled as it was by what had to be a pack of dogs... But... She had to carry on - she had to. She was deputy and while Mottlestar was returning to a pawful of duties, there was no way she could step back in her grief this time. Too much rode on both of their shoulders.

And, be as it may...She wasn't the only one grieving - she wasn't the only one who had lost a Clanmate. No, Curlyfluff had lost family - again. The tom had barely managed to pull himself from the grief of losing his mate and that had been hard enough for Acornstem to watch...She had done her best to help him by assigning him an apprentice - his own daughter - in the hopes that the two would be able to forge a bond that would help him... And now she was among the two missing. Acornstem's hope had crumbled - Curlyfluff was even more of a mess, the illness raving his body not withstanding, and she wasn't sure how she could help.

Which brought her entirely to the fact that she hadn't hunted recently - as she had gone out of her way to fix that as she padded across the camp, a squirrel hanging in her jaws. She had gone quite the distance in the search of a collection of trees so that she could bring back such a prize. She hadn't been sure what Curlyfluff enjoyed prey-wise - she had always thought fondly of the tom, but the two had never really spoken or seen each other as friends which was, in all honestly, a shame. They were both friends of Firefly at least, but that only accounted for so much when they never hung out with her at the same time. She came to a stop as she spotted the tom coughing up crimson before he shut his eyes - unaware of her approach.

A soft, sad sigh escaped her as she took a few steps forward, dropping the squirrel a paw-length away. "Curlyfluff?" she meowed, sitting down as she leaned to look at him. "I..." 'How are you feeling' was the question she wanted to ask but the answer was obvious as she cast another look at the blood that was quickly being absorbed by the ground. "I brought you some prey - you should eat...Keep your strength up" she murmured, wishing she knew what to say - to do but all she could was push the prey towards him - trying to make sure it didn't touch the bloody patch of grass. "I also...I'm sorry, there hasn't been any sign of Larkpaw." She took in a sharp breath, before she let it out as a shaky exhale. "...I...I wish I knew where she was - what happened. That would be easier to accept, to deal with than..." Her ears slicked back, eyes falling to the ground. "...I...I hope you don't mind if I sit with you for a while? My paws could use the rest."

"Thank you," the curly-coated tom mewed, followed by another fit of coughing. The words that followed the deputy's good deed hit his chest like a monster on the Thunderpath, and while it wasn't what he wanted to hear, the warrior had already begun to accept his daughter's fate.

Nodding his head in approval of her sitting beside him, Curlyfluff took a small bite from the squirrel Acornstem had brought, though his jaw strength was weak and he hadn't the stomach for much more than a couple bites. "I wish I was able to look for her more," he mewed softly, his raspy voice filled with longing. "But thank you for your efforts," Curlyfluff added before resting his tired head back down on his paws and sniffling.

"I... I wasn't there for her as much as I should've been," he mewed before he was able to catch his tongue. He hadn't been planning on burdening Acornstem with his current guilt, but then again the deputy was certainly one of his clanmates in which he felt more comfortable chatting with, so perhaps she wouldn't mind.