tell me, am i going crazy? tell me, have i lost my mind? [C]

This was strange.

It’d only been a moon or two ago when Larkspring had approached to claim that he had come down with a mysterious illness. Rookflight hadn’t understood it at the time, but they thought they’d figured it out now: it’d been to do with Cindersky. Of course, it made perfect sense in hindsight, seeing as they were together now. The strange thing was that Rookflight believed they were contracting this disease themself. It hadn’t exactly been sudden--they’d been aware, if only vaguely, of the tightness that periodically came into their stomach for a while now. It had only grown more pronounced as of late, now unignorable where it had been a hum in the background before.

Rookflight had requested this patrol the day before. It was nice, to walk side-by-side with Cindersky without others present. They did not patrol together so often as they used to anymore, though they were both trying to find the time to. He enjoyed just listening to the sound of their even footfalls as they ventured out into the territory, shoulder-to-shoulder. Nerves built up in his stomach, but they were like nothing in the presence of a friend so close to him. He was content in her presence; safe in her presence.

They walked largely in silence, except for the occasional brief exchange, until they reached the silver cluster of beech trees. Rookflight let their paws slow to a halt, looking over the sea of embery leaves that covered the ground; up, at those that still clung to the branches. He breathed in deep and then finally turned his head to look at Cindersky herself. They blinked slowly, appreciatively, then let their mouth open. They did not know what would come out. They tried not to think too hard about it.

”Cindersky?” They ended up asking. Simple, soft. Rookflight’s tail curled back and forth close to the ground, stirring a scattered cluster of leaves. They stared at Cindersky for a moment before bowing their head to look sheepishly at their shuffling. ”How did you know--about Larkspring, I mean?” Amusement briefly made their whiskers quiver. ”Did you know he had come to me once and declared he was ill? With no source. Just a sickness that would appear on certain patrols, or at mealtimes. In the night as well.” He sighed and raised his head again, though he did not quite meet Cindersky’s eyes. He stared at the bridge of her nose instead. ”Did you… experience the same?”