Casual rp after the fire

Ashfleck sat at the edge of camp, grooming himself. His stubby tail flicked back and forth, and his eyes had drifted shut in his temporary lapse of tranquility. He had just woken up; the sun had begun its slow ascent into the sky. He wasn’t sure whether he ought to go out for a patrol or just stick around here . . . Either way his day would likely grow worse as time went on. He exhaled, drawing his paw over his ear.

Birchpool was outside the medicine den, pulling apart a tangled knot of cobwebs. Splashkit was watching the clearing from the safety of the nursery, his ears perked and nose twitching
@Nikken Toaster

In the clearing Bluefreckle was sitting with her tail curled over three of her paws, she rasped her tongue over the forth one. flicking her ear irritably. The shecat had stumbled over a bramble vine while on the dawn patrol. The shecat angled her ear to listen to the sounds of the camp.

6 de octubre de 2018

Ashfleck's eyes fluttered open, drifting over to the medicine den. He bristled slightly with discomfort as he saw Birchpool, unsure what to do or say. He exhaled, looking down at his paws. His stubby tail slowed its twitching, falling still.

Birchpool was too lost in his thoughts to even look up. His paws twitched every few minutes, and his eyes were glazed with grief
@Nikken Toaster

Bluefreckle’s eyes drifted from Ashfleck to the medicine cats den. She hadn’t probably been the only one to notice that me and Birchpool seemed to be having trouble, but she also knew it wasn’t her place to get involved with them, so she continued cleaning herself up.

Ashfleck took a deep breath before standing and padding over to the other time. His voice was gruff, but not exactly aggressive. "How're you holding up?" he asked, sitting down alongside him. Whitestar's words rang in his ears -- if it weren't for Birchpool being a medicine cat, he would be gone, too.

Birchpool flinched out of his stupor, leaning slightly away from his mate. "I'm... I'm fine. Just need to work" He mumbled, returning to nearly shredding the cobwebs

Bluefreckle continued her grooming escapades. Her wounds would be clean at least. Since they were small she didn’t feel the need to bother with the medicine cats and would probably try to attend the next patrol or something. She never liked idling around in camp anyways

Ashfleck sighed softly, shaking his head, "You don't look fine. Maybe you should rest?" He gently nudged Birchpool's shoulder, trying to pull him away from his work. Burying himself in it would do nothing good.

Shrikejab moved into camp, his tail held high as he glanced around. These RowanClanners still lingered around . . . One would think they'd be out of here after the fighting was over. He huffed, his eyes falling on a blue-furred shecat. Perhaps they weren't bad cats, just circumstantial nuisances. He made his way over to her, his tail waving in the air.

"No!" Birchpool jolted away from him, his eyes wild. He hung his head and said, "I can't sleep. There's too much to do, and I need to keep busy"

Bluefreckle looked up, pausing from her work and dipped her head in greeting to the other Tom. She admittedly hadn’t taken the time to really meet all of the Raven’s camp cats. At least, she didn’t have all their names straight quite yet.

"You of all cats should know that it isn't healthy to overwork yourself like this," He sighed, trying not to feel hurt by the other tom's moving away. He deserved that. "You're not the only medicine cat."

Shrikejab sat down beside her, looking around camp. His eyes lazily drifting over to the two outside of the medicine den. "Are your clanmates always so rambunctious? It feels as though they brought drama to our camp."

"I know, but we need all the medicine cats. I'll sleep when there's no more work to be done" He said standing up and picking up the cobwebs

Bluefreckle followed his gaze and sighed. “So it seems” she meowed, flicking her tail. “Those two in particular seem to have a nack for creating drama everywhere they go don’t they” She meowed, watching them argue. “I promise we aren’t all like that” she meowed, shaking her head.

"And when will that be, Birch?" He huffed, shaking his head and moving to the tom's side, "At this rate, you're going to work yourself to death."

Shrikejab flicked his ear, "So it seems." He glanced back over at her, "You don't seem to be too overly dramatic, at least."

Birchpool put the cobwebs near the herb storage. "I'm fine. I just need to be busy" He said, running his paws over some leaves

“I’d rather not waste my time bickering with my clanmates” Bluefreckle meowed, she wished some of her clanmates could think the same way. “If they put all that effort they used bickering into something productive then we could never go hungry again” she purred

Ashfleck sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before meowing, "Do you want to talk about everything?" He gazed at the tom, flicking his ear.

"I'm sure they could," Strikejab shrugged, "But then again, that would take away from the entertainment of it all, huh?" He flicked his tail back and forth, purring softly.

Birchpool wiped his eyes with his paws, tearing up slightly. "... No one wanted to go with her. None of her kits even said goodbye. I feel like, maybe if I was with her in Stormclan.... She wouldn't have lost her mind. She would've been better."

"I suppose" She meowed, "If you ask me though I'd say we've had enough 'entertainment' for 9 lifetimes." The blue furred shecat angled her ear toward the medicine cat's den, they were probably talking about Icefur if she had to guess.

Ashfleck sighed again and shook his head, "Birch . . . At least she's got Hopethorn. And . . . And it's not like all of this happened without reason." He felt bad for saying it, but he knew that he needed to be honest, "It's not safe for her to be here anymore. For her kits to be with her. She has done so many bad, bad things. I don't think that anything you could've done could've changed that."

"Yeah, I can't blame you," he exhaled, "I can't wait for all of you to go home--no offense. I just want things to be normal again."

"I... I just always feel like I could have done better." He said, looking down at his paws

"I can't wait to go home myself" She meowed with a shrug. "It's too cramped with us all living together like this, we need our own territory back"

Ashfleck sighed softly and shook his head before moving to nuzzle Birchpool, "She's the one that failed you, Birch. It isn't your fault that this happened. It was hers."

"It is. It's just a shame that so much got damaged in the flames," he sighed and shook his head, "It feels like you'll all be here forever."

"I just can't help feeling like a failure." Birchpool said, his eyes tearing up. He suddenly leaned into his mate's embrace. "Do you think I'm as bad as her? That I could end up that way?"

"Oh gosh I hope not, I'm sure Whitestar is sending out warriors to check the forest, perhaps it can be salvaged" She meowed, trying to be optimistic, judging by the portions she'd seen it didn't look to promising.

Ashfleck's thoughts flashed back to Whitestar's words. His mate had been just as privy to attack a clanmate . . . "Of course not, Birch," he meowed gently, licking the other tom's neck, "But you need to rest."
"Perhaps," he shrugged, "But with leafbare around the corner, things won't start to regrow for a time."(editado)

Birchpool let out a shuddering breath. "I need help." He whispered, shaking from nose to tailtip

"No, but maybe by greenleaf we could be back in our own forest again" Bluefreckle meowed, though it felt ridiculous to assume that the forest would be healed that fast

“I . . . “ he trailed off, unsure what he could say. “I’m here for you, Birch . . . And maybe it could be good to talk to someone.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, looking over at her, “Though at a certain point it becomes hard to split back up. Think of the kits that are only just now growing up, not fully understanding the implications of being separate groups?”

"But who can I talk to?" He said, wiping his eyes with a paw. "No one understands what's... rattling around my head. Like hundreds of bees."

"That's true, hopefully Whitestar has a plan before it comes to that point" Bluefreckle sighed, shaking her head.

Ashfleck nuzzled against him, shaking his head, “I . . . I don’t know.” He was silent for a few moments before speaking, “What about StarClan?” Perhaps their ancestors could help somehow.

“Hopefully,” he shrugged, looking out at camp, “Then things can truly go back to being normal.”

"I don't know if Starclan will even talk to me" He said, brushing his cheek deeper into Ashfleck's fluff. "I haven't spoken to Starclan in so many moons..."

Bluefreckle nodded before licking her injured paw again.

Ashfleck groomed him as he spoke, “Surely they’ll still accept you. It’s better late than never to speak to them, Birch.”

Strikejab blinked, looking at her paw, “Are you Alright?”

"I'll... I'll think about it. There's too much to do here." He said, flicking his tail at the mess of herbs around them

"I'm fine" She meowed dismissively, flicking her ear. "I had a disagreement with a bramble is all"

Ashfleck sighed softly, “I know, but this isn’t healthy for you. You’re a mess, Birch.”

“Should you get the medicine cat to take a look at it?” He asked, glancing over at Birchpool and Ashfleck.

"I know. I'm a mess. But I can't go resting when my clanmates need me. I promised Whitestar I would stay loyal to Rowanclan, and I can't let him down. Or I'll lose you and the last remnants of my family" He said

"Nah, I'm ok, besides, the medicine cats are very busy from what I can tell, especially with Weedstem dead and Goldenrod out of commission" Bluefreckle replied

Ashfleck shook his head, "But you're not nearly as helpful when you're like this, and you're not happy. You need to sleep, Birch, to think of yourself for a change."

"True," he nodded, looking at her paw, "Does it hurt? Maybe we could at least borrow some cobwebs."

He looked ready to protest, then shut his muzzle and hung his head. "Okay..."

"I told you it's fine" She meowed, a bit irritably. "The last thing I want is Birchpool to have even more patients, besides, He's gotta be pretty low on cobwebs by now" She meowed

“Thank you,” Ashfleck sighed, licking his mate’s cheek.

He blinked, admittedly surprised by the shecat’s tone. He wasn’t used to annoying others, mainly since he so rarely interacted with them in the first place. “Alright. I’m sorry.”

He rubbed his cheek against his mate's tongue, and allowed him to lead him to his nest

Bluefreckle sighed. "It's fine" She meowed, flicking her tail. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, sorry" She meowed

Ashfleck moved through the den, stopping beside the nest. Birchpool’s behavior worried him.

“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have pressed it,” he shrugged.

Birchpool laid down hard in his nest, rustling the dried snakeskin underneath. He stared at it with expressionless eyes, then nudged it towards Ashfleck. "...Please get rid of that"

"It's fine" Bluefreckle meowed, rasping her tongue over the paw again.

Ashfleck stared at it, his tail drooping slightly, “Are you sure?” His voice wavered.

“Alright,” he nodded, staring out at camp.

"I want it *gone.* It's done nothing but hurt me. I'm done caring about it" He said, his voice wavering on the verge of tears again

Bluefreckle followed his gaze, watching some of the warriors bustling around the camp

He sighed, “Alright.” He didn’t want to argue it right now — he sounded sad enough right now. He picked it up gingerly.

Strikejab flicked his tail back and forth, “Did I ever get your name?”

Birchpool curled into a ball, his eyes squeezed shut

"I don't think so, it's Bluefreckle, and you are?" She meowed, curling her tail around her paws.

“I’ll . . . I’ll be back,” he mumbled, turning away.

“Shrikejab,” He meowed, glancing over at her flicking his ear.

"Okay..." He whispered, wrapping his tail over his nose

"Nice to meet you Strikejab" She meowed, looking out toward the camp entrance where Ashfleck was leaving

Ashfleck moved out of the camp, heading along. Where would he put it? He felt wrong touching the snakeskin, especially considering all the meaning behind it . . . He stopped at the foot of a tree, taking a deep breath before beginning to dig.

“Well, It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” He meowed, watching the dark furred tkm intently.

(Skip me till Ash gets back)

"I wonder where he's off to, suppose he had another fight with Birchpool?" Bluefreckle meowed, though she was well aware that it wasn't any of her business

Ashfleck had soon dug a sizable enough hole. He gently sat the skin down after a moment, gazing at it with mixed feelings. He sighed, gently burying it then turning tail to go back to camp.

“Perhaps. They seem to bicker a good deal for mates,” He meowed, flicking his ear, “Though that’s their issue, I guess.”