A heart takes time to heal || grief

[Rabbitnose]

Rabbitnose hadn't been sleeping well. It had been hard, with Sunfreckle in the Nursery and memories of his lost daughter plaguing him. He missed her. She didn't deserve to die.

He doubted he would ever recover from it.

His expression was tired more often than not now, and even when he tried to smile, it felt forced.

He never told anyone, but he often found himself crying to sleep. Quietly, faced away from everyone in the warriors den.

He sat in the clearing near the fresh kill pile having just eaten a mouse, grooming his paws. His gaze idly drifted to the space by the medicine cat den.

His gaze became blank as he remembered his daughter playing, joyful, before she collapsed.

It hurt.

He tensed as he tried not to let any tears fall. He had to move on, he knew he did, but it hurt.

He was so out of it, so caught up in his grief, that he almost forgot there were other cats around.

@Patchkit

​

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

As Patchkit grew, she noticed things beginning to change, and not just in the weather. Her father busied himself running errands and helping other cats out when he could, and a few times Patchkit gave chase out of camp after him only to get ushered back in, which was quite annoying. She knew this camp much better by now and strode about with her tiny tail held confidently high, poking her nose in every nook and cranny. There was a whole new world out there waiting for her, and she was expected to sit in a boring camp that never changed?

She sat with a huff facing the camp entrance. Her tail flicked back and forth, both frustrated and bored. Today's slow, she thought to herself with a groan, before her eyes caught sight of a familiar cat not too far from her. Like a switch, she leaped to her feet excitedly and started towrads him. Maybe Rabbitnose will agree to go with me out of camp! Just for a little bit obviously, it wouldn't hurt anything.

However, as Patchkit neared him, she noticed something was unusual... something felt wrong from him, and it was much, much worse than any slow, dreary day she could've imagined. Her ears flattened and her tail lowered until it was a low swish over the dusty ground. She didn't want to startle him being overly excited when he didn't look alright, and why was he crying?

"Rabbitnose?" She sat down next to him, leaning over slightly to view his face better. "Why are you sad? Oh, was my sister a meanie to you? She can be a meanie to me, too," Patchkit rambled and giggled a little at her own lighthearted comment, hopefully to put a smile on his face.​

 

[Flamestar]

( ★ ) Grief. It was something she knew all too well. After the abrupt death of her mother, she hadn't really had much of an opportunity to grieve for her. The first few days were rough, she didn't eat much, she felt raw inside.. Without the only constant companion in her life at the time, she had felt lost. It was an all new type of pain, that she would never wish upon anybody.

Flamewhisker hadn't been there when Dovekit had passed away, but the news had spread through the camp like wildfire. Of course, she had offered her condolences, but she hadn't wanted to accidentally step on anyone's toes by being too apologetic. The young kit's death had been so...sudden. It will shocked her whenever she thought about it.

She often wondered if Rabbitnose and Sunfreckle were doing alright. Whenever she saw or spoke to them, they seemed fine on the outside, but she knew deep down they were probably just putting on poker faces....just like she did. That's why, when she spotted the tense figure of Rabbitnose trying not to cry, she couldn't feel any surprise.

Her throat tightened, feeling sorry for the grieving father. She glanced around, and spotted Patchkit approaching him. Hesitantly, she slowly padded over, a grim, forced smile on her face. She opened her mouth to say something but she wasn't sure what to say. An open display of emotions was something she had only seen here. Never when she was a loner had she ever showed or experienced so many emotions before.

Patchkit tried to cheer him up with a light joke. The warrior smiled at the kit's effort, and she would slowly ease herself into a sit beside Rabbitnose. She then attempted to place her tail on his shoulders reassuringly. "I'm...I'm always here if you want to talk." she said quietly. ​

( I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD ; YOU CAN BURY ME )

 

[MORNINGPAW ☆]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

Morningkit hates seeing others upset, especially those she knows and cares about. Rabbitnose is a warrior she knows; he visits Sunfreckle in the nursery often to play with their kits and check in on his mate. Rabbitnose is nice, like her own father.

But she knows why he looks sad sometimes. It's the same reason Sparkkit was sad, why Sunfreckle is so protective over his remaining kits. Dovekit had died. She knows about it, knows from listening to the other kits and sometimes the warriors. It's so sad to think about. If she lost one of her littermates, she would never be happy again, she thinks.

Deeply affected by the expression on Rabbitnose's face, the lost look in his eyes, the little she-kit pads over to sit beside Flamewhisker. Patchkit acts silly in an attempt to cheer him up, and Flamewhisker offers herself as an ear if he needed to talk.

Morningkit only brushes herself against Rabbitnose's foreleg, but she quickly draws away to sit beside Flamewhisker. Her moon-big blue eyes are filled with trepidation.

- ,,​

​

 

[Rabbitnose]

He had been so unfocused that he didn't hear others approach. He blinked back to reality and looked at Patchkit at his paws. He smiled softly at her.

"It's nothing to do with your sister, I promise." He said. "I just....Miss someone, is all." He added. He hoped no one else would go through what he and his family had.

He appreciated the the company. It was a distraction, a welcome one. His heart would heal one day, he was sure. Especially with such loving friends.

He looked to Flamewhisker as she spoke. "It was just so sudden- I....I don't.... know how to talk about it, really. She just....Collapsed." he said. It confused him still, what happened. Dovekit had been fine, playing and having fun, and then she just.... Died. He didn't understand.

When Morningkit came up to him and brushed against him, he offered her a gentle smile. She looked nervous. Was she afraid of him? He hoped not, then he would feel bad.

Well, worse. But still. If he ever scared a kit he would probably hide in a hole in shame.
​

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

”Is this about Dovekit?” Patchkit questioned, tilting her head to the left. Unbeknownst to her, the name brings a dreadful sombre tone to any and all who hear it, like one hearing the ending to a sorrow-filled tragedy. She was only curious, though; she never meant any harm in bringing up the poor kit’s name. In fact, she had only heard of the name in whispers passed from warrior to warrior, but she didn't have a clue as to who she was. Whenever she walked by, they'd always change the conversation!
"Did something happen to them?" It then dawned upon her that asking that was probably pushing it too much, and Patchkit mumbled a small apology. She wasn't sure what else to do--there had to be something to cheer him up! At first he seemed to cheer up slightly at her joke, but then it was lost, and Patchkit desperately internally searched for a better solution when one finally came to her. I'll have to cheer him up my way then!

She gathered the little bits of strength in her tiny body and puffed her chest out slightly as she spoke. "I won't let you be sad anymore, and you deserve to be happy!" Patchkit squirmed herself in between his paws and sat back down. "I'll be your emotional support buddy!" She squeaked confidently, twisting to look up at Rabbitnose with a vibrant smile.

There was something about her determination to cheer him up that was clear in her round eyes, a kind of uplifting hope. She wasn't going to let Rabbitnose walk away until he was genuinely smiling, and that was a fact. She didn't entirely understand what happened to make Dovekit collapse, but she could gather that Rabbitnose had lost someone very special to him, and she had to be there for him! No cat ever liked going to bed sad anyway, so why should he?
Nearby, Spotflare watched his daughter with a bittersweet smile.​