private and it's all before your feet // sedgepounce

[LUCKYPAW]

Even the most mundane of tasks have taken on a new light, ever since the announcement - ever since he had stepped up, offered himself up for the good of WindClan. They hadn't even set out yet, and still Luckypaw was already finding himself wondering what would have happened if he hadn't volunteered to go. It wouldn't have changed much in the grand scheme of things, he's pretty sure; Scorchstreak would still have gone, of course, and he's sure Scorchpaw would, too. Probably Rattleheart, too, since he doubts he was any sort of catalyst in her decision to enlist in the journey. No, not much would change - except, he'd still be safely tucked away, navigating the tunnels, going on as if things were normal. But, things weren't normal, were they? Even before leaving, it's clear that things around here are only getting worse; more and more cats are getting sick, and if he didn't eventually fall ill, he's sure the worry alone would do him in, not knowing if Scorchstreak and Scorchpaw and Rattleheart and all the rest of his clanmate were okay. Of course, he'll still have something to worry about while they're all gone - it's not like his entirefamily is going, even if...it almost seems that way, thinking about it. By the time they get back, any number of his family, of the rest of WindClan, might have fallen victim to yellowcough, joining Snailstride up in the stars. It's a frightening thought, and even though it sends his claws anxiously through the sparse grass, it also reminds him of just why he's going in the first place. To find this cure, and to bring it home to everyone who can't go themselves.

Being in camp still makes him slightly nervous (what if one of them spread the illness on the journey without even realizing it?), but at the same time, Luckypaw wants to cherish every moment as if it might be his last - which, well, it certainly could be. Sootstar herself had said this journey would be difficult, and it's probably not even all that unreasonable to consider the fact that they might not all come back. Of course, that kind of thinking isn't how he wants to spend his last few days in WindClan (plenty of time for that as he tries to fall asleep, after all) and so, glancing around for a distraction, he finds his gaze settling on Sedgepounce. Sedgepounce, who had only recently become a warrior; Sedgepounce, who had volunteered before he had. The other warrior had always been friendly to him, and now it seems that they'll be spending quite a bit of time together for the foreseeable future, so it only seems right to at least start exchanging greetings, and to get more familiar with one another before they had cats from other Clans to contend with. "Sedgepa-ounce. Sedgepounce, hi," he greets, already mentally berating himself for giving into muscle memory. "Um, I don't think I've gotten a chance to say congrats on your new name - it's cool. I think it sounds really good." Better, he thinks. "So, uh, I was wondering - are you ready for this journey? Sounds like it'll be pretty tough. Are you...um, are you, maybe, worried about anything?" It's an earnest question, even it's a little more telling than he might have intended, and Luckypaw can only offer a nervous smile by way of encouragement.

// @SEDGEPOUNCE
​

[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]​

 

[SEDGEPOUNCE]

Luckypaw finds him tucked away in camp; idling around with nothing to busy his paws, wondering what to do next. He's wondered about what it's like to climb trees ever since he met that ThunderClanner at the border and contemplates trying to scale the old, spindly willow just east of camp. It's a rickety, ancient thing—worn with grooves and line that would probably offer good footholds, if he tried. These thoughts distract him from other things. Like the cold gray of camp, and the worried, frightened looks everyone's been giving each other, wondering who's next for the chopping block.

He perks up at Luckypaw's voice, thoughts of willow bark drifting from his mind. He doesn't even comment on the slipup—but he does grin about it. "Hehe. Thanks, Luckypaw," he replies, glowing at the compliment. As conflicted as his feelings were on the whole topic of his warrior ceremony, it does feel good to know that his name is kinda cool. And other folks think so too.

He's not thought much about Luckypaw, in the grand scheme. Sedgepounce knows that he's a nervous little fellow, though maybe not as nervous as Thriftpaw is. He floats around Scorchstreak and her clone—a sun-bleached mirror to his sister, tittering and wide-eyed alongside her impassive, creepy deadpan stare. A pale photocopy, like the printer ran out of ink. He's surprised to find the young apprentice seeking him out, but his stammered questions lend some light to the situation. Maybe the Scorches aren't great at the whole nervous venting thing.

Unfortunately for Lucky, neither is Sedgepounce. (Better look into that namesake, huh?)

Sedge blows out a breath, scratches idly behind his ear. "Uh...nah? I'm not really worried," he says. It's tellingly honest—he doesn't begin to think that Luckypaw could be looking for some support, let alone reassurance. "There was that whole...vision from StarClan, so there's definitely lungwort out there for us to find. All we've gotta do is go grab it." He smiles unfalteringly, looking toward Luckypaw as if expecting an echo of his confidence. Sedgepounce, of course, has never really failed anything in his life. He's not had to struggle, or worry about whether something will or won't work out. They'll find a bunch of lungwort because of course they will. Everything works out for him in the end.

But he does worry. He worries about the sick and dying. He worries about everyone getting worse.

So it's a good thing they're leaving soon.

Struck with a sudden, miraculous bout of insight, Sedgepounce peers toward Luckypaw with a newly perceptive eye. He tilts his head and asks, pressing though without judgement, "Are you worried?"​

 

[LUCKYPAW]

┌─────────────────── ☽【❖】☾ ───────────────────┐​

At least Sedgepounce seems pleased with his words - not that he'd expected the new warrior to be anything but. In the short time that Luckypaw's started to get to know him, he always seems to have a breezy air about him, as though he were coasting on by right along with the breeze, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit envious of the carefree nature of the older WindClanner, or the way he could always find something to grin and crack a joke about. He's just...so terribly likeable, and the apprentice wants that, too; maybe he could learn something from the boyish way Sedgepounce seems to hold himself, the easy smile lighting up his features. Only furthering his point, the new warrior admits as freely as breathing that he's not nervous at all about the upcoming journey, and what a notion that is! Even before the moment he'd stepped paw out of the nursery, he'd had something to worry about, something to turn over and over again his mind, whether that was what the next game would be, if he would be good at it, what if somebody got hurt -

Worry is as much apart of him as anything else, coiling up and resting within his chest, and again he finds himself longing for such a carefree attitude that he could be one of the first to volunteer for a dangerous journey to try and save their sick clanmates from certain doom and then casually talk with such confidence.

It sounds so simple, when Sedgepounce phrases it like that - just go out and grab the lungwort, nothing to it, as though there aren't a thousand dangers all along the way to weight them down, a thousand things that could go wrong and leave them returning home with fewer clanmates than they set off with. Sedgepounce is right, that there was a vision from StarClan about the cure being out there, but he can't help but worry about the circumstances of its location; sure, it's out there, but what if they couldn't find it? What if it was too difficult even for the warriors, and they had to turn back, failures? What if Luckypaw couldn't make the journey, slowing them down and crushing all their hopes of returning in a timely manner in one fell swoop? He doesn't voice any of these thoughts, of course, only bites his lip and pretends for a moment that he's like Sedgepounce, full of lightness and without worry. If he knew that somewhere, deep inside, the warrior did have worries, even if they weren't exactly misgivings about the journey itself, perhaps it would be comforting - or, perhaps it would shatter his illusion of such a grand, fearless cat standing before him.

Sedgepounce asks if he's worried, and all his thoughts come crashing forwards, threatening to weigh him down and loosen his tongue right there on the spot. Yes, I'm worried - I'm worried we won't be able to find the lungwort, that we won't make it in time, that we won't come back, that this is will too much, he wants to say, but instead he grows instinctively defensive, petulantly throwing out, "N-no!" It's reactive and he knows it, his ears immediately tilting back in shame and embarrassment. Why had he denied the question, he wonders, when there were a million fears threatening to spill out of him at any moment? Maybe he doesn't want to look weak or scared, or maybe he's worried that if he starts, he won't be able to stop; regardless, his fur lies back along his spine as he hedges, "Well, um, actually - maybe. A little bit." Unbidden, he continues on, not wanting to leave Sedgepounce with such an awkward answer. "I mean - it's hard not to at least a little, right? Since everyone is counting on us and all. And, we don't really know anything about what the mountains are like - they might be, like, really, really dangerous or something." How could Sedgepounce not be afraid of any of that, at least just a little bit? Again, he finds himself hoping to learn from the warrior, to learn how to be more - relaxed, he supposes, or at least a little less high-strung all the time.​

i'm falling into place, but still the timing's not right (☘) yeah that's a fire i just can't seem to light

• OOC: --​
• 
• 
  - Luckykit Luckypaw
  - He/him (AFAB)
  - 5 moons (Ages on the 1st)
  - Kit Apprentice of WindClan
  - Small blue tortoiseshell with white spotting & green eyes
  - Art by myself & meghan respectively! <33
  - Minor powerplay allowed!
  - Penned by Hijinks​