camp EVERYTHING AT ONCE // rta, overworked

[Tybalt [Stagstrike]]

She had been there one day, and then she had vanished. Ghostpaw had simply left camp and not returned. Tybalt had gone to look for her more times than he could count. Scouring the territory, even venturing into Twolegplace on the chance that she might've gone to search for the twoleg who had left her behind. Panic had iced his veins each time he had come back alone without finding a single trace of her, until the panic and desperation had been eaten away by the slow realization that the closest thing he had to a friend was never coming back. That yet another cat he had cared for had simply faded from his life and left him behind.

He couldn't cry. He wouldn't. Tybalt simply did what he always had done after loss--thrown himself into work until he couldn't feel anything anymore. Patrols, patrols, patrols. He had left the camp before sunrise that morning to hunt alone, ignoring the biting cold that met his departure. He remained gone until well after sunhigh, bringing down whatever he could manage. Two mice, a rabbit, a squirrel, and a few birds. He refused to go back with next to nothing. So he hunted until his paws were numb and his nose frozen, not stopping even as a heavy snow began to fall.

Dragging his catches back to camp, the tom deposited them onto the understocked fresh kill pile. Exhaustion burning in his muscles, his breath came in shaky, short wheezes as he ambled off to settle outside the warriors den, not bothering to acknowledge his clanmates as he passed.

(i'm probably going to evolve this into white/greencough at some point but haven't decided)

 

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
Sunnyday wasn't particularly feeling well that day so he had opted to remain stowed away in the warriors den in the hopes of regaining some of his dwindling energy. He had idly watched the camp continue on with its daily life, taking note of who was coming and going and doing what. Naturally Tybalt had caught his attention as the day went on and it drew concern from the sniffling tom.

When finally the other came to stop outside the den the older tom seized the chance to address him. "You should come inside the den, get warmed up before you catch your death." He rasped as he gestured over towards the available nests. "We could chat a while, if you like." He would have offered to share tongues but he honestly didn't want to risk passing anything on if his poor health was due to some contagious illness.
​

 

[Flycatcher]

"Sunnyday is right," Flycatcher chimed in, padding over to the two warriors. Stagstrike had been working hard recently - very hard. The effort was of course appreciated and did not go unnoticed by Flycatcher. In times like this, they all needed to be putting in a bit of extra work to get by but in Stagstrike's case, it seemed like he was pushing himself a little too hard. "You're like to get a chill if you stay outside for too long," He warned. "It'll be warmer for you in the den. Come the three of us can have a little catch-up if you like? I'm not expected on any patrols so I have time to spare."​

 

[Hollow Tree]

Hollow Tree had done her best to be there for Stagpaw but hadn’t really gotten through. He seemed content doing everything on his own. The brown feline had been looking for the tom at early dawn only to find out he had already left. She expected they would return soon but it wasn’t till nearly the end of the day that she would spot him. She had wanted to stay connected with them even after getting their warrior name.

“Stagstrike!” the warrior greeted the younger cat as she padded across camp to appear in front of him. “Nice catches. Next time you should take me hunting with you. We could work together to bring more back.” Hollow Tree says, wondering if he would see the benefit in hunting with more paws. Her attention turned to the other two. “Sunnyday. Flycatcher.” nodding to both of them in a friendly manner.​

[ well i didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by . tags ]​

 

[Tybalt [Stagstrike]]

He had only just entered the camp when both Sunnyday and Flycatcher addressed him, advising him to get out of the cold. Hollow tree appeared, praising his catches, and Tybalt gave a small nod of appreciation. "Th-thanks," he said, teeth chattering as an icy blast of wind roared through the camp.

The tom ducked into the warriors den and settled in his nest, watching the snow blustering about the camp. He wondered how much colder it would get. Maybe it'd turn into a massive snowstorm and bury them all inside their dens. Tybalt rested his chin on his paws. He hoped not. Not working meant he'd be left with time to think. And the less time he had to himself, the less he'd have to face the fact that he was lonely. He looked back to Flycatcher. "It's not that cold," he stated. Wrongly, of course. He'd just been out for so long that his paws had gone numb. "Better to catch as much as I can now before the weather gets any worse."