After the battle patrol had departed, Luckykit had felt out of place, unable to find anything to dull his nerves. The nursery had felt too empty, the small gathering of cats awaiting their return eventually dispersing, and so he had eventually found a spot posted just outside the nursery, allowing him to keep an eye out for any updates as well as retain at least a shred of comfort while he waited. It's a long night, wracked with tension and anxious, spiraling thoughts, and even though it's far past the time for sleep, he's still just as tense when the first signs of the returning patrol arrive. Even before the familiar sight of Sootstar pushes through the entrance, Luckykit's already on alert, watching as the attention of his fellow clanmates is also drawn in by the quiet sounds of plodding pawsteps. The first glimpse isn't promising - they seem exhausted, splattered with blood, just like the last two battles, and he can feel his heart plummet to his paws, hardly daring to breathe as the rest of the patrol file in, some more injured than others.
Hardly is the extent of injuries taken in - the smear of blood in fur is more than enough for Luckykit, though for a moment it feels as though his vision is locked onto Cygnetstare, onto Cygnetstare's throat, and StarClan, that's a lot of blood, that's... For once, he can't even finish the thought, finally tearing his gaze away to search for another face, desperately needing to see Scorchstreak, to see that she's alive and okay, and even as he's scanning the crowd of cats that seems to blur together into one big mass, he's interrupted by Sootstar's announcement. They had...won? They beat SkyClan? It's enough to give him pause, though the implications don't fully hit him just yet, still looking for Scorchstreak, until finally - there! The rest of Sootstar's words wash over Luckykit, completely ignored in favor of taking in Scorchstreak's appearance, taking in the blood. It's not as bad as some of the others, sure, but that's hardly a metric he wants to consider right now, considering the new ugly marks around her neck.
The concept of injury isn't completely foreign to him - after all, he'd seen the aftermath of the skirmishes with ShadowClan and RiverClan, had seen the old scars crossing Scorchstreak and countless other WindClanners, but seeing the fresh injuries on his mother is almost too much. They had won the battle, Sootstar had proclaimed, but somehow this didn't seem much different from the other two skirmishes that they had instead lost. Still, those thoughts are for later, as right now Luckykit's only goal is to get to Scorchstreak, seeing her undoubtedly looking for him and the rest of his siblings. Small paws carry him forward, gaining speed as he weaves through the crowd of injured and unscathed alike, attention drawn away only long enough to see Rattleheart on his feet. It feels like an eternity and the blink of an eye all at once as he finally grinds to a halt, stopping just short of Scorchstreak. Once again his eyes wander to her wounds, then to her searching gaze, and all he can do is throw himself forward, pressing against an unoccupied limb.
"Mom..." is all he can manage at first, trying to reassure himself that she's there, that she's alive and okay and not that badly injured, all things considered. In fact, this should be a triumphant moment, greeting the victorious members of the battle patrol, and even if the mood is lighter than their previous defeats, Luckykit doesn't feel much like celebrating, other than thanking StarClan that Scorchstreak came back at all. Is that what victory is supposed to feel like, he wonders? The outcome is different, but the same claw-marked bodies still seem to hover about; perhaps, then, the gorge between victory and defeat isn't quite so large as he had expected. If that was true, then they might have been closer to victory those last two times than he had thought; the alternative, that they had been closer to defeat this time, is a terrible thought, and not something he wants to think about while wounds are still so fresh. Instead, he finally finds his voice, asking, "Did you...did you show those kittypets how strong WindClan is?" It's still a bit wobbly but it's something, words repeated from various clanmates feeling odd but not necessarily wrong as they leave his mouth.
[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]
