i was gonna go to class | tired

[dovethroat.]

Even though he has had a few days of rest, the albatross that is the journey and his prolonged stay on it clearly weighs on the returned warrior. It seems that the stress, the high-octane anxiety that had ruled him for that entire time: it is finally catching up to him in the absence of such a pressing mission. The pressure in his tail from the feather he had kept there might be gone, and though his shoulders feel less tense, they feel infinitely heavier. As he goes about his day to day actions, Dovethroat is on the verge of falling asleep with an unusual and perhaps worrying regularity. He only took truly one day of complete rest—since he arrived after all the others did, he did not return to camp with an expected period of rest to be given to the group.

And also, he felt a bit too guilty to just pass out in the medicine den—regardless of how necessary and welcome such rest might be. He knows in his heart that he made the right choice to help Stormpaw, but the annoyance that people are angry at him for doing so has pushed him out of bed.

Unfortunately, pushing oneself out of bed can only mean so much after as tenuous of a journey and as exhausting of a walk home as both were. An example is like presenting itself in the present moment: simply prodding about camp, Dovethroat finds his head nodding off and off... and off...

Everything feels a bit slurred and Dovethroat has not noticed that his face has gently collided with the dirt—because he is asleep.

[⋆]​

​

 

[hazecloud]

Their last interaction together had been tense, and Hazecloud would not pretend that tension did not carry well into their return. Separated in the last throes of their trip, after spending nearly every moment beside one another, Hazecloud had felt his decision was the most unexpected out of all their journeymates. From that, she felt the most betrayed.

But since his delayed (really, really delayed) reappearance, finding the time to talk was like finding a gem among a pile of pebbles. Her busy lifestyle had made a quick return and the needs of her social life were almost never met. Finally reuniting and repairing the damage done with Lichentail had led into casual nightly walks and early morning rises. Requests for stories from kittens were more frequent than ever and there was simply not enough daylight for her to do everything she wished.

So of course, when she caught the dusty pelt of Dovethroat rising from the medicine den she took the moment to catch him, hopefully trap him into confrontation. As her maw opened to lure him in, his body suddenly slumped to the ground and Hazecloud is left to watch, speechless.

"Dove... throat?" A gentle paw placed on his shoulder. "StarClan's declared his next journey is to his nest, can someone help me drag the oaf back?" Her words are light and teasing, the state of his exhaustion pushing away her earlier frustrations with him. ​

 

[CARP-PAW]

FIGHTING IT IS HOPELESS ————————————​

​

The gentle thump caused Carppaw's head to swing around. She blinked in question, staring at Dovethroat. Simply because not everyone saw that every day- after all, this was a definitely confusing scene. Carppaw's head tilted. In the weeks following the rogue attack, she had grown quiet, something that was quite the opposite of her normal behavior. As Hazecloud announced she needed some help, Carppaw slipped over.

"O-okay." She hummed quietly. "Let me try to-" Carppaw didn't finish her statement before the apprentice was leaning her head down, nudging Dovethroat's paw pretty violently. It was clear she was trying to see if she could rouse Dovethroat before the dragging began.

"speech"
​

——————————————————————————————— sinkin' in your ocean ​

 

[Moonbeam]

Moonpaw was surprised that when Dovethroat had gotten home and gone to Ravensong's den that the fawn-pelted warrior had woken up the next day. With how tired he had looked from simply getting back from the mountains - alone and by himself - she had expected him to sleep for a week, and it seemed as though now as he slumped over in the dirt that his own body had thought the same as well.

Head swiveled as Hazecloud spoke out, asking if someone would be able to help her drag Dovethroat back to his nest and quickly the apprentice moved forward next to Carppaw. "You think he'll actually stay asleep there?" She joked a little before attempting to pull him up to make it easier to drag him back. He needed the sleep, that was clear, and hopefully dragging him back wouldn't wake him up as Moonpaw feared if he was to be awake once more he'd leave his nest again and they'd be repeating everything all over again.

☾₊ ⊹ give me a ghost of a smile

• 
  ⋆ ratkit - ratpaw - moonpaw - moon???
  ⋆ female - she/her - 6 moons
  ⋆ homosexual - not looking
  ⋆ apprentice of riverclan
  ⋆ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ⋆ attack - "speech" - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) "oh stars, dovethroat!" worried amusement edges willowroot's tone as she hurries up to the scene. the poor sandy hued tom lays facedown on the frozen earth, soft snores floating in the air as he sleeps. she half winces as she imagines the bruise the tomcat will have on his snout tomorrow, but she joins in the attempt to move the warrior.

"do we think he needs to be seen by ravensong?" the question has a double meaning, although the warrior does not comment on it. would ravensong be worried that his... good friend had passed out? "or do we just bring him to the warriors' den?" she bends to nose the boy towards her clanmates, wondering briefly if he's scrawny enough to scruff. his long legs loll about and the smoke decides against her idea. ​

 

[DAWNSTORM]

die with memories , not dreams .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

That must have hurt, if Dovethroat was awake to feel it. He blinked, padding up to the group who either slapped him silly or opted to drag the warrior somewhere. Were they going to drown him? His brows furrowed. Did they?

“I can.” He offered, bulky frame coming into view to peer closer at the fallen individual, pawing the ground beside the fallen warrior. “The one with the pebbles?” He glanced at Willowroot as he said this. ​

​

thought speech​

 

[goldenpaw !!]

☼°⋆ — Exhaustion is foreign to her. Goldenkit does not tire, at least, she's allowed to sit down or sleep before she does. Dovethroat being so worn out that he couldn't make it to a nest in time is a bit funny, she admitted. Her stifled giggle mimicked Willowroot's half-concern, half-amusement, as she skittered over to help a noble cause. "I didn't know he could do that without tripping!" she said, wonder in her voice. The last time she'd seen anyone's snout hit the ground that hard, it was falling to catch a mossball, something that wasn't as simple as walking.

As he was shuffled around by the others, Goldenkit had to add in her own assistance, trying to worm under one of his arms to push it upwards. She was in awe at how easy it was for them to all move him around, and she wondered if the fall had somehow killed him. A nose full of dirt sounded rather painful, especially an impact all the way down from his height.

"Is he sick or something?" Sleeping is what most cats she saw enter the medicine den doing soon after. Goldenkit's pupils widened, prepared to drop Dovethroat and abandon him right then and there if he had something contagious.
​

 

[hazecloud]

A few of her Clan had arrived to help and Hazecloud graciously bowed her head in thanks to them. While Carp-paw assured that Dovethroat was truly, wholly exhausted to the point of collapsed she found herself taking a step back when Moonpaw began to pull him forward. Her question made her giggle, trying her best not to be so loud.

"Considering he went down face-first, I'm sure he isn't even aware how uncomfortable it looks." She went on to answer Willowroot and Dawnstorm with a quick shake of her head. "I'm sure he'll feel more comfortable waking up where he's moved his nest. Ravensong can keep an eye on him, perhaps he'll need a sitter to keep him down."

Goldenkit's arrival had her eyes alight with a joyful shine. "Good morning, starlet! Dovethroat will be okay, some of us still need a bit more rest after coming back from the journey." Especially the ticked tom taking a rather long route to return after staying behind for Stormpaw's kin.​