- Feb 14, 2023
- 413
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LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW
Life hadn't been easy for Skyclan lately. So many cats had lost friends and loved ones throughout the last few moons, and Johnnys heart honestly went out to them. The patchwork tabby couldn't begin to imagine the pain they must feel, not having joined long enough ago to have formed any major bonds with those who'd been taken. Sure, he had experienced loss in his own way throughout his life, forced time and time again to leave behind the cats he came to call friends whenever his twolegs decided it was time to up and move, but there had never been any sense of mystery or danger then. He'd always left knowing that his friends were safe and happy, that they would still have one another even if he wasn't there to look out for them.
But in Skyclan, no cat truly knew what was happening to their stolen clanmates.
In the weeks since he'd join, even as tragedy after tragedy befell them all, Johnny tried to help where he could, tried to keep the faltering spirits of his clanmates high enough above the waves to keep from drowning. He offered shining eyes and goofy, lopsided grins to those he spoke with, trying to will his crackling energy and stubborn willpower into them all. Thistleback, as the tom who'd introduced him to this new world of duty and purpose, was up among the ones he worried among the most- but right next to him was Orangeblossom.
Ashenclaw has been the first Skyclan cat he'd met after Thistleback, the tom having shown up on the edge of the forest right by Johnnys yard. He'd seemed a good cat, encouraging the bobtail to follow his heart and even offering to make sure he got home safe to his twolegs each night. After learning about how close he and ORangeblossom had been, it hadn't been hard to pick up on the tension that that stuck in the air every time the toms name was brought up in the shecats presence. And now she was pregnant, not a tom in sight to help her...
Surely, they was Ashenclaws kits then?
Orangeblossom was a strong cat, of that Johnny was sure. She held herself with a stern confidence that he'd come to admire, and while a small part of him was disappointed that she'd moved into the Nursery and wouldn't be quite as prominent on patrols, he knew she was preparing for another job, one that would take all of her strength and focus, and he was honestly really happy for her.
He just wished Ashenclaw was here for her.
"Morning Orangeblossom." he greeted as he flopped down onto his side across from the shecat in a rare display of relaxation, something Johnny seemed horrible at doing. He'd just returned from a border patrol though, and that coupled with his desire to actually spend some time with the shecat made it possible. "Hows the nursery treating you? Must be nice to not have to hear all the snoring that probably goes on in the warriors den, aye?" he asked, wrapping the words in gentle playfulness to try and draw toward the positive.
He could only imagine the negative she'd been feeling as of late.