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While the relief of finally being home still hangs heavily over all of their heads, Luckypaw's sure, he can't help the bubbling worry that simmers up in his chest over Periwinklebreeze and Sedgepounce, over the others that had stayed behind, over Stormpaw - surely, they would return any day now. They weren't that far behind, sure, but they were behind all the same, and injured, too, so it's only natural that it's taking time, but every moment that the pair aren't home yet makes him antsier and antsier. They couldn't have afforded slowing the whole group down - he knows this now, more than ever, but they had all known it even on the edge of the moors. Still, the thought of splitting up had never quite sat right with him, and now all his fears and more seem to come alive; had they run into even more trouble, then? All the dangers they'd weathered had been hard enough hearty and hale and with a full group - how much worse must it be with only a few injured cats?
If you were to ask him about it, he wouldn't quite call it pacing, not in those terms; after all, it's not as though he's devoid of any tasks. Resting off the journey for a few days in camp didn't mean he had to be at rest every moment, and besides, there's always plenty of chores to be done. No, Luckypaw isn't pacing - he's just being thorough, just double-checking and triple-checking all his work. In a manner reminiscent of pacing, roundabouts, but not pacing nonetheless. Still, when he hears the tell-tale call of voices from the gorse tunnel, cats turning and flooding towards the entrance, he can't quite remember what task he'd been doing in the moment at the flood of relief, hearing his final two clanmates return. "Periwinklebreeze! Sedgepounce!" They're home! They're alright! At least as alright as they'd parted ways, he thinks, the sight of Perinklebreeze's torn figure eliciting fresh waves of discomfort and sympathy.
Friends and clanmates gather, greeting the pair, and Luckypaw is content to hang back in this moment, simply basking in the feeling of such a heavy weight lifting off of his heart. There's some talk of the dogs, of course, considering that was what ultimately resulted in the delay, and he can't help but shrink back slightly at the recounting, the memory still a little too fresh for comfort. It's not until Periwinklebreeze and Sedgepounce have both given their piece until he realizes just how tired they look - and how tired they must be, truly, after having spent even longer away than he and the rest of the already-returned WindClanners had. Periwinklebreeze, especially, considering he was so littered with wounds. There'd be time to catch up with them later, he thinks, surely with news passing both ways, but for now, he's certain they must be ready to finally relax. "You guys must be tired - like, really tired. And hungry - I could grab you something to eat? Get a nest ready, or...?" he offers, letting the genuine warmth in his tone overshadow anything else.
Whether they want a meal or not (maybe they've already eaten - maybe they've done a lot, in these few days), there's no way they won't want some nice, fresh moss, and well...it's not like they've got their old nests to return to. It's still weird, knowing that the nest he'd been sleeping in the past few nights isn't the one he'd left, but that's something for another time. Even if Periwinklebreeze is just headed straight to Wolfsong, Luckypaw can still grab some extra moss, easy enough. As he turns, though, there's a hesitance in his movements, leaving him stuck in place, still just looking at Sedgepounce and Periwinklebreeze. Maybe now isn't the time, and maybe it's awfully hypocritical of him to grill them before letting them rest when he'd just planned to do the opposite, but - well, he has to know if the delay had been worth it. They don't seem particularly morose, but who knows? "Um, you all made it back? Is - did Stormpaw make it back, too?" Whether or not his clanmates care about a ThunderClan apprentice doesn't matter - he cares, at least enough to hope that she'd be making an entrance back in ThunderClan too.
"Oh, I should - I'll go ahead and grab some moss, now, and um, you guys can get up to speed with what's happened while we were all gone. Or, you can just rest, too - I thought my paws were gonna fall off when I first sat back down." This time, he feels only slightly hindered turning away, only a slight worry that if he takes his eyes off of them they might just disappear again. That - that might take some getting used to, or some getting rid of, he thinks, especially considering his pelt still prickles when Scorchpaw and Scorchstreak aren't in eyesight. Another question from Periwinklebreeze stops him in his tracks once again, though. That must be - oh, that must be Nightingalecry, his sister. Is she...? Not one of the lost, he knows immediately, but it takes him a moment to remember anything else. "She's - uh, I think she's still recovering. Y'know, in Wolfsong's den, probably. But - but we made it back in time, so it'll be okay. She'll be okay," he reassures, smile growing a little tighter at the thought that there had been a very real chance that they might not have made it back in time. They hadn't made it back in time for everybody, but...at least they'd managed to save somebody.
