oneshot SUN AND MOON

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
Every inhale came with a struggle, a faint rattle echoing in the depths of his lungs. Between the gloom of the den and the discharge around his eyes he could barely see beyond simple shadowy shapes. Sunnyday felt miserable and quite honestly scared. But he also felt lonely. He was being kept away for the safety of others, which was understandable. But it didn't make things any easier. For the most part he tried to sleep, though his dreams were a jumbled mess and at times quite distressing.

He was asleep when someone came nosing around him and it was the movement of bedding around him that spurred him to wake with a raspy wheeze. "Wh-who's there? Shouldn't be near me..." Panic began to set in and he tried to push his nose downwards in the hope of sparing the fool who was trying to change his bedding out. "Settle, skinny. Just me, and I'm already sick. Might as well make myself fucking useful." It was Blackmoon. Sunnyday squinted at the black cat until he was able to pinpoint the clear signs of sickness in the form of discharge from the nose and eyes. The guilt crept in but it was shot down by the other tom before they could claim deeper root. "I doubt I caught it from you. Shit happens, but we'll make it through."

Make it through? Sunnyday found himself huddling into himself all the tighter with a solemn expression. "I don't think I'm going to make it-..."
"Aw foxshit! You are gonna to pull through, otherwise I'll drag you back from StarClan myself!"
The sharp response caused the golden tom to recoil in surprise. In fact he had been left somewhat speechless. The two old warriors remained silent for a while as Blackmoon continued with his work, eventually leaving in order to dispose of the soiled bedding from the nest. Though he soon enough returned with a clump of wet moss and so he could sit with Sunnyday, giving the ailing tom some company for the time being. Heck, he even ended up giving him a bath.

It wasn't much, truth be told, but it honestly made Sunnyday feel immensely better. It also helped to encourage him to drink every drop from the moss rather than giving up after a few meagre licks. Though what surprised him most was perhaps when Blackmoon crawled into the nest next to him. Up until that point he had perceived Blackmoon as being the sort who shunned physical contact, but he supposed appearances could be deceiving. The silence was eventually broken as a query passed his lips. "Is Shallow okay?" Being so far away from the youth had been truly maddening. "The kid is fine, even despite havin' that wildfire of a brat trying to cause trouble with him. He's got guts, I'll give him that. Though you really do have the knack for bringing the weirdest cats home." The pair of them shared in a short laugh, each of them sounding rough with a rattle echoing in their lungs.

"Thank you, Blackmoon, for everything." Sunnyday spoke once he had recovered enough from the brief bout of laughter. He didn't know what he had done in order to earn such kindness from the other warrior but it was very much appreciated. Though after all the excitement and pampering he was beginning to feel quite weary again and the allure of slumber beckoned him once more, this time with greater peace now that he had a warm body at his side.

Blackmoon remained where he was and he watched over the sleeping sickly tom. His expression was unreadable but his eyes betrayed his troubled thoughts.
"StarClan, if you lot actually exist, make sure this old fool makes it through. Take me instead if you must, but spare him."
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[BLACKMOON]

I AM THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT​

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The days seemed to blur together and turned into nothing more than times that one was awake and when asleep. Sleep was what Blackmoon mainly did, it was all that he wanted to do in all honesty. The waking world was filled with fussing from Sunnyday and he was growing to hate the attention. But he didn't dare to leave the shared nest for a single second. It was too cold for that.

"Please drink something." Sunnyday pleaded as he nudged the wet moss against Blackmoon's ebony lips with a sense of growing desperation. It had been nearly a week since they had hunkered down together with the roles of caregiver and receiver becoming reversed. Sunnyday had been brought back from the brink for the time being, but Blackmoon was falling. Each passing day it seemed as if the powerful tom was fading away and it pained Sunny to see the tom beginning to look so withered and frail. It wasn't right. "N't thirsty..." The grumble came, though it was nearly drowned out by the coughs that broke forth from the black furred tom.

Ultimately the moss ended up being used to dab away the phlegm that coated the ailing tom's chin, much to Sunnyday's disappointment. After discarding it to the side he then took the time to use a paw to clean around his own eyes as the itch caused by the crusting discharge threatened to drive him crazy. "Did anyone ever tell you that you make for a poor patient?" The exasperation was loud and clear in his tone, which earned a weak laugh from his nest-mate. Sunnyday looked down at the other and waited for some sort of smart remark to come but he was greeted only with the tell-tale sign that the other had fallen back to sleep in the form of a rattling snore.

The golden tom sighed in defeat as he sank down slowly until he was able to snuggle back in beside the other, but he wasn't ready to fall asleep quite yet. There were too many worries on his mind for that. He found himself looking at the den entrance and he found himself yearning to know what was happening in the clan. All he got these days was whatever murmurings reached him. Something about Trufflepelt being a crazed nutjob, the worrying news that Howling Wind had been injured, and something about a warrior code. Whatever that was.

"I want to be back out there carrying out my duties... I hate being so useless, so helpless."
​

 

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
Where most had probably panicked when the dens were snowed in, it instead brought Sunnyday comfort. No longer did the wind drift into the medicine den and make the air colder, as a result it got warmer. Something the sickly toms needed at that moment. Each day they limped along, though the chatter that Sunnyday had come to depend upon to spare himself from the lonely madness had come to an end. Blackmoon was no longer able to speak and he was barely able to breathe. It was a horrific sound, wet and bubbling, with a mucus that spilled forth from the other tom's mouth and nose that stained the bedding near-black.

Sunnyday huddled in close and took the risk of remaining with Blackmoon for as long as he dared, but that evening the scent that lingered over the ailing warrior changed. It was chilling, something that seeped like a piercing, icy claw into the depths of his heart. He knew what was coming but he willed for it not to. The prayers came thick and fast, a final plea to StarClan.

The morning rolled in and Sunnyday woke up feeling cold. He had gone to sleep next to a friend... but he had woken up next to a husk. Blackmoon was gone.
​