What a time | Dandelionwish

[Echolight]

Something was terribly wrong. Echolight had known for a day or so by now, the strange belly aches, the fatigue… surely, surely it was a simple cold- leafbare was well on its way, after all.
Yet, as Echolight awakes from an abnormal mid-morning nap, she feels strangely heavy. As her eyes begin to flutter open and she stirs, that is the first thing she notices. The aching along each of her limbs had not subsided either.
She rolls out of her nest with a audible groan, sleepily getting to her paws as she blinks in the brightness of the day.
Finally, she throws her head over her shoulder and her single eye widens in horror. Frantically, she begins to look at each of her paws, her breath beginning to grow rapid.
"Dandyyy!" The panicked cry for the medicine cat has barely left her lips before she is darting to his den as fast as she could on her achy paws.
Her usual mannerisms are forgotten as she barges into the den, frantic in her search for the sepia tom.
"Dandy! You have to help me! I’m swelling everywhere! My bones are creaking… I’m sluggish… I think I’m dying!" She hastily explained to an undoubtedly surprised Dandelionwish. Lifting one of her slightly swollen forepaws and shaking it feebly.

@Dandelionwish
"Speech."
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[ WHAT A TIME ]​

 

[Dandelionwish]

Dandelionwish was a hell of a mouthful wasn't it? Couldn't expect a dying cat to mutter out that whole chunk of words just to get some attention so he while he liked it fine and answered to it he was also highly attuned to the quicker and more familiy 'Dandy' that he'd known as a nickname since he was but a wee kit. Echolight would find him standing and facing her the moment she stumbled in, his comfrey dropped in his haste and he stepped over it to reach out a paw beneath the one she extended out and shook in a frenzy, "Aye, Echolight! S'alright, relax! Sit-sit!" A gentle but firm push of his shoulder tries to guide the she-cat to the nest next to them he'd thankfully just cleaned, the moment he got her settled and calmed down he was going to start poking and proding about to see if maybe something really was wrong of maybe she just popped something? Pulled something? Cat bodies were so limber he didn't often see a warrior who did proper stretches get any kind of cramp but he could adjust to being wrong.
"Swellin' everywhere ye say?" He hated the word swelling, it made him think of infections and the way a wound would get a little puffy as it bled; it was uncomfortable to have and to deal with. "Tell me how yer feelin' right now? What's botherin' ye the most?"

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[Echolight]

Only about three deep breaths Echolight takes as she is guided to the nest. That is all she can muster- despite Dandelionwish’s urges for her to simmer down.
She gulps nervously as he begins to inspect her, the perplexed expression he holds making her want to cry- why did she want to cry? Oh- that’s right, she was dying!
She tries to self-soothe once more when the tom begins to speak once more, asking her to pin-point the biggest problems. Oh, where to start?
"Uhm… I’m achy, everywhere but mainly in my paws. My abdomen feels the most swollen, I’m nauseous too" she begins to describe with an uncharacteristically shaky voice.
"Just… give it to me straight Dandy, how much longer do I have?" She prompts once more, a feathery tail sweeping to cover her suddenly chilly forepaws.
Perhaps, had it not been for her foggy mind, or her hysteria- other causes for her ailment may have came to mind.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
"Speech."
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[ WHAT A TIME ]​

 

[Dandelionwish]

Nauseous. Achy. Abdomen swollen. Sounded real familiar, but that was....silly wasn't it? To his knowledge Echolight had not been particularly chummy with any cat in the clan, she didn't have a mate either. He raised his paws to lightly knead on her side, gentle but the pressure was probably a little uncomfortable. Still, it was hard to deny that this was very similar to when he and Honeytwist had realized Moonshadow was...carrying kits. He'd even been there when Hyacinthbreath's little look-a-likes and Periwinkle had come into the world; it was not exactly the most...clean affair. He was thankful, however, that he'd gotten to at least experience dealing with it once before because otherwise he'd be at a loss right now without his mentor.
"Well, reckon ye got about a few moons or so..." He paused, shaking his head with a smile, " 'Fore them kits pop out. Congratulations, whose the lucky co-parent?"

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[Echolight]

I reckon ye got a few moons or so…
She can feel the wail about to rip through her throat. Oh stars, this was it-
‘Fore them kits pop out. Congratulations.
Quickly, the wail is swallowed back down, much too quickly in fact, and Echolight sends herself into a full-blown coughing fit.
She’s gasping by the time she’s recovered, but then his news replays in her mind, and she’s reeling all over again.
"Dandy, it’s not funny to mess with someone like that!" She scolds at first, though her tone isn’t firm, more pleading.
Please, tell me that’s some sick joke.
Yet, the laughter doesn’t come, and the relief and hope is snatched away.
"Wait… you’re serious? But…but…"
Deep breath, Echolight.
Only then does it register that there was a second part to Dandelionwish’s diagnosis.
"Coparent…uhm… that’s rude to ask a queen that…" Echolight replies- not that she actually knew if it was offensive or not, just that she needed to buy time.
"Sorry, sorry, uhm… private information, you know" she corrects, still flustered.

"Speech."
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[ WHAT A TIME ]​

 

[Dandelionwish]

"Is it rude? Sorry, ain't too familiar with how this whole thing works-but congrats all the same!" The dismissiveness raises an eyebrow but if Echolight had to worry about any cat judging her she wouldn't need to fret over his opinion. Far as he was concerned it was no one's business but hers and his only worry was what might happen if she was up to some mischief with this father. Well, long as it's not a SkyClanner...
"Can't tell just yet but-felt like 3? Maybe 4? Or two and ye got a REAL tub of a kitten in there." A low mrow of amusement escaped him as he chewed his wheat stem, "But ye ain't dyin' and ah won't tell til ye make it public. Just lemme know if ye feel any pain any time soon."

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