pafp WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE BRAVE? — SICK

[FALLINGLIGHT]

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ ⸻ He didn't think he was immune to yellowcough, but after spending some time in close quarters with the sick —not nearly as close as Ravensong, of course— he'd thought...well, maybe he was just more resistant. Maybe he was just lucky. If that's true, it seems like his luck's dried up and died miserably.

Like I might, he can't help thinking as his weakened limbs claw dirt into a growing circular ring. Nearby, the waterfall drowns out the birdsong, though it's much more difficult to pretend he can't hear Saltsting. A small mound of dirt isn't going to keep him out, but it'll make it harder to get Fallinglight out, and it's the only way he knows to keep himself separate from his clanmates. They can't afford for anyone else to get sick. The warriors are not eating very well, and Fallinglight supposes he's...glad, almost, that yellowcough has stolen his appetite. He doesn't have to ignore his hunger when it isn't there.

"Go away," he snaps when Saltsting moves closer, his voice thin and breaking off into a coughing fit. He curls up when he can breathe again, pawing a seashell close. "Take your– your stupid ears back to camp, and tell everyone else to leave me alone, too." Swallowing hard, he drops his head to his paws, body coiled so tight it's a wonder he doesn't break anything.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / /

• —ooc: please wait for @SALTSTING :)
  this takes place outside of camp!

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⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 / / \ \ 𝙿𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙰 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙴𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 / / 09.08.23 \ \ 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴

•  
• — FALLINGLIGHT / / 13 moons old / / amab and uses masculine pronouns; will be startled by the use of any others.
  — warrior of riverclan / / earned warrior name early at 10 moons / / skilled but not experienced / / mentoring [n / a].
  — npc parents / / father died in the great battle and mother left when he was apprenticed / / no contact w / siblings.
  — flirtatious & disastrous bisexual / / fairly indiscriminate (even when he should be) / / closed to long-term romance.
  
  a fairly trim, athletic cream tabby and black chimera with high white. fur is thick and a bit sharp, though tends to soften and curl primarily around his face and tail when wet. eyes are a bright, gleaming blue at home with the river on clear, sunny days. he is rarely without a devil-may-care grin, though despite his daring personality, has yet to accumulate noticeable scarring.
  
• dear shell, so this is what being really afraid feels like.

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[SALTSTING]

"Fallinglight–" Clipped with a sigh, Saltsting's immediate chastisement slips away like water off of the warrior's coat. The reaction is as instinctive as it is unwelcome. He knows that Fallinglight does not see the reason for his care or find any joy in the necessity of it. But things do not cease to be simply through the force of his will, however immutable such a thing may be. It has kept Saltsting far enough away for long enough that his defenses have grown all the more sturdy. It would take more effort to scale them the longer that he waited. Even still, he does not cross the ring of dirt that grows. His paws threaten it, knead at it– with his stupid ears flattened, he steps closer and into the rising rebuke.

"That is quite enough," he bites out. "You are sick, and it will serve none for you to remain out here. You should return to camp at once so that Ravensong may treat your symptoms." The cough is no doubt a symptom of his aching throat, and as perceptive as he always is of the other's state, it is clear he has not been eating. Whether it is the appetite or refusal, though, he does not know. It's not as if Fallinglight has taken the time to speak to him about it. Somewhere deep in his chest, there is something that thrums. His chest rises and falls faster than he had expected it to.

With fearful resolution, he steps across the band of dirt and begins to paw it away in swift, sweeping motions. It patters against his own belly and the insides of his legs. That matters none. "If you will not walk, I will drag you back myself." His voice, remarkably, cracks.

 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠  ╱╱ 8.08.2023 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —
• ✦　　. 　 ˚　.  SALTSTING. FORMERLY UNDECIDED. HE - HIM OR THEY - THEM. YOUNG WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. SEXUALITY ﹖ PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ——
  
  
  ——  a black smoke with low white and dark brown eyes. his purebred father lent him much of his structure, with the oriental shorthair's characteristic angular features and large ears alongside a tall, lean frame, yet it is his mother's genes that rounded him out, adding strength to his shoulders and toughness to his paws. a kittypet and a colony cat, and saltsting is something entirely new.
  

  ✦ IMPORTANT NOTE. saltsting is touch averse and very vocal about it. icly, riverclanners should be aware of this. repeatedly touching him without the necessary comfort level will leave him with a poor opinion of any character.

• "speech"

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