[wolfie]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

A slight chuckle escaped the feline's maw at her brother's concern. It was almost ironic, him telling her to take care of herself - wasn't that her job, to take care of other cats? Caliapaw's grief had been almost too great for her to really "take care of herself..." but she wouldn't tell Snowpaw that. She had been at least keeping herself alive, if that was what he was talking about, anyways. "I'll take care of myself, promise." She smiled at him weakly, trying to keep the truths of her worries and grief keeping her from being able to socialize or eat reguarly. Perhaps she would tell someone; she had better figure it out on her own soon or tell someone, at any rate, because if she did neither, she would eventually destroy herself from the inside out.


And Caliapaw knew enough to know that that wasn't good. She had briefly considered taking some of the herbs that were meant for emotional pain, for there were a few herbs to help with that sort of thing. Chamomile especially would help with depression, which wouldn't be a bad idea at the moment. However, they were low on that, and until herb stores were back up, Caliapaw would just have to deal with things on her own. She smirked a little at Snowpaw's question about it being the "fun" type of interesting, and decided not to answer that - there wasn't really a good answer. Not one that she wanted to go on about, anyways. "Oh - I'm not really hungry, thanks though, Snowpaw." It was true... at the moment, the she cat didn't feel hungry. Besides, she didn't want to take up his challenge. Cats would talk. Cats would stare.


Caliapaw didn't want either. The problem with having friends, and being the medicine cat, was that you became the center of gossip. Anyone who had a connection to a higher rank could just as easily become that center of gossip. Even if you just had friends, they would talk about you, and word got around about things. At least the cats Caliapaw trusted would never betray her. Not as far as she knew, anyways. Whatever she told them would remain there. Realizing that this was Snowpaw she was talking to, her brother, who wouldn't make a big deal of things and embarrass her, she heaved a sigh and shifted her weight some.


"If I'm being honest, I haven't really been hungry for a while." His offer to leave camp perked her attention, but she had been tired lately and at the moment, felt more like staying in the camp. "I think I'll stay here for now, thanks, Snowpaw. Just in case something comes up." That was part of it, too. If something came up - Caliapaw wanted to be nearby to make sure she was in time this time.


The seemingly kingly tom continued to scan the clearing. Of course, Powdernose escaped his gaze originally - he wasn't really looking very closely, even though that was how it appeared. When he turned back around for his gaze to scan the other way, his eyes landed on the snowy-colored tom. For a moment he let his eyes rest there, his gaze never softening, but rather inquisitive as though asking what on earth the other tom was doing in the darkness. Eventually he turned away, his tail flicking in an inviting manner, offering for the cat to come and join him, but this only lasted a few moments before he turned back around, twisting his back so that he could look more easily at Powerdernose. "Can I help you?" He hadn't been aware of the cat following him, but he was almost insanely mindful of where the tom was at the moment.


He knew of the other tom - and while laziness was not to be rewarded, he did have to admit, the other cat generally looked more comfortable. And, while you would never catch Stonegazer sharing the more relaxed state of Powdernose, there's a chance you would see his muscles loosening just the slightest bit and his royal stance relaxing so that he even slumped some. Of course, he remained just as alert and powerful as always. He was a middle-aged warrior, or getting close to it, and he was looking forward to being a more respected member of the Clan. He was older then their leader - how he felt about that, he wasn't sure.


Stonegazer supposed a young cat could have good ideas just as much as an older cat could, and he approved of the way that Snowstar led the Clan, with her deputy Passionblaze - whom he was also older than. Stonegazer's eyes remained fixated on the other tom, never looking away, in a way that was almost irritating, if you were made uncomfortable by being stared at. He had never had the strongest idea of what other cats' comfort zones were. He couldn't know that how emotionless he appeared would unsettle others. And while he was far from emotionless, his features and stance generally appeared that way. Or if not emotionless, at least like his emotions were carefully regulated.

Snowpaw shifted his weight on his other left arm, smiling at her promise. At least it brought him some relief, knowing she would. However he did get the feeling she haven't been, most from her smile and a guess. Yet kept his mouth shut, he didn't mention it to Caliapaw- not yet at least but the war was scaring him a little. No, not because of the fighting. It was about losing someone in it. Snowpaw didn't know if he would even be in it, some of the worrying was from the gathering. He hadn't attended to it but he heard about it. What if someone killed Caliapaw? Like what happened with Wheatfur. So many questions buzzed in his head like flies. Snowpaw knew that the feeling of fear would never go away until everything was surely fine, all he could was to help.

"Alright, I won't shove the prey down your throat." He joked, chuckling a little. He found the talk surprising relaxing, better than laying around. Anything is better than laying around, though. His nose wrinkled up at the thought, shaking his head lightly in thought. However some cats really just needed that, Snowpaw blinked. "Zoomed out for a second, thoughts just buzzing around, you know?" He searched her eyes; hope for a hint that could tell him what was going on. He got nothing which he was disappointed and relived for. Snowpaw didn't know anything he didn't want to.

He frowned a little, he knew grief took away your appetite. Even knowing that he didn't get the hint it was most likely from grief, being clueless Snowpaw he assumed she was getting sick. "Are you getting sick? I mean... well could that be start of it? " He snap his muzzle shut, knowing he was about to say something that could really make things uncomfortable. He furrowed his eyebrows, giving a short nod. "I know you may not have a appetite but later on take a few bites of a mouse, hungry or not. " Snowpaw nodded. Then the frowned disappeared and turned into a wide smile at her. "No problem. Yeah! Always be on guard, Caliapaw!" He said, "And don't let anything bring you down." He blinked, "I sounded like my mentor for a second. Gah, is she rubbing off on me?" He shivered a little. Remembering the over-joy mentor he had, Snowpaw couldn't lie that really scared him.

"Come lay in the sun, it's warm. " He didn't seem anything wrong with that, "Or sit." He added. However he found that sometimes just being in sunlight `melts` away your thoughts.