[Estelle]

Sleepysunrise
[ 13 moons | She / Her | Shc Enforcer ]

A patrol. It had been far too long since her last patrol outing, undoubtedly a fault of her own. Mama would be disappointed, she was certain, and Miss Grandmama even more so. She couldn’t have that. The air escaped her lungs as Mossfreckle, one who had been so close to her mama, called her forth. Sometimes she still found herself envying those who had such unrestricted access to not only the den where mama spent so much time when Sleepysunrise had been but a kit, and unforgivingly, the knowledge it came with. Those permitted to penetrate its perimeters would be an inch closer to her mama than she ever might hope to be, Sleepysunrise feared; they could see the den mama once called home, walk the exact pawsteps she had set down; Sleepysunrise was unsure if she had ever even set paw inside the new one, unsure whether she would ever, truly, live up to her mama’s name and Miss Grandmama’s expectations. Especially with the current situation. She couldn’t afford to slip up, now more than ever; she had lost mama already, this time to the supposed claws of darkness that Sleepysunrise still tried to deny. And Mirepaw had betrayed them, turned her back on ShadowClan. So many others were gone. She could lose no one else.

Sleepysunrise had always been one to lack a grand motif of expressions; her face was often monotone as her voice, vibrant, unsettling eyes the most expressive of all. Eyes were the window to ones soul, after all. And yet even they seemed glazed over with a distant feeling, tearing the youngest enforcer away from the here and now with rigid and cold claws, unrelenting and unforgiving, ever tearing into her very being as she failed to truly walk among the present and living any more. Mossfreckle smiled, she could see the movement of his maw; he always had this odd sense to him, something almost… Familiar, or warm, that she could not quite place. Something that, strangely, frightened her. Where the herbalist had always been so kind to shine his warm rays upon her, frigid Sleepysunrise failed to return anything akin, most of all now when her world could consist of her duties and duties only. Her duties, all that mattered.

Her gait remained professional, tired, ears picking up on the toms lilting, soft voice. It reminded her of mama, of the times she could lay in her arms, the times she could simply be with her; perhaps that is why the young white-tufted enforcer could not meet the herbalist’s eyes no matter how she tried. Mossfreckle had been close to mama, Mossfreckle shared a den with mama – he knew what she knew, and was now teaching it to his apprentice, once more. And Mossfreckle was gentle like mama could be. So how was she? She could not answer, she could not return the question, a social concept failed on the younger feline. She blinked at the ground, gaze kept low and movements minute as instead she focused on the instructions she was being given.

Blazing Star, an odd leader-like name. A plant consisting of five narrowly pointed petals whose colour she correctly guessed to be yellow, all bursting from the centre. Her ripped ear gave a light flicker, interested in finding what the medic let slip; treat with care she had noted and understood, it was a given; what interested the knowledge-hungry feline was the tidbit on curing unknown illnesses and help it provided with the shift to leafbare. Miserably, Mossfreckle gave no further information and the enforcer had to bite back on her tongue to stop herself from wasting Mossfreckle’s time by asking for every minute detail, knowledge and usefulness and questions of the given herbs when the herbalist had his own duty to do. Besides, a small part of her had grown unsure whether he was keen on sharing information with anyone other than his apprentice. A painful thought.

Secondly came lavender, a herb largely unknown to her. Tall, with clusters of purple flowers down the stem – its fragrant scent was interest, she wondered if it could be used to cover up nasty smells in the warriors den and cover ones own scent while moving about the grounds that surrounded their land. It was easily remembered and noted, the description, silent hopefulness for additional information that never came. Stinging nettle came last, a herb she was in fact familiar with. Grousepaw had detailed the techniques to gather this plant in little less detail during a herb patrol once upon a time; that to say, Sleepysunrise knew to recognise the plant and how to take care when gathering it, even if her ears remained perked for all of what Mossfreckle said, noting a few more details the former had left out. Wash first, she remembered, and rub in direction of the hairs’ growth; dry in the sun, bring back. It was straight forward enough.

Stepping away from the medicine cat couple with a dutiful nod, Sleepysunrise found Squirrelrise and Newtbelly to already have made her appearance. That left only the last of their patrol before they could set out; briefly, her eyes moved from the warrior to the other warrior – Squirrelrise – what is it with all these names? – and Sleepysunrise had a the distinct sensation that she was forgetting something. Some sort of… Troublesome element, otherwise it would not be on her mind and yet the feline’s worried expression had Sleepysunrise deep in thought for several instances as she sought what the reason may be. ...Ah. It must have to do with the predators that had been running rampant across the territory. She blinked, slowly, pondering how trustworthy and quick to lose their lives this little group might be. She decided she better keep a careful eye on them all, especially the apprentice, or Miss Grandmama would have her head. She couldn’t have them wandering off, getting lost and losing their lives in the process.


[ @sleepyyjax @idia @Aries | @elio - for Moss mentions < 3 bit of a messy post, though ;; ]