Pinepaw dealt with (probably), Hollowpaw turns his back on the older apprentice, clamping his mouth shut to try and keep in the sudden wave of hacking coughs... he's unsuccessful, doubling over for a moment until his head spins and the energy he'd exerted earlier comes to bite him in the ass. Everything hurts, his eyes water and his lungs burn. He wants to lay down. But... but he shouldn't. There are cats here who are mourning, Mudhound might need to be monitered (as much as he does not want to admit it, what Pinepaw said about feeding the hornet poppy to calm his shock might be a good idea but... but would he want something to dampen the grief? Was that really something that would help the hornet? Or was that just something Pinepaw had said because he wanted Mudhound to shut up?)
He's turning around to once again take a seat next to Mudhound and Spiderthroat, but he doesn't make it even a pace over before he hears his name called. Bumblestar is here..? And- there's no way...
She has the cure.
But Wolfhive is already dead. Beachpaw is already dead. Redhawk is already dead. Poppypaw is already dead.
Bravepaw is already dead. It's too little too late.
It's a rare thing for Hollowpaw to find himself hesitating. He's usually a cat of action, and even if he's wrong about something, he's wrong with confidence and enough cockiness to fuel several cats much bigger than him. But now, faced with his leader who has yet to see her son's lifeless body, who is nothing but relieved in this moment because now Wolfhive would finally be alright again, Hollowpaw hesitates. He does not step forward to rush for the cure as he might have done this morning.
Instead, he takes a pace or two back, ears flattening in nervousness. He was the medicine cat on duty and he'd let Wolfhive die. His fault. He should have done more. Been better. He wants Bravepaw here, wants his mother here, anyone by his side that he might be able to hide behind. Uncharacteristic, yes, but as Bumblestar notices, he wants to hide even more.
Wolfhawk is here, so are Brackenclaw and Raggedear. They're back. They have the cure. It's a purple flower, that much Hollowpaw can see, but he does not know it's name, nor why it's the cure. Bumblestar blames the prophecy group. Hollowpaw blames them too, but he does not say as much, they could figure that out by the glare he sends in their direction.
With a shake of his skinny frame, dull fur fluffed as much as it could be against the cold, Hollowpaw gathers himself back up. He cannot allow himself to fall apart thanks to his inadequacy. So he'll give Bumblestar a wide berth for the time. She should be allowed to grieve. Small paws carry him over to Brackenclaw and Raggedear, and if his breathing is heavy and wheezy from the effort of moving around so much, he does not acknowledge it.
"What is it? How does it work?" He asks. Wolfhawk should have been the one to answer his questions, but the medicine cat was busy with Mudhound and with Bumblestar and... and Hollowpaw could still feel the gnawing anticipation of her wrath towards him in the back of his skull. He wanted to avoid that if he could. So Brackenclaw and Raggedear it was.
[ @Starfall @Rani @dino. @Beaan - for mud, spider, wolf and bumble mentions || @Lightningpaw666 @korok - interacting w/ bracken and ragged ]
Re: QUARANTINE!!
★彡My purrks! ☆彡
