CW: Grief, suicidal thoughts (kind of)Mallowpaw
127/100
Mallowpaw didn't know how much time passed while she cried into Wolfhive's fur. All she knew was that it was enough for the last dregs of warmth to escape his body, for his corpse to stiffen with death, for her reserve of tears to dry up like a puddle in the sun. It didn't stop the sobs though, didn't stop her shoulders shaking or the whimpers lost in his matted, brittle fur.
In all that time, she hadn't looked up, hadn't ripped her gaze off her mentor's body (stars, it hurt to acknowledge it like that. Not Wolfhive. Just his body). So she didn't notice the cats, the herb that would save them gripped in their jaws, when they entered the sick camp. She didn't realise they were there until Bumblestar spoke, her words sinking into Mallowpaw's fever-riddled brain slower than they should have.
The group's back 'n they've brought the cure. The group. The prophecy group. They had the cure. The cure that would heal the sickness.
If they had come earlier, or maybe even later, after she had been given time to process and come to terms with Wolfhive's death, she would have been relieved. And she
was relieved, but it was sorrow that dominated her emotions, sorrow that made her sobs, which had died down slightly, ramp up again, a whimper escaping her maw as she closed her eyes briefly. They were too late. Why couldn't they have come faster? Why couldn't they have ran back from wherever they had gotten the cure, come straight to the sick camp instead of fetching Bumblestar and Wolfpaw? Why couldn't Wolfhive have clung on to life for a couple more hours, long enough for someone to shove the cure down his throat and make him get better? He was strong, he would've recovered, why did he have to give up? He should've fought harder, battled off the sickness for just a little longer.
Why? Why why why?
She wanted to stay by Wolfhive's side forever, clinging onto him like a log drifting in rough seas, but Bumblestar was coming towards him and she slithered out of the way as the leader collapsed on her son, begging him to get up like she and so many others had done, either in their minds or out loud. Mallowpaw watched her for a moment, this heartbreaking scene of a mother losing her son, before she curled up in the snow, trying to retain any bit of body heat as shivers racked her body. Shivers and sobs. She closed her eyes as Hollowpaw and the prophecy cats started giving out the cure to cats. She wasn't going to move; they would come to her when it was her turn. Or maybe they wouldn't. No-one had noticed her before, when she was crying against Wolfhive; no-one had hugged her or comforted her or told her everything was going to be alright. Why would she think anyone would notice her now? The snow was falling on her back and slowly burying her in an ocean of white. Let it. Let it drag her under, suffocate her. She didn't have the energy to fight it.
Eventually the sound of pawsteps came towards her, and Mallowpaw opened her eyes as someone (she couldn't tell who; anything her blurry vision told her about their identity was lost in the feverish haze of her mind) gave her the cure. For a moment Mallowpaw thought about refusing it, but then they would insist she eat it and probably force-feed it to her, and she didn't have the energy to fight them. So she reluctantly swallowed it, grimacing at the bitter taste. She wondered if the cat was going to make her get up and go to a nest, but they seemed happy; they walked away, leaving Mallowpaw alone again. Alone, like she would always be now the one cat who cared about her was gone.
Re: QUARANTINE!!
