Open to Join A Tree Falls

Don’t compromise yourself - you’re all you have.

✦･ﾟ:* 💫 *:･ﾟ✦

Robinpaw's chores were simple, to see if any of the elders needed any easing pain for their joints. However her ear gave a soft twitch when something with a thicker, more daunting waft hit her nose. Robinpaw placed the herb pack at her paws a the entrance of the den before slipping in quicker than usual. Something was wrong, she could smell it, she just prayed it wasn't what her nose was telling her.

But there she was, where the tiny she-cat's chest would be rising and falling, there was only stillness. "Oh, Cherrytree..." Robinpaw murmured, pressing her nose into her great grandmother's bicolor fur. The apprentice kept her nose there for a moment, sucking in her scent for what could be the last time.

What was simply consolidating herself and sharing tongues with Cherrytree became a soft whine as Robinpaw moved to rest her cheek on the red and white body of what was now her ancestor. It didn't bother her who else was in the den, it only matter that she was there with Cherrytree, that her great grandmother wasn't in here by herself, in the case no other elders were in this morning. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner..." She whispered through a tight chest, her words came cracked and strained. "Maybe I could have said goodbye properly..."

"Go. I'll be here."

➽───────────────❥

Finchpaw had just woken up when something in the air felt… Colder. Colder than usual, at the very least. It was an almost ominous feeling that he couldn’t shake off. Despite it all, the tomcat forced himself out of the apprentices’ den, keeping a neutral expression when he noticed Robinpaw step into the elders’ den.

Without missing a beat, the tom padded after her, the realization of what had happened dawning on him immediately as he stared at Cherrytree’s lifeless body. Something in him shifted. He remembered back to when he had first met the elderly molly. How she seemed to be the embodiment of comfort.

“She’s gone.” Finchpaw whispered behind his sister, his heart aching as he felt the loss overwhelm him briefly. “But don’t apologise, Robin.” the tom pleaded softly. “It is not your fault. She is- was old… And maybe now she can rest without any pain.”

Don’t compromise yourself - you’re all you have.

✦･ﾟ:* 💫 *:･ﾟ✦

Robinpaw's tail twitched at her brother's approach but for a moment, she didn't move, glued to Cherrytree's side as if the two had been joined together by a clump of brambles. But then she pulled away to look her brother in the eyes. Her brows furrowed, being in the line of medicine meant death, Robinpaw knew that. But... this, Cherrytree, this hurt so much more because Robinpaw knew she couldn't have done anything to stop it. "I'll be okay. There was nothing I could have done that would have stopped her from dying." she admitted, mostly to herself.

The calico she-cat let out a sigh through her nose before turning back to Cherrytree's limp body for a moment, Finchpaw was right, she looked so peaceful in her nest. She would have died in her sleep. Nothing more at peace than that. "I just wish I could I said goodbye properly is all." Robinpaw paused for a moment, as much as she wished to simply cuddle up to Cherrytree and nuzzle her all day. A death of a clan member has occurred, and Finchpaw and herself can't be the only cats that know.

"Could you fetch Tigerrush and Moosestar and send them here? We need to organize the ceremony." She asked softly, grief still lacing her voice, but there was a spark of authority in it, perhaps misplaced, but she needed to check Cherrytree over, one last time before she was taken to the clearing. To greet the clan for the last time.