its a living [Ashpelt]

it was sunhigh. and he was pacing around camp, waiting for his deputy to get back from the morning patrol. it was probably nothing. probably nothing. they usually take long when it came to warm days like this. it has been rather uncomfortable to hunt recently because of how hot the days were this late in greenleaf, so today was a relief.

but it still worried him. and he didn't know who to take on sunhigh patrol. he tried numbing his anxiety with food, which, mind you, his stomach greeted longingly. his writhing guts from not eating since the day before definitely didn't help matters anyway. but even prey wasn't exactly the right treat for his mind. even the meat tasted like nothing when his thoughts were occupied on the camp entrance.

and then, he couldn't wait anymore. the fact that the entire camp was completely peaceful and blind to Finchstar's internal turmoil just set him off even more. it was like he was crazy. or, maybe he was crazy. in fact, the only attention he caught was Ashpelt, who gave him an either amused or confused stare; he couldn't tell. but the embarrassment of his flustered eye contact gave him the rush to just turn around and just lead the sunhigh patrol by himself.

why not? he was leader. but that faked confidence didn't help his nervousness that the gray she-cat would follow him. did she think he wanted her to follow him? or maybe, the loyal warrior she is, just wanted to check on him? but hey, maybe she would just shrug it off and go back to enjoying this nice day.

Finchstar closed his eyes tight, walking blindly through his territory. he didn't want to think, he didn't want to worry, he just wanted to get this over with in peace. nothing but himself to worry about. it was a nice day, and everything was fine. as he walked,

his rushed, feverish trot soothed into a calm but speedy stroll. his eyes relaxed but were still kept closed, and he let his senses take over. the cool and damp earth beneath each paw hold, the musty yet fresh scent of water and marsh carried by the gentle wind bathing his fur, the crickets and frogs filling the atmosphere with simple but untranslatable song--

and paw steps?

Ashpelt's paws twitched with restless energy. The silver she-cat had been sitting around camp all morning with nothing to do. She had not been assigned to a patrol until this evening. She didn't have an apprentice to occupy her time with. And she certainly was not desperate enough for activity to resort to doing apprentice chores. So the energy-filled Ashpelt sat. Just sat. Watching her clan-mates; Following insects with her gaze. To put it plainly, Ashpelt was Bored. With a capital B. So when the warrior saw her leader pacing around, it was only natural for her to watch him.

And watch him she-did. She watched him pace nervously around camp. She noticed how Finchstar frequently looked toward the entrance. Everyone in RiverClan knew that Finchstar was the most nervous cat in the entire forest. Obviously something was on the tom's mind. More likely a few hundred things. Ashpelt thought. Her leader's nervousness peaked her interest. What was he worried about? The morning patrol hadn't returned yet, Ashpelt would have noticed their arrival with her vigil in the center of camp. Then her ears pricked. Finchstar, nor the RiverClan deputy, had appointed a sun-high patrol yet..

Her interest had peaked, and right as her interested peaked Finchstar caught her gaze. She caught the gleam in his eyes. The walking anxiety attack was going to go off on his own. Well, not if she had anything to do about it. She watched as Finchstar scurried out of camp. Just as his tail disappeared through the reeds that surrounded the camp, Ashpelt stood and followed him. The tabby was calm as she walked, a little bit quickly, after her leader.

Finchstar seemed to move blindly through the territory at first. But then he slowed, and seemed to take in his surroundings with each step. Ashpelt didn't try to mask her pawsteps. The pat-pat-pat of her paws against the ground mixed with the sounds that surrounded the two.

And then Finchstar's ears perked. He must hear her pawsteps. The she-cat smiled. Her voice, loud and clear, rang out "So, Finchstar, what's that plan?"

admittedly, Finchstar jumped a mile when suddenly a loud voice broke all peace in the area. it shook him enough from the volume, but the fact that he was deliberately listening closely to what could be behind him made it that much worse. heart racing so fast he thought he would just give out and die right there, the tom spun around to meet his unintended guest.

but the sight of that gray fur wasn't nearly as unexpected as the vocal introduction. it was Ashpelt, of course. the warrior that had seen his sad composure before he went out on a solo patrol. although it seemed like the she-cat didn't get the same message, and instead decided to tag along and drown him further in embarrassment. and it was clear that Finchstar not only remebered but was aware of their previous wordless exchange. those twitchy muscles, wide eyes, bristled fur, it was a joke.

well, it was too late to argue. as in, he was never going to argue in the first place. even if he did have the guts, he was too freaked out to handle any confrontation. Finchstar just averted his eyes and grunted, "oh, Ashpelt," in weak surprise, then completely turned around. "Borders--um--" he didn't want to admit that his main goal was to find the dawn patrol and make sure everything was alright, but he didn't want to follow the borderlines either. "--quick check on the territory--" he added quickly, justifying going straight through Riverclan territory and scanning the area before checking borders. but, what if the trouble was a border skirmish? then the time it would take them to go through the territory would waste precious time to save them. but wouldn't they have sent someone to camp if it was serious? were they caught by surprise, or did he just miss them? but it could just as easily be a threat in the territory--

"quick, quick check on the territory." he emphasized nervously.

Ashpelt cocked and eyebrow as her leader jumped, spooked from her voice. How pitiful. Ashpelt thought as the shakey and frightened leader turned to face her. He had to of known that she was behind him, or at least he had to know someone was behind him. Ashpelt had walked deliberately loud thinking when she finally spoke up he wouldn't be frightened. But, somehow not surprisingly, she was wrong.

Finchstar greeted her. Asheplt waited. The twitchy tom turned away from her as he elaborated on his plan. A simple border patrol...no, a territory check...Ashpelt sighed. Finchstar couldn't even take control of this and say definitively what he was going to do. Surely, she thought, it wasn't that hard to say what you were doing. Unless, Ashpelt's ears perked, that wasn't what you were planning on doing. She began to wonder what her leader could have been going off to do in the first place.

"Okay then. Let's do a quick check on the territory," Ashpelt replied. She padded to stand beside Finchstar, rather than behind him. Things had been calm in the territory, so Ashpelt did not expect much action. Maybe they could do some hunting while they were out.

"Perhaps we should also hunt some while we are out." The she-cat didn't phrase it as a question, more like a statement. It never hurt to hunt, as the clan was always in need of food in the fresh kill pile. Most of the pile was composed of fish, but other prey, like mice and voles, were not uncommon. While Ashpelt was more skilled at fishing, she did enjoy stalking prey frequently rather than sitting still for fish to swim by.

The silver she-cat waited for her leader to move on.