She nodded at him. "Go right ahead. We're both probably gonna need some rest after what we just did." Although, probably her more than him, to be honest.
"Once we rest up for a bit I have to go mentor Wasppaw." He mews, "I told my patrol i'd be back soon." He murmurs. Looking into the distance, his head still resting on his paws.
"Mmmmmmm, alright." She starts rubbing her head against him, smiling a bit. "Well, be sure not to tell them just yet. I want to be the one to tell everybody that we'll be making the clan a little bigger~"
He nuzzles her as he stood up, "I won't tell. Don't worry." He begins to pad slowly away "I have to go train Wasppaw, see you soon." His tail brushes her face as he pads away, "Sorry If I have to leave so soon." He says fading into the shadows.
She chuckled a bit, and stayed laying down even after he left. After a while, she stood up, already feeling life inside of her! She really couldn't wait to tell her clanmates. But, first things were first. She headed back to camp.
Wasppaw's eyes watered as he thundered into the area, dropping the fish as soon as he felt thick, muddy slop suck at his paws. He bent over and heaved, his body trembling and weak. This was undoubtedly the most disgusting thing he had ever done. At first it had seemed like a heroic thing to do, but that wasn't pride burning up his esophagus. It was over quickly, though, and Wasppaw collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. There was a bitter taste in his mouth. He tried to spit a few times to get it out, but that wouldn't help. Also his throat burned. And his eyes were watering. And his nose was running.
Wasppaw stayed as a miserable heap for awhile, staring blankly at the rotten perch beside him. This had not been as glorious a moment as he thought. He realized that the task wasn't even finished yet, and he whimpered in distress. He prayed to StarClan that the fish might just disappear on its own. He waited, then tried again. He blinked. He held his eyes closed.
And when he opened them, the perch looked back with clouded eyes. With a sigh he pushed himself off the ground and began to dig. The ground here was soft but he was growing incredibly filthy. Stinking water kept filling the hole, making it an even more uncomfortable task. This was a fitting place at least. Gross filthy hole for a gross filthy fish.
Wasppaw finally decided that the hole was deep enough, though he couldn't really tell because it was just another pool now. He felt a surge of relief and excitement. It was almost over. He turned to the fish and his heart fell.
He wasn't going to have that thing in his mouth ever again. He did his best to paw it toward the pool, which was a difficult task but better than having it near his face. It dropped heavily into the pool, giving him a face full of stagnant water. He hissed and shook his head vigorously.
"If you weren't dead, I'd kill you again you stupid fish!" he howled, furiously kicking mud back into the hole. It was a sloppy job, but Wasppaw didn't care. He was finished with all of this. Finished. He had planned to hunt like Echosong had said, but he couldn't even think about that right now. What the StarClan was up with today? It had been a procession of terrible event after terrible event. Was this whole day meant to be some terrible omen or something? Wasppaw huffed and plopped down on the moist ground, deciding he needed a break. He deserved one, really.
With her apprentice ill, she was torn between staying close to camp and keeping an eye on her and making sure that no other cat would get into trouble. And as Wasppaw in her mind already seemed to have an unnatural habit of doing just that, she chose the latter and easily tracked the apprentice. Or rather, his rancid bundle.
She found the pale apprentice sitting on the edge of a mire of foulness that made her curl her lip and step around it, painfully aware that her own pale pelt would attract disgusting substances in this place rather like rotting kills attracted rats and crows. She stepped higher, sweeping her tail behind her, and doing her best to pick her way among the filth as she approached the apprenticed.
"You look like you've rolled in mud." She observed stiffly, with a slight derisive snort. the young tom was just...shuddering. "But...you did right. And to think none of us even needed to ask you to bury that putrid thing."
Wasppaw distantly heard someone approach, but he couldn't find the strength to turn to look until they spoke.
"You look like you've rolled in mud."
Wasppaw slowly cast a careless glance Dewdapple's way. He supposed that might have been a good assumption. He gradually pulled his gaze down to himself. There was a smelly mixture of mud, fish, and sick that slicked his fur flat. Oh. She was right. Imagine that.
"But...you did right. And to think none of us even needed to ask you to bury that putrid thing."
Wasppaw looked at Dewdapple again, eyes wide. He could hardly believe he was being praised by the warrior; he always expected and feared her judgement, which she passed freely. He stared at her, dumbfounded, until a warm feeling began to grow in his gut. At first he was worried that he was about to get sick again, but this feeling seemed different. It was slightly numbed by his current sad state, but it felt somewhat... energizing.
Wasppaw gave Dewdapple a weak smile as pride fluttered in his chest. "Thanks, that's really... t-thanks." He shakily stood and tried to approach the she-cat, but lost his balance and leaned heavily against her. "Oh," he mumbled in numb apology. "S-sorry. I'm just so... tired." It had been a long day, especially since the young tom had been up before the sun. Wasppaw gave a large yawn and tried to support his own weight, which he sort of accomplished, though he stood a little lopsided. "W-we... we should hunt!" he exclaimed suddenly to empty air.
Dewdapple rolled her eyes slightly at the tom's stumbling words. "It's not a message from Starclan, don't be nervous about being praised. Sure you might not hear it a lot now, but..." She shook her head.
How exactly had she ended up in this situation? She was supposed to have one apprentice, but where Cougarheart was, well...he was busy with...other things. Likely she thought she'd find her paws busy with two cats - and seeing as Amberpaw was indisposed at the moment. But thinking of her apprentice...
"We can...but I'd head back to the camp first. We're about to announce those who are going to the Gathering, I'm sure. Besides, you can wash up near camp. Try to hunt now and even a fox with a cold would be able to smell you out..." She firmly stated, ushering the tom ahead of her without actually touching him.
"We'll come back though, if we're not going." She added. Oh, bugger...was she getting soft? Couldn't have that.
"We can...but I'd head back to the camp first. We're about to announce those who are going to the Gathering, I'm sure. Besides, you can wash up near camp. Try to hunt now and even a fox with a cold would be able to smell you out..."
Wasppaw frowned but obediently followed Dewdapple in direction of the camp. He had forgotten about the Gathering, though he had looked forward to it with unbridled excitement since his first day as an apprentice. He had yet to meet anyone outside of his own Clan but he daydreamed about a myriad of encounters. They usually involved violence in some way, either battling monstrous GlenClan warriors or pummeling NestClan kittypets. And he was always cooler in those daydreams too -- at least twice as big with awesome battle scars and a deep, intimidating voice.
Wasppaw was shaken out of his thoughts by a wet sensation at his paws. Looking down, he saw murky water lap at his legs. He mumbled something and hopped out of the puddle, vigorously shaking off his paws. Dewdapple had said something about washing up, although he had immediately forgotten. He assumed he was lucky to remember, since there would be plenty of scoldings from his Clanmates if he entered camp like this.
"We'll come back though, if we're not going."
Wasppaw looked up, momentarily confused. Going... where? After a pause, his expression brightened. "Oh, the Gathering! That's right. Yeah, we'll hunt after--"
Wait. Wasppaw really wanted to go to the Gathering, so he hoped they wouldn't actually hunt. Why was he even planning on hunting, again? Wasppaw pondered this until he realized that Echosong had told him to do so, right after... Oh.
Wasppaw froze, one paw suspended midair. Disappointment darkened his face. Amberpaw was still sick and that meant she wouldn't be attending the Gathering. He wouldn't feel quite as good about going without her, knowing she was confined to the Medicine Cat's Den. He felt conflicted -- on one paw, he desperately wished that he would be among tonight's group traveling to Brightrock (the tales of which fascinated and delighted him) and on the other, he did not want to leave Amberpaw alone at camp with no one to talk to. Not that there wouldn't be some cats staying behind, but were they really as interesting as him?
Wasppaw debated on this as he and Dewdapple approached the camp. He let the she-cat go on ahead and directed himself toward an area of cleaner water, right on the edge of the Marshy Pools. The water here was not as foul and he slid into it, sighing in delight as it ran up his sides. He wasn't the cleanliest of cats; he often forget about or even avoided bathing for days at a time. Tonight the clear water seemed to invite him in its gentle caress, pulling the bits of filth off of his pelt as his mother used to do. He counted to ten or so and pulled himself out of the water to examine his new condition. Deciding he was more or less presentable (as a few fishy bits still clung to his fur), Wasppaw followed Dewdapple's path back into camp. (Wasppaw exits)
Arriving in the Marshy Pools area after running so hard, Talonhawk panted and started to rest for a bit, growling as he remembered how Ravenstar had come along. He really needed to figure out how to deal with him. But, that would come in the future. Maybe it was best that he got stronger first. After resting a bit, he started heading further south.