[ti]Open[/ti]do the squats

[Mama]

Briarfrost was tucked away in the corner of the camp, waiting until her turn to go on patrol. Her tail was tucked closely to her small frame, and shivers rippled through her body. It was useless trying to keep warm, as her velvety coat was shorter then most of the clan's pelt, which also made her more prone to being sick.

After a moment, she felt her body convulse, and started one of coughing fits. Bits of blood occasionally shot out, and she moved back to try and hide it from the clan. The last thing she wanted was for them all to fuss over it, even if it was getting worse. 'It might just be that I have a sore throat.. or something.' The warrior thought inbetween gasps for air.


Luckily, this one was a bit shorter then the other times, and as she finished she quickly hid the blood with more snow. Her eyes flickered around uneasily, and her stomach churned with slight disgust at herself.

[M'Lady]

Owlstar hadn't been out on a patrol in what seemed like forever, and though she loved her kits to bits, she was getting close to clawing down the nursery walls in her pent up frustration. She didn't think she could handle a hunting one now, but perhaps a border patrol would be nice. She had Rainfur look after the kits while she was gone, and then walked into the brisk air with a smile on her face, her fluffy smoke fur keeping her buffered against the cold. She peered over at her deputy, Wolfclaw, who was already assigning patrols for the day. She called to him on her way by.

"I'll take the Mistclan border," She told him, her eyes already focused on Briarfrost, someone that she had to talk with anyway. She frowned slightly, the she-cat looking a bit frailer than she remembered, but she pinned it on leafbare. A border patrol would be easy, it was more or less a glorified walk.
"Briar!" She called, catching the she-cats attention. "Come along with me, will you? Patrolling the Mistclan border." The leader clarified, with a glow of her vibrant yellow eyes.

[Mama]

Briarfrost looked up quickly, gulping at the sight of the leader calling her name. Her eyes flittered towards Wolfclaw, before back at her. "Sure!" She mewed, before padding carefully over. The warrior was still shivering, but she hoped maybe the patrol would warm her up.

Other then that, she was a nervous bundle of feelings. One, the leader wanted to go on patrol with her. Two... she was close to Wolfclaw. Her ears flickered back, and Briarfrost tried not to look obviously scared of Owlstar. "I-I'm ready when you are." She mewed lightly, giving a final glance back towards the deputy. The handsome, large deputy...

[M'Lady]

She noticed Briar's little glance with her amused golden gaze, and swept her tail towards the camp entrance, which was a maze of stone to scramble over.

"Come along then, a patrol is just what we need to get our blood pumping." She hummed, glancing at the entrance and gestured for Briar to come along, as the leader's elegant movements allowed her to gracefully pick her way out of camp, looking almost effortless as the grass on the outside crunched due to her landing on the frost. She glided over the earth, her steps silent and her limbs fluid, Owlstar truly was the epitome of beauty in the clan, as her mate loved to tell her every day.

She waited for Briar, before she continued her stride towards the Mistclan border, feeling fresher than she had in days as the cool breeze ruffled her fur.
She had to admit, there was another reason she decided to ask Briarfrost on a patrol. Hardly anything happened in her clan without her luminous yellow eyes noticing it, she knew exactly what was going on between the she-cat and her little cousin.

"So, Briar," She mused, her voice playful but her eyes serious. "What do you think of Wolfclaw?"

[Mama]

The hair on her neck stood up a bit at the question, and the tiny warrior gave a light gulp. The last time the two had been together privately.. it didn't end very well. "He's fine." Briarfrost curtly mewed, keeping her gaze away from the leader as she continued on.

The tingling feeling had rose back in her throat, and panic coursed through her veins before she quickly choked it back. "Hairball." She lied, before speeding up slightly.

Was Owlstar going to be mad at her? Or worst off... would Wolfclaw get mad if she told him about her reply? Her heart was still sore after learning that he was not very happy to go on the walk, or even hang out with her at all. For the sake of him, Briarfrost had decided to try and keep far away from him. The last thing she wanted for the handsome tom to despise her, especially when that tom is the colossal deputy of her clan.

[M'Lady]

She frowned a bit when the warrior made an excuse for her... Whatever it was. Owlstar filed it away in her mind for later, perhaps something was going on or perhaps she was paranoid. Owlstar found it to be a half and half chance either way.

Then she registered what her clanmate said just before, and hurried after her as she quickened her pace. Keeping her curt tone in mind, Owlstar responded. "Just fine, really? From what he said, I had the feeling that you two were growing close." She hummed in response, flicking her tail only to accentuate her point. They neared the Mistclan border, and Owlstar rose her head to sniff for Mistclan cats, but scented no new patrols in the vicinity. She marked this section of the border, and then went right back to questioning Briarfrost.

"I heard he liked the stream, he rather likes streams."

[Mama]

Briarfrost felt more and more emotional as the leader made the remark about her answer, and she focused away and onto the ground. When they got the chance to freshen the borders, the warrior quickly marked her side but walked very slowly back, keeping her head low.

When Owlstar started to talk again, it stuck a sore note in her heart, and she flinched slightly. Half of her wanted to just cry about it, and the other half just wanted to run and never stop. But that little sane bit in the middle kept her from doing either, and the feline gave a rather slumped shrug. "I guess." She mumbled, before feeling the same choking feeling building back up in her throat. However, once again she forced it down.. but the pressure got harder to deal with.

[M'Lady]

She didn't comment on Briar's demeanor. She saw the flinch, she saw the sadness in her eyes. But Owlstar was the only one Wolfclaw had left, he was the only one she had left. They were each other's remaining family, and just as he'd leap to her defense she'd guard him with all her lives. He'd been talking about her, Briarfrost. He never really talked that much about anyone, though he wasn't as much of a talker as Owl was. Either way, the leader was intent on making sure Briarfrost had good intentions with her baby cousin.

"The poor dear though, he's always so sad. It's his family, you know?" Everyone knew what happened to them, it had been a massacre, a dark time in Ivyclan. "He misses them desperately, he's stuck in the past while everyone's moving on without him." She mused, and then peered at Briarfrost with yellow eyes that seemed to bore into her own. "He likes you, though, you could probably drag him out of it."

[Mama]

Briarfrost's eyes started to water up, and her tail flickered uneasily. The words, she could hear, but had started to drown out when the warrior begun to suffocate in her own blood. Her ears flattened and she felt dizzy, choking out for air before collapsing into the snow with blood-ridden coughs. The feline had been trying to keep it down, but it had only clogged her up more, and lumps of scarlet started to stain the snow red. The grey and white tabby had curled up into a fatal ball, her tail tucking as her body trembled with both pain and fear, her eyes blurred and her coughs heavy and rough. 

After minutes, or what felt like hours to her, she laid almost still and her body limp. But she wasn't dead, and her chest rose and fell with ragged movements while she buried her face under the snow as if doing so would help. It was mostly out of fear for Owlstar and what she would think, and the fact the snow melted down her throat and soothed the pain slightly.