- 520
- #1
Damsonflower had been surprised and a little daunted to be asked by Tigersun to be deputy, but he had accepted the role without hesitation. He knew Tigersun- he knew the cat would likely take so much of the leadership of the clan on himself, and wanted to be there to make sure the flame coloured leader didn’t burn himself out like the sunset.
With kits joining the clan, there was less than no time to spare, and every available cat was out scouring the mountains for any amount of prey that could possibly be scraped from the unforgiving peaks. Damsonflower spent as much time as anyone hunting, tracking squirrels in the dry woods and venturing towards the very edges of Mountainclan territory to bring back everything and anything he could find. The grief of losing Thistlefur and the anxiety that Swallowtail might be next drove his paws ceaselessly, not least in tracking down the elders and other clanmates who were pushing themselves and making them rest.
He quickly realised that Tigersun would not rest unless he felt the clan’s future was secure. Damsonflower tried his utmost to make the leader rest and eat just enough to keep him going, but didn’t push for any more. He knew when the tom would relent, and when he would dig in, and he knew his role very clearly, more clearly than he had ever known anything. Tigersun would save the clan or die trying, and Damsonflower’s job was to follow him with everything he had.
His stalking became whisper quiet. He climbed trees in pursuit of squirrels, hurling himself up the trunk again and again until one spectacular morning he managed to snag one by the tail, crashing to the forest floor as Tigersun nipped it’s neck from the bottom of the tree. Prey by prey, paw by paw, some days a mere mouthful at a time they kept the clan fed. Tigersun emanated a fierce warmth that kept cats from tiring themselves out too much, and Damsonflower pushed prey into their paws and did his best to ease their troubled minds. Damsonflower waited patiently in camp with the kits, knowing that their parents and Tigersun would desperately want to go out and hunt as soon as possible, soothing those who had to remain behind on the days where it was too difficult for some cats to keep getting up and going out.
He returned even at night, scenting his way and catching prey that moved around under cover of darkness, his hearing becoming more sensitive in the low light. He waited near the entrance to a rabbit burrow for what felt like moons one evening, paws numb from holding still as the ground cooled them, but when a skinny rabbit finally happened by, they still found their mark, plunging into the warm creature and securing a few more days for a few more cats. Damsonflower did everything he could, and even his endless patience and measured optimism became strained, his tail drooping with tiredness, even as he resolutely headed out again and again.
He just hoped that it would all be enough.