Anxiety ((OPEN))

[THATCHPAW ✿]

Thatchpaw couldn't help himself, he was feeling all too anxious as Falconstar called the cats who were going to the gathering. Ironcall was staying behind to tend to their sick, which thankfully only consisted of one cat. However, that one cat was very young, just a little older than Thatchpaw himself maybe. His claws scratched at the ground as he thought of young Tinpaw. The poor she-cat had caught that sickness that was coming from the rats. Well, what had originally been the rats at least. Now it was a bit more than that, though. Both rats and birds were carrying it and it was scary to think of what could catch it next.

He followed behind his clan dutifully, half-wishing he had stayed behind with his mentor. Who knew if the Medicine Cat was going to need something from the apprentice. But, at the same time, he wanted to see the few friends he had made in the other clans. Correction, the one friend he had made. He hoped that Crystalpaw would be there, another medicine cat apprentice would be a pleasant surprise and he wanted to see how things were fairing for the other clans.

He tried not to worry, doing his best to turn his thoughts towards such things like Crystalpaw or training or his brother Bronzebreeze. Maybe he'd try to spend a day with his older brother, hope some of that breezy attitude washes off on Thatchpaw. It would be a nice thought, at least wouldn't it?

It wasn't long before they got to Lion Rock, all the cats stopping as their leader stopped and turned a stony stare on his clan. The order he gave only seemed to bring Thatchpaw back to the reality, back to the fact that, though all the cats may seem to be alright, they were suffering from the sickness now, not just PineClan anymore.

He quickly found a spot that seemed solitary enough. There weren't too many cats around it at least. Claws digging into the ground, he tail kept flicking about and his fur bristled slightly. This wasn't good, what if his friend died? True, it was only one cat that was sick, meaning they could focus more on helping Tinpaw, it still brought around the grim question of 'what if they couldn't find a cure?' This was something new to the clans, something they hadn't experienced before. There was no way of knowing what was happening or how to stop it, all they knew was that they had to stop it, or at least slow it until a cure was discovered.

Anxiety fueling him, Thatchpaw tried his best to calm himself down but to no avail. All he could do was wait for the Gathering to begin so that it could end and allow the young tom to return back to his clan to tell his mentor what had come to pass this evening.