Sootstep snorted. "Suit yourself. I was just trying to help," he told her with an angry edge to his voice. That's what he got for looking out for her? All that fox fighting, and for what? They hadn't even managed to scare off the foxes. He dropped behind her again, scowling at the ground. For a moment there, they'd worked so well together, he thought they had hope of getting on in the future, but she just had to go and ruin it. It was hard to feel grateful for her help when she was being such a pain.

"Finally," he muttered when he glanced up to see the camp drawing into view. He marched in after her and headed straight for the warrior's den. He could go see Graythorn after she was done.

oh god what did i do

Sootstep grit his teeth. It would be easier for them both to just start pretending this had never happened, like she wanted. But... well, maybe his head was still messed up from earlier, because her pleading call tugged at his heartstrings. He stooped, took a deep, shaky breath, and turned back. "Fine," he muttered, "fine." The dark gray tom gazed over their waiting clanmates and felt a new wave of exhaustion hit him. He didn't want to tell their story so many times for them all to listen, but it wasn't fair to leave Dawnmemories to deal with them either. If she's so determined to be bitter, let her have something to be bitter about, he thought, but instead he faced down his clan and shook his head.

"Foxes. Now if you'll let us be, we need to speak to the medicine cat," he told the closest warrior pointedly.

oh god

A quarter-moon passed. Sootstep was stuck in Graythorn's den still, curled up in a nest in the back corner; his hasty escape and refusal to let Dawnmemories look over it had backfired when the dust and dirt that had accumulated in the wound left him with a bad infection. After several feverish days where he was barely coherent and mostly just slept, Sootstep was finally on the road to recovery again. He sat quietly in his nest as he waited for the medicine cat to give him the all clear to leave again. He was growing bored of staying in the den all day, it made his claws itch with impatience not to be out hunting... and it left him alone with his thoughts.

And his memories of that day.

When he was finally given the all clear for a test day outside of the den he rose and stretched. It felt good to get his legs moving again, and though his side still protested dully, it was healed enough it wouldn’t open the wound again. He carefully picked his way out of the den and into the open camp. He wasn’t hungry— someone had brought him prey while he was asleep, maybe whoever had been doing it every other day— so he passed by the fresh-kill and set off for the exit.

Sootstep barely glanced her way when he passed by. She didn’t want to talk to him and he wasn’t in the mood to restart their old arguing. For the last day or two as his fever broke he’d obsessively gone over the patrol in his head, trying to see what he had to do differently so they would walk away on good terms. Everything had gone well until they left the monster. Was she upset he made her wait so long to get treatment? Was he too heavy laying on her? Was she uncomfortable being so close to him under the monster?

He sighed, annoyed he cared so much. It didn’t matter, they were back to their old selves. Except... well, he wasn’t used to seeing her sleep during the day. It threw him off. Did she usually nap and he missed it? He doubted it, and it worried him to see her here. Sootstep hesitated, then shook his head regretfully, padded over and nudged her with a paw.

“Get up. We’re on patrol together again,” he lied with a bitter twisted smile. How had he gone from avoiding patrols with her to fabricating one? “Hunting. Said to stay close to camp in case my wound opens.”

He swallowed hard— he didn't think it was going to be like this. Suddenly he felt bad for making up this patrol. He just wanted... well, he wasn't sure what he wanted; he just thought maybe things had changed and they could get along now, even though they didn't after that night. But it felt so wrong to see her scared of going out with him again, she couldn't even argue with him, and it hurt. His head dropped and Sootstep shook his head, stepping away.

"No— you're right. I'll go alone, it's just hunting, I'll be fine. You stay here," he offered lamely. He wasn't sure how to get out of this without admitting the truth. The dark gray tom backed up and quickly turned away.

Sootstep opened his mouth to argue again, but what could he say? He followed her out of the camp and stepped up beside her as they left, tilting his head slightly as he looked her over, doing his best to be subtle. He was worried about her; was she scared of the foxes coming to attack them again, or did she not want to be alone with him? She definitely wasn't just sleepy, they'd met for early morning patrols and it hadn't been like this. Something was wrong with her. "Dawnmemories," he murmured softly, "you don't have to do this just to prove a point. If you aren't ready, you can go back, nobody has to know."

He still didn't believe she was being honest; there was a small chance she was, but after all these moons he thought he could read her well enough to know when something was wrong. But it was clear she didn't want to tell him, for one reason or another, so he bit his lip and turned away. "Fine, then," he muttered, a little too sulky, a little too hurt, and pushed past her. He took the lead of the small patrol as he headed onward, trying not to think about how genuinely glad she sounded that he was okay. They were clanmates, that was how it worked, and even if they didn't get along they could still care about each other's well being, right?

it's peak soot and you know it

Sootstep didn't take her far; he didn't want to test his healing wounds too much yet, in case they reopened. He already worried that the bite on his side was going to leave him with a horrified scar, and while he hoped it wouldn't, if he didn't allow it to heal he was sure it would. He stopped not far from the camp and glanced at her. "We'll hunt here. See what you can find, and... let's get this over with." He suppressed a sigh at the familiar words, wishing it would be different for once. The gray tom took a few steps further and lifted his head, checking for prey scents, his head cocked slightly at he listened.

nah it'll be fineee idk