Thinking Things Through [OPEN]

A large, burly calico figure shouldered stiffly through the covering of the Warrior's den. The mute warrior looked up at the watery blue-gray morning sky, the scent of frost thick in his nostrils. Unaware of his leader's prescense at the moment, he stretched himself out with a wide yawn, fluffing his fur against a chill breeze.
'Leaf-bare was coming..' Silentsong shared the leader's thoughts for a moment as he started to groom his coat that was becoming thicker by the moment.
Your initial response to the tom's presence would be that he was intimidating, even though he was the calmest, sweetest tom in the clan, having a big heart and no voice to speak his kind thoughts.
Though, lately, that subsided. The death of his beloved mate, Cinderfire, had left a nasty gash in his heart that showed in the dullness of his amber gaze. He huffed a sigh as he finished grooming his pelt, getting to his paws and trotting into the center of the clearing before he noticed the stark-black leader

Foldedleaf had woken up early today to take inventory, he had been collecting herbs to prepare for winter since spring. Greencough was a nasty thing, it saddened him to see so many good cats die each leafbare from it. Well not from it exactly, the progressed forms of it more than likely. As he counted it looked like he had enough catmint for eight or nine moderate cases, of course he would like to get more just in case. Everything else looked good, except for some of the rarer stuff of course. Next time he went out he'd grab some poppy seeds, cobwebs, and maybe some horsetail. You could never have enough cobwebs. The squat little silver tabby poked his head out from his den, green eyes searching the camp and finding only two other clanmates that had bothered to wake up. He stretched and made his way over to Ravenstar. He would have checked up on Silentsong, but he figured that he'd come see him if he was having any problems. Then of course he'd have to play the guessing game and list off every single problem he could think of that losing a mate could cause. He could give him some goatweed to help ease the grief, but he would rather not use it unless it was causing any real problems. Grief, afterall, was a natural and healthy thing, however unpleasant.
He dipped his head in respect to Ravenstar and spoke, "Chilly for so early into Leaffall, even if it is early. I hope that it passes soon." a pathetic attempt at smalltalk.

Stonepaw padded out of the apprentices' den, his brows furrowed. 'It's been too long since I trained! Surely, that can't be good for my progress to the next rank!?' Huffing indignantly, the tom padded towards the fresh-kill pile, his ears flattened. He wasn't the type of cat to really enjoy time off - especially since he was an apprentice. In his opinion, he shouldn't be spending so much time not training. However, he couldn't really help it; his mentor was recently killed, which halted his training. Nonetheless, he was almost to the point of finishing it.
He was distraught in many ways once his mentor had died. The feline was so close to finishing his training, for one. Secondly, he and his mentor were rather close. Stonepaw had a hard time making friends - he always spent so much time focusing on training and working, that he never really socialized. In his old clan, he had a few friends, known as Peaceful Field and Unblooming Flower. The feline missed them dearly, along with his father. He had become attached to his mentor; his death had truly shaken the young tom.
Sighing, Stonepaw unenthusiastically bit into a sparrow. His intense scarlet eyes flicked towards Ravenstar momentarily; he was hoping she would eventually assign him a new mentor. Stonepaw hated slacking off, even if it was justified. He was an apprentice; apprentices should be training! He distinctively remembered how much Peaceful Field would tease him about his dedication to training. Despite his name, Peaceful Field was definitely not peaceful - he was a rowdy slacker, and a stereotypical delinquent. Nobody knew why he and Stonepaw were friends, before the latter had left the clan. The memory of his old friend finally caused the apprentice to smile as he chewed on the snack.

"I should be fine for today, but.." Foldedleaf paused, wondering if this was the best time to bring this up. "I've been thinking about choosing an apprentice for some time now, and this morning I saw that I was getting low on cob nuts. It got me thinking about that quiet little kit, Hazelkit, the one that always sits alone. I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter." The grey tom spoke quietly, only Ravenstar would have been able to hear him. He knew that Hazelkit was nearly six moons old, she would have a ceremony soon.

Silentsong watched the interaction, feigning curiosity to hide the sadness in his heart. He hadn't yet had an apprentice, and he doubted that he ever would. The prospect caused a small stab of pain for a moment, glancing down at his paws and forcing his fur to stay down from everything overwhelming him. It made sense that he would never be mentor, and he wanted to accept that fact, he just wished he could share his skills with the youth of the clan, pass on all that he knew.. Alas, without a voice, that would be more than difficult to do. All that he knew would never be portrayed as he wished with simple tail movements...
Seeing that Ravenstar was approaching, his head and ears slightly perked, and his tail waved in a greeting.
He listened to her, his eyes darkening as he let out a huff. Cinderfire. Another thorn that stabbed his heart that was much greater than the previous one. He understood Ravenstar's words, but that did not change the feeling of emptiness he felt. He turned with a sigh and nuzzled his broad head against Ravenstar's chest. For normal cats, that would be seen as a very broad gesture, especially since Ravenstar was the most respected cat in the clan, doubling that. But, as a cat who could not voice any other kind of response, gestures such as these and others are seen as socially appropriate for him.

-Bump!-

Come on guy's post!