Step one, sleep - Milkweedwhistle SRP

Instructions

A big yawn cracked from the mouth of the big, feathery cat, lain in her nest. She had never not been a late waker, everyone knew this. Maybe it was a bit irresponsible of her, she'd been lectured on this many times, but why would he cast it a thought when it made him happier just to stay up later. It wasn't like he was sleeping through anything important. Nothing was more important than his leisure happiness. The other medicine cats got up early now anyway. They got plenty herbs. Letting out a soft hum, Miku lulled back to sleep after the mild waking, sinking back into the soft, fluffy embrace of sleep. --------------------------------------------------------- She'd lied. So many things were so much more important than her calm, happy life. Miku woke later. Actually woke from her heavy slumber. Miku's paws stretched out in front of her, long legs falling out of her nest. She let out a yawn now, shifting in her nest. He slid onto his paws, shaking himself and rubbing his eyes to wake himself up. She let out another yawn when she was on her paws and in the way of the warm rays of bright sunlight streaming in from the den entrance. "Ngggh," he muttered, blinking tiredly as he glanced over at his fellow medics' nests. It was surprising when she didn't see Sil or Abby in their nests now. Usually they weren't when Miku woke up. She sat back down, putting her nose horn to her feathers to preen them a bit before going out. She, of course, had to look her best like always. He'd only picked the carotin casings off of a couple pin feathers before he noticed something... blue? in his nest. Huh. Miku sat up, turning around to look at the object hung against the side of his nest, tucked in with the green and yellow feathers and dirty moss. He reached out a tentative paw, lifting the silky fabric out of his nest. "Abby!! You've left your stuff all in my nest!" he shouted into the den, just in case it was pulling some weird prank or something, though it wasn't really that kind of cat. he turned around, glancing around. Abby wasn't even in here. Their scent was a bit faded, even. It'd probably gone out herb gathering early and hadn't gotten back yet. Well. He let out a playful little snort. Miku rolled his eyes. He padded over to its nest, very Abby-scented and covered in fluffy Icecat fur, and set the glove down on the edge. It was weird how the other one wasn't there, but she guessed they'd put it somewhere else or lost it somehow. Miku shook himself again, letting out a yawn. Was Abby really getting that forgetful already? They'd been getting so weird and old-like but hah, they weren't old. At least... not that old. How old was Abby even now? She honestly didn't remember. She shrugged, turning and bounding out of the den, feathers bouncing on his back and head. It was a while before Miku actually left camp for herbs. Herb collecting was his least favorite medic activity ever, so he tended to avoid it, but nobody had come back yet so he might as well. She stepped out of camp and into the sunlight and shook herself, wings spreading wide, ready to take off. He didn't get that far, attention being grabbed by a little commotion by the entrance. Drama? Miku was intrigued. She /had/ to know the scoop. The big, feathery cat, hopped the couple steps over to the cats surrounding that one rock that was a good, warm lay for early-waking elders and Miku. He stood on his tippy toes, trying to look over cats before he just pushed them aside to get a look. His curiosity had never been more of a necessity than then, because low and behold, the cat in front of him was still as a stone pillar. And their fur was soft and white. She gripped the ground, claws leaving little divots in the dirt. Well damnit. He sliced through the small group of cats, moving over to Abby to nudge their side. His nose met warm fur and when he took their paw, it was hot and sticky with little droplets of almost-fully-dry condensation. He squeezed its loose paw, tears welling up in his eyes. They couldn't have just waited a couple more decades, huh? Or forever, really. She wouldn't ever really be ready for these things. Usually, she'd try to pretend it didn't exist until she was more ready, but after a while he'd figured out it didn't work like that. Now he just felt kind of... cold. Fuzzy. It wasn't like he /hadn't/ been expecting it. After how Abby had been acting a little weird and being all tired and /sleeping in/. It was still a bit devastating though, seeing it there, all still and quiet and not commenting about his own sleeping habits. He sat there for a couple moments before turning and leaving, heading back into camp, wings tucked close and mouth shut tight. He found someone to tell to go and get anyone important who needed to be told and disappeared into the medicine den. The green and yellow cat went back to the nests, finding Abby's and just dropping himself right in, no matter how uncomfortable it felt compared to his own nest. -