Wandering Mess known as Swamp

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Swamp wanders hopelessly. His tail drags behind him and he doesn't care where he is going. In fact, he seems to be going in circles. Mud, leaves and twigs are stuck to his fur and his lifeless eyes scan the surrounding area without even noticing details.

Swamp nods. "Look Snow, if you want to look for your brother now, we can. I might not be able to walk very fast but i can travel," he tells her. He glances at his wound then takes a few steps to prove he can walk. His steps have heavy limp but he doesn't care.

She watches him thoughtfully, a small hint of wanting to go look for Ripplepaw showing in her eyes. "Look, you don't have to stress yourself. We can wait maybe another two days... I do want to look for him but I don't want to risk you getting hurt more than you already are." She looks at the ground and sighs. "Okay. If we go tomorrow, we have to be extra careful."

He smiles. "All right, tomorrow it is. don't worry Snow, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again," Swamp tells her. He yawns and looks around. "But can we take a short walk? I'm dying to move around!"

She smiles and pads near him, starting to walk. "Where do you want to go? anywhere? Wherever your paws take you?" She hold us on the questions until he responds. "Anywhere is great. I'm just like to walk."

"Wherever our paws take us," he agrees. "I just want to walk and be with you." He smiles at her and begins walking slowly out of the cave. After a few steps he begins to feel more comfortable with the limp and can go a little faster.

She smiled and kept walking straight, going slow enough so Swamp could catch up. "I'm nervous," She said quietly. "How will Ripplepaw sees me?" She has a worried frown stuck to her muzzle as she pads softly.

Swamp shrugs. "i suppose it could go anyway, but it all comes don to whethher he really loves you. If he does, he'll understand and be happy to see you. If not, he isn't worth your time."

She sighs and does a raspberry sound with her mouth. "I suppose. He's pretty understanding, so I doubt anything will go down between us..." She kicks up some dirt with her paw in frustration and looks at the green fern ahead.

Swamp sighs and flicks his tail over her shoulders and leads her to a pile of leaves. "let's take a break," he suggests. "Now, you can't totally know what will happen so there is no use worrying over it."

She nods and sits on the leaves with a slight thump. She looks back at Swamp and manages to smile. "I knew a cat that used to ask me to kill her. Crazy right? Who would want to die and leave such a beautiful world behind?"

"Sometimes death seems like a pretty good option, especially when you have no one left to live for... When your past is so messed up that you can't even bear it," he tells her. "I might have wanted to die if I hadn't met you."

"And my life would be useless and boring If I hadn't met you." She smiled and put her head on his shoulder. " I actually considered it, killing her. She just looked like she was in so much mental pain each night. It hurt me so much to see her suffer. I told her I would do it, but at the last minute, I, I just couldn't put my claw in her neck. So I didn't. She cried and begged, but I did nothing. A few days later she left. And I'm pretty sure she's dead." She looked up at the sky, sighing. "I have so much guilt. It hurts to just think about the deaths I've caused from trying to do what's right."

"so long as your intentions are good and right, your guilt is unneeded. Sometimes doing the right thing can cost us and others so much pain. But in the end, the outcome is better than if we do what is easy or best for us."

She nods, agreeing with the words in her head. He's so right. He gives such great advice. She looks up at him, smiling. "I would feel extremely guilty if I didn't help you. It would be such a terrible lost." She shifts a little. "Have you ever tried to convince someone into not hating themselves?"

"Off the top of my head, no, but right now I think I just convinced you into not feeling guilty over good actions," he says. He gently rubs against her. "But a lot of cats did steer clear of my stench."

She giggled and swayed her tail. "Yeah, you did stink pretty bad, but I managed to hold my breath until you were fully cleaned." She grinned and wondered. "I don't even know how many cats I've convinced, but you were just about the third cat that has listened to me this moon."

Swamp smiled and lay down. "Just think Snow, if you hadn't have been so nice and caring we wouldn't be here," he told her. "After all, I did help you out after you fell down that hill. Although I suppose that was partly my fault..."

She nods. "Yeah... it was sort of your fault but, I'm still here, aren't I? My wound is also healed." She smiles and lays on her stomach. "And after all, if I hadn't gotten hurt, we wouldn't have confessed our feelings for each other."

He grins, "yeah!" Looking around he tries to think of something else to say. He can't think of anything and is instead content to just lie there beside her.

Snow closes her eyes and feels the cool afternoon breeze in her white fur, as well as the warmness of Swamp next to her. She smiles at him and looks towards the distance, seeing a fat squirrel run across them. Without thinking, merely just a quick swipe of her paw that she hadn't thought through enough, she caught the squirrel easily with her paw. "Wow... I didn't even mean to do that." She grins to herself slightly and takes the squirrel by the neck. "Ready to start walking again?"

He nods and stands up. He quickly stretches a little then looks at Snow. "Maybe we should head back to the cave?" he suggests quietly. "Then we can be ready to leave bright and early."

She nods and stretches her back legs a little. "Sure." She replies muffled still clutching the squirrel tightly with jaws. "Bright and early would be best so we don't return too late." She walks over to him. "Need any help walking or are you fine?"

"I can walk," he tells her. He takes a few steps forward, wobbles a bit, and regains his balance. "A little assistance is welcome though," he adds. He looks at her and smiles.

She nods and walks over. A smiles is barely visible under the squirrels thick sheet of brown fur as she offers her side for Swamp to lean on. "There ya go." She replies muffled. "Maybe we can stop by the hunting grounds and I can get a nice meal for us while you go rest in the cave. Or would you rather watch?"

He leans a little on her shoulder as they walk together. "I'll watch," he says. "I would hate to waste this nice day in a cave."
A sudden memory pushes his way into his mind, a memory of one of his first days with Fellry. that too had been a nice day and Fellry had been teaching some herbs. Naturally, Swamp was just play while Storm was listening.
Swamp's smile leaves his face and he stumbles on his next step. "I miss you," he mutters under his breath.