By the time Robinear on her way to the Fire, she was completely exhausted.

It wasn't exhaustion in the normal sense; well, as least most of it wasn't. Some of her exhaustion did come from the fact that she had spent most of the day hunting for shrews, but the rest of it was a sort of mental or emotional exhaustion, stemming from the fact that Thrushnose hadn't spoken to her all day, and neither had her son.

Even now, as they walked together toward the Fire, Thrushnose was silent, simply observing the grass and the flowers and looking at anyone but Robinear. The silver tabby held back a sigh but didn't say anything either; when Thrushnose wanted to talk, she would.

A breeze ruffled both of the she-cat's fur, stronger than they were used to due to the fact that they were now out in the open. And at that, Thrushnose finally opened her mouth and spoke. "I'm sorry," she mewed, still not looking at Robinear.

The silver she-cat sighed. "About what? If I annoyed you with my sudden paranoia, it's just that..." She paused, weighing her words before she spoke them. "I'm just worried, Thrushnose. If they suspect us of being together, if they start caring at all and they follow us...we won't be the only ones hurt. Amber and Volethroat and all of the others in the Fire will be found and killed just because we can't be discreet."

Thrushnose sighed but dipped her head in agreement. "You're right. I just miss you. I know you're pushing me away to protect us, but..."

Robinear shook her head. "I'm not pushing you away, Thrushnose! We can still hunt together! We just can't sleep in the same nest..."

Thrushnose nodded slowly. "You're pushing me away."

Robinear opened her mouth to protest, but Thrushnose interrupted her, putting up her tail to stop her. "We're nearly at the camp," she mewed. "No need for them to know."

Robinear winced, her nose wrinkling slightly as she realized that in a way, Thrushnose was right. She was pushing her away, trying to make them less suspicious and remove any sort of hold that Willowbranch still had on her, because her being mates with Thrushnose was one thing he did know about and could use against her.

But now, when they were away from FloraClan...couldn't they be together? Wasn't that alright?

Thrushnose, forgive me...I just want to keep you safe!

There were different cats on guard today, a dark ginger she-cat that Robinear didn't recognize and a black-furred elderly cat that looked vaguely familiar. They both stared at her suspiciously as the entered, though the ginger-furred one looked slightly more hostile. Robinear couldn't stop her fur from standing on end as she passed through, but she relaxed quite a bit when she spotted Amber and Volethroat along with a young she-cat with grey fur.

She headed over to them, heaving a sigh of relief when they turned and nodded, gesturing for her to come over. She padded over, hearing Thrushnose walking right behind her.

Amber purred and gestured to the small she-cat beside her. "Robin, Thrush, this is Dove."

Dove dipped her head. "You probably know me as Greykit."

Robinear blinked, trying to remember where she'd heard of this she-cat. Whose kit was she? She looked older than Gingerfur's...and she remembered hearing about the disappearance of a Testee... "You're Tanfur's daughter?"

Dove hissed, her claws unsheathing. "Don't speak her name. That idiot of a mother never even looked my direction."

Robinear winced. "I know what that's like."

Dove looked at Robinear curiously, but didn't speak.

Thrushnose suddenly moved forward, brushing Robinear's fur but not acknowledging her in the slightest. "Nice to meet you, Dove."

Dice dipped her head, either not noticing or not acknowledging the tension between the two she-cats. "Likewise." She dipped her head slightly, her green eyes bright. "You two are the ones who angered Frost, right?"

Robinear blinked but nodded. "Uhh...yes." Her tail searched for Thrushnose's instinctively, but she couldn't find it. Her expression fell and her head dipped slightly.

Dove purred loudly, causing Robinear's head to snap up. "Good! He deserves it, that selfish, opinion, flea-bitten rogue!"

Amber inhaled sharply. "Dove! Watch your mouth!"

Dove dipped her head to the light grey she-cat in mock submission. "Sure, mother."

Amber hissed but didn't pursue the matter.

"A-anyway," Robinear mewed, trying to break the tension. "Do you happen to know where Greyfur and Fawnfur are? I haven't seen them in moons."

Dove's eyes widened slightly. "You know Greyfur?"

Robinear blinked. "Of course. I'm his sister."

Dove nodded slightly, her eyes gleaming with a new level of respect. "I didn't know he had another sister."

Robinear felt her ears dip ever so slightly. He'd told the cats here about Irisflower and not her? Sure, Irisflower was a leader...but surely she deserved some mention.

Dove flicked her tail. "Anyway, they should be coming back from their reconnaissance right about--" There was a sound of pawsteps echoing through the clearing as a group of cats padded through the entrance. "--now."

Robinear's eyes widened as she noticed Greyfur at the front of the group, Fawnfur at his side. She hadn't expected him to be leading a patrol, but now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense. Greyfur had always been insecure, but in his element, in a place where he was valued for what he could do now and not what he could do at twelve moons of age, he had flourished.

Greyfur spotted her, too, his yellow eyes widening as he saw her. He broke away from the group, seemingly dismissing them with a flick of his tail, and padded over to his sister. "You came!" he mewed in excitement. "Well, I mean, you already did come, but I wasn't there...anyway, how do you like the Fire?" His words had left his mouth as fast as they could, and he shook his head once as if to shake off any consonants he'd missed.

Robinear blinked, trying to make sense of the string of words that had come out of his mouth. "Oh! I love it," she mewed. "I've only met three cats properly so far, but they're all lovely!" She quietly excluded Frost from the "met properly" group, as she'd been forced to speak to him.

Greyfur purred. "That's great!"

Fawnfur padded over to stand next to her mate. Her yellow-green eyes darted between Robinear and Thrushnose, who was still standing by Dove, Amber and Volethroat. "Relationship issues?"

Robinear blinked. "How do you know?"

Fawnfur snorted. "Grey and I have had our fair share of disagreements. You'll get over it, just you see." She met Robinear's gaze, then suddenly turned and headed straight towards Thrushnose. "Would you like me to handle this?"

"What? No!" spluttered Robinear. "That's nice, but no...I'm good."

Fawnfur purred. "If you say so." She turned and gave Greyfur's ear a lick. "I'm going to go report our findings to Lightning, alright?"

Greyfur purred. "Alright then! I'll catch up with you later!"

Robinear purred and looked down. "She's in charge in this relationship, isn't she?"

Greyfur looked offended. "What? No!"

Robinear just snorted and fell silent, turning to glance at Thrushnose. "I don't know what's wrong," she confided quietly, her voice strained.

Greyfur tilted his head. "Well then, ask her!"

Robinear blinked. "I can't do that!"

Her brother flicked his tail. "And why not?"

The silver tabby blinked. "I..."

Greyfur nodded. "Exactly. There's no reason. Go ask her." He accompanied the order with a shove in the direction of Thrushnose.

Robinear sighed, padding over to Thrushnose. The white she-cat met her gaze, an emotion burning in them that Robinear didn't understand. "What?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry," Robinear mewed again. "I don't know what I did that has you so upset! Please tell me, and I'll change it! I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy again."

Thrushnose sighed. "Don't you see, Robinear? You...you..." She sighed. "This will sound stupid and petty, but you're not talking to me much anymore. Not about me. It's always about the Fire, Willowbranch, your son..." She held up her tail to stop Robinear from interrupting her. "I know that those are important. And I know that I'm being selfish...but I miss you. You're never quite here anymore, Robinear. And I feel like I don't know you anymore."

Robinear blinked. "Thrushnose...I had no idea you felt this way...I'm so sorry."

Thrushnose nodded. "And that is the problem." She broke her gaze from Robinear's to glance at the setting sun. "We have to go back."

Robinear nodded. "Right..."

As the two she-cat padded back to camp, Robinear couldn't help but feel as helpless as a leaf in the wind. Because if Thrushnose didn't know her...perhaps she wasn't herself anymore.

She'd changed, and that wasn't something she wanted to admit.

Hmm? What? No, I'm not silently crying as my beautiful ship begins to sink...

*cough* Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Of Dove? Of Greyfur and Fawnfur? And why do you think Greyfur was talking about Irisflower to the others?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!