⊱ ────── {⋅. ✦ .⋅} ────── ⊰ Ceruleansky ⊱ ────── {⋅. ✦ .⋅} ────── ⊰
Life had a funny way of doing things, sometimes.
Moons ago she had stood before him and his judgement, a child placed upon a scale of scrutiny and chosen to become something entirely new. She had followed this, faithfully, concealing any misgivings behind a perfectly crafted smile as her paws walked along a path chosen for her as much as it was everyone around her. Questioning this had not been an option - her choices were to rise to the occasion or find her own way. The thought had been one persistent in her mind, even she had never told anyone, but some sense of loyalty to those that settled there kept her paws rooted.
Except, they weren't here anymore.
Those familiar eyes had all passed on and the grief of it all may have still weighed heavy in the pit of her chest and yet still, she lingered. There was nothing to tether her down but still she remained, waking each dawn to join the next patrol on their rotation, eager as any other to see the thaw of spring should it ever come. Ceruleansky had come to accept this life, to enjoy it even, growing fond of those clanmates that had accepted her not all that long ago. Despite not waking to the familiarity of her family, nor having that warm guidance of Fogwhisper, the molly had chosen to stay. It had come to the surprise of the more pessimistic, so sure the one who had been an outsider might've left as soon as what they assumed kept her tethered had been cut free, and perhaps it had even been a surprise to herself.
The soft vapor that parted from her maw against the frigid air twisted above her head like a dance of little ghosts, drifting off into the expanse of the sky as seafoam eyes observed the mouth of the den that had suddenly become her own. The twists and curls of her pelt ruffled in the breeze, carrying with it the whispers of voices unseen, and she would step forward to leave them outside. Through thick lashes the molly looked around, the perfume of herbs and flowers twisting into her locks and beckoning her further inside. No part of her had imagined that she'd be in such a position again, tasked with the duty of medicine and protection of Skyclan itself. In fact, she had grown to accept and find peace with leaving that piece of her behind, starting fresh from a new seed and blooming into her new life.
Perhaps she still was. Not flipping to the start of a finished book but merely placing it down to start a new story. A pale paw reached forward to perfect a bundle of herbs that had grown mishappen, stepping back to stand at the precipice of her new start.
⊱ ────── {⋅. ✦ .⋅} ────── ⊰ Ceruleansky ⊱ ────── {⋅. ✦ .⋅} ────── ⊰
Just as she thought she might have to continue the day solo, there was a small shuffling that alerted her to the apprentice slowly pulling herself out of her slumber. The new healer had made no move to wake her, going about settling in quietly in the meantime and fully prepared to set out and start the day without Laurelpaw if it came to it.
It was not an act of spite but rather some form of allowing her space. If there was anything that the young molly understood, it was the sudden and rapid shifts that life could take whether you were ready or not. Whether you wanted it or not.
Her mind drifted back to her life before Skyclan, raised in that nomadic rogue group and her own ascension within it. It was never something that she had asked for, never something she dreamt about or wanted, but it was the burden she was to bear. In her case, putting distance between she and said burden came with a heavy price. One that Ceruleansky had paid numerous times over, merely to find herself at the helm of her new home in some sort of cruel irony.
And so here they both were, at the whim of fate.
"Afternoon." Her greeting chimed softly through the den, mellow as she pushed forward a herb bundle back into its place. The healer rose to all fours, turning to properly greet her newly awoken apprentice.
Laurelpaw's brisk nature didn't seem to bother her any, head tilting as she peered towards the entrance of their shared den with a brief hum of contemplation. "Anything in particular you want to do today?" She questioned after a moment of running through all of the options in her own head. Instead, she opted to leave the choice in Laurelpaw's court, if she so chose to use it.