a cold one [ nutsprout ]

[mothmeadow]

She quite enjoyed their company, Ghost and his little follower Nut. They were decent, strong, did she mention good company? She giggles to herself, dragging the scrawny rabbit across the camp and in to the freshkill pile. It seems as if its getting harder to hunt, which is normal, and shes used to going hungry enough to the point where its just a dull pain, but how would the kits feel, the apprentices? Shes lucky she even caught this one, as hunting just... Is not her forte! Her tail brushes against the ground and a deep-rooted frown is upon her lips, odd for someone nearly smiling all the time, a half-growl trapped in her throat.

Well, that is until she spots the brown tabby tom she had just been thinking about! "Oi, boy!" she calls out in greeting, tearing her face away from the pile qnd in to happier thoughts. "You down for another hunting competition?" she smiles with perked ears, flicking her tail towards the freshkill pile as if it would fix every single question he would have. "Loser, uh... Loser forfeits their food tonight, or whatever. Let me know if you have a better idea." a guffaw, boisterous and loud rings through camp from her. She wasn't the best at thinking of prizes on the spot.

// @Nutsprout ​

"speech"​

 

[Nutsprout]

❖ The ground was covered in freshly fallen snow and it felt like ones paws could fall off at anytime with how numbing the cold was. A head was ducked low, as if to avoid someone, and pale green eyes moved about in a cautious manner. There was finally a space in time when the lilac tabby could just be. No training, hunting, fighting or whatever else Ghoststrike could think of to put him through. Nutsprout was hoping to be able to sneak off for a nap or something to relax in a way, but then a voice called out to him.

The bobbed tail cat froze for a moment before his mind registered that it was not in fact Ghost calling out to him- again. It was instead Mothmeadow; a rather boisterious and cheerful molly and one who seemed to make things just a little brighter. Well at least for Nutsprout that was the case. It was just so different compared to the cold shoulders and lack of personality most Coalition cats had. Clan cats seemed more lively, less brainwashed into being perfect fighting machines and overall just a better way to exist. ​

A grin crossed a lilac furred maw and a paw was lifted with joy, "A huntin' competition? You sure you're up for loosing?" He crowed back to her and laughed a little bit, his Scottish twinged voice not shy of his own emotions. While Ghoststrike was more inclined to keep things to himself and only show maybe anger or annoyance every once in a while; Nutsprout was the opposite.

Even back in the Coalition he had always been the odd one out for being more friendly or outgoing than the other soliders. It was usually seen as a weakness by the Council and Generals, but to him it was a sign of being human. Of being normal despite everything that had gone on in his life. Nutsprout hoped to bring those skillsets to Windclan, in one way or another.
​

 

[mothmeadow]

He seems frozen in time as she calls out to him and lightly her half tail twitches, eyes narrowing for just a split second before he grins, causing the same expression to blanket her own. "HAH! As if! Winning is my middle name, boy." she sticks out her tongue, letting her shoulders slightly relax. "You'll be lucky if you can even catch something!" WE'LL be lucky, mentally she corrects herself with a small audible tsk.

"Aye... Think fast!" a boisterous laugh as she takes some paw from below, chucking it at the tabby with a giggle. Fuck, it was cold! Maybe it was a mistake on creating the competition but shes already too far deep, perhaps she can distract him with the snow fight and so she bunches up more, chucks it and hopes it hit him. She giggles, carefree and light, because its been so long since she has felt truly at home.

Small talk, because shes curious. "Where did you guys come from, anyway?" more snow is being bunched in to balls. "Before that gyro guy, I don't remember his name, I just know Soot came back all bloodied and apparently she killed him. If he was that weak surely you guys had to have come from somewhere! I, personally, wouldn't have been able to stand someone that weak."

Part of her wishes he does not ask about her back because her minds a battleground. Katya had risen from ash and blood, feared by those she had paid visits to, shed to Mothmeadow who was simply just a warrior. Was she angry? She can't quite grasp it and so she turns a questioning look at Nut.​

"speech"​

 

[Nutsprout]

❖ There came a loud snort from the lilac tabby cat and he put a paw up to his nose to stifle the noise, "I think you don't know what the word means, Mothy," He bantered back to her before jumping away from the pawful of snow she tried to chuck at him. Nutsprout gave a laugh with his head thrown back before bounding up to the she-cat, aiming to playfullky swipe at her ears with a sheathed paw, "An attack on enemy lines!" He grinned in amusement at his own playful words before bounding away from her again with a playful crouch.

Then she started to bunch up snow into balls and he found himself doing the same thing, hurriedly moving his paws despite the painful cold that stabbed at his paw pads. She was gonna get it! Just watch! Nutsprout never felt more alive than in that moment. Just a fun moment of playful banter and playing together, something he never got back in the Coalition. Ghoststrike wasn't really one for play fights or snowball making, but he was glad to have found something in Mothmeadow for such an occasion. ​

Then there came the small talk and normally he didn't mind it at all, he loved talking to others but something in her question made him hesitate. Nutsprout wasn't sure how much Mothmeadow knew about the world outside the clans, that there was way worse things than Sootstars' rule. There was a slight bite of his lip before the lilac cat decided to answer with, "Ghoststrike, Nineteen and I all come from the same place; it is called the Coalition," He started with, simple and straight to the point.

Another hesitating moment before the tomcat went onwards with, "It is a miltaristic group that lives on the other side of the city, opposite the rogues that Sootstar found, and they train kittens as young as four moons old to be fighting machines. We did a lot of clearing of dogs in the city and it- became a rather hard place to live," Nutsprout seemed to be choosing his words carefully as he glanced over at the molly for a moment then back down to the snowballs he left abandonded. What else could he say about it? That things were getting worse and the three of them were basically war criminals at this point? He wasn't certain but he kept it to himself, "What about yourself? Are you from Windclan?" Change the subject, yes, good choice.
​

 

[mothmeadow]

Fuck! He dodged her attack! How dare he! Shes all laughs as Nut darts up and batters her ears, pinning them back before she reaches out towards him to do the same only to be stopped with him bouncing away quite quickly. "I'll get you for that, I swear!" oh, how light and carefree she feels. Almost as if she were young again, chasing around her mothers tail before she inevitably perished. Thats when she had become cruel.

"Coalition, eh? Haven't heard of it." though her tone is bland its obvious shes still listening, eyes fleeting back and forth between the bundle of snow in her paws and him. "Ah! Gotcha... Dogs?" she cocks a nonexistent eyebrow, wagging her tail much like one before she let out a small laugh, letting her shoulders sag. "Must've been scary... Least you're gone, yeah?"

And then he asked the question she dreaded. Shes stupid, her walls were falling quicker than they ever had before. She guesses that she had been lonely and thats why she let herself open so fast. "No. I mean, yes, but..." she trails off, quietly, burning holes in to her paws. "I was from the marshes before Windclan, when there were just two groups. I, haha, I fought in the great battle between the pines and marshes. I followed Sootstar here." and I killed two cats, two cats who had just been defending their right to stay. She does not let her inner grievances out. She hesitates, oh, does she tell him of the cats before the marsh group? Before everything? He spilt so she assumed it was only right. "I was Katya, back before the marshes." an ear flick. "I used to be a mercenary kind of gal. I was feared back where I was from." for good reason, too. Katya stopped at nothing and eliminated those in her way. For some reason the subject does not feel as heavy as it normally does when she thought about it, she could only chalk it up to her company. "One woman army! HAH!" her smile doesn't reach her eyes. Stop, stop it. Don't you dare get in to it, thats classified information and you know it. Fuck. She swallows hard, trying to get rid of the embarrassment and... guilt in her throat.

"It's too cold out!" she tries to change the subject once more with a playful whine, flopping down in to the snow and wiggling around. "I hope newleaf comes quick, I hate this!"​

"speech"​

 

[Nutsprout]

❖ Pale sage eyes watched the ticked tabby as her demeanor seemed to falter for a moment as she answered his question. So she was from the marshes, and he had heard stories of the Great Battle in Windclan from a few cats like Duskfire or Sootstar herself. Then went a little deeper than surface level and spoke of being a mercenary back in her old home at Katya. Nutsprout found his paws slow down just a tad and his gaze furrowed slightly; did he and Moth share a similar history?

The lilac tabby hesitated for a moment as she went on to change the topic, rolling around in the snow. Nutsprout looked down at his pale paws for a moment before back to the tabby rolling about in the fluffy whiteness, "I was Thirty-two in the Coalition, second oldest solider to Eighteen-," He offered up though his voice wavered slightly as he spoke. Nutsprout didn't know if he would've ever uttered that name again nor tell anyone about his position in his old home, "Nineteen is also from there, we were named based on our birth order," ​

There was a slightly dry smile across Nutsprouts gaze, not quite reaching his pale gaze, and twitched a curled ear for a moment, "I was a squad leader for my men, a ranger," He spoke solemnly with his head lowered slightly in the memory. He'd never forget his squad, they had been his most trusted cats in the Coalition. They even had families of their own now too and those kits were just starting their training.

A bobbed tail twitched slightly and he looked to Mothmeadow for a moment before smirking, lifting up a paw, "Good to meet a fellow soldie," The lilac tabby mused to her and offered his paw for a brotherly shake; common among fellow military personelle. ​

 

[mothmeadow]

The mention of number names makes her own ears twitch in interest, looking up from the snow. He sounds… upset about it, like she had. She blinks as her eyes soften. This was another soldier, another cat who probably carried an immense amount of guilt as well. Her tail slightly swishes, making lines in the snow as she hauled herself up, shaking the clumps off her pelt. “I get it. It’s not easy to talk about.” her personality takes a 180, something akin to comforting and she wasnt sure she had it in her anymore to do so.

“Maybe we can unravel them one day, rule the world?” a smirk as she gives him a nod, noting the way he seems distant. But… Moth hadn’t trained any child soldiers, worked by herself the whole time, so there wasn’t much to unravel besides her own guilt, laying it bare for all to see. “I hope your squad is safe.” sincere and she wonders if her life would be different if she had accepted the offers for people to be by her side. She had a lot of enemies, not enough friends, had cats who wanted to use her and now shes unsure if she could have even trusted the cats who even gave her information for kills. A frown.

“It’s better here than out there, thats for sure. Sootstar gave me a purpose.” she takes his paw, gives it a good shake with a cocky smile. “Stick by me and we can be warriors this time, not soldiers. We do things on our own will, not theirs.”

 

[Nutsprout]

❖ Sage green gaze looked at the molly for a moment as her tone changed and her personality shifted to something akin to comfort. Weird, when was the last time a cat had just cared about him? Comforted him in a time of need? It had to have been when he was just a kit, before being taken from his mother, and that was a very long time ago. Part of Nutsprout wondered if she had lost anyone in her line of work, and it was kind of a duh moment but also he wanted to hear the stories. The young cat knew what it was like to harbor such memories and guilt without an outlet, someone to talk too about it.

Though she understood. Mothmeadow knew of the works of a militant society and had blood on her paws just like he did, but his was more so dog than other cats. Yet he still harbored guilt; guilt for the death of his littermates. His squad. A light smirk crossed his muzzle at her comment about unraveling it one day and he gave a nod, "I-I'd really like that, yeah," Nutsprout couldn't help but agree. He'd take another cats company anyday, and to have it be someone he understood him was even more of a rarity. ​

A look crossed his gaze for a split second, one of hurt and guilt, at the mention of his squad. Though Nutsprout didn't comment on it and instead shook her paw as well with a smile; she had a point. Sootstar was militant, but not in the worst way possible. Sure some of her motives are unclear and morally questionable, or wrong, but she fed them and housed them. Brought in strays and rogues into her home for the strength, and in return they would never go hungry for a leaf-bare. So what she claims at least.

"I think I've had enough purpose in my life," The lilac tabby drawled with a laugh following his words, "I am looking forward to the more relaxed feel Windclan has. Definitely no Coalition, but it is better than out there," Nutsprout smiled at her for a moment before taking a few bounds forward with a jerk of his head.

"C'mon I'll race ya!" ​