camp BRAINFREEZE AND YOUR BLOOD'S HOT | open & flurries

[BEARPAW]

"NOBODY TEACHES YOU TO WALK WITH OPEN HANDS"​

The temperature had seemed to plummet overnight, going from cold to colder, and even with her thick pelt Bearpaw can already feel the cold seeping in as she rouses, completely quenching any motivation she might have had to get up and seize the day. Getting up meant leaving the relative warmth of her nest for the inevitable chill of the wind, but unfortunately it's not much of a choice, seeing as how there's always work to be done. Leaf-bare means less prey, and less prey means they have to make every catch count. Though she's not the best hunter, the apprentice still tries her hardest, working on adapting to hunting in the trees, and every day of practice counts for something, even when it's colder than usual. With a sigh, Bearpaw finally blinks awake, hardly paying any mind to any denmates still left sleeping as she heaves herself to sleep-heavy paws. Maybe the weather will do her a favor and warm under the sun once she's out and about, though she knows it's only wishful thinking. Padding out to camp, she pauses out of the way of the entrance to the apprentice's den to give her fur a quick groom before heading out, wanting to rid herself from any lingering bits of moss that might still cling to her pelt.

Distracted as she is, it takes Bearpaw an embarrassingly long time to realize that she doesn't just feel colder, she feels slightly damp, of all things. Squinting up in mild confusion, the source is quickly found - falling from the sky are little white flakes; snow, she realizes in the back of her still sleepy mind. Why, she hasn't seen snow in so long, not since she was a kit, and even then it was never a good thing, or at least her mother had said otherwise when she was actually around. Even as the flakes melt into her fur, the sight is still a pretty one, leaving her briefly speckled in white. With a pang, the apprentice wonders how the snow will affect hunting - will it drive all the prey back into their burrows? Lower visibility enough that they wouldn't be able to find anything that dared brave the weather? It doesn't look all that threatening now, the gentle flurry falling from a few only slightly-menacing clouds, though there's always a chance it'll get worse. Rather than look for a hunting patrol preparing to head out, Bearpaw takes a few extra minutes to watch the sky, trying to discern whether or not the snow is going to pick up, and when that fails she's content to try and enjoy it while it lasts, and before it starts to actively hinder her. On a whim, she opens her maw, sticking out her tongue to catch a few of the fluffy flakes. Despite the chill as they melt, it still brings a grin to her face as she catches a few more, relishing this silly moment of fun before she begins any real work for the day.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[PEPPER !]

Perhaps she should've taken a few more months to mull over the whole "join a random group of cats in the forest" decision, perhaps she should've just had the teeniest bit of patience, because deciding to make a big life decision that involved spending more time outdoors right as warmth began to retreat from the air - yeah, recipe for disaster. She wasn't grumpy right now, no; her mood was still brightened by the mere act of walking from her owners' home to the camp, which was reflected by the smile on her face as she familiarized herself with her new surroundings. Still, though, the feeling of it nipping at her nose and the pads of her paws, and the suddenly freezing metal of her collar tag pressing into her pelt... it wasn't the most pleasant. Real mixed day, so far.

She took notice of the apprentice on her little exploration, who was apparently quite enamored by the weather. Pepper couldn't remember ever enjoying snowfall this much (cold made people even more likely to sit still indoors and do nothing than they already were, after all), but hey, at least somebody was having fun, right? "Taste good, kiddo?" she said on approach, grinning in a teasing manner. She'd never met this person before, but introductions were, frankly, for losers. Why spend the time learning someone's name when you could call them a kid, despite the fact that it looked like she only had two or three seasons on said 'kiddo'?

"speech"​

​

 

[MORNINGPAW ☆]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

Morningpaw spots Bearpaw, a cat she's been acquainted with, at least, upon her entrance into camp. She feels a little less confident every time she journeys to SkyClan -- there are always so many new faces here, though she supposes it's not too different from her mother's Clan. Emberstar likes letting in new cats too.

The ginger she-cat who teases Bearpaw for tasting the snow is an unfamiliar face, but Morningpaw dips her head to her all the same. The little tortoiseshell point blinks thoughtfully and paws a flurry with childish wonder. "Are you supposed to eat them?" She puts her own tongue out and a fleck of cold lands square on its pink expanse. The look of surprise on her face would be almost comical. "Oh! It... it tastes like nothing!"

- ,,​

​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Cold air bit, gnawed beneath his scruffy fur, flurried ferocity- what was he doing, bearing it! This was avoidable, all of it so, so avoidable... right? But when the very essence of the air was frigid, what could you do? It was that, really, that scared him- the loss of control, all feasible control in ow he felt. Cold or warm, the weather was wonderful and snow was beautiful but the permanence of it- at least for a few months- scared him.

It was easy to forget these fears when it fell like this, though. Winding little flurries, glimmering faintly in the pale sunlight. Like the flutter of fly-wings, barely there and yet so, so tangible all at the same time. He almost froze on the spot at the sight, but as the conversation regarding eating them reared its head he settled a wordless, incredulous gaze upon his fellow apprentices. Pepper's words had built expectations, and Twitchpaw too felt them- but it was Morningpaw who first got a taste, exclaiming the complete anticlimax of it all. Still, he would verify it- he needed to know for himself, for it could be different for everyone-

No, no. Possibility eliminated, because that- that was just water. But colder. "You- you're right!" he agreed, equally as surprised. Why did he still want to eat it, then? ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[eveningsun]

eve had no opinions on the weather's current chilly state. sure, it was cold, but that was really all she knew. she hadn't been around long enough to see green-leaf in full bloom with the sun beating down. no, she just knew the cold. the girl was still trying to figure out how it effected her. cats complained about the current season, but she had no gripes for once. it was cool when she could see clouds of her breath, made her feel ferocious.

now when she gazed out of the nursery, little pieces of the clouds were falling down. this was much better than her little breath clouds. much prettier as well. when the sun hit them in just the right spot, they sparkled like little stars. eve quickly left her nest and bounded out into camp in awe. blue eyes glittered at the sight. it was so pretty! the tortie bounced around in the flurries for a few moments before spotting others looking at them as well. they were eating them? how could they eat something so beautiful? she had to put a stop to this before it went too far. they would eat all of them and she would never see them again.

the kit charged in the groups direction, face full of concern. "stop!" she yelled, eyes wide in fear. "you can't eat them, they're too pretty! if you eat them they're gonna be gone forever!" the girl explained, looking around to the whole group rapidly. this was an emergency, luckily she had spotted this behavior and would put a stop to it once and for all. unfortunately though, amidst her words one had fallen into her mouth and melted promptly, leaving her tongue cold. she had become the very thing she wanted to destroy. "i'm so so so sorry, i didn't mean to, please stay," eve spewed out words quickly yet softly, eyes darting to different flurries that fell around her as tears threatened to escape them. these cats couldn't know she was such a hypocrite. her reputation would be ruined forever!​

[ FALLEN STAR ]​

 

[BEARHEART]

(

) Snow wasn't his favourite thing, quite the opposite in fact. He truly hated the falling white flakes with a passion since they made the world too cold. Cold enough where even his fat couldn't protect him against the chill. The large tom watched the apprentices with fascination however, almost as if trying to draw upon their new sense of experience as they caught the flakes upon their tongues. Totoro caved and he stuck out his tongue and allowed a speck to land upon it, cooling his mouth and leaving him feeling weirdly refreshed. "Huh... it's just... hm." He wasn't sure how to describe it, but then Eveningkit seemed to take offense to their antics. "They'll be gone forever once they touch the ground. At least this way we can... er... experience their beauty! Yeah! Isn't that so much better than letting them fall away to nothing on the ground?"
​

 

[BEARPAW]

"NOBODY TEACHES YOU TO WALK WITH OPEN HANDS"​

The approach of Pepper startles her, tongue still hanging out to catch the flakes for a moment longer, and Bearpaw hurries to poke it back in. She must look so silly, mouth hanging open and just standing around camp, doing nothing at all! Somehow, the question thrown her way embarrasses her even more, though it's quickly answered by Morningpaw and Twitchpaw, who have both not only witnessed her antics but are also joining in as well. What a sight it must be, a gaggle of apprentices all with their faces to the sky, tongues hanging out to catch snowflakes. It's not like Morningpaw is wrong, even - they really don't taste like anything at all, more of a sensation of cold than anything. "Ah, it's mostly just for fun, you know? I used to eat 'em when I was real little just 'cause it was fun to do, not for the taste or anything," she answers, shuffling her paws somewhat sheepishly. Catching snowflakes with two of her fellow apprentice, despite not being particularly close with either of them, brings back memories of her own siblings, and she's quick to turn her gaze back up to the falling flakes, a sudden ache in her chest.

A horrified cry to stop rings out, and Bearpaw quickly whips her head around in its direction, searching for the source. Is something wrong? Has she done something wrong, starting this chain reaction of snowflake-tasting? Her eyes catch sight of Eveningkit, frantically begging them not to eat any more of the snowflakes for fear of losing them all, and for a moment the apprentice doesn't know how to react. Luckily, Totoro is much quicker to the draw than she is (and certainly more soothing), explaining that catching the snowflakes lets them last at least in memories, if not in physical form. Honestly, it's quite nice to think about them in that way - Bearpaw hadn't even stopped to consider that she might not have had as fond of memories of snow if it hadn't been for the flakes she had eaten as a kit. "Um, the snowflakes that we catch go away, but more fall down and take their place, so they're never really all the way gone. Whenever it's really cold, they'll come back, just as pretty as before," she attempts to placate, somewhat uncertainly. Surely snow always falls during leaf-bare, right? She's only experienced a little bit of two leaf-bares, but each time there's been flurries falling down, so that must mean something.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[eveningsun]

pale eyes were drawn wide as totoro tried to explain the antics of the floaty bits of snow. however, after he said that they would be gone forever after meeting the ground, her brow furrowed and changed her expression from sadness to shock. "forever?" eve echoed sounding utterly heartbroken. she absolutely did not want them to be gone, not even for a moment. hearing they would be gone forever no matter what nearly shattered her.

the further explanation by bearpaw slightly eased her, but also elicited more questions. "do they have to come when it's cold? you should just make them come all the time." eveningkit declared, looking right at the fluffy apprentice with as much of a serious face as she could muster. she meant business. if bearpaw couldn't make snow happen in the warmer months, she would have to deal with eve's wrath.​

[ FALLEN STAR ]​