private FLOWER PETALS IN THE FROST || moonpaw

[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

It's cold. Each step presses into frost, and the wind bites his nose. At least it isn't snowing, and for now, Nettlepaw's thick coat of fur kept him relatively comfortable as the hunting patrol dragged on. Hardly anything was caught, and of course, Nettlepaw had found nothing. Not prey, anyways. He's surprised when the smell of something sweet dances across his nose, drawing the boy's focus away from the rest of the patrol. What he finds, to his shock, is a patch of soft blooms amidst the cold frost. He isn't sure what they are, knows only that they smell of flowers, a rarity in leaf-bare, he thinks. Nettlepaw nearly leaves them there to wither and die, but he hesitates, recalling how Moonpaw used to bring flowers to the nursery. Perhaps she'd like some in return? And, with her being Ravensong's apprentice now, the boy realizes there might be an herbal purpose for the plant. Gently, Nettlepaw snaps the stems and is careful to avoid damaging the petals. When he returns to his patrol, a few question him, but Nettlepaw provides little response.

When they finally return to camp, he makes his way toward the strong smelling medicine cat's den, hoping to find Moonpaw there. In his jaws is a bundle of colorful pansies, though the apprentice has no way of identifying that for himself.

@Moonpaw
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[Moonbeam]

Though she missed the usual patrols and training that she had been a part of only days before, Moonpaw found herself selfishly glad that she was to stay in camp a little bit more than she had before to learn, glad for the warmth the clanmates around her provided and the shield the den's acted as against the cold wind that brushed across the territories in the new leafbare. The river hadn't frozen over yet, but every day she waited to see if it would, hoping that if it were to freeze over she'd be able to watch it do so, curious about how the ice worked and if it fell from the sky onto the water or if it was, somehow, the water.

She had been sitting near the medicine den, watching as cats came and went in and out of camp to go off on their own patrols when her eyes caught the sight of Nettlepaw carrying... flowers? That was unusual for the tom, and she couldn't help but wonder why he carried them until the beelined his way towards the den she sit by now. "Nettlepaw?" Soft voice questions, trying to catch the tom's attention so that he knew where she was. She didn't quite know how well his sense of smell was compared to hers - she knew it was better but how much so she couldn't tell - so didn't know if he could smell her over the smell of the various herbs in the den next to her. "Why do you have... pansies?" Genuine curiosity, she paused as she thought of the flowers name, only to continue speaking once she had it in her mind. She knew that they were not medicinal, as some of the flowers that cats shared with each other were shared with her by her mother while she reside in the nursery, but she wasn't sure if her knew that, or even what pansies meant.

I WISH PLANT LIFE ꕥ WOULD GROW ALL AROUND ME

• 

• MOONPAW formerly Ratpaw || NPC x NPC || brother to Rowanpaw || apprentice to Salmonshade.
  -- She/Her || 7 moons old, ages every 17th
  -- smaller than average, small rounded ears. SH white masking cinnamon torbie with orange eyes.
  -- soft-spoken, often found humming, tries to comfort others by smiling

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[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

The voice of Moonpaw draws the boy's focus, and Nettlepaw turns to face her, glad for the assistance this time. The scent of herbs in the den and flowers in his jaws did indeed make it more difficult to locate Moonpaw more precisely. He sets the bundle of flowers between them as he's addressed. She calls them pansies. Nettlepaw doesn't know much about flowers, so he hadn't been entirely certain what they were at first.

"I noticed they were still alive despite the frost." The apprentice explains, "And I remembered you like flowers so... I brought them. And I wasn't sure if they could be used by Ravensong either, so I figured it'd be better if I carried them back to camp either way." Nettlepaw admits.
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[Moonbeam]

Head nod slightly as she listened to what Nettlepaw said, that they were alive in the frost, that he remembered she liked flowers - she couldn't help but smile at that, turns out the prickly apprentice had a soft side - and she let out a small amused sigh, looking over the flowers for but a moment before looking towards the blind apprentice once more. "Were you ever told about the different flowers? I used to bring the nursery peonies and daffodils, a lot of different plants have different meanings and uses, even if Ravensong can't use them. Like the peonies mean good health and the daffodils mean new beginnings." She stopped herself before she rambled on about flowers that some found useless, gauging Nettlepaw's reaction before continuing on.

"I think pansies grow in leafbare which is how they survived the frost, you'll probably find more around the territory... they're very pretty flowers and I'm sure you got a good whiff of them too, and I don't know about any of the herbs that are useful but out of the flowers around here I think they're the only ones that have petals all bunched together like that... at least in leafbare. They're very soft too, I don't know if you touched the petals when you found them or not." Despite all the knowledge she imparted about the flowers she kept the meaning to herself for now - if it was something he was actually interested in she'd share so he could use that knowledge later, otherwise she'd let him live with simply knowing she thought the flowers to be pretty and that she liked them. Because she did, and she knew that not everyone followed the flowers meanings as closely as she did.

I WISH PLANT LIFE ꕥ WOULD GROW ALL AROUND ME

• 

• MOONPAW formerly Ratpaw || NPC x NPC || sister to Rowanpaw || apprentice to Salmonshade.
  -- She/Her || 7 moons old, ages every 17th
  -- smaller than average, small rounded ears. SH white masking cinnamon torbie with orange eyes.
  -- soft-spoken, often found humming, tries to comfort others by smiling

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[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

Ears are pricked as he listens curiously. Nettlepaw hadn't really considered that flowers had meaning, beyond those used for medicine. He knows there are different types, that they all smelled different, and that some were soft while others had thorns. Beyond that basic understanding, however, Nettlepaw is ignorant to everything else. Moonpaw clearly has a deeper understanding, and appreciation, for the sweet smelling plants. She goes on to describe the meaning behind peonies and daffodils, before explaining the look and feel of pansies. Reaching out, Nettlepaw gently touches at the flower blooms, examining the shape and feel as Moonpaw had described.

"So what do pansies mean? You said they bloom in leaf-bare, which means they must be pretty tough. Do they mean strength?" Nettlepaw inquires, curious. He had noticed Moonpaw hadn't explained any meaning behind the pansies he had brought. Perhaps not every flower had a meaning? Just as not every plant could be used in medicine.
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[Moonbeam]

Face faltered for a moment as she thought, memories coming to her of words of pansies and her face scrunched up for just a moment as she tried to think of the best way to explain these to the cat before her. "It depends," She'd begin, careful to choose her next words just in case. "These are one of the ones that could mean a couple things, strength, grief, or love. It depends on the color but I don't remember which color means which." She also wasn't sure which colors would grow in RiverClan. It was possible only the grief flowers grew here, or even just the love ones, or maybe a mixture of all three.

"I like to think it's just what you make of them, that these ones could mean anything you want them to or mean nothing at all." One of the few flowers that grew in leafbare, strong enough to handle the cold but a pessimist could make that mean grief withstanding all, while an optimist meaning love.

I WISH PLANT LIFE ꕥ WOULD GROW ALL AROUND ME

• 

• MOONPAW formerly Ratpaw || NPC x NPC || sister to Rowanpaw || apprentice to Ravensong.
  -- She/Her || 8 moons old, ages every 17th
  -- smaller than average, small rounded ears. SH white masking cinnamon torbie with orange eyes.
  -- soft-spoken, often found humming, tries to comfort others by smiling

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[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

Strength, grief, or love. Who knew that one flower could have so many different meanings? Not Nettlepaw, certainly. He prefers to look at pansies as the flowers of strength, though. He doesn't want to think about grief right now, and he's too young to understand love, beyond the maternal affection of his mother, but she'd been dead for over a moon now.

"I don't see colors very well." Nettlepaw admits. His vision was so blurry that the only things he could really make out was the blinding white snow and the blue of the vast sky. "So... do you like being Ravensong's apprentice?" He shifts the conversation for now, curious about Moonpaw's new path in life.
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