Newts and Snails - Intro

[Newtspring]

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Newtspring found himself wandering the territory, having no tasks to do. Glancing around and just taking in the day,
Newtspring found a nice spot next to the river to sit and watch the stream go by. The wind occasionally brushed by, still having a
bit of a cold nip to it. While scanning the grass near the side of the water, he spotted a small snail.

"Hello little guy, isn't it still a bit cold out for you?" He asked, gently poking it.

The brown tom watched the snail retract into its shell, before poking its head back out again.
He wondered quietly what everyone else was up to today as he poked the snail's shell again.​

 

[Skunkpaw]

Skunk-kit was not supposed to be out here but his adventurous nature lead him to wander often and it left his harried father frantic most times trying to track him down. Thankfully, the river was not too far outside of the camp itself, so his tiny paws did not have much work to put in to carry him out this far. The black and white kitten ambled along, kicking his small legs out through the snow to send it all scattering and scurrying in his wake; the only thing that stopped his rampant winter destruction was the sound of a gentle voice speaking in the distance and he lifted both spearmint eyes up to stare off at the earthen-toned warrior perched down and examining...something.
He couldn't see what it was so he scampered closer, making his presence known with a toothy smile and cheerful mewl, "Whatcha doin? Is that a snail! Those are real good to eat I heard, ya know." He inclined his head, gesturing at it with a nod as if to silently encourage the other to give the little critter a good crunch. He couldn't his teeth weren't good enough yet.
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[FOGTHIEF]

Fogpaw tilts his head at the sight of a snail caught out in this ferocious winter and the toasty colored tom there touching it. Fogpaw agrees, it is too cold out for it and it's slimey body is probably crystalizing as he speaks. It really should be put out of its misery swiftly and he licks his fangs to show that he's up for the job. Thankfully for the legless creature, Fogpaw's half-sibling comes trampling up their way and the older brother crinkles his nose. Wolverine must be slacking in his duties (shocking, truly) and Fogpaw releases an exaggerated, soundless sigh as he looks over Skunkkit with a slight headshake. He'll get sick like this and Fog aims to flop his long fluffy tail over Skunkkit's back unceremoniously like a giant puffy fern. He'd scold him if he could but instead he can only nod in agreement as Skunk explains what he's heard. They're a delicacy, certainly, and in these trying times, there's little room for mercy on weird slimey things. The young tom returns his gaze to Newt to see if he's decided the fate of the lost snail yet. Even without words, the look in his colorful eyes makes it clear that his vote is purely in the crunch crunch camp.​

 

[CLAYFUR]

Clayfur's travels don't often take him far from camp these days, the chill of winter causing him to be more stationary than he'd like. Where he used to take a wander around the territory for most of his days, now he only ventures out to do his assigned tasks and to hunt. Today, though, his hip isn't giving him as much trouble as it has been as of late, so the chocolate tom trots up to Newtspring as soon as he spots the other warrior. Two of Boneripple and Wolverinefang's children are also gathered nearby, so he shuffles a bit closer, leaning forth to see what they're all looking at. It's a snail, he realizes. Skunkkit suggests that they're good to eat, and Clay nods his agreement. The kit has good taste—as does Fogpaw, if that look on his face says anything. "Snails do taste good," he concedes with a nod of his head. Expectant hazel eyes stare at the warrior—he, too, encourages Newtspring to take a bite of the poor creature.
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[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

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[Newtspring]

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Newtspring blinked in surprise at the other cats, all three suggesting to eat the small creature!
Sure he has never actually tried snail, and it's true that prey was scarce currently, but wasn't eating the small thing a little too mean?
There were surely plenty more snails safely burrowed away from the cold that would be available once
the ground had begun to thaw. The tom stopped and pondered what the appropriate move would be.
Gingerly, he cupped it in both his front paws, looking between it and the group.

"Ok- I guess I could try it?" and with that put the snail into his mouth.​

 

[Sablemist]

In every situation you give me peace

Sablekit meandered through the mostly cleared snow of camp to see the commotion taking place near its entrance. She knew better than to leave camp entirely and so she resorted to stretching her lengthy body to only peek outside its walls. To her surprise she spotted Skunkkit huddled up beside Fogpaw and briefly wondered how he managed to escape a scolding. But her musings were interrupted by Newtspring shoving a snail of all things into his mouth. An expression akin to horror glazed over her mortified features, dark ears falling back into the ivory white of her skunk stripe. "Eww!" Sable exclaimed from across the way, staring at the older tom as her face slowly morphed terror to disgust. "Snails crawl all over the ground and everything else cats step on. And you just put all of that...in your mouth." The girl adds, voice dying into a murmur as she lifts a paw to cover the corner of her own mouth. "What if that snail just traveled from dirtplace?" She nearly shuddered at the thought of countless germs and copious amounts of slime swirling about Newtspring's mouth.​

Don't gotta be afraid because you're in the lead​

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[CLAYFUR]

Though reluctant, Newtspring eventually pops the snail in his mouth, and Clay lets out a small cheer. It’s not that he’s excited to see the creature get eaten or anything, but the warrior giving in to Skunkkit’s suggestion is an amusing sight. Maybe he can be convinced to try some moss, too, or even some sand if he gets adventurous after trying snail!

Newtspring looks a bit uncomfortable, though, and Sablekit chimes in about how gross it is, so Clay is quick to pipe up. "I’m pretty sure the snow would have, like, cleaned the snail off by now, right?" There’s no way it can be dirty after it’s been sliming its way across the clean snow, right? Because it is sort of disgusting to think about eating a dirt place snail—but the gross stuff would have been washed off, he thinks.
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[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

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[RAVENSONG]

"You will never see me eat a snail." The black apprentice said firmly and boastfully, eyeing the tiny shelled creature currently held hostage in Newtspring's jaws. Sitting his scrawny haunches down as he observed the strange crew debate over the ethics and health of eating such a creature.

He nodded approvingly at Sablekit to show that he shared her opinion. "That's just as if you ate a rat from the Carrionplace! I know we're starving, but I won't die from a bad slug!" He declared, puffing out his fur. He looked up at Newtspring, silently begging the warrior to leave it for his own sake.​

 

[Newtspring]

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Newtspring, finding his confidence in trying a new meal disapear, slowly drops the snail back onto the snow.

"Do- do you really think it's that bad?"

He supposed both Sablekit and Ravenpaw had good points, he didn't know where the snail had come from
after all. But that begged the question, what about the other prey? Where had the fish been, or the birds?
Were they safe to eat? He assumed so, he'd been eating them all his life! But what if they had been somewhere
bad before they were caught for the prey pile too?​

 

[wolverinefang]

"TURNS OUT I'M PRETTY GOOD AT RUNNING MY MOUTH"​

"Hey, carrionplace rat can be pretty good," the tom jokes as he pads up to stand by his kids though there's some truth to it. Almost anything can become tasty when a cat can count one too many of his ribs. That's what got Wolverine into bug eating in the first place and to find such a nice specimen out and not down a clanmate's gullet yet is a crime in his eyes. He's not even kicking it like kittypets supposedly do their little prissy toys. "That just adds extra spice, sweetheart," Wolverinefang assures is daughter with a snicker, trying to gross her out a bit, before he nods in agreement with Clayfur. "I bet it's so clean it squeaks. Snails are great. Well, if it doesn't have an extra eye on it or any other little friends." He wiggles his paw around, thinking of parasites, and his expression suddenly changes. "Actually, for that little guy to be so cavalier in wintertime, maybe it's a sick snail." And he has no idea what eating an unwell snail could do to a cat so best to err on the side of caution. He wouldn't but he's built to handle a bad tummy ache or two.

BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH — ♤​

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[Skunkpaw]

"What's a carrionplace?" An unfamiliar term to him, he only new the river and the camp and not much else outside it except what he'd heard cats mutter to one another. There was a gorge somewhere, whatever that was, that apparently ate cats that fell into it. Silly to him, just don't fall in then. That's how you avoided being eaten.
Newtspring wimps out on actually eating the snail and Skunk-kit's face pulls down in disappointment. Someone had to eat this thing and he wanders over to brace his forepaws against Wolverinefang's leg to look up at him pleadingly, "I want the shell if Newtspring doesn't want it, can you eat it? I'm, you know, full." He was not full, he could probably eat his weight in anything every hour but his voracious appetite came second to wanting a really neat toy. Snail shells would make a lovely clattering sound if he knocked them together he bet, which meant he'd have to find another though he had no idea how this one had survived so long in leaf-bare. Either way someone, not him, needed to eat this dang thing and slurp it out so he could have it.

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