sure as the day follows the night -- seeking warmth

[Mouseflight]

Mouseflight had never properly known the cold. He had been apprenticed during leafbare and had been out while it had snowed, sure, but most of that time was spent in the tunnels, learning how to navigate and memorizing the web-like maze that had been dug over moons of tunnelers, and he would come back to camp and curl into a nest that helped keep him warm, the bodies of the numerous other apprentices curling together to create a small area of heat, keeping everyone comfortable as they slept out in the open. It helped, too, that the territories that the clans lived in were not atop snow-capped mountains.

Settling down for the night the tri-colored warrior found his paws tingling and when he focused on it his teeth chattered, the soft clicking noise driving him slightly mad. In order to distract himself - and hopefully keep moving to get warm - Mouse found himself wandering off a little, digging up any plants he could find - most were dead - and quickly bringing them back to where the clowder of cats had been making camp for the night. They had been covered in snow at first, and as Mouse cleaned the cold powdery substance off of the foliage, he placed them down in a large pile. Moving away and gathering more, he'd move back towards camp silently and continued this process until he had a large pile of dead plants, and the tiny feline crawled on top of the mess of crunching leaves, spinning a few times before laying down.

"It's warmer on the plants." He'd awkwardly offer to a passing by cat. It wasn't an outright offer, but hopefully they caught it - Mouse was cold but he wasn't going to admit that.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

•  
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 11 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

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​

 

[smogstar]

During a sunrise recent - some morning after they'd bid farewell to the caves, but before conquering the cliff face - Smogmaw verbalised one of the theories that spiralled about his thoughts. 'The higher we go, the more snow we see', he had said then, shoulders held taut, teeth all achatter, 'and the more snow we see, the worse the wind bites'. To the tom's utter and utmost displeasure, this hypothesis stands proven in the affirmative. They had, in fact, ascended further into the mountains, and the cold did, in fact, descend into a bone-chilling abyss. Stars, his own intelligence really grates on him at times.

Methods of fending off the low temperatures were in short supply. Whole days have come and gone from the last time he'd noted any form of natural cover; no comfortable divots to take refuge from, and rarely did the wind break. The fur strapped to his backside provided negligible protection. Camp, if one could even call such a comfortless place that, consisted of little more than a huddled, wretched throng of cats who shivered against one another rather than sleeping. It was, he decided, the most miserable experience he'd ever endured—Sharppaw's apprenticeship aside, of course.

As is customary, Smogmaw made no effort to get some shut-eye. Sleep will take him when it permits it, unless frostbite does so first. Whatever the case may be, his focus instead lies on the shapes and figures of his companions. Eavesdropping would serve as a better descriptor for it. He searches for emergences of chatter amongst them, fleeting indications of bonds formed and connections made. The moon has waned since the departure from Fourtrees, and it was nigh on waxing. Clan lines which prevented intermingling were mostly dissolved out here, and in the days that have passed, they've all certainly gotten to know one another to an extent. Some, he'd say, more than others.

Listless pawsteps carry him along the periphery, a fixed sidelong glance worn on his face. Eventually, his wandering scope lands on Mouseflight, and the young WindClan tom ambushes him with conversation. He halts, granting the smaller warrior his acknowledgement as he speaks his piece. A sharp exhale follows thereafter. "I doubt that," retorts the deputy, knit eyes falling upon the measly nest. "Did you just pull those twigs from the snow?" he then reprovingly asks. "You must have rocks in your head or something."

As if he'd ever let his guard down around the moor rats again. ​

 

[FERNGILL]

They weren't used to this, none of them. This sort of harsh dip in temperature- it was unlike leaf-bare, where dens and bodies stayed warm. Between them all there was still a separation, and they didn't have time to set up dens that might keep the warmth in. Everything was just a matter of improvising, and... Fernpaw couldn't say he'd ever been much good at it. Fernpaw huddled in on himself, tucking his paws beneath his body and curling his tail over his nose. The small tom was made even smaller.

Quiet covered him for the moment, but a nearby conversation crawled over to him- Fernpaw's nose wrinkled at the noise, bright gaze slipping over to Mouseflight and, stood over him, Smogmaw. They spoke of warmth- it felt like a distant dream to Fernpaw. Even in his optimism, he could not picture a mountain without cold.

"How... much warmer...?" Fernpaw asked doubtfully, teeth clattering together as he shivered. Maybe it was warmer... but Mouseflight hadn't said it was warm.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[iciclefang]

◇────────────【☆】★【☆】────────────◇​

XXXXXIciclefang pads between Smogmaw and Fernpaw, snow-blue gaze flicking over the makeshift nest Mouseflight has procured for himself and anyone willing to bunk with a WindClan warrior. Like the ShadowClan deputy, she isn’t sure she’s evolved enough to forget Mouseflight’s origins—but the wind drives against them all, chewing through her short, glossy pelt straight through to the meat of her flesh and her bones. She can’t fluff her fur up enough to get any reprieve—and so, she relents, giving the pale tortoiseshell a baleful look. “I’ll let you know,” she says in a low, sour voice to Fernpaw, slipping onto the plants and wincing as she allows her flank to brush the WindClan cat’s.

XXXXXUnsurprisingly, just getting her body off of the snow and against another cat is already an improvement. She sighs, attempting to curl into herself while still brushing her spine against Mouseflight’s for what little warmth the other cat has to offer. Semi-irritably, she blinks up at the other cats. “The more of us here, the less cold we’ll all be.”

─────────​

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[Orangestar]

𝐵𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝐴 𝑊𝑂𝑀𝐴𝑁, 𝐵𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐸𝑁𝐷 ✧ 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀

• 
  
  — orangeblossom | tags
  — she/her ; deputy of skyclan, mentoring eveningpaw.
  — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — chibi by waluigipinball
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

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"Hate to admit it, but that might work." Orangeblossom meows to her counterpart, affixing Smogmaw with a glance that's half disdain and half exasperation- neither emotion of which are focused on him. Her own pelt provides ample protection against the cold, with the exception of her stinging pawpads and the run of her nose which seems permanent at this point; but others among their group aren't so lucky. Keeping the pads of her paws, unguarded except by their calluses, out of the snow would keep them from stinging so much. "Moss logic. We keep our paws off the snow, it's less cold."

Her attention swivels to Mouseflight, hardening around her eyes once more as she gives the small calico a once-over. Iciclefang has curled up next to him, expression guarded, but makes an irritable sort of request to the others (probably just her Clanmate) that the more of their clowder join in, the less cold it'd be. Despite seeing the logic, Orangeblossom makes no move to join them just yet. To the WindClanner, she asks flatly, "'S that a moor trick?"
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[Periwinklebreeze.]

❀​❀ OH HOME, LET ME COME HOME ❀❀​

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periwinklebreeze & 14 moons & demi-boy & he/they & windclan moor runner ​

---

"Th-then you can f-freeze to d-death," words are sharp and snappish as he approaches - he does not care what authority smogmaw might hold in shadowclan, the tom is still nothing more than a worm in cat-form. Mouseflight had only been being kind - and yet, the tom spits in the face of their offer. Surprisingly enough, the aloof riverclanner does not - and she reassures the others of the ideas worth.

Of course, periwinklebreeze is quick to join - a shy smile flashes in the direction of the two who've already made themselves comfortable, he doesn't shy away from wriggling himself into the midst. A tactile cat through and through, he brushes as close as he's allowed, uncaring of who is beside him, only that they won't chase him away. If he can manage to snuggle beside sootstar herself to stave of the snowy cold in spite of his fear, this much is no hardship.

A contented purr rises in his chest before he can help it, blue eyes already half-lidded with sleep. He'd forgotten how nice it is t not be alone, and already his tattered mind has begun to wind down. Perhaps he'll even manage a few hours rest this time.

— home is wherever I'm with you ❀

• Actions && "Speech," && ' Thoughts/Quotes '
  
  ooc: he's very good at judging and toeing boundaries so please don't have him getting to close for comfort to your oc! he's only clinging to willing cats or otherwise keeping a respectable space.
  tw/cw: —
  
• 
  — a lithe figured black and white tom with a false-pointed pattern and clear blue eyes that gleam periwinkle in the right lighting. he seems perpetually worn and exhausted, with heavy bags beneath his eyes and a slouched posture. he has a speech impediment which leaves him with a stutter and sometimes even completely non-verbal, and his fluffy tail is adorned with carefully woven daisies.
  
  — physically medium && mentally easy && pacifist
  — non-violent powerplay allowed && healing powerplay allowed && minor injury powerplay allowed
  — please attack using [b][color=#ccccff]action here[/color][/b] and tag account

 

[Mouseflight]

A few cats came over - some he trusted more than others - but shoulders shrugged at Smogmaw's quip. "They dry out quicker when they're dug up, and the snow's supposed to be cold but the plants are just plants and can help protect from the snow underneath." It's what he'd learned at least, and he had no reason to believe it didn't work differently. When Iciclefang lie down, Mouseflight almost got up, though the want for warmth overpowered his need to not be near a RiverClanner, and for a moment he was silent in thought - could these cats around him be considered from other clans, when they've all lived together the past moon as a clan would?

Thought pushed aside almost immediately as it came, and a short nod followed Iciclefang's words - the more bodies the better, especially for the smaller cats in their group - and when Perwinklebreeze lie down as well Mouseflight couldn't help but find himself resting his head upon the other's side as they huddled together, comfortable smile hid under fur for a moment. "Can be an anyone trick, but if you're on the leaves it's harder to get wet from the snow melting while you sleep." And the fact that you'd be warmer if you woke up dry was left unsaid.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

•  
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 11 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

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