camp WINTERSPRING || snow

[Nettlepaw-]

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

---

When he wakes up that morning, something is different. He can't quite place what it is, but he feels stiffer than usual. His nest is chilled, and the air bites his nose. It almost feels as if the frost of leaf-fall has crept into the confines of the den to pierce his nest. Lifting his head, sightless eyes pierce the shadow as the boy scents the air. The sounds of other apprentices slumbering, or waking from their night's rest, fill his ears. Normally, there was insect or birdsong to accompany the ambiance, but today there is only a strange, encroaching silence.

Rising to his paws, Nettlepaw stretches as best he can in the crowded confines of the reed woven den, before he carefully makes his way toward the exit. Occasionally, a paw would step over a stray tail or leg, eliciting a few irritated grumbles from those unwilling to wake just yet. They were probably used to it by now, Nettlepaw has been an apprentice for a moon, after all. It's normal for daylight to frame the mouth of the den, bright enough that even Nettlepaw can detect it. This was different though. Somehow brighter than anything he'd ever seen before.

He takes one step out, and recoils.

"Wha- ?" Nettlepaw mews in alarm, flicking his cotton dipped paw free of frigid powder. Everywhere he looks, there is only... white. It sparkles and glows, as if the sun itself had swallowed the entire world. In the past, Nettlepaw could easily make out ground from sky. Now, though, it melted together as if it were one, and he's utterly disoriented. "What happened?" The apprentice gasps aloud, taking a step back into the apprentice's den, head poking free of the reeds as he tries to work it all out. Snow? Is this snow? He sniffs, but smells only moisture, and the wintry air burns his lungs.

Cautiously, the apprentice places his paw back into the powder, feeling it bite against his pads. Almost immediately, he decides that he hates it. It stung his paws, and his nose. It somehow made him feel even more blind than before. At least it's not very deep, it hardly comes above his ankles, a mere dusting. Nonetheless, Nettlepaw creeps carefully out into the clearing, feeling his fur fluffing up against the wind as an expression of distaste crosses his face. "It's cold!" He complains, and though he cannot see it, his breath is frost that seeps between teeth.
​

​

 

[Bounceheart]

bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)

That same chill had found her as well - it was an unmistakable feeling. Something about the air during leaf-bare left her feeling breathless. The chill ached her bones. As she woke, she could feel the fronts of her eyes being nipped at by the cold. Smells like snow.

Emerging the den, she was not surprised by what she saw. A thin blanket of snow, and more flurries falling from above. Everything was shrouded in white - their camp, the sky, even the cats standing outside admiring the first snowfall were becoming covered in little flakes. Each year, she could not escape the youthful joy that came with it. Prancing on pallid paws towards Nettlepaw, they were practically glowing with excitement. While Bounceheart was familiar with the suffering to come, she still wanted to enjoy this moment - and it was the apprentice's first, so he should enjoy it with them! "It's snowing, Nettlepaw! Can you feel it on your paws? It's so cold, the rain has frozen!" To prove their point, they would run towards Nettlepaw and slide their paws, trying to spray him with snow from the ground. ​

 

[Feathergaze]

Her pelt, stifling during greenleaf and forcing her to seek near-constant refuge by the riverside, became an instant blessing as soon as the first snows fell. When sleep had left her, the silver warrior had nearly bounded across the warrior den in her excitement. Finally! No more stray leaves to pick out of my pelt. She found grooming to be a much easier task during leafbare, although it was a more manual task without the river to bathe in. On the most frigid days it would ice over, a glossy sheen reflecting sunlight back into the heavens. While her heart swelled merely from standing in the transformed world, there was still a whisper of shadow that dampened her shine. This will be my first leafbare without... without Icebloom. The coming year would be her first everything without her beloved grandmother.

Just as the heaviness in her belly threatened to pull her down into the snow, she heard a squeal. Feathergaze turned her head toward the apprentice den at the sound of Nettlepaw's indignation, spotting the young tom slinking on his toes. Why, this is his first snow, isn't it. She grinned, trotting over to stand by Bounceheart as the heaviness lifted.
"It's a wonderful thing Nettlepaw, I promise," she purred. She sprang back as Bounceheart suddenly slid forward in a flurry of snow, giggling as flakes spewed into the air.
​

 

[Nettlepaw-]

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

---

So, it was snow. Bounceheart confirms it, and she sounds far more excited than he was. He walks grumpily, and with each step, he pauses with one limb hanging to try and flick the frozen moisture from between his paw-pads. Each step is an exaggerated march of clear discomfort. This was going to take some getting used to! Opening his jaws to express as much, he's suddenly showered in flakes of cold frost. The stuff sticks to his fur as the boy ducks back with a grunt.

"Hey! Don't do that!" The apprentice huffs, mist like dragon's breath spilling from his tongue as he shakes out his fur to send clumps of snow flying everywhere, much to the mixture of joy and annoyance of any clan-mate standing nearby. "Why is it so cold?" He inquires bitterly. Feathergaze insists that it's wonderful, but Nettlepaw can't figure out why. "How can it be so wonderful if it's so cold?" With that, he slams both front paws down, and aims a wave of the icy powder in the general direction of Feathergaze, as if to prove a point. Maybe when she was just as covered in the stuff as he was, she'd understand!
​

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[BITEFLOWER]

bio ₊˚✧ ﾟ. The crisp smell and chill, has somewhat invaded the nursery, has him snuggling closer into by his mother in the mornings. He's been advised to stay out of the nursery, presumably his fight picking tiring the inhabitants. Bitekit has had a particularly irritable morning, resulting in his temporary banishment to outside, he thinks throwing a swipe at someone in there was the last straw, earning him a legendary lecture from his mother. Cool off? Well he would show them. Fuming under his short furred pelt, the enthusiasm from those outside, becoming clear to him as he marches over. The excitement serves to fuel the hot burning at his paws. He'll show them who's cooled off. "Watch this! Look how cooled off I am!" he shrills, as if his voice can reach the inhabitants of the nursery.

Despite his fuming mood, inspired by his dismissal from the den, his attention is immediately drawn to the wonder expressed. "Cold?" He scrunches his nose, it's his first experience with the curious stuff. Finding it curious how paws leave prints, he cranes his head to see the prints of behind him, before his green gaze is drawn elsewhere.

Snow flies around, seeing Bounceheart and Nettlepaw toss the white snow. "Who will win?" Bitekit questions loudly, "Is Feathergaze going to lose doing nothing?" He jeers hoping to inspire a playful competition. He remembers the point he's trying to make, right. About being cooled off. He slides into a nearby pile of snow, attempting to send snow tumbling towards whoever is unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire. A squeak escapes him. "Cold! You're right Nettlepaw, it's cold!"
​

 

[Feathergaze]

She does her best to stifle her giggles, truly she does, as Nettlepaw yelps and puffs from Bounceheart’s attack. But when he shakes out his pelt, sending bits of snow flying about him as though he’s the centre of a flurry she can’t stop a snort from escaping her muzzle. She had no intentions of making fun of the youth, it was just… well, it was rather funny.
“It’s like Bounceheart said, Nettlepaw. It’s rain that’s gotten so cold it froze into, well, snow! And it’s wonderful because-” Before she could finish her sentence, Feathergaze is doused by a way of powder. She was covered in head to toe, looking far less silver and far more dove-white. Contrary to Nettlepaw’s hope, the young warrior burst into squeals of true laughter, the sound echoing into the frozen air to be whipped away by the breeze.

“Because you can do that,” she chirped once the burst of sunlight in her heart has dimmed long enough for her to catch her breath. “You can do all sorts of fun things once the snow is here. You can roll in it without getting dirty, you can throw it around, once we get more of it you can even dig out tunnels to play games in!” Not that Feathergaze was meant to spend her time doing any of that, as a new warrior. But her days as an apprentice were not forgotten.

Glittering eyes flick toward the nursery where the unmistakable tiny stomps of Bitekit hail from. From the scowl on his face, he had not ventured out here willingly. He squeaks something over his shoulder probably a final insult or a challenge to his den mates or one of the queens. Despite his clearly sour mood, Feathergaze’s smile doesn’t falter. He just needs some time. There’s a good soul in there, I’m sure of it. Besides, who could stay irritated on a day like this? Their commotion has drawn his attention, and I’m the span of heartbeats Bitekit’s grouchy expression has turned to beady interest. If it’s a show you want, it’s a show you’ll get, little fish. Brimming with energy like a young bird finally allowed to take flight, Feathergaze whisks a paw toward Bounceheart, hoping to flick a face full of snow her way as Bitekit dives into a snowdrift, hoping to strike a target of his own.
​

 

[Eelcackle]

He feels it before he even wakes. The chill in the air... The smell... Even in his dreams he can identify this specific chill and smell. It has SNOWED. Pulled from his slumber by the ruckus outside, of apprentices and kits experiencing the snow for the first time. Yes, this is all very charming. His eyelids are heavy as he looks out of the warriors den to look at the blanket of powdery snow with a growing frown and furrowed brows.

UGH.

And now that he's AWAKE, he can't just go back to sleep! He has to get up now! He has to get up and go out THERE, into the unforgiving cold. He groans at the thought and begins to grapple with his mind and body, telling himself to get up while his body begs to stay put in the warmth of the den.

"Yes... Fun stuff, snow is.... Absolutely." He grumbles. "I'm so excited."

He was not.

Now his paws were going to be cold and wet and for some reason, that bothered him when it came to snow. Water? Fine. But the snow? Absolutely not. He couldn't begin to understand why.

"Don't forget you can roll it into clumps and fling it at cats too!" He says, a mischievous grin crossing his face. "Thats the real fun part."​