Snowy Morning[clover]

[!P.I.E!]

Firepaw

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Firepaw stirred, her orange pelt was coated with little flecks of moss. She lifted her head to the apprentices' den and looked around, Firepaw was apparently the first one up. A snowy white apprentice named Ghostpaw lay fast asleep acrossed the den. She got up and sat quickly grooming the specs of moss out of her fur. She padded silently out of the den, her eyes closed; her legs and the start of her chest were ice cold, and wet. It was hard to move as well, the apprentice opened her eyes. A thick blanket of fresh snow covered the ground, all of the den entrances looked like they were snowed in Cold, cold, cold she breathed, as she walked deeper into the snow covered camp. The day was cloudy and colder than yesterday,it seemed like that old twoleg song had come to life, jack frost was nipping painfully at her nose.

word count: 153
Status: Complete
Comments: Lolz, she walks right into the snow without even noticing!

[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon had been up for a while, but he'd left camp promptly after waking. It had snowed while the tom was out in the forest, covering his prints and making his hunt difficult. He gave up early and labored back towards camp, stepping high to try and get on top of the snow, but he always stepped clear down to the forest floor. He'd have to wait for the icy crust to form on top of the snow, then it would be easier to walk across. He pushed onward until he finally reached camp. While out, he'd managed to get a small rabbit and was dragging it behind him. He was panting slightly as he walked across the camp and located the fresh-kill pile to drop off his rabbit.

He took a deep breath and looked around. It wasn't hard to spot what seemed to be the only other cat awake for her bright orange pelt stuck out from the bright white of the snow. He shrugged when he realized that his black fur stuck out just as much, the only part that blended in was the white moon on his flank and that didn't help him. He made his way over, deciding to be friendly. "Hey Firepaw," he called out in greeting. "You're up early," he commented, trying to make conversation.

[!P.I.E!]

Firepaw glanced up at she sky Why starclan?! She whined under her breath she heard another cat trudging through the snow towards her "Hey Firepaw" they paused "your up early" he said, Firepaw nearly jumped out of her skin Oh, hey Shadowmoon she laughed awkwardly Yeah, I don't know why though she said curiously, Firepaw lifted on of her orange paws; it was soaking wet, apparently the heat from her fur was melting the snow around her slightly but just enough to get her fur wet Guess you went hunting, eh was there a lot of prey? she lifted her other paw, it was also completely soaked. A look of some type of pain twisted her face for a slight second Why, why, why! she asked herself. Firepaw peered up at Shadowmoon, waiting for his reply

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[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon nodded as Firepaw spoke. "Yeah, I was up and out before the snow started to fall, but by the time it started snowing, all the prey had gone into their burrows. I guess I should have taken the hint," he mewed and gave a single laugh at his own joke. "All I could find was that rabbit," he meowed. He jerked his head towards where he'd dug up the fresh kill pile and placed his rabbit on top. As she lifted her paws out of the snow he frowned when he realized that his paws had gone numb quite some time ago. "Would you rather go back into the den where it's dry?" he asked, his whiskers twitching slightly in amusement.

[!P.I.E!]

Uh, oh no. It's okay No its not! she argued inside her head. She looked at the black warrior in admiration, He's so nice... he's such a sweet heart. No, what am I thinking! He's a warrior and I'm an apprentice! she nodded and looked Shadowmoon right in the eyes, her own were melted pools of molten emerald. She smiled at him, So what have you been up too lately? she asked, sitting carefully in the snow and attempting to wrap her tail around her paws Early morning, no one around... NO! I'm friggen melting over him she continued to battle with herself over Shadowmoon, trying to keep her face as emotionless as posable.

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[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon looked a bit uncertain at Firepaw's reply. She still looked uncomfortable in the snow. "If you're sure," he mewed slowly and then shrugged it off. He gave her a smile and his yellow eyes flicked up towards the sky which was still gray with the clouds that had brought the thick snow. "Oh, me?" he paused to think. "Well just this morning, I've been hunting. I'm trying to practice hunting in the snow and cold when there's not so much prey around," he explained. He'd only been a warrior for two moons so he didn't get much time to practice hunting with his mentor when the only prey out was smart and wary. But he'd managed to catch a rabbit, so he seemed to be getting the hang of it. "You don't have a mentor yet, do you?" he asked, oblivious to the fact that the question might upset Firepaw. He didn't give her a chance to answer before moving on. "You know what? I bet I could teach you some fighting moves until Soulstar assigned you a mentor!" His yellow eyes sparkled slightly at the thought. It would be something interesting to do and a way to spend some time with Firepaw and get to know her. "What do you think?" he asked, finally pausing to let the apprentice answer.

[!P.I.E!]

Firepaw looked down at the snow "You don't have a mentor yet, do you?" asked Shadowmoon. Firepaw closed her eyes and sighed at his question, he gave to no time to answer "You know what? I bet I could teach you some fighting moves until Soulstar assigned you a mentor!" Firepaw looked up a the handsome black tom "What do you think?" Curiosity crossed his face as he waited for her answer Sure! she said, her green eyes glowing happily Where did that Idea come from? She asked, standing up and shaking her fur. Wow thats really generous, see his is a gentleman, most of the time at least

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[♣[Clover]♣]

Where did that idea come from? Shadowmoon shrugged in response. "It just doesn't seem fair for a warrior apprentice to sit around not learning anything even if they don't have a mentor yet," he mewed with a flash of a charming smile. "I'm not the best warrior in the Clan, but I still think I could teach you a thing or two," he mewed and bounded across camp. With such deep snow, it would make more sense to practice in camp than go all the way out into the forest. They would just have to make sure to stay away from the dens. He turned around and jerked his head as a 'come over here' gesture and stood waiting for her, his tail swishing back and forth eagerly.

[!P.I.E!]

Firepaw noticed him struggle to answer her question "It just doesn't seem fair for a warrior apprentice to sit around not learning anything even if they don't have a mentor yet," he flashed a smile at her and turned. Shadowmoon bounded across the camp, then he turned to her. He swung his tail back and fourth waiting for her to follow him. Firepaw too bounded across the camp, her smaller strides making it difficult to run across the snow. So what are we going to do first she asked, watching her teacher intently, she stood in her own little battle stance, her but up in the air, her head down to the ground, and her forepaw out in front of her. A sleek smile curved the side of her mouth.

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[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon thought about what they should do first. He tried to remember what his mentor started with and a smile came to his face when he remembered. "Okay, first let's see what you already know. Then we can see what you can improve on," he meowed and continued to stand up straight to give Firepaw a better target. The tip of his tail flicked back and forth slightly and he took a deep breath before speaking. "Attack me," he mewed. He braced his muscles for impact and he watched Firepaw to see if he could anticipate an attack and dodge it.

[!P.I.E!]

No one gets me!

Firepaw looked at Shadowmoon strangely Well, okay she said cautiously. She made sure her claws were seethed, and she back up hoping to get a running start Should I jump or should I just do what those twoleg boys did and tackle him? she asked, she plotted for a bit maybe hoping to catch Shadowmoon off guard. She ran a couple steps, laughing Faked you! she giggled, backing up to her original point. She stared into his pale yellow eyes, they glimmered like small stars in the early morning sunlight. Finally she dashed off towards his Aha, I win! she giggled, Firepaw found this really amusing but she knew Shadowmoon would beat her.

But thats how I like it!

[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon was ready to dodge when Firepaw faked him out the first time and when she finally chose her attack, he grinned. With slight difficulty because of the deep snow, he jumped to the side and swiped at her as she passed him to hopefully knock her off balance. He remembered this being one of the first things he did with his mentor, so perhaps it was a good place to start with Firepaw.

[!P.I.E!]

Hey!

Firepaw staggered slightly at his bat, she giggled playfully and turned to look at him. She stared right into his pale yellow eyes, almost trying to hypnotize him Grr... fear me, I'm a vicious tiger! she laughed, she could be more relaxed around Shadowmoon At least someone in thunderclan understands me! she rolled her eyes at this, thinking back to how Soulstar had accepted her personality, but only tolerated it, this made her a little angry, but she had to concentrate on the now not the pas. She looked at Shadowmoon, then to the dens, other cats were begining to wake up and wander aimlessly out of the dens. Look, other cats are starting to wake up, maybe we should finish this later, for now we could just she paused to think of a word Hang out! she blurted, finishing her sentance.

So what do you want to do for a while?

Firepaw glanced at Shadowmoon as they walked to the center of the camp. She kept glancing at her paws then to Shadowmoon's flank, she couldn't deny her feelings for him, and she knew he had feelings for her But look at the age difference... she contemplated asking him if he wanted to go hunting with her, at first she said yes, then no, then yes UGH, I'm so confused, should I, or should I not? she rolled her eyes and sighed. She sat on spot, curling her tail around her paws Aw, hell, what's wrong with some hunting Hey Shadowmoon! she yelled, her attempt at getting his attention Actually, nevermind.

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Clover do you want Shadowmoon to ask, or Firepaw?

[♣[Clover]♣]

Shadowmoon turned to face her again, laughing when she did. He had been bracing himself for another attack as she tried to stare him down, but straightened up when she mentioned that other cats were beginning to wake up. With a somewhat disappointed expression, he turned to look at the cats coming out of the dens and sighed. "Okay, I guess we can continue later. If you want to, that is," he mewed at the same time as her, smiling a little bit as they said basically the same thing. "Hanging out sounds good," he mewed as he walked with her to the center of the camp.

They sat in silence for a moment until Firepaw called his name. He looked over at her with a 'yes, what is it?' expression and frowned slightly when she decided not to say whatever it was she was thinking of saying. "Wanna do some hunting?" he asked as if reading her mind. He shuffled his paws slightly and looked away. "There's not going to be much, but I've noticed that there's starting to be more and more. Maybe we'll get lucky!" he purred softly at the thought of prey returning to the forest and looked at Firepaw for her response.