[williams]

dewpaw,

Dewpaw woke early, unsure what caused her conscious to flicker awake earlier than normal. As her eyes blinked away the sleep, she watched her breath billow curiously in front of her face, making the ground in front of her slowly deepen in color as the sheen that covered it was melted away. Feeling adventurous, the apprentice stood with one long stretch, then padded carefully out of the warm medicine cat den. Outside, the camp sparkled. Every single den, each blade of grass, every fern frond was covered in a sheet of frost. Drops of water left from before the night grew cold were frozen, perched dainty along the pathway to their den. Camp was frozen entirely, the only sign of life shown in several trails of paw steps leading out of the dens to the entrance- the dawn patrol no doubt. Blue eyes grew wide with amazement as Dewpaw stepped further into the clearing. Leaf-bare had arrived and it was beautiful.

Testing the ground, Dewpaw walked towards the fresh-kill pile, tummy reminding her of her hunger. As she walked an unlucky warrior crossed her path, skittering on a patch she had yet to reach. Unable to help herself, Dewpaw laughed at his face, slapping her tail over her mouth with as her fur fluffed with embarrassment. Another warrior, older and not as easily amused by the frost, flicked her ear with his tail, and the two padded out of camp. Early hunting I guess, the seal-pointed apprentice thought, sending a call of good wishes as they vanished through the entrance. Now with no distractions, Dewpaw poked her nose into the prey left over night. All had frozen over, looking unappetizing now that she had gotten closer. With a huff, she turned away then quickly turned back as a thought struck her. Did herbs freeze like this too? She prodded the fish left behind, hearing her claws clack against its surface, then raced back to her den.

"Swanfeather!" She cried once she was close enough, sliding into the wall from her speed. Paws scrambled in place as she picked the pace back up, colliding unfortunately with the side of her still sleeping mentor. "Sorry!! I went to grab us breakfast but everything was frozen over!- It looks so beautiful- but, but the prey itself, all the fish- they were, solid! I didn't know prey could even do that- and I thought about our herbs-" She paused to catch her breath, knowing this was the important part to actually tell Swanfeather. "If our herbs freeze we can't use them in cures, we gotta go out and protect the plants! Please?"

440

Hellion

[title insp] baby's first leaf-bare <3

[Hellion]

[smear:ffffff]Swanfeather[/smear:343B4F]

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living

75 Moons || Medicine Cat of RainClan || She-Cat

Swanfeather's tail had been carefully placed to keep her face warm from the leafbare. The den itself was warmer then outside but in Swanfeather's age she wasn't fond of the cold. She hated the stiffness in her joints and the way her body protested with each step she took.

Swanfeather ignored the rumble of hunger in her stomach for the sweet peace of sleep. The longer she slept the less time she would have to spend in the cold. However, that came to a literal crashing halt as Dewpaw collided into her.

Her head flew up and her eyes, cold and blue, narrowed in on Dewpaw. The young she-cat rattled off something about frost and protecting the plants. It took Swanfeather a moment to realize what she was talking about but nodded.

"I used to have Ottersplash do that," She commented before pushing herself to sit up then stand once her joints relaxed. "I honestly didn't think anything of it until now but yes you are correct. Go collect some moss and let me eat something we will leave soon after," Swanfeather explained, flicking her tail to excuse her apprentice as he made her way toward the fresh-kill pile. It took some digging but Swanfeather was able to pry loose a less frozen piece of kill and devoured it.

I dreamed that love would never die

WORDS || williams || NOTES

[williams]

dewpaw,

Her apology appeared to be taken in stride, Dewpaw's dark colored paws working the dry soil with impatience and worry. She hadn't meant to slip, and a small apology tumbled out again. Yet Swanfeather mused on her words and rather than get annoyed, she responded.

"I used to have Ottersplash do that" Dewpaw's tail curled with interest in hearing the name. She had heard it in passing, but who was Ottersplash to Swanfeather? Her mentor? Or apprentice? "I honestly didn't think anything of it until now but yes you are correct. Go collect some moss and let me eat something we will leave soon after, The smaller she-cat moved back to give her mentor room to stand, recognizing the aching joints when she saw how slowly Swanfeather got to her paws. What helps with joints again? Would she let me apply some herbs to her? Her thoughts were swished away by Swanfeather's instructions, earning a swift nod in reply.

Trotting back out into the clearing, Dewpaw held her questions at bay, though she knew her mentor would feel her interest bubbling. She was not good at hiding her curiosity yet. The world outside the camp was still foreign, a place where she could still get lost and probably would if Swanfeather wasn't there to guide her. The young apprentice wasn't sure what they needed to collect either but trusted that she would learn quickly.

"Where are we going first?" She asked after a pause to let Swanfeather eat something, paws working at the frosty ground again. Dewpaw wanted to be out there, finding herbs, saving them from the frost! "Will we see the river? Will it be frozen already?! What do we do if stuff is frozen, can we save it?"

Hellion

293

sorry for asking for a quick response then taking ages to get back

[Hellion]

[smear:ffffff]Swanfeather[/smear:343B4F]

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living

75 Moons || Medicine Cat of RainClan || She-Cat

Pulling a half-frozen chunk of fish from the pile, she ate what she could before tucking the other portion into the den. She hoped the remaining head of her nest would work on defrosting the next portion. Not that she'd eat it herself but likely give it to a queen or an elder.

Returning to her ever curious apprentice, Swanfeather flicked her tail as a signal to follow and the two left camp. The black pointed she-cat made her way toward a known moss collection spot and made quick work of scrapping up the frosted foliage. She forced herself to ignore the pain in favor of working through it and hopefully finishing the task sooner.

"We will where the catmint grows the most. We will bury the ground and portions of the plant in moss. It's important we keep the frost from ruining any more of it," She explained with her tail again direction Dewpaw, this time to pick up a bundle of moss.

Carefully she led Dewpaw away from the moss and toward the NightClan border. She didn't like going so close but it was the best location to find catmint. She prayed that any NightClan terrors who saw them would respect the code and ignore their presence.

Pausing for a moment she glanced backward toward Dewpaw. "We don't see the river today. It isn't safe to venture too close unless you are an especially strong swimmer. Even a heartbeat in the cold water could kill a cat," She warned as they ventured to the point the border started to smell.

"Try to pick out two catmint plants and I'll show you how to cover them. What is frozen probably can't be saved but as long as you can see green there is hope,"

I dreamed that love would never die

WORDS || williams || NOTES

[williams]

dewpaw,

Dewpaw followed the best she could with her energy spilling from her paws. She bounded a couple steps forward, nose touching every leaf she could reach, then trotted back with her tail up high. The world outside camp was amazing! She had gone out before of course, but seeing everything covered with frost was new and she had to see it all before the sun went down, or the pair of medicine cats got focused on the task ahead. Her voice was a soft stream of consciousness, low enough that any Rainclan cat choosing to hunt in the morning dim wouldn't suffer from her foolishness.

"Woah! I didn't know frost could cling to branches like that. Can you see it? I know-it covered the camp floor did you see that?- I know it's like, starclan breathing right? They're up in the clouds and-woah that looks weird, that's a prey track or something right? my sister told me about tracking prey-oh!"

At their first destination, Dewpaw leapt to action, nose gaining a smudge of dirt as she rolled up each ball of moss. Although Swanfeather hadn't told her, Dewpaw felt something about the cold hurt her limbs. She couldn't keep up with her apprentice on a normal day, but the cold was making it worse, like a fish caught in a whirlpool. As they traveled, Dewpaw's ears were turned towards her mentor, soaking up her words like the moss did with water. Luckily probably for Swanfeather, her apprentice could not respond with the moss in her mouth, and did not risk setting it down now that they had gotten the water out. Instead she nodded as carefully as she could, and followed.

"Try to pick out two catmint plants and I'll show you how to cover them. What is frozen probably can't be saved but as long as you can see green there is hope," Dewpaw set her moss down, gave a confirming meow that she understood, and set off. Blue eyes scanned the undergrowth like before but they were almost orderly in their search. Plants that looked vaguely herb related were sniffed, touched with gentle paws before there were four narrowed down. Dewpaw sniffed one, and felt the immediate glow that catmint made her heart feel. She hummed at Swanfeather, tail waving her over in excitement. "This one looks good!"

Hellion

400

I always worry about not having enough muse for dewpaw then she goes and does this