a lazy day

[Battooth]

"Maplestar, you look cozy."

The big tabby tom glanced up from his place near the center of camp, sprawled in a ray of sunshine, disregarding the snow on the ground around him. The snow beneath him had melted after a few minutes, and while his fur was damp, his wet side was blocked from the wind, and quite cozy. He spotted his father and chuckled. "I guess you could say that," he meowed back. "It's just nice to not have to worry about anything once in a while."

"I know what you mean, son," the grizzled old tom said. He settled down next to the younger tom, curling his tail around his paws. "Have you done anything today?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean have you hunted today," Bear meowed. "Or gone on a patrol."

"I opted for the dusk patrol," Maplestar meowed, stretching and laying his head back down again. "I'm relaxing until then. Unless someone brings something to me of course."

Bear prodded his son's belly. "Don't get fat there," he meowed good-naturedly. He stretched and settled back into his original position, sitting straight and tall, his tail curled around his feet. His many scars ached in the cold weather, as they did every year. This year though, he had the added ache of the scar near his empty eye socket, which gave him the slightest headache. And his leg's scar hurt pretty badly most mornings, making his limp a lot worse. Bear would occasionally grimace from the pain, thankful his son's eyes were closed. The old tom didn't want his son to worry (if he would worry) and fret over him, just because of a few old scars.

"Not much to do today," Bear murmured as he glanced around camp.

"Mm-hmn," Maplestar grunted. "I like it this way. Now please be quiet, I'm trying to relax."

Bear chuckled. "That's it, my boy," he said sarcastically, "don't let anything interrupt your blissful little life." He ignored the dismissing flick of the younger tabby's tail and sighed happily.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

The present time bore the aura of something rather light, rather breezy. It was almost comforting, if it weren't for the sharp jabs of cold that served as a reminder to her that all was not as perfect as Crystalrose would've preferred it to be. Shaking around a little to brush off snow caked within her fur, the feline stepped out in to the crisp air that had a biting edge to it. Luckily her fur took off most of the bitterness of the day--most of it.

She ambled around camp, seeking company at the present moment. Cinnamon eyes dusted the area, and alighted upon two specific cats, near mirror images of one another if not for age. Ears flicking up in earnest, she made her way over to them, aware of the slush that clung to her paws due to the sun melding snow and dirt with one another.

"Maplestar, Bear," she greeted the two other felines, dipping her head in respect toward both of them. She couldn't help but be aware of a slight awkwardness chipping away at her, but did her best to ignore it. "How are you both?"

character's mood; happy.
author's mood; blahblahblah.
word count; 193 words

[Battooth]

Maplestar looked up again. "Hello there," he said happily. "I'm great." He pushed himself up to his feet, nodding his head in greeting. He shivered slightly as the cold hit his side, which was still a little damp. The big tabby gave his side a few quick licks to try and dry it, then glanced back up at Crystalrose. He paused for a moment, then licked his chest and looked back at the she-cat. "And how are you?"

Bear watched his son, a slight grin on his face. He had seen Maplestar act like this when he was a young apprentice- there had been a she-cat who had a crush on him, and one day Bear had followed the two in the forest to check up on his son. Maplestar had looked uncomfortable and had groomed himself a lot when he had been around the young she-cat. Bear's tail flicked happily as he watched his son looking so uncomfortable again.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Crystalrose blinked and stared at Maplestar for a few moments. She couldn't help but notice that he was using a lot of tongue action (that's what she said. i'm sorry xD) on his fur. A purr threatened to come out in recognition of this, and she turned her head around to the right for a second and ran her tongue along her flank, copying her leader's style of evasiveness.

"I'm good. Been better. Leaf-bare's a mouse-butt," she responded, exhaling in a rather expressive and overexaggerated sigh. She eyed Bear for a fleeting instant and thought she saw the slight curve of a smile playing upon the elder feline's maw, but dismissed this thought of random awareness.

Crystalrose breathed in the cold air deeply. Suddenly, a wave of deilirium slipped over her, a wave, a need to be silly, a need to be stupid. She spun around in a circle and a rather goofy grin slapped her straigth in the face. "You know what, Bear? I think I like you," she purred, "and I think I like your son even more. It's times like these, I'm telling you!" Her maw was still spread out in a grin, and she stared up at the sky.

Yeah, maybe she'd lost it to leaf-bare.

character's mood; ooooh! rainbowz! *u*
author's mood; i had to okay? i feel like crystal's so boring. might as well have fun a little and make her be weird.
word count; 210 words

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[Battooth]

Bear's eyes flew wide open at Crystalrose's comment. He laughed as she continued. "I think I like you too," he meowed. "And I like to think he's pretty likeable."

Maplestar sat, staring at Crystalrose, wondering if she had been making fun of him when she had groomed herself a bit. He was surprised by her outburst, but pleased with what the outburst had contained. "I know I like you," he meowed happily.

He crouched for a moment before launching himself at the she-cat, playfully batting at her ears as he reared back up on his hind feet. He grinned widely, ecstatic to have the time to play like this. There always seemed to be problems with the Clans, always angry at each other, but here was a nice day where friends could play.

Bear laughed as his son leaped up. The grizzled old tom scooted back a bit to get out of the line of fire, enjoying the sight of cats enjoying themselves.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Still stuck in this sudden burst of a happy-go-lucky state, Crystalrose joined Maplestar in this playfighting. Normally she would have felt awkward and would have tried her best, but she with this very prominent feeling of warmth and happiness and elation, she felt as if she could conquer anything. Wrinkling her nose slightly, she flicked her ears in response to Maplestar's batting of them.

Somewhere deep within her, Maplestar's former words were lodged and registered. They stayed there and fed her bubbly and bright attitude at the present moment; she felt rather lightheaded, but in a very, very good way.

"You're in for it now!" she growled in a mock rough tone of voice. When Maplestar reared up, she slipped through where his paws had been seconds earlier and brushed her tail along his underbelly, attempting to tickle him. She made sure to be out in the clear before gravity made him return back to the ground, however.

Steering back around toward the burly tomcat, she headbutted him--a simple, classic playfighting technique that she had picked up from watching apprentices and young warriors do it all the time. A part of her back in her mind was itching, the common sense part of her: it was telling her that she was a fairly experienced warrior, and she should be mature and she should not be partaking in such lighthearted actions such as these.

With one headbutt toward Maplestar, she silenced these thoughts. She wanted to be carefree, wanted to be happy so badly--and for this moment, she was.

A skip entered her step as she leaped over to Bear momentarily. "Come on! Join in! You're not old!" she shouted out encouragingly before going after Maplestar for another headbutt.

character's mood; happyhappy.
author's mood; my characters are backwards. i have apprentices screaming and crying for love, and i have a warrior who's acting like a toddler. excellllllent. ;]
word count; 290 words

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[Battooth]

Maplestar laughed gleefully as Crystalrose tickled him then promptly knocked him over. He spun to swipe at her but she was already there with yet another headbutt. "Hey!" he yelped as he danced away. "Let me get in a shot or two! I started this for crying out loud."

Deep down in his brain was a small voice telling him that this was a very kit-like thing to do, and that he should be acting more mature. The voice said he was leader and shoud smarten up a bit. The voice was drowned out by the happy, much louder voice shouting above the small one. For some reason, Maplestar didn't care that he was acting like an apprentice. All he cared about was the fact that so far, he was losing this playfight.

Bear laughed and gave a few half-hearted swipes. "I may not be so old, but my joints definitely are," he said, chuckling.

"Oh come on now you great mouse!" Maplestar teased. "You're just afraid we'll beat you!" He let out a surprised yelp as Bear lunged at him, bowling him over.

This was not a good day for Maplestar's pride. He scurried to his feet again and vaulted to Crystalrose's side, spinning to face his father again. "You and me against Bear!" he suggested to the she-cat. "We can take him!"

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Yes sir, leader sir!" Crystalrose answered with a glee bubbling within her. She felt like a young apprentice again, so carefree and so happy. Well, carefree and happy was how apprentices used to be in her day--which wasn't too, too long ago. Now they all seemed toughened by their world--she couldn't blame them, but currently she was busy seeing the benefits of loosening up.

She leaned over to Maplestar, reaching her head up and bringing her maw up to intimate closure with the tom's ear, she asked, "What's the plan, sir?" Amusement wavered in her, and she resisted the urge to spin around in a happy-go-lucky circle once more.

character's mood; :]
author's mood; ummm i'm not creative today
word count; 111 words

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[Battooth]

Maplestar's ear tickled and he resisted the urge to shy away from the feeling. He laughed a laugh that was almost a giggle. "That tickles," he meowed quietly, smiling happily.

"Alright," he said in a hushed whisper, turning his attention back to his father. "I say you go one way, I go the other. I'll take the left, you take the right." He crouched and sprang to his father's left side.

[Agii♫]

"Here, share mine. It's big enough to be eaten by both of us," the gray apprentice offered tiredly.

"R-Really?.. Thank y-you, oh, th-thank you D-Dawnpaw!" the other apprentice replied as his body shakily trembled with perpetual excitement and joy.

Dawnpaw smiled softly and groaned as Twistedpaw took near all of the young quail. Twistedpaw hadn't been able to catch anything for himself for a moon now, and so Dawnpaw was forced to share his catches--though this quail he'd found already half dead by the freezing stream--with the smaller apprentice. Dawnpaw felt for his friend, he truly did, but it was tiring to care for such a... kit.

The tabby glanced up at the gray feline, swiping a tongue across his lip as a feather clung to a whisker. Twistedpaw tilted his head to the side, confused for a moment, and then stepped backwards in a start. His ears suddenly pivoted downwards, and his bright eyes refused to meet Dawnpaw's own, quite confused.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Twistedpaw mewled.

"About what?" Dawnpaw was concerned now.

The smaller of the two arched his back, seeming to sink into himself. "I didn't leave much... much... of th-the b-b-bird for... for you," he replied shamefully.

"Oh, Twistedpaw, it's really fi--" Dawnpaw was suddenly cut off as he looked his friend over closely. A fleeting moment of panic passed over him, soon to be replaced with embarrassment , then finalized as relieved curiosity. What he'd seen was his friend buckle backwards, slipping onto his hindquarters. Then he'd rolled onto his stomach, leaped up, wobbled, and lifted his tail up straight as a birch tree. It took Dawnpaw all of four seconds to realize what Twistedpaw had gotten so excited about.

But, what was Maplestar doing? He'd never seen his leader so relaxed and... playful.

"H-Hey! G-G-Guys!" Twistedpaw squealed, his speech impediment distorted greatly by his excitement. It was difficult to decipher what he was trying to get at, his little body teetering so violently it appeared as if he would topple over at any moment. "Wh-What a-a-are you d-doing? C-C-Can I-I... c-c-come play w-w.. w-w-with you g-guys t-t-too?"

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

patpatpat were the sounds of four ivory paws falling and rising on the frozen earth. The body that belonged to the paws was lean, and even tough it was covered in cream-colored fur, it was still shivering from the cold. Deerpaw sighed, for this was the season that the Clans disliked the most. The cold and the lack of prey were rather large prices to pay for the beautiful snow that came every twelve moons.

Deerpaw sighed and shivered and walked along to the fresh kill pile, dropping the two warm voles she had caught today and picked up a cold and tiny sparrow. She didn't want to take a big peice of fresh-kill because she knew the older warriors needed it more than her. Besides, she was small and didn't eat too much.

While chewing, she looked around the camp with sparkling moss-colored eyes, and saw a couple cats. There were Bear- a newcomer who was Maplestar's father, Maplestar himself, and Crystalrose, a warrior, all play-fighting together. Kind of an odd sight fo her, but Deerpaw was glad that Maplestar was having fun. The great leader had seemed a bit worried lately. She also saw Bravepaw, Twistedpaw, and Dawnpaw. Twistedpaw.

She did rather like him, but she didn't think too much of it. After all, she was only eight and a half moons old. But she hoped that someday he would like her the same way. It wasn't like he knew she liked him, because she was way too shy to admit it. At least to him.

The off-white cat finished up her little meal and walked slowly up to Bravepaw. Instead of asking what was wring and if he was okay, she just say next to him, which was her way of comforting other cats.

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[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Crystalrose nodded at Maplestar's words, and followed her leader's movements, except on the right side of Bear. She realized that there was no plan proceeding this, but this didn't seem to bother her. She attempted a couple moves--first she jabbed Bear in the sides, trying to elicit some type of a response from the big tom. At the same time, she also swung her tail around a few times in order to try to tickle him as well.

Her ears perked up when she heard the stuttering sound of a familiar apprentice. She knew instantly that only one of the small novice felines sounded like that, and when she finally choked back enough of her purrs of amusement and delight, she turned her head to look upon him.

"Twistedpaw!" she remarked, addressing him cheerfully. "Of course you can play with us!" She noted with a sobering thought of worry that the apprentice was quivering at quite an accelerated rate, and she promised herself to keep a watch upon him throughout the course of the playfight. "I think Maplestar and I could really use your help with this big brute of a tom," she added encouragingly, nodding at him to join.

character's mood; whee-twistedpawworry-whee.
author's mood; severely out of it.
word count; 201 words

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[Battooth]

Maplestar glanced up from his battering of the old tom to look at the young apprentice as he approached. "We could use all the help you can offer!" he said happily.

Bear- who was on his side while his son sat heavily on his rib cage and as Crystalrose jabbed and tickled him- looked up pitifully at Twistedpaw. "Help me!" he pleaded, though his eyes sparkled with glee. "Don't side with him! Look at what he's doing to his poor father! And she's just being brutal!" He sneezed and laughed as Crystalrose's tail passed his face, and he tried to swipe at her.

The old tom squirmed beneath his son's weight, rolling this way and that to try and roll his son off of him. Sure Bear was enormous by Clan standards, but Maplestar was no mouse himself, and Bear was sure he would crack a rib if Maplestar stayed on much longer.