Try Not To Slip!

[Ashpaw]

There was nothing on the barren hill above the entrance to WindClan's camp.

Or at least, nothing yet.

A small grey tom bounded his way out of the camp entrance, leaving a trail of faint paw prints in the thin layer of freshly fallen snow. Puffs of fog blew in front of his muzzle as he let out his warm breath into the sharp leaf-bare air. He turned around sharply, running past the entrance and along to the side of a large hill. He rather enjoyed sitting atop of Rabbit Hill, a peak of land that guarded the WindClan camp, as it enabled him and countless others to view the territory's surroundings more clearly, though it also provided as a structure to sun on when a sunny day decided to roll around. But as of now, no one was using the hill for such a purpose, so the usually inhabited area had no other cats in sight.

As Ashpaw came to a stop on the top of the hill, his paws skidded from underneath him, the layer of snow slippery under his pads. Though he desperately tried to keep his balance, the apprentice made one last attempt to stay upright before he lost his grip completely and fell uncomfortably to the ground, letting out a curse as the impact knocked the breath out of him.

"Mouse dung!" He breathed out. As he tried to muster back his strength, his eyes darted around the camp, hoping no one had seen his moment of embarrassment.

[EccentricBirdie]

Just to the right of Rabbit Hill was a smaller, stubby hill. It was just large enough to hide a fully grown cat if they had been standing on the other side; which is exactly why Ashpaw had not seen the long legged Tom. Watching from a distance with some sort of curiosity, Duststorm quietly trotted down the crest of the smaller hill, and started up the large hill in the center of it all.

"Took a bit of a spill there, eh?" He said, casually. His voice was not mocking; just curious. It was strange for any cat, especially an apprentice, to be out in the cold willingly and this early. Wisps of smoke, that is what the breath of the two cats reminded him of as it drew away from them and into the cold air. He remained standing, his long tail held straight out behind him; curved gently at the end. Despite the bone chilling weather, he seemed unaffected by the snow crunching around his paws.

((Sorry if this was supposed to be private; if it is just tell me and I'll leave!))

[mosswhisker]

((Mind if I join, too?))

[Ashpaw]

As Ashpaw had begun to draw himself up off the ground, regaining his footing in the process, a curious voice echoed from behind him.

"Took a bit of a spill there, eh?"

The apprentice froze in spot for a moment, then carefully turned himself around so he was facing the cat who had just spoken to him. Embarrassment prickled down his spine as he realized it was a warrior who had seem his slip, which in result caused his fur to rise up a bit. Quickly, though, he forced it to lay flat again and began to reply to the tom.

"Hm.. yes," the apprentice meowed. "It's probably not the best idea to go running up a hill in leaf-bare. That, or I just need to work on my footing more." After forcing a small gin, Ashpaw shifted his weight awkwardly, hoping he had replied the right way.

Ooc:// Nope, this is an open roleplay, Birdie ^^ And I have no problem with you joining in, Mossy (:

[EccentricBirdie]

Duststorm purred slightly in amusement, sitting down on the cold snow and wrapping his tail around his paws. Taking what the young apprentice said into consideration, he nodded his head thoughtfully.

"It will be needed to learn how to run in all conditions, so why not leaf-bare as well? You tend to learn balance naturally as you get older; so don't fret too much." He said, flicking his ear casually, looking at the smaller cat with a smile in his eyes. He always enjoyed the company of apprentices, as long as they weren't overly hyper.

"When it comes to snow, it all just comes down to being able to tell what parts of the snow are loose and what are solid. Any cat who lands badly on a loose layer of snow is bound to fall; I did it just the other day catching a rabbit. I nearly ran into another warrior, in the process!" He said, his voice filled with amusement.

--//--

ooc|| For the record, I'd love to have mossy join! The more the merrier!

[Eaglefeather]

((I know there's a lot of people but...mind if I come in with Ravenkit? He's always wandering out of camp ^^))

[EccentricBirdie]

ooc|| I don't mind, as long as Ashpaw is okay with it.

[Ashpaw]

Ashpaw began to steady his nervous tail, curling it over his paws only to have it slip off and start twitching back and forth again as the warrior spoke to him. The apprentice's head had thingyed to one side intently as he listened to what the other tom was telling him, drawing in every aspect of it so he could use it to learn from in the future.

As the warrior's comment came to a close, Ashpaw let out a purr, his whiskers twitching in amusement at the tom's story of tripping in the snow while on a hunt for a rabbit. His eyes, though still holding the humored shine, glowed thoughtfully, as if he were trying to piece together something in his mind. Finally, he opened his muzzle, his voice sounding somewhat pre-occupied as he began to speak.

"It's funny, because when you're an apprentice, you tend to think only we do the foolish or embarrassing things - like slipping in snow... or tripping over your own four paws." Ashpaw stopped, swallowing in hesitance, but continued on anyways, "Well, I mean, you sort of think that the warriors are all powerful and can't get hurt. But really, you're all just sort of like us... I mean, us apprentices... and you still make mistakes... and... fall... down..." The apprentice's voice faded off, hoping he hadn't bored or offended the warrior. Realizing he had begun to stare off toward the ground, he shifted his gaze back up toward the other tom, curiousity filling his eyes once again as he wondered how the other cat would respond.

Ooc:// 'Course you may join in, Eaglefeather :3

Oh, and sorry in advance if Ashpaw's conversations sound a bit awkward. It's just how he talks XD

[EccentricBirdie]

Laughing whole heartedly, Duststorm nodded along with the Apprentices awkward way of speaking. "Yes, that is quite right." He said, his eyes thoughtful as he looked on, brushing his tail on the younger toms pelt in an appreciating way. "Us warriors are just like you; only a bit bigger, and a lot of us lose our sense of humor. Its quite sad really." He said, standing and stretching his long back legs.

"Don't let a little slip get you down, though, we all do it every once in a while." He said, yawning. It was still fairly early in the morning, and only a few of the clan cats were out and about.

--//--

ooc|| I think its cute. xD Sorry for the short post, my muse just died a bit.

[mosswhisker]

Russetblaze swept along the barren moor as if she were part of the wind itself. Her paws glided gracefully over the springy, frost dipped grass. The rising sun stretched its long golden legs and lightly touched her pelt, setting it ablaze. The russet she cat sighed irratibily. Even if there were rabbits out at this time, I doubt I could catch any now! They would spot my pelt in a heartbeat!she mewed to herself, I guess I will just have to think up a different way of hunting. A sudden noise entered her pointed ear. "Talking?" she mused, identifying the sound almost immidiatly

Russetblaze rose her muzzle to the sky and drew in a slow, long breath. WindClan; My own clanmates, that's a relief, I would've hated to get blood on my claws on such a nice day, she thought calmly. Her pine green eyes scanned the steep hill from which the voices where coming from. Russetblaze climbed the hill and stood poised at the top, staring down at the two cats through narrowed eyes. "Duststorm, Ashpaw," Russetblaze began, in a slightly annoyed tone,"Im guessing neither of you had any luck finding anything, either. Herbs or prey."

[EccentricBirdie]

Duststorm raised his angular head to the she-cat joining them, dipping it in greeting before licking his paw and shaking his head. He was standing and looked particularly skinny with the light set behind him, showing through his already thin fur. Leaf-bare was always a very hard time for the clan.

"Ah, I haven't caught anything today, no." He said, not mentioning the herbs; as quite honestly he had no idea what he would look for or where. "Yesterday I caught a rather plump little one, but one is simply not enough in leaf-bare." He said, simply. He didn't worry about the clan so much as just detest the hunger they were all going through, especially the kits and elders.

"Ashpaw.. there hasn't been a lot of sickness, has there?" He asked curiously. He hadn't noticed any sick cats, really, but he was out a lot of the time and could be missing things.

[Eaglefeather]

((^^ Hooray))

The snow reached up to Ravenkit's underbelly. He worked laborously to reach the top of the hill, his tiny lungs pumping to draw in the cold, winter air. His yellow eyes gleamed as he drew closer and closer to the top, and he paused beside a huge lump of rock sticking out of the snow next to him. Ravenkit could hear voices drifting to him from somewhere below. Ravenkit peered over the edge of the snowy hill, then spotted a few of his Clan mates below. Ravenkit's tail-tip twitched uneasily. They would ruin his fun as soon as they saw him! They'd send him back to camp for sure.

Ravenkit narrowed his eyes. As long as he was going to be seen, he might as well have some fun out of it. Ravenkit yowled in delight and leapt off of the edge of the hill, sliding down towards the other cats, gaining momentum until he was going too fast to stop himself. Ravenkit barreled through the group of cats, then went tumbling head over tail through the snow.

[Ashpaw]

Ashpaw had opened his mouth, about to reply to Duststorm, when he heard his name get called out. Turning his head in the direction of the source, he noticed another warrior - Russetblaze - padding towards them.

Remaning silent as Russetblaze and Duststorm coversed with each other, his mind began to drift to other thoughts, only picking up pieces of the conversation. Hmm... His mind wandered aimlessly, his thoughts switching to think about herbs as he heard it mentioned. I don't exactly think herbs are running too well. Last time I went out to check, I could only find a few crumpled shoots of a few plants that I didn't even need. We are running quite low on a few of the herbs... I should probably go looking for a few later...

Thoughts distracted, he almost missed Duststorm's question towards him.

Flicking his ears forward as he caught most of the comment, Ashpaw replied, "Oh, no, it's been a rather easy leaf-bare, or so I've been told. We haven't had many sick cats in, if only for something small like a thorn in their paw. It's quite good that there hasn't been too much sickness, though. Well, for the obvious reasons... because nobody wants sick cats in their clan. Our herbs are running a bit low, though I haven't been able to find many around the territory. I just hope they re-grow soon..."

Voice trailing off again, his ears twitched towards a yowling sound. It sort of sounded like a kit. Confused, Ashpaw turned his head towards the noise, only to be greeted by a small back bundle of fur careening up towards them. As he tumbled through the bunch, Ashpaw stumbled back, almost loosing his footing completely again. His right paw slipped from under him, but he managed to still is before he fell again to the ground completely.

Ooc:// Blargh D: I was going to post more, but I have to go to an exam now D:

[mosswhisker]

Russetblaze snorted. "I figured as much," she mewed, "Without fresh kill our warriors will soon fall prey to sickness, and without any herbs to treat them..." she trailed off not wanting to finish her sentence.

Why am I thinking like this? I've never though about giving up so easily! There's got to be a way around this The dark ginger she cat contemplated darkly. "I know," she suddenly thought of something, not one of her best plans, but it was something, "We could just ask--" Once again Russetblaze broke off, but this time it wasn't of her own accord. An excited shriek pierced the cold air. The dark she cat just barely leaped back in time as a bundle of black fur hurtled past her.

"Ravenkit?" she looked at Ashpaw and Duststorm with a confused look in her dark green eyes, before padding over to where the kit had landed. "What, may I ask, are you doing out of camp, Ravenkit? You know the last thing we need is a kit to get sick in this cold weather," Russetblaze's voice wasn't harsh, but it wasn't exactly warming either.