A White Island

[♫ E§he ♥]

Brackenstripe slowly let the morning rays of dawn creep into his eyes. He slowly pushed himself to his paws, parting his jaws in a wide yawn. He stretched his sore muscles, shaking off bits of moss that clung to his thick, tabby fur. He drowsily padded out of the den, only to spring backward into Sunwing.
"Oops, sorry," he turned his attention back to the clearing.

Now wide awake, he saw that the ground of the island was coated with a white pelt of snow. A large grin stretched across his face, spreading his long white whiskers. He scanned the clearing for a second with his sky-blue eyes, then then erupted into a series of excited yowls.
"It snowed, it snowed," he chanted, kicking up snow as he raced around the clearing.

The once perfectly-lain snow was now covered with many pawprints. Brackenstripe kicked up snow, then stopped suddenly. He had been spraying everyone with snow who emerged from their dens, including Cinderstar.
He did his best to grin innocently, then raced back into warrior's den. He hid in the back, still pumped with the early-morning thrill.

[Silver]

Cinderstar watched Brackenstripe emerged from the warrior den. As he danced around the clearing, he kicked up snow and sprayed her. She stood still, then blinked and shook the snow off. Brackenstripe disappeared into the warriors den, and Cinderstar followed. "Brackenstripe, Embersky! I want you two to come on dawn patrol with me," she called into the den. "Sunwing, why dont you start hunting and we'll meet up with you when were done? If you can catch anything in this snow, that is. I'll be with you all in a moment," she finshed, shaking her slowly freeing paws. She jumped through the snow towards the elders den. Slipping inside, she found the snow had not gotten inside the den. Gently, she padded over to Willowears. "Are you awake?" she whispered. Willowears grunted, before rising to his paws. "This cold is making my bones stiff!" he grumbled. Yawning, he sat down again. Cinderpaw shifted from paw to paw before looking up at her father. "Do you agree with my choice for deputy? Last night you just..." she trailed off.
"I personally would not havee chosen her, because of her unruly behavor in the past. You were just a kit then, and I doubt you remember anything. However, she has seemed to act more mature since she became deputy. You need to learn to be confident with your choices," he added. "Now, im sure you also came in here to see if we were comfortable, I assume?" he asked, without letting Cinderstar reply. She nodded, and he dismissed her with a flick of his tail. "Im a litle stiff, but I'll manege. Go on," he finished, settling down again. Soon, he was asleep. Cinderstar padded outside into the snow, thinking about what her father had said. She quietly waited at the entrance for Brackenstripe and Embersky.

[♫ E§he ♥]

Brackenstripe trotted out of the Warriors' Den, his fur still ruffled from his recent rampage. He rasped his tongue down his chest several times before reluctantly padding toward the camp entrance.
I hope Cinderstar isn't mad that I sprayed her with snow... ikes, I hope she doesn't claw my tail off when my back is turned! Cats'll notice if I'm missing... right?

Brackenstripe shuffled his paws in the dirt as he and Cinderstar waited for Embersky. He twitched his whiskers with boredom, then started to make claw-marks in the snow.
I wonder... if snow is frozen water, then a mouthful of snow would melt in your mouth and be just like taking a lap of water.
He suddenly took a big mouthful of snow, like the snow was a juicy piece of prey. But snow didn't melt as quickly as he expected, and he ended up having to spit it out.
"Pfft! Uhhh, my mout ish fwozen," he began to rasp his tongue around his muzzle, hoping to get the circulation going.

He glanced over to realize that Cinderstar had been beside him the whole time. He tried to grin, but the sides of his numb mouth wouldn't go up all the way.

[Måø§†]

Sunwing padded out of the warriors den, ears high and a lively expression held on her face. Jumping back in horror, she found her feet icy with snow. She stare surprised at the scene in front of her, snow blanketed the camp. Some shuffled, others still light powder.

After regaining consciousness she padded over towards Cinderstar and shook her head with pity as Brackenstripe tried to smile, but an odd face formed as if he couldn't move half of his mouth. Have groaning and half laughing she turned her focus to Cinderstar. She had been sleeping when Cinderstar had called her and had finally woken up as Cinderstar had finished yowling. Thankfully Fernstep had reminded her.

But another question kneaded at her over and over again. She had had a dream. Although what it was about she was still not sure of, it seemed to vague, so undetermined. But she remembered the more important parts of it. Not wanting to keep the curious leader waiting she was about to ask when Fernstep bursted from the warriors den and jumped around happily, "It snowed! I can't believe it!" her white pelt seemed to blend in with some of the snow as she squirmed around on her back from side to side. When she got up her entire back was soaking wet with white all over it. Sunwing laughed, Fernstep had been her friend since they were kits. Most of her, and Brackenstripes, kit liveliness remained.

Fernstep raced up to Cinderstar, "May I go hunting with Sunwing?" her voice was high and eager to get out. Plus, Mistclan would need more cats to hunt if they wanted to stay healthy. Both warrior now looked intently at Cinderstar, eyes beaming.

Oh well, I'll talk to Cinderstar about my dream later, it can always wait, Sunwing thought. Right now she was anxious to go and hunt.

[Silver]

Cinderstar felt her lips twitch, itching to smile at the tom's foolishness. She forced herself to remain calm, but it was givin away by the way her body quivered with amusment. Eventually, she chuckled and said, "Lets go on our way. Embersky can catch up," she said, waving her tail. She turned to leave, but before she did she did something very rare. She scooped up a pawfull of snow and flicked it at Brackenstripes, before hurring out of camp. As she trotted forward, she ran the patrol over in her head. She especially wanted to go around Echoclan border after what she smelled last time.

[♫ E§he ♥]

A grin spread across Brackenstripe's face as he was showered with snow. He bounded through the camp entrance, doing his best to keep up with Cinderstar's quick feet. He almost collided with her as he rounded a bend on full-tilt speed. He skidded to a stop, just inches away from her back, and let out a sigh of relief.

Instantly he knew something was wrong. He quietly padded to stand beside Cinderstar, but accidentally rustled the leaves. He gave his leader his most innocent grin, then peered curiously through the bushes. He saw a black she-cat, probably a loner, on their territory. He tensed his muscles, seeing that she knew they were there.

Continued on the Thread: New Day