[Waiting for Spring]

[Goldenblaze]

<sub>The air was brisk and cold, just warm enough for the sun to shine down a meager attempt at sunlight, but just cold enough to set under one's fur. With every breath the dark colored feline took, it burned his lungs with a cold sheet of frost.

The waterfall was beginning to thaw, giving off a brisk mist that settled around the cave Mistclan cats called home. Winter was harsh for cats that resided here, having a constantly oily fur slick with water, letting the winter bite through. Still, Rustshade reflected, he always felt so alive on the verge of Spring.

Eager for a chance to truly stretch his legs and get out of the Clan, he had escaped out to the field. It served as a dual purpose, to get a headstart on staying lean over the warm seasons and to restock on the food pile, which had been dwindling more and more as of late.

Perched upon a solitary rock, laying as flat as possible to survey the sparse, weedy shrubs on the outskirts of the field, Rustshade watched idly. He was taking his time really, not caring if he was out and about for a while. He was tired of being cooped up. As a small vole darted past, unaware of it's company, Rustshade flicked his tail.

Yes, Rustshade thought to himself as he dashed after the rodent, it was good to be alive on a cool winter's day.</sub>

[Ripplemist]

Ripplemist had always liked the cold, had always relished rolling and playing in the soft snow, feeling its gentle weight atop her coat and knowing she was warm and alive in stark contrast. But yet at the same time, it served as a painful reminder of that fateful day, when she had found herself surrounded by white, white, white and nothing-- no one- else but white. It was a love/not-quite-hate relationship for her; replace hate with some word which meant "melancholy-inducing" and you'd have the definition nailed.

Today, however, as she watched her breath mist out in front of her while her paws lead her to the field, Ripplemist figured she had better things to do than mope over her old memories, such as catch food for the clan. Evidently, she wasn't the only one who had thought the same way. One light tread on the frozen ground was followed by the next as she made her way over to the rock where her friend had been waiting, careful not to scare away any potential prey.

She was quite content to sit there for the time being and idly watch Rustshade hunt, knowing without a doubt that the vole stood no chance of escaping his claws, and that subsequent prey would meet the same fate. Between the two of them, really, Ripplemist was confident they'd get the freshkill pile heaped so high their clanmates wouldn't know where to start.

[Goldenblaze]

<sub>The vole darted around his paw as he landed, and he spun around on the cold earth to give chase, unaware that he had company. A couple more graceful leaps and he had overtaken the little animal and scooped it up. With a terrified shriek that was enough to send the rest of the prey scattering, Rustshade silently cursed himself for letting it getting away enough to give chase.

With his back turned, his body going still as he realized he wasn't alone, he raised his head to glance behind him, only to realize his old friend had trailed him out here. With an almost wolfish grin at his friend, tail waving over the ground in a pleasant greeting, he turned to face Ripplemist.

It was almost habit to let his mind brush over the adventures he and the other cats had back when they were merely older than kits. Terrifying, but exciting. Still, since the war, and all it's melancholy aftereffects, Rustshade decided it was enough adventure to last any leader all nine lives.</sub>

[Onyxdart]

The cold didn't bother Andromeda. Her thick fur kept out all but the worst of the cold and wind. Today, it was neither too cold, nor windy. Instead, the sun- present but unable to be felt at this early spring day- was shining down merrily as if making up for a cold cloudy winter. She smelled rather than saw Rustshade, which probably meant he was hunting. Ripplemist was up on the rock waiting for him, presumably.

Or he had been hunting. She saw him give up just after she heard the shriek of a prey animal getting away. Since he was no longer hunting, she bounded the rest of the way to the rock to greet the other two.

Unlike the other two, Andromeda had not grown up with these cats. She'd very quietly joined the clan, and very quietly tried to make friends and not entirely succeeded in every case. She'd succeeded in one case, but Medium had been gone a long time. She shook her head, shaking the thoughts out of it. It was spring, time for happy thoughts and not dwelling on past regrets or missing friends.

"Nice day, huh?" she asked the other two as she joined them by the rock, smiling in greeting to both of them.

[Ripplemist]

Ripplemist felt quite the same way. Considering all their danger-fraught adventures and everything they saw and experienced as mere kits, it was a wonder they had all survived long enough to receive their warrior names, and now lived their peaceful day-to-day clanlives as if nothing had ever happened.

But of course it had, and Ripplemist wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.

"Nice catch." She flicked her ears good-naturedly as she glanced at the vole, not a trace of reproval in her voice; the prey would come back eventually, and they weren't in a rush anyway. Really, for now she was content to just enjoy the faint warmth of the weak sunlight and the slight, chilly breeze ruffling her fur. At the sound of another voice she looked over, recognising their quiet clanmate and waved her tail gently in greeting.

"Hey Andromedra!"