A Beautiful Leafbare Morning

[kitty]

The day dawned chilly, a cool breeze blowing through the RiverClan camp. A layer of frost coated the ground, the reeds, the leaves, anywhere it could get to. This was to be expected of leafbare, but it was still plenty warm enough for the cats of the thick-furred Clan to be out and about. Despite the fine layer of snow that had fallen the day before, it had gotten warm enough to melt it away, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky to suggest more was on the way. With the snow, though, the prey would surely start retreating for the season. But that was not something to worry about now.

It was shortly after dawn; the sun had cleared the tops of the trees and reflected brightly off the frost-coated camp, where Palestar was situated. Right smack-dab in the middle of camp, keeping watch for any sign of life. A dawn patrol still had to be found. Perhaps he could lead it, and take one other warrior with him. Get to know his cats a bit better. Besides, the patrol wouldn't need to be very big. The four Clans seemed rather peaceful for the time being, something Palestar found to be a great relief. After all the fighting and disputes in the past moons, every cat could use a bit of peace.

It was nice to just sit and watch the sun rise, the RiverClan leader thought, in a state of happiness. These were mornings he loved best, despite the slight chill to the air. When the sun got high enough, the frost would thaw out. That made him a bit sad; frost was so pretty. But it would just be back again tomorrow, so he could see it then. Frost wasn't a good thing, though. It drove the fish deeper in the water, the warm-blooded prey deeper in their holes. But it was still early leafbare. His Clan was in no danger of starving. Especially reduced to its puny size as it was, from the disease and constant fighting from previous moons.

But those times were over, or so Palestar hoped. That was the only thing he could do anymore. Just hope and pray to StarClan. His Clan couldn't lose anymore cats, or there would be no hope left for the already-tiny RiverClan.

Ah well. At least it would be easier to feed themselves during the coming season.

[mystic]

Finchnose
^{I am not distracta- oh look a butterfly!}

"Good morning Palestar!" A chipper sounding voice mewed. A sleek red form slipped out of the Warriors den. It was Finchnose, and as always the red tom seemed very happy. "It's a wonderful morning isn't it?" he walked up to the leader. "Oh, frost." He mewed, pricking up his ears. "It's quite chilly, isn't it? Of course I was a Leaf Bare kit, so I'm used to this." he grinned foolishly and sighed. "At least there aren't any bees around. You know, it's never a good idea to lick a bee. They sting quite badly. Though it could have been a wasp that I licked, I never went back to check." he began chattering, then paused.

"So, are you planning a dawn patrol?" he asked. "If you are, I'd like to help out. I mean, I like mornings, a lot." he mewed happily. He walked around the leader. "I'll bet the other clans aren't happy, what with the cold. They don't have nice thick coats like we have. You know, I don't understand something. Shadowclan is like Tigerclan, Windclan is like Leopardclan and Thunderclan is like Lionclan. What's Riverclan like? Why are there only three old clans? Why isn't there a fourth one?" He asked.

[kitty]

Palestar's ears swiveled around to the sound of a young tom's voice coming from the warrior den, and after a quick scent of the air identified the cat to be Finchnose. And then Palestar knew that the quiet, peaceful morning would be interrupted; if there was anything that Finchnose was good at, it was being hyper and talkative. But that was alright; each cat had their own distinctive personality. "Good morning, Finchnose," the RiverClan leader greeted warmly without turning his head, breathe billowing from his mouth like a cloud in the cold air as he spoke. And then the predicted jumble of questions and comments came, with barely a pause between them. Palestar tried his best to keep up, but in the end just sat and watched the young warrior in amusement.

"Well, its probably a good thing you didn't go back to check. It was probably just as scared of you as you are of it," Palestar meowed, squeezing in a quick comment before the continual onslaught of questions and stories. "I might take out a dawn patrol later, yes, but I'm not entirely sure." He blinked as Finchnose launched into a new subject entirely, surprised at just how quickly the young warrior could change topics with barely a breathe in between. "Well, all cats get nice, thick pelts for leafbare-" He broke off mid-sentence, a bit exasperated, but answered his next question as best he could. "Well, we aren't sure why there were only three. Perhaps that's a question you should take to the elders. I personally think that RiverClan might be a mix of all three of the old Great Clans." Palestar turned to gaze towards the sunrise, lowering himself to the ground and tucking his forepaws neatly underneath his chest. Great StarClan, Finchnose was a talkative one.

[mystic]

Finchnose
^{I am not distracta- oh look a butterfly!}

"Maybe there was a forgotten old clan called Swimmycatclan." He said, giggling. "Do you think that the elders forgot about a clan like that." he took a deep breath then sat down. "I've been thinking. I know that Heatherpaw hasn't had an official mentor. And I know that I'm a little young. But she and I talked. And she and I have a real connection. Even if not, we like working together." He giggled a little. "It is a good morning isn't it? I've been up since first light. I don't like sleeping when there is so much to do and so much to see." he flicked his tail.

"I saw a weird thing out walking this morning. It was orange, and goopy and slimy. I don't know what it was, so I poked it... it felt like snot." He mewed. 'So I washed it off my paws. Do you think it was Starclan vomit?"

[kitty]

((Mystic, Heatherpaw does have a mentor. Her mentor is Appleclaw, I believe. She's always had one, its just been an NPC.))

[mystic]

(she's stated in her RPs that she didn't have a mentor. So I assumed that's how it was)