Hot,hot, and too hot (open)

[Snowflurry]

(I am trying to bring Snowflurry back into activity~!)

Snowflurry had been very sad lately. The weather was horrible, Goslingpaw was no where to be seen, and he was still a nervous, stuttering mess like always. Even his favorite spot was horrible. The stream was barely even a stream. The small warrior ears dropped as his paws squished in the mud that was once his favorite stream. Water flowed in the middle still but the heat in Greenleaf had made the water disappear almost everywhere else. "It is too hot..." he whimpered as he walked to the center of the stream and bent down to lap at the water a bit. Refreshing....but warm. He made a face at the warm water dripping from his whiskers now, it didn't taste all that great. 

He slowly walked out of the mud, his paws now filthy but the substance was already beginning to dry up. It would flake off eventually. Fireclan was just so unbearable in Greenleaf, especially for a cat who hates the heat. The small tabby let out a sigh and just laid down in the tall grasses along the muddy bank and sadly plopped his head on his muddy paws, not caring much if he got mud on his face. 

[Redfang]

The day was sweltering, without breeze nor cloud cover to take the edge from the sun's harsh yellow glare. Despite the unbearable greenleaf heat, Redfang had a lopsided grin plastered on his face, enjoying the newfound freedom given to him by warriorhood. Just to wander around the territory uninhibited felt like a blessing. When the sun had reached its zenith, the ruddy warrior found himself ambling along the bank of a stream, the gentle babble of the small body of water instilling within the tom a feeling of content. This peace was interrupted when he stumbled upon a muddy gray cat, laying rather unhappily in a swath of tall grass. "Rather odd place for a nap," he said, the corners of his lips turning up into a wry smirk.

[Snowflurry]

Snowflurry's ears pricked up as he heard someone speak. His eyes flickered open, he had nearly dozed off with this drowsiness heat. A flush of anxiety suddenly took over as he looked up at the tom-cat hovering above him. He stared for a minute, noticing the cat's icy blue eyes and small smirk. He blinked and cocked his head, nervously smiling and looking at the ground. "I suppose it is...well I mean....I-I-I wasn't really napping" he stuttered a bit as he let out an uncontrollable yawn, very convincing.

He sat up apprehensively, looking at his now dirt-caked paws in embarrassment,he should have cleaned up... opps. "Well,um sorry...hello?" he mewed in a flustered greeting, he was extremely off-guard. The tiny warrior shuffled his paws in an attempt to brush some of the crusted mud off and gave Redfang a tiny, nervous smile...unaware the mud caked on his chin.

[Redfang]

"Right..." Redfang replied, a flicker of amusement passing through his icy gaze as the stump tailed tom blew his own cover with an enormous yawn. "You missed a spot, by the way," he added with another smirk, flicking Snowflurry's chin with the tip of his tail. Curious, the long-furred warrior sat on his hind legs, wrapping his tail around his forepaws and examining the cat before him. "So," he said after a moment of studying the warrior, "What exactly were you doing out here? Enjoying the greenleaf sun? Out for a stroll?" He cocked his head in the direction of the stream, a cheeky grin tugging at his mouth, and added, "Or, perhaps, going for a swim?"

[Snowflurry]

Snowflurry felt fur flush as a tail flicked his chin. Missed a spot? His eyes widened a tad when it clicked, he must have mud on his face. He quickly lifted one paw and rubbed his chin, cleaning that up. Embarrassed, he sat down and straightened himself up. This tom had an interesting personality, very...oh he couldn't put a word to it, but it kept a flustered cat like Snowflurry on his feet.

His ear's twitched as the warrior asked him why he was out here. Snowflurry made a face. " Enjoying the greenleaf sun? Bleh! This-this heat is horrible. Hot, hot hot!" he exclaimed, lifting his paws in exaggeration slightly before noticing and shuffling shyly once again. Snowflurry let out a small, nervous laugh as he followed Redfang's head towards the stream. " And I was definitely swimming...I doubt a cat could swim with...with the water so low." Snowflurry's blue eyes watched the water for a moment before glancing back at the red furred cat.

"No I was just....loathing by the stream...which I guess I was kinda on a stroll? I-It is my favorite spot....when the...when the water is high and it isn't s-scorching hot out. I have this spot where Goslingpaw and I would gather interesting things like turtle shells, feathers, twoleg things..anything really. W-w-we would store them in an extremely old fox hole. And I..and I like to sometimes try and catch small fish even though I am not very good at.....opps sorry...I was rambling" he cut himself off as he noticed himself trailing off into one-sided conversation, ears dropping and ears flushing slightly as he apologized.

[Redfang]

Redfang felt his mischievous grin turn into an amused smile as the little tom spoke about his dislike of the heat, the stream, and what was evidently a hobby of his. He shook his head when the tom cut himself off, his gaze full of a friendly warmth. "Don't worry yourself on my account," he said, then added, "In fact, I thought your 'rambling' was adorable." The red-furred tom made sure to emphasize the word adorable, as he figured it might fluster the gray warrior- and, he admitted, because he thought it was true. "So," Redfang said, letting his gaze wander toward the tiny stream as the shadow of a smirk crossed his mouth. "You like collecting?" He supposed the question was obvious, but he felt as though the tom would appreciate him taking an interest in his interests.

[Snowflurry]

Snowflurry felt his heart quicken as Redfang's comment reached his ears. His eyes widened for a moment, butterflies filling his stomach and mind going boggy as he stumbled to think of something to say. It filled the small warrior with a warm feeling to know that the tom had not been bothered by his rambling, his friendly smile comforting in a way but one thing just made the shy cat heat up with flustered embarrassment. Adorable.

He shuffled his paws nervously, opening his mouth a few times as if to respond but he just kept quiet. " You to?...wait no that....no you are not adorable sorry!....well unless you want to be adorable then I guess in certain ways you may indeed come off as a-adorable, and of course you are a warrior so some cats do not like to think of themselves as adorable if they are instead maybe trying to.... but .....oh rats.....I-I-I mean... thank you?....for the compliment that is , if it was a compliment? He shyly glanced at the reddish cat, let out an anxious smile. Dear Cloudclan that had been a disastrous attempt to thank someone.

His heart still racing, his attention was brought back to Redfang as he spoke up again. He felt himself come back to Fireclan, his heart calming down slowly. Redfang had been listening to his collecting story at least, and seemed to at least take interest. That was good. I am not annoying him then, he thought as he stood up and composed himself. "Yeah I do....it is kinda...weird and pointless but sometimes I find pretty interesting stuff!" he chirped. He began to kneaded the ground out of nervous habit and glanced at the tom for a moment, " I can show you if you like?.....my collection that is" he tried to imitate one of Redfang's smirky looks but could feel that he couldn't really pull it off quite as well. He really just looked like a goof but at least he was being social.

[Redfang]

Redfang laughed good-naturedly as Snowflurry stumbled through his expression of gratitude. "Well, I suppose if you think I'm adorable, then I'm adorable. And don't worry, it was most certainly a compliment," he replied with a wink, flicking his tail out once again to swipe the tom's ears. The little warrior had reacted as he'd thought he would, and it brought another amused smile to the ruddy warrior's mouth. He listened as the other tom spoke more about his hobby, and he flashed another of his smirks when Snowflurry made an effort to imitate him. "If something brings you joy, then it can't be pointless. And yes, of course I'd like to see your collection. Lead on," he replied, flicking his ears toward the general direction of the stream.

[Snowflurry]

Snowflury wore a small, genuine smile as Redfang spoke. He really did know how to make the shy warrior even more flustered than usual, but he also knew just the right words to bring a bubbly happiness to the small warrior. The small cat gave a nod and somewhat hopped to his toes as he turned towards the stream. "My spot is just a little upstream...f-follow me!" He began to walk, his stumpy tail wiggling happily. His mood was not too hard to change, he honestly didn't even remember that he had previously been sad now. If someone is even a smidgen kind to him, that makes his day already. He was just excited to show another cat the knickknacks he treasured so dearly.

"Do not have to high of expectations...it isn't that impressive but I know I have at least one thing you must find interesting....there....there is a lot" He explained as he began walking upstream, occasionally glancing at Redfang instead of ahead of him. He knew exactly where his hide-away hole was for all his stuff, he had been there a thousand times, so it did not take long for them to get to it.

As they approached the old fox den, which he had dug out more himself and was now a fairly large hole, Snowflurry felt nostalgia ripple over him. He had been a bit down lately and hadn't been by here in a while. Goslingpaw and himself had kept this a secret between just the two of them, and a small pang of regret for bringing Redfang here began to swell in him. Goslingpaw had been gone for a while now anyways and probably wouldn't even mind, it still felt a tad wrong though. He shook the thought and remembered he was supposed to be happy to show Redfang his collection.

"Well here we are!" he chirped, making himself smile once again as he approached the hole. It was covered with some sticks and tall grasses to protect from the elements. He leaned down and began to remove each stick one by one until the entrance was cleared. "There are not... there are not many trees in Fireclan so it-it took forever to get this many sticks!" he giggled as he looked at the pile of sticks and grass he had pushed to the side. Being a small cat had its perks as he could slip into the hole and retrieve items much more easily than most could if they were to try. "Here one second let me just..." he trailed of as he crawled into the hole and disappeared into the darkness.

[Redfang]

Redfang followed along happily as Snowflurry led him toward his hide-away, smiling at the tom every time he glanced at him over his shoulder. As he walked, he discovered that, though he regularly walked about the territory- even as an apprentice- he almost always had a destination in mind when doing so. It was nice to follow someone else, and simply enjoy the scenery as he walked; the fact that he walked with someone he found interesting- And adorable, he thought with a grin- only added to the experience. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of things that catch my eye," he assured the tom; in truth, he'd always appreciated things of beauty, whether it was the endless expanse of the night sky, spattered with the sporadic twinkle of the stars, or the soaring majesty of mountains. This instilled within him a certainty that he would rather enjoy the bubbly little tom's collection, as things of nature typically caught his eye more than most anything else. Upon reaching the abandoned fox hole, Redfang felt a lopsided grin grow on his muzzle as Snowflurry giggled about the sticks, and in reply said, "I bet; it seems it was worth your time, though, considering it doesn't appear as though any of the elements have affected it too greatly." The ruddy warrior felt a flash of concern as the little tom wiggled his way into the hole; though he knew the warrior had likely done this plenty of times before, small spaces always worried him. "Uh, Snowflurry...?" he called, peeking into the burrow in an effort to make sure the other cat was safe.

[Snowflurry]

Snowflurry felt a bit of flushing heat overcome him once more with Redfang's choice of words as they walked and once they arrived he got right to work. His ears perked up as the tom commented on the protective stick barrier, as he liked to refer to it as. "Yup this is the only way I could think to make sure not too much rain or snow got into the hole....sometimes i-I still have to dig stuff out and such but it works pretty well!" He replied as he moved the sticks and wiggled into the hole.

He heard Redfang call into the hide-away hole and his voice didn't sound as usual....more worried than charming or witty. Snowflurry adjusted himself in the tiny tunnel, turning around awkward, and resurfaced. His nose bonked against the other cat's as he attempted to pop up, unaware that Redfang had stuck his head into the hole slightly. "Ahh sorry...it was dark, harder to see down here.....what it is?" he asked as he peeked his head out, his expression a tad confused and flustered at the same time.

[Redfang]

Redfang pulled his head back a tad when Snowflurry's face collided with his own, but he still remained close. He gave the tom another lopsided grin- one touched with embarrassment, this time, something he rarely ever showed. I was worried for nothing, he thought. "Ah, it was nothing, just... making sure everything was alright," he admitted with a flick of his ears. "Sorry, get back to it, I'll wait up here," he added, his usual confident charm flooding back in to replace his moment of uncertainty. He shot the tom another of his smirks to assure him that it had been nothing serious, then sat down to wait, still keeping an eye on the old fox hole.

[Snowflurry]

Snowflurry looked at him uncertain for a moment, and gave him a small reassuring smile as well. "Oh okay...don't...do not worry it is fine. I will be back in a jiff,this is a super short tunnel, so I will not be long! I do this all the time !" The small tom gave him one last soft smile before awkwardly turning around and disappearing into the darkness once more. The tight, dark space used to scare him but he had gotten very used to it after gong down here over and over that is was like second-nature. He grinned as he made his way downwards, thinking about how Redfang had been worried for him.

One he wiggled his way to the end of the short tunnel it opened up into what was probably a fox den previously. It was a much wider, more open space and was currently cluttered with knickknacks that the tiny tabby had collected over moons and moons. He squinted in the very dim light and traced his paws over objects as he tried to find what he was looking for. "There you are..." he whispered as he found one of the things he was trying to find. He pushed it to the center of the burrow as he went though and found the other things he wished to bring up to his friend awaiting on the surface. For a moment he stops and thought about this situation from Redfang's perspective. A tiny stuttering cat brings me to a hole, and goes underground to show me junk he has collected.....I am such a weird cat. he frowned for a minute, pausing with his paws still on a feather he was about to bring up. Self-consciousness made him hesitate for a few moments before he remembered Redfang was still waiting and he shook of his thoughts of insecurity. Redfang was a nice cat and he wanted to see all of this stuff.

One by one items began to slide out of the hole onto the grass as Snowflury pushed them to the surface. A black rock with small pieces of clear stone that made it glitter, a blue jay feather, a turtle shell, an ear of dry corn with a few kernels missing, and a large piece of broken glass from a green beer bottle which Snowflurry decided to call a 'green twoleg reflection rock'. He was careful with each item , especially the twoleg rock which he had cut his paw pad on several times. Lastly Snowflurry climbed out of the hole and shook some loose dirt off of himself. He neatly lined each item up in a row so Redfang could look at them better. He gave a small smile as he looked down at some of the prized pieces from his collection, he was very proud of them. "These....well these are just a few things I have found in the territory. I like to find stuff when I am alone out on a walk or hunting.....it makes everything more fun...like...well like life is just big scavenger hunt!" he explained, happy with his new found analogy for his collecting hobby.

[Redfang]

Despite his assurances otherwise- both to himself and to Snowflurry- Redfang found that he still felt a shred of concern for the other tom, and as more time went by, he began to shuffle anxiously, trying to peer further into the darkness of the tunnel without actually moving from where he sat. When his newfound friend finally emerged, he let out a quiet sigh of relief, then stood back up to get a better look at the little warrior's collection. He watched with a barely noticeable grin as the tabby lined the items up carefully, making sure they were presentable. The red-furred tom studied each item closely, finding a simple beauty in the dried up ear of corn and the turtle shell that he appreciated as much as he did the more overtly pretty jay feather. He felt that the black rock, with its glittering bits of clear stone, was his favorite; it reminded him a bit of the night sky, laced with stars. The odd, reflective Twoleg item was what caught his curiosity, however. Redfang fixed his gaze on Snowflurry once more, smiling as the tom spoke about the items in front of him and why he liked to collect the things he did. "They're all very nice; it seems you've developed a good eye for this type of thing," he replied, his friendly smile still creasing his mouth upward. He bent to study the clear green shard again, reaching out with a paw to touch it. "Ouch!" he recoiled, holding his paw up so he could lap at the blood that was welling from a small cut on his pad. "Guess I should be a bit more careful," he remarked, looking back at the Twoleg item with a wary respect. Pretty and dangerous.

[Snowflurry]

The tiny warrior anxiously hovered as Redfang looked at everything, he had a story for everything and could talk about each thing for hours but he waited quietly until the other cat spoke up to say a thing. "Thank you! I....."

Snowflurry felt his heart leap as he watched Redfang reach out for the reflective green object. Before he could say anything it was too late and Redfang had already cut himself. There was no way the cut was a bad one at all but Snowflurry's facial expression still looked like he had accidentally caused his whole clan to perish. His ears dropped instantly and he hopped to his feet and scurried to the tom-cat's side. "I am so s-sorry!" he exclaimed, his voice anxiously cracking. "There...no I am sorry I should have warned you...I didn't thi-think.....the edges of it are like c-c-claws but....I d-didn't..." his voice began to crack more and he felt his chest begin to get extremely heavy. His ears couldn't possible go any flatter as he sat down and extended one paw slowly, lifting up Redfang's paw that had been cut. He let out a small frown as he saw the cut, which was so extremely small but still his fault. Redfang hadn't even seemed mad but Snowflurry's mind was already going a mile a minute thinking of how he may never talk to him again.