g(o)od morning

[Palefire]

Hailspirit relaxed in the morning sunlight, her eyes closed. Her ears swiveled as she listened to the different sounds of the clan waking up, a soft smile resting on her muzzle. She could already tell that it would be a good day.

Belly starting to rumble, she lifted her head and sniffed the air. 'I wonder if anyone wants to share some breakfast.'

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

(Sorry if it seems like I'm joining too many threads, it's just great to see another active RockClan member. xD)

The fall morning came crisp and clear as I walked out of the warriors' den, seeing the patrols being organized, a couple of apprentices talking, and the like, despite it being early morning, with many other cats still in their dens. The air was becoming cooler and clearer: not a problem for many, having thick coats for the chilly RockClan leafbare.
However, a sight of a ginger-and-white she-cat caught my eye. She was a warrior, of course: too large to be an apprentice still. Yet her scent was familiar to me. Walking over quickly, I greeted her. "Hello. Have we met before?"

[Palefire]

|| nooo it's awesome! I'm glad you posted<3 ||

The scent was familiar, though it took her a few moments to pinpoint who exactly it was. "I think we have..." Then it clicked. No wonder it took her a second to recognize the smell- they hadn't spoken in forever. Hailspirit perked up, smile growing. "Dapplecloud, is that you? I was Hailkit the last time we talked!" She hoped Dapplecloud remembered her. 'This might turn horribly awkward if she doesn't.'

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

Hailkit... I thouht. Still rings a bell, though. Suddenly, I remembered: the small, ginger-spotted kit, wanting to do the best she could for RockClan as an apprentice and warrior. "Oh yes! I remember now." I exclaimed, smiling. "Long time, no see, eh? Seems like you've become a warrior without me noticing." I added, purring.

[Palefire]

Hailspirit giggled quietly, giving the other she-cat a small nod. "Yes, it's been way too long. What have you been up to?" She wondered if anything drastic had happened to the calico. Had she gotten into a fight? Or maybe she went on an adventure? There were many different things that could've happened. 'Wait, she doesn't know my name now, does she?' "You can call me Hailspirit now."

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

"That's a great name for one such as yourself." I was inwardly glad to see her blindness had not slowed her down, though kept it to myself: a disability was, more often than not, a touchy subject. "Not much has been happening. I'm training a new apprentice, Whitepaw, so that's something." I said, shrugging. "Anything happening with you?"

[Palefire]

"Thank you!" She gushed, moving her head away shyly. She listened closely as Dapplecloud answered, a warm purr erupting from her. "I completely forgot that you were Whitepaw's mentor! He's my son." 'I'm glad that she was assigned him. I just hope he's not too much trouble.' She tipped her head, thinking for a moment when the calico bounced the question back. "Well, I just finished Silentpaw's training a few sunrises ago. I'm really happy for her. I'm also training another apprentice, Icypaw. She's really sweet."

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

I was quite taken aback when I heard that Whitepaw had been Hailspirit's kit. "Really? I had no idea; he never mentioned it." I said, purring. "It's good to hear that more apprentices are being trained, as well." I added, nodding. There had been a large influx of apprentices lately, with few warriors to take up mentorship, so I was glad to hear Hailspirit had become and still was a mentor.

[Palefire]

"Hmp. I bet it'd be too embarrassing for him to mention his mother." She chuckled softly, nodding in agreement to Dapplecloud's next words. "It's nice to know that the clan is growing. That means we'll have a lot more cats to help hunt in the cold season." 'Ugh. I don't want to be cold.' "Do you have thick fur?"

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

I purred at Hailspirit's comment about Whitepaw. "At least he has a very strong interest in training." The Clan was growing quickly, a good sign before the brunt of leaf-bare overcame us. I pricked my ears at the next question. "Yes, I have a thick coat." I said, fluffing it up a bit to accentuate. "It's good in leaf-fall and leaf-bare for morning patrols, though in greenleaf, sometimes I feel like I'm melting." I joked. "How about you?"

[Palefire]

"I'm happy to hear that." She hadn't spoken to Whitepaw since his apprenticeship, and it was kind of relieving to hear that he was doing okay. She twitched her tail in thought when Dapplecloud answered. "Well, that's one good thing about the colder moons. You won't be melting." She giggled softly. "My fur's kind of thick. I still end up being freezing in leaf-bare, though. Brr!"

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

"Indeed. Though all of us will feel the cold at some point." I purred. Even warm, thick fur of RockClanners wasn't quite enough to combat the harsh RockClan winter. It made leaving the warm warriors' den in the morning all the more painful. "And there's lack of prey, too. Speaking of which, want to share some?" I asked, angling my ears toward the fresh-kill pile. Being in leaf-fall, the pile looked pitiful in comparison to greenleaf, but there was still a fair amount of prey out in the territory.

[Palefire]

|| sorry for the lateness! ||

Hailspirit nodded in agreement, ears perking up when she offered some food. She had almost forgotten. That was the whole reason she was trying to find someone around. 'I guess our chit-chat had distracted me.' "I would love that. What are you in the mood for?" She asked, trying to think of what would be on the pile at this time of day.

[Dapplecloud]

Dapplecloud

"Doesn't really matter." I said, turning toward the pile. It had shrunk noticeably since the warm days of greenleaf, but there was still some prey left. I guess the Clan had been lucky that the apprentices and warriors were managing to find prey. I walked toward it and picked a piece of prey out at random, then turned to Hailspirit and dropped the fresh-kill at our feet; a blackbird. "You can have the first bite." I said, sitting down again.