Chilly (O)

[Specklepaw]

I sat up quickly as the bitingly cold wind blew over me. I huffed, looking out at the sky. It was still night, the moon high up in the sky. Though I wasn't really surprised: night came much quicker than it had during leaf-fall. Even training could be more of a pain than it would be usually, because of how the wind bit through my thin fur on the moors.
I was on the edge of the den, being one of the younger apprentices, and looked around, wondering if any others were woken up by the draft. Calling out into the den would be a bad idea, though: waking up a cranky denmate or a light sleeper would be a bad idea.

[Deleted]

-i know these two have met before but i want to get moth some more posts-

mothpaw sniffled as he lay in his nest, his small body still cold despite the effort he had put in to try and stay warmer. he didn't want to make his runny nose even worse. the young tom blinked his tired eyes as he observed his surroundings, watching the other apprentices sleep. he couldn't help but be envious of their slumber considering he was struggling to sleep because of the difficulty to breath and the slight aching in his head.

as he observed, the young apprentice noticed a cat whom he recognised from kithood- specklepaw. he grinned and got up, shivering wildly as the cold air hit him. "sp-specklepaw?" he called, stuttering from the cold.

[Specklepaw]

(It's fine! It seems we're both a little slow on post counts :,D)

"Mothpaw?" I asked, recognizing the tom's voice and also his bright ginger-and-white pelt. I sat up, though winced at yet another cold breeze and crouched down to the floor again, letting the wind howl overhead. "Cold, isn't it?" I said in a slightly rasping voice, though shook my head immediately. "Nah, that's obvious enough. Seems we both can't sleep because of this cold weather." I added, clearing my throat to try and get rid of the raspy tone I could hear. I could only hope that these symptoms, from today's training, was only an effect of the dry weather, and didn't constitute a visit to the medicine cat's den.

[Deleted]

-yeah, a lot of my accounts are though recently-

mothpaw sniffled again and frowned with a nod of agreement. it was way too cold. he shivered at another gust of cold wind and made his way over to specklepaw, trying not to wake anyone up as he sniffled again, trying to stop his nose running. he sat next to her when he arrived and couldn't help but note the raspiness in her voice, flattening his ears with slight worry as he pressed his face into her fur, not even bothering to ask if it was okay. he honestly just wanted to be warmer. "are you 'kay?" he asked, stifling a sneeze with a few heavy breaths before continuing, "your voice sounds raspy," he said.

[Specklepaw]

"Yeah, I'm hoping it clears up. Pretty sure a lot of cats are like this now, anyway." I answered. Feeling him press against me, I almost drew away out of impulse, though remained there. However, I noted his own tone of voice. "Though you seem worse for wear. I hope you've gone to Crowwing about that." Despite the fact that the medicine cats were, of course, under strain in their lack of resources during leaf-bare, he seemed a lot worse than the other apprentices with sniffles or coughs, such as myself.

[Deleted]

mothpaw just nodded and nuzzled a little closer, trying not to get any snot on her fur. that wouldn't be very good. "i've not been to go see anyone about it yet," he frowned slightly, now realising that he probably should have before it got as bad as it was currently. "h-have you been?" he asked, teeth chattering lightly as he wrapped his short tail around his back paws.

[Specklepaw]

I fluffed up my fur a bit for warmth before replying. Not much had occurred, as compared to my very high expectations for apprenticeship. "Well, Windcry has showed me the territories, but I haven't learned any hunting or battle skills yet." I began. "Though I've been watching some of the other apprentices, so I'm not helpless." I added, purring. "How have you been, since your ceremony?"

[Deleted]

mothpaw nodded as he listened, not feeling up to talking too much anymore but he replied anyway, not wanting to look rude, "it's nice you're still learning," he smiled lightly, sniffling again before quickly putting a paw over his face so he could sneeze, "pretty much the same, I've been out into the territory but I haven't met many cats 'cause i've been sick pretty much my whole apprenticeship," he explained, yawning.

[Specklepaw]

I didn't respond at first, looking up at the sky again. The clearing was illuminated by moonlight, though the clouds hid the stars. I cleared my throat quietly, not wanting to cough all over the den, and said, "Hmm. It's probably hard for all of us now, just to train or do our everyday routine." Pausing, I added, "I wish we still had the energy of kits, then nothing would stand in our way." I purred, laying down and settling into my nest, still feeling the chill of the wind, but more sheltered among the other sleeping apprentices.

[Deleted]

mothpaw nodded in agreement. he too, wishes he was still as energetic as a kit. he could still remember all the fun he had had, for example when he and speckle had tried to climb the nursery wall. he laughed lightly at the thought, but quickly stopped when the sound of his laughter began to make his head hurt more.

the russet and white tom looked down when specklepaw lay and he copied her movement, also trying to get comfortable on the cold floor. "kithood was fun," he sniffled again, "remember when we tried to climb the nursery?" he reminisced.

[Specklepaw]

-bleh I have a bad cold irl-

I nodded, poking my muzzle halfway out of the crowded den, then sneezing and pulling it back in. The wind was still strong, though I could see the nursery all the same: the small, woven den. "Yeah. Now that I see some of the trees from TreeClan territory, the nursery seems pretty small now. Still, I wouldn't want to climb trees, anyway." I added with a touch of humor. Even on top of the nursery, it was beautiful, but gave me vertigo. I couldn't imagine how TreeClan cats could stand being up so high.

[Deleted]

-aww get well soon <3-

mothpaw laughed slightly, coughing a little before continuing, "yeah, the trees do look high," he purred, "i'd never climb one though, not with my bad balance," he said, waving his short tail, which was the reason he struggled to stay upright sometimes.

"i used to think the nursery was so high up," he joked, "that i could touch the stars and drag them down just from standing up there," he paused. "we were stupid as kits."

[Leafpaw]

"Not really..." A soft voice whispered nearby. "We were just curious. It was natural, at that age." Leafpaw mumbled knowingly. She looked out at the stars and sighed. It truly was cold, though her thick fur formed a protective shield against the chilly onslaught. She dipped a small white paw out into the frigid air outside, and bit back a hiss. She was lucky to be somewhat sheltered.

[Specklepaw]

I nodded at Mothpaw's response, though my ears pricked up when I heard a new voice to my right. I squinted in the darkness, seeing a white paw reach out and immediately withdraw from the cold. The rest of her was hard to see, as I could finally make out a tortoiseshell pelt, yellow eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Well, you're not wrong there. As kits, we didn't have much knowledge, but we were definitely curious." I responded. "What's your name?"

[Leafpaw]

"Leafpaw." She answered. She sighed and settled down a bit closer to the entrance to the den, getting used to the cold. She tipped her head, and asked,"And yours?"