Just Another Stick in the Mud

Blizzardsky gathered his fresh-kill, scooping it in his jaws. Today was a dull day. The sky was gloomy and gray, and there was a slight drizzle. Rain had poured earlier, but it seemed it would be returning again. He continued along ShadowClan territory, heading back. The sour tang of frog lingered in his mouth. It required a large amount of willpower for the tomcat to not bite down on it and eat it whole.

As he continued, he felt his paw squelch in the mud. Nothing unusual. ShadowClan was always swampy. However, the rain had worsened the mud, making half his leg submerge in dark liquid. "Eugh, gross," he grumbled through clenched teeth. He felt that the more he pressed on, the more he sank into the mud. The black and white warrior tossed the fresh-kill to the side before trying to pull himself free. He tugged. Once, twice. Plop! Blizzardsky was met with a face full of wet soil. Sputtering, he cried out.

A cry rang out through the trees, reaching Scarletfrost. She began running towards the source, slowing down to avoid skidding in the mud. She sees Blizzardsky stuck in the mud, and quickly picks her way towards him to help.
"You need a little help there?"

Blizzardsky was too troubled to realize that Scarletfrost was a mere fox-length away. He glanced up at the sound of her voice, spitting mud from his mouth. "No! I'm fine!" he snapped. The black and white tomcat pulled, his back legs gripping the moist ground with unsheathed claws. He fell back into the mud, deeper, so that his entire face was caked with the wet, brown soil. Miserably, he gave up, letting himself lie down in the mud pit, defeated.

Scarletfrost rolled her eyes and thought, Ugh, I get enough of this from Mousepaw.
"I don't have to help you. I could just walk back to camp." she answered in a flat voice, barely concealing irritation.
Blizzardsky then stopped struggling. Scarletfrost looked at him with an indifferent stare and then asked again, with a deadpan tone, "Now would you like some help?"

Blizzardsky looked away sheepishly. "Yes," he muttered, his limp body starting to shake from the cold depths of the mud. He braced himself to be aggressively tugged by jaws, judging by the she-cat's tone.

Scarletfrost reached down, trying not to fall in herself, and gently grabbed Blizzardsky's scruff. She then began to carefully pull him out, trying not to hurt him. When he was out, she let him go, and waited a second for confirmation to help clean him off.

Blizzardsky panted as he was pulled from the cold embrace of the mud, surprised at the gentleness of her touch. "Thanks," he breathed lowly as soon as his paws felt solid land. He shook instinctively, sending mud splattering onto Scarletheart. He glanced up, blinking. The tom felt hot with shame. "Sorry. It was an impulse."

Scarletfrost answered, "No problem," before getting splattered with mud. She jumped back but said nothing. When Blizzardsky apologized, she answered, "It's fine. I probably would have done the same thing."

(ooc: aaaaaaaaa i get distracted so easily ive tried replying to this like five times)

Blizzardsky gave a sigh at her calm response. The mud on his dark fur was already drying, making his fur stick out. The tom lowered his head. "Er... Scarletfrost, was it?" he asked. He hardly talked to his Clanmates, really. He began to groom his pelt before spitting with protest at the foul taste of the mud.

"Yeah." Scarletfrost answered before beginning to groom what mud had been splattered into her fur. It didn't take long, and said when she finished, "...Blizzardsky, right?"

"Yeah," he responded, giving a nod. "Didn't think anyone actually knew my name." The black and white tom fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "Good thing you decided to come to this particular part of the forest," he joked, "otherwise, I would be known as the cat that was killed by mud." Blizzardsky pulled his tail closer to his paws so that it didn't dip into the mud. He looked up, gazing into her eyes. "What brought you out here, anyway?"

Scarletfrost chuckled at the joke and answered, "I don't know, really. Trying to get away from Mousepaw, trying to get away from camp, I guess. I don't have too many friends."

Blizzardsky nodded. "Yeah. I like to get away from it all too." He recalled Mousepaw, the energetic little apprentice. He hadn't really felt annoyed by the cat in any way, so he was somewhat surprised that his mentor was looking for time away from him. "Mousepaw seems nice," the warrior chuffed. "Volepaw doesn't talk much. We should swap apprentices.

(Frozenpaw is Scarletfrost's apprentice lmao)

Scarletfrost tilted her head and answered, "Frozenpaw is sweet. She can actually get Mousepaw to be nice." She sighed before continuing. "Mousepaw teased me as a kit and still does, even though I'm a warrior, along with teasing every other new kit that shows their face in camp. He has this gung-ho attitude and acts like he's better than everyone else. It irritates me."

ooc: I probably should've looked it up before assuming. XD

ic: Blizzardsky nodded as he listened, blinking away the dry mud from around his eyes. "He seems hard not to like," he commented, twitching his whiskers. He couldn't recall any childhood friends. All he had were his many siblings, but they usually did their own thing. Perhaps friends were more important than family to them. Shaking away his thoughts, he stammered to think of a new topic. "Ah-" He remembered the frog he had caught. Trudging over to the spot he had tossed it at, he scooped it into his jaws. "Hungry?" he asked.