good old-fashioned family bonding

As greenleaf wound down, the weather grew less hot with each passing day, but whenever she wasn't in the mood for sunbathing Batbite still found herself taking shelter in the shade to avoid the worst of it: her dark fur trapped heat far too well for her tastes, an asset in leaf-bare and an annoyance in the rest of the seasons. The intention was to spend some time with her family, though she didn't particularly feel like moving in that moment. Despite the steadily improving weather, it was a hot afternoon, and she'd found a comfortable shadow to hide from the too-hot sun.

The smallish warrior scanned the camp, looking out for any of the cats she counted among her kin; wondering vaguely if she'd be forced to get up after all. If they didn't show themselves soon, she'd resign herself to it, she supposed.

Thrushpaw’s last few days had been…exhausting, honestly. After hearing whispers of an assessment on the horizon, she’d taken it upon herself to go back to the start; she drilled in climbing and crouches and the differences between squirrels, mice, and birds, reminding herself of every technique Nettlestar had taught her. It never hurt to be certain. All the tangled-up nerves and excitement for her impending warriorhood would be pointless if she failed here.

As the stocky tabby she-cat padded across camp, a mouse in her jaws, the sight of her mother’s bright green eyes in a shadowy corner made change her course. Training more had meant talking to her parents less (especially her father, who was busier than ever), but tiring herself out wouldn’t do any good. Besides, she’d spent a lot of time as Thrushpaw lately; it’d been a while since she’d felt like Mermurr. Stopping in front of Batbite, she let the mouse fall. ”Hi, Mom.” She tilted her head, blinking, as if she'd only just realized how much darker Batbite’s spot was than the rest of the camp. ”What are you doing here?” She’d gotten her father’s somewhat shorter fur, so though the sunhigh heat could be inconvenient (in fact, it was pretty noticeable right now), it’d never occurred to her that it might be a problem.

Minkstream wandered down the path along the side of the ravine, his paws moving sure-footedly, almost without thought, as he came into camp. Considering his mind was anywhere but on his pawsteps, that was probably a good thing. The hot sun glowed in his pelt, and the cool stone and scraggly grass was a distantly felt relief as he reached the bottom. A voice drifting over from a corner of the camp caught his attention, and he glanced up, ear twitching, a smile spreading over his face as he spotted Mermurr and Batbite.

Padding over, he flicked his tail playfully over his daughter's ear, feeling the cool of the shade like spilled water on his pelt. "Hey, planning territory domination, huh?" He glanced down at Bat, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. It was almost like she was casually waiting here for something. "It's a good place for it."

---

Lirista was hot. Not really because of her fur - it was only a little longer than her sister's after all; comfortably between long and short - but because she was lying straight in the full sun, stretched out with her eyes half-closed, dreamily halfway between sleep and awake. Sounds drifted into her relaxed ears, distant and forming a flowing weave of a drowsy afternoon's lullaby.

Faintly, she could feel the side of her face pressed against the stone underneath her cheek, and her paws dangling over the edge of her isolated spot - but other than that, nothing disturbed her, not even the hum of a bee passing close by.

"...Hmm..." Curious green eyes scanned the camp as their owner shuffled into view from the outside. Three clumps of moss soaked in fresh water hung loosely from his maw, nose occasionally wrinkling when bits of the plant would rub against it as he walked. Kestrelpaw had a rather lazy day today and decided to make himself useful before he could become even the least bit irritated. He offered to lend a paw around the camp, either fetching any needed materials or working alongside somebody to speed up the completion of a task. He wouldn't really say it aloud, not that he'd normally say anything out loud, but he actually enjoyed performing menial tasks. He didn't really know why but what he did know was that it felt really good when he'd receive a 'thank you' or a 'good work' for his labors. One time, he was even invited to share a meal. Kestrel strives to make his clanmates' lives easier. He was sure that the other apprentices thought of him as quite strange. He didn't mind though. Hopefully they'd one day thank him for taking one for the group and hoarding most of the tedious camp duties. He knew it was wishful thinking but he could be wrong.

The brown tabby tom looked over to where he had spotted some of his family members. Most were congregated at a decently shaded area although one seemed to be enjoying a good sunbath. His paws itched to join them but he had to give the moss to somebody. His jaw was getting rather sore from having carried moss in bulk for most of the day. He had started his little retrieval travels a bit earlier in the day and had successfully handed them out to the elders, kits, and some exhausted looking warriors. He himself was starting to feel the effects of working in a hotter-than-normal day. He normally never tired this easily but his sudden groggy demeanor was certainly attributed to the heat.

After a few moments of thinking, he decided on taking the moss over to his family. He could spend some time with them while also providing them with a cool and refreshing drink. It was an overall win. He also missed spending some family time with them. He liked solitude but sometimes, the loneliness was overwhelming.

The young tom padded over to the group, head nodding in greeting once he was close enough. He couldn't quite give a vocal hello seeing as he had his mouth full. Once he placed them down in the middle, one a bit more toward his mother, he gave them a shy smile, one which was reserved for his most cherished, before making himself comfortable. His tail was neatly wrapped around his paws. He was quite the orderly apprentice even when he was relaxing. "Water?" he offered, voice soft yet smooth. He was hoping they'd accept even just a bit.

It seemed that the moment she considered leaving her shade, her family found their way to her immediately; though Lirista seemed closer to sleep than anything else. "Mermurr," she greeted easily. "It's not exactly cool weather just yet, and I don't feel like falling asleep, so I'm keeping to the shade for now. But I suppose you could say I was waiting." Before she could say anything else, there was Strom; and she purred in greeting. "Something like that," she said lightly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I might miss the snow."

And then there was Kerath; her quiet, dutiful son. "Water?" she asked, eyes sparkling as he nudged it toward her. She gratefully took a drink of comparatively cool water, sighing in contentment. "Thank you, Kerath. It's some weather, isn't it?"

(ooc: I don't want to see this topic sink, so I'm bailing with my leaky bucket)

It was nice seeing a sparkle in her eyes. Strom felt his smile widen in return, the shadows fading into mere whisps at the edges of his mind, almost forgotten. "Then we'd better take the skies, too. You can't have snow if you don't own 'em."

His ears caught pawsteps, and he glanced to the side to see Kerath coming up, a rumbling purr of greeting welcoming his son to the growing crowd. "Thanks, Kerath. Why don't you take a break for a bit? You're starting to look like you need the water more than the rest of us."

---

Sablepaw's eyes blinked drowsily against the sun beaming onto them as voices ebbed and flowed, twitching at her ears. Yawning, she rolled partway over, twisting her neck and feeling the heat of the stone on her fur as she glanced over. Her ears came to full attention, one un-scrunching from underneath her head as she spotted her parents and siblings, and she flopped onto her paws, stretching as she rose and feeling her mouth yawn wide, tail trembling at the end of her spine. What's going on?

She leapt down from the rock, still feeling drowsiness in the edges of her eyes as she padded up and blinked owlishly at all of them. "Wha's happenin'?"