The Answer is Blowing in the Wind [c]

Lilacsong had been a warrior for but a few days and already she was finding it weird. She kept going to Zinnia for what she was supposed to do before remembering that she was not her mentor anymore. She had to admit, she felt a little lost without that guide, but she had to gain some independence at some point. Why not now?

With a sigh, she padded over to the freshkill pile, picking out a rabbit. She spotted the familiar orange and white pelt, and felt her chest flutter. Amberfluff was a new-ish warrior, she would know what to do! With her rabbit in her jaws, she skipped over to her friend.

"Hiya!" She called, a bright smile on her face as she dropped the prey. "Wanna share?"

As Lilacsong approached, Amberfluff found her heart doing the weird thing where it seemed to beat more strongly. Her legs, usually quite steady unless she spun around very quickly, began shaking slightly. It was as if she was floating in the air, without the need to worry about the ground. She identified the last symptom as excitement or happiness. She was unsure of what the other two were. Then again, just the fact that she was feeling like this was probably concerning. What was she even feeling?

Then again, was Lilacsong coming to talk to her? If she wasn't it would be awkward-never mind! She started talking.

Amberfluff found a smile rising to her face even though she didn't really wants to. "Yeah! That works! I'm free right now, so might as well!" She found herself stuttering annoyingly. What even was up with her?

Lilacsong felt her ears grow warm as she blinked at Amberfluff, sitting beside her, and she shifted her paws a little. She could feel awkward tension rise as she tried to find the right words to say. Being oblivious as she was, she could not figure out why Amberfluff acted so weird around her. Did she not like her? No, of course she did, what was she thinking? They were friends! But why did Amberfluff act so different around her than any other cat?

She shrugged it off, deciding it was unimportant. Instead, she smiled, purring. "Don't act so tense! You're like a mouse! Keep it up and somecat might think you are prey!" She gave the she-cat a headbutt to the shoulder, laughing. She really enjoyed being around Amberfluff, even if she was as stiff as a log at times!

Amberfluff found herself smiling uncontrollably. Seriously, what was she even doing? She was being so emotional and silly. Why was being around Lilacsong unlike being around anyone else? She had never experienced it without Lilacsong being around.

Lilacsong’s headbutt did little to make Amberfluff budge, due to her superior size and probably strength. She gently headbutted Lilacsong back, making sure to keep the force under control so she didn’t knock Lilacsong over. “Well, it’d be unlikely that anyone would think of me as prey. It’s more likely someone would think I’m a fox. If anything, you look like a squirrel.” Amberfluff found herself weirdly talkative, which was an absolutely new experience for her, and a weird one. She usually wasn’t like this, right?

Lilacsong feigned a look of fear, putting up her paws defensively and making her voice go high, like a squeak. "Oh no, miss fox! Please don't eat me!" She ran off a little bit, squealing, then stopped, looking back at Amberfluff with a taunting look in her eye. Come and get me!

All of a sudden, Lilacsong realized she wasn't cold anymore. She actually felt pretty warm, her skin having heated under her pelt. And she was really enjoying hanging out with Amberfluff, too. It was weird, she liked being around every cat, but she noticed how much she enjoyed Amberfluff's company. Well, she was pretty good company, so she supposed it made sense.

Amberfluff found a soft laugh coming from her as Lilacsong dashed off. Taking a few seconds to catch up with what Lilacsong was thinking about, she raced after her. She was quite the fast runner, and she raced after Lilacsong, knowing she wouldn't take long to be caught. She kept her pace a little slower than her full potential to give Lilacsong a chance. Huh, usually she didn’t bother giving others a chance by underperforming. This was new, unusual territory for her.

Amberfluff suddenly sped up, streaking across snow, then paused to pull herself into a hunting crouch-knowing the consequences of not getting into the crouch well enough from the last hunt she had with Lilacsong-and pounced. She kept her claws sheathed, and made sure to aim for just a little behind Lilacsong and not on her. She didn’t want to squash the smaller cat by accident, after all. This was just play!

Lilacsong squealed as she fell, landing dramatically on the ground. But she refused to go down without a fight, wrapping her paws around Amberfluff as she attempted to drag her down with her, laughing all the while. The white that had dusted the ground now coated her fur, and she suppressed a shiver. Without even thinking, she curled up with Amberfluff. ”You’re warm.” She purred in her friend’s fur, giggling.

Still feeling quite playful, Lilacsong batted at Amberfluff’s ear. ”I don’t think I’ve had this much fun since I was a kit! What should we do now?”

Amberfluff let out a small yelp as Lilacsong tried to drag her down. She stumbled and crashed to the ground, successfully avoiding slamming right onto Lilacsong. Never knew when one might accidentally break something. A moment later, she gave a start of surprise as Lilacsong curled up right beside her, remarking about how warm she is.

”You’d be this warm as well if you were as big as I am.” She responded, feeling her body become even warmer. What in StarClan? Was she having a fever? That can’t be, right? She wasn’t feeling overly dizzy-scratch that, she felt a little light-headed, but definitely not as much as a fever. What was she even experiencing?

Wait, Lilacsong was asking her for what to do? Her? Holy StarClan. What could she say that didn’t make her look like a mouse-brain?

”Uh-uh-um…We could…” Amberfluff looked down at the snow and got an idea. ”-Do this!” She slammed a paw into the ground, sending snow flying everywhere. The snow tumbled over the two of them, burying them in flakes of white.