Stop and Smell the Roses [Closed]

Hayglow was nearly bouncing in place as she stood at the entrance of the camp, Muddypaw chasing his own tail as they both waited for Zinnia to join them. It was perfectly clear that as Hayglow started to get her energy back - and Muddypaw got tastes of the moor - that neither were very content to remain in the camp.

Muddypaw finally lurched forward and pinned down his tail, claws digging into his own skin as he grinned. "I caught it, momma!" he proclaimed, puffing out his chest as he stared up at Hayglow.

The warrior sat back a smile, only for it to fade a little as she saw the hint of claws pinning down the tail. "Very good, dear, but you need to learn to put your claws away," she meowed softly, raising a paw to bat at him until he released himself.

"But momma, I don't get what the deal is!" he bit back, huffing as he fell onto his haunches. He just didn't get it at all, everybody told him that having claws out all the time were bad but he sure didn't mind when he would scratch himself! "But fine," he added, sheathing his claws as he looked up. "We are waiting for...Zinnia, right?"

Hayglow hummed, giving her son a nod. "Yes! Zinnia is an old friend of mine - she was always so kind to me when I joined WindClan and helped me out a few times. We haven't...We haven't been close recently but I thought now was a good time to rebuild that bond - and besides, I want you to get to know her as well. I asked for her to meet us at Sunhigh but..." she paused, looking up at the sky. The sun was still climbing in the sky, it wouldn't be sunhigh for a bit longer but the two had grown antsy waiting in the camp. "...We are just a tad early."

Stretching as she rose from her nest of feathers and trying to brush aside the sadness that lingered when she remembered it was otherwise empty, Zinnia spotted the cats she was supposed to be meeting; Hayglow and Muddypaw. The abundance of energy between them almost had her convinced she was late, if only for a moment. "I see you're both early," she mused, glancing to the sky to find it wasn't yet sunhigh. "Well, there's little reason to wait if we're all here, is there?"

Hayglow jumped to her paws as Zinnia padded towards them. "Yes, sorry - we were both so excited. Its been forever since I've gotten to hang with you and Muddypaw just hates sitting around camp, isn't that right?"

The young tom nodded his head as he straightened up, a gentle purr rising out of him "Staying in camp is so boring when I can be running around the moor! Taking in all of the sights! Now come on, I wanna go!" He paused, before he blinked and dipped his head to the older she-cat. "Oh! And...Uh, its nice to properly meet you, Zinnia. Momma has said a lot of good things about you."

Hayglow purred as her son spoke, flicking her tail. "No reason to wait indeed. Come on, Muddypaw," she purred as she turned toward the entrance. "You can run ahead but stick close. Don't get out of sight of us, alright?"

Muddypaw was already gone, sprinting out of the camp before he came to a stop and looked at the two warriors. "...Well? Come on! I wanna go see the flowers - we are gonna go see the flowers, right?" He shifted on his paws, glancing around. He had pretty sure he had heard the mention of flowers go around - he hoped he was right. He...Hadn't been paying that much attention when Hayglow had been explaining the plans - he was just excited to get out of the camp again.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? Rest assured, the sentiment is returned - I've missed your company, quite honestly. It's nice to meet you properly as well, Muddypaw," Zinnia added, nodding her head just slightly. "Ah, yes. I'm sure we will."

As Muddypaw ran ahead, she laughed lightly, turning to look at Hayglow. "He seems quite energetic. I can certainly see what you meant."

Hayglow purred as she padded alongside Zinnia, watching as Muddypaw was excitingly zipping around the moor in front of them - always glancing back to make sure they were still moving in his direction before running off to look at the new thing that caught his attention. "Muddypaw is a bit of a pawful at times - his energy reminds me of when I was younger. He and his sister...They brought unexpected happiness back to me when I needed it the most but I'm certain he will give me gray fur," she responded, a soft laugh escaping her. "He is a little fighter - much unlike me. He seems very keen on learning how to fight - even when he was a kit, even if he was a tad rough with the others. Imagine the other Clans won't know what to make of him - wanting to fight them all the time yet I imagine he will be determined to be their friend as well."

Now that Muddypaw had confirmation on where they were going, he was curious on exploring every blade of grass that shifted and every noise that caught his ear on the trip there. For as mundane as the reason might have been - the wind shifting the grass or a rabbit racing by, it was all excited for Muddypaw who was simply thrilled to be out of the camp yet again. He could hear his momma and Zinnia talking, glancing back at them as he managed to make out that they were talking about him but he didn't really mind - he knew his momma loved him so she had to be saying good things. Besides, he was super excited to see the flowers fields for the first time, how could he focus on what the two she-cats were talking about?