cold cold cold [closed]

Several small crystals of ice clung heavily to Elmcloud's whiskers, causing them to droop in response to the added weight. Exhaling loudly to display his absolute dismay and annoyance at his current state, the newly-named Warrior forced a sluggish forepaw to lift from it's previous resting place to halfheartedly paw at his face. Sleeping on the fringes of the Warriors Den was positively hellish with Leaf-Bare's weather- just how had he not managed to freeze to death yet? His eyes blearily slipped open to glare at the entrance to the den with dismay as violent shivers continued to wrack his groggy form. Elmcloud's tail wrapped tightly around his curled up form in an attempt to warm himself up as he continued to stare lazily at the snowdrifts that piled up around the entrance to the den.

Hopefully he hadn't been assigned to any duties for the day, because he was definitely not leaving the den to do them.

Mumblepaw slumped near the edge of the clearing, staring at the frosted ground. It would be pathetic of him to go hide in the den as he so longed to do so, but Hawkstrike wasn't around to take him out, he never was. The great warrior had much better things to do than waste his talent on attempting to train a scrap like Rippedsky's son. With a ragged sigh, a cloud of cold breath escaped into the air. It was most likely equally pathetic to be the only apprentice sitting around camp not doing anything today. He stood up and shook off his coat in a failed attempt to warm up. As he turned towards the camp entrance, his eyes landed on Elmcloud still hidden and barely stirring in the warrior's den. A bit of excitement overcame him as he saw his father's former apprentice. Maybe he would be willing to do something. Even if Mumblepaw hated camp, he hated feeling worthless even more.

As he reached the warrior, he paused for a brief moment in doubt, but ultimately still looked down to meet Elmcloud's gaze. There were kit-like sparks of hope in his eyes. The younger cat had been in quite the slump between his lack of training and the deputy's illness. After opening his mouth for a moment and hesitating to speak, he meowed, "H-hey, Elmcloud. What are you up to?"

Elmcloud's nose stung due to a particularly chilly gust of wind, but he did little to combat the creeping chill. His long tail curled more tightly around his form as he shuffled in his nest, doing his best to find a more comfortable position in the limited space that he had been alloted. Allowing his heavy eyes to blissfully slip shut once more, the young tom found himself relaxing into sleep once more- although it seemed like his eyes had only been closed for seconds when a voice disrupted his nap once more. A large ear twitched at the sound of Mumblepaw's voice, but only one eye opened to give the tom a rather disinterested and grumpy glance as he processed the small black and white tom's question.

" 'M trying to sleep," Elmcloud replied with a cross tone, "What did it look like I was doing?"

"S-sorry for bothering you, Elmcloud..." He muttered, shifting his gaze away to stare awkwardly at the ground. His ears began too flatten against his head this was a very bad idea. There was no way a warrior like Elmcloud would want to go out with him. For Starclan's sake, his own mentor barely wanted to do anything with him. The tiny tom's expression faltered. Still looking at the ground, Mumblepaw let out a low sigh, "It's just... Hawkstrike hasn't really been doing much training with me. And I don't know what to do." His whiskers twitched in embarrassment as a shiver went down his spine. Maybe Elmcloud had it right. Maybe they should just stay in all day and not do anything. The apprentice's normal terror of the forest was still present, but even more pressing was the increasing desire to not be a pathetic and useless kit.

"Y-you get some good rest, okay? I'll see you later." Mumblepaw meowed softly. If he had a tail, it would have been dragging on the ground along with his lowered head. As he let out another low sigh, it fogged up the air. Today really was a miserable day.

It several moments longer of bleary struggling for Elmcloud to keep his eyes actually open- it seemed as if every time he managed to finally blink himself back into alertness, a new wave of drowsiness was draped across his tightly curled form. Listening to Mumblepaw's softly spoken words made his whiskers and ears twitch in a mix of sleep-deprived irritation and a nagging curiosity. "You can't just come in here and practically step all over me in your haste to do whatever it was that you were trying to do and then leave." He groaned, forcing his sleep puffy eyes fully open to glance at Mumblepaw pointedly, his whiskers twitching several times as he spoke to emphasis his lack of enthusiasm about being woken up. "Why are you talking to me about Hawkstrike's apprentice-related commitment phobia anyways," He grunted after a wide yawn, "I don't know what I could do about that."

"Y-you... you... y-yeah. You probably can't do anything." Mumblepaw muttered, stopping short. His ear flicked. Now he felt a prickle or guilt for interrupting the sleeping warrior anyways. Elmcloud had a point, it was rather rude to bother him and then leave. Maybe it would be better off to speak up for once. A soft sigh left his maw and he turned around to look at his father's former apprentice. Elmcloud could be a pain sometimes, but he had been around since the black and white tom was a kit. That could mean something

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go out." For once in a lifetime, he didn't stumble over his words. This was the most confidence the tiny apprentice had ever managed. And it quickly faded. He felt bad speaking to Elmcloud like that so directly. He had no place doing so. His tiny claws pricked the ground, "I-I'm just sick of being stuck in camp."

"Why would you ever be sick of hanging out in the camp all day?" Elmcloud finally blearily jested, rapidly blinking once more to try and clear away the heavy tendrils of sleep that tugged at his eyelids in a pestering way, "That sounds quite nice to me." He grumbled, a nimble forepaw lifting to hastily scrub away the exhaustion that weighted down upon the soft fur of his face. Swiping his tongue around his sleep-dried nose and lips, the ruddy tom thrust his legs out in front of him in a stiff stretch, trying to kick-start his lacking energy. "I suppose we can go." Elmcloud hummed, eventually forcing himself upright into a lazy sitting position, his normally immaculately-groomed fur laden with moss and sticking out in every direction possible

Never in a million moons did he expect Elmcloud to agree to the request. Since their conversation started, Mumblepaw had only grown more and more hopeless. But, there was a burst of excitement in his chest. Besides, given his lack of enthusiasm, the warrior seemed more inclined to stay close to camp. And that seemed like the perfect idea to a still terrified Mumblepaw. As long as they were in a yowling distance of camp, there would be no need to fear. With a sigh of relief, he meowed, "T-thanks, Elmcloud."

If he had a tail, it would not have been dragging through the snow for once. His ears seemed to perk up a bit. The thought of being able to see more than the same few drifts of snow was rather exciting. Mumblepaw couldn't help himself from piping up once more as his eyes widened while they stared at the camp entrance, "We don't need to go far. What should we do?"

The stubborn pieces of moss and feathers that still clung to Elmcloud's glossy fur left a slight trail in the snow as the two toms slowly meandered away from the warmth and shelter of the camp. Feeling a slight shiver creep down his spine as they trekked through the snow, his sharp gaze flicked to Mumblepaw as the young tom spoke, his ear giving a slight twitch. A thoughtful expression overcame his features as he smoothly bounded over a particularly deep snowdrift, his voice barely carrying over the sound of paws thudding in the soft, freshly-fallen snow. "I suppose it depends on what you need to do. What hasn't Hawkstrike covered with you?" Elmcloud questioned, twisting his head back to gaze inquisitively to the younger tom.

"Uhm, everything..." He looked down at his paws, shuffling uncomfortably. Mumblepaw hated to say it, but it was true. The old warrior had been far too busy for him. There was nothing wrong with Hawkstrike, he was a skilled warrior. It was merely a matter of everyone focusing on the task of getting through leafbare. His stomach grumbled as he was reminded of the constantly empty stomach that was pretty much all he had ever know. The apprentice considered for a moment what they should do. The thought of fighting was unappealing, but he had already managed to pick up on at least a few tiny bits of hunting technique.

"We can do whatever you want, Elmcloud." He meowed after a while as he picked his way through the snow. Although it was cold, he tried to ignore it. Elmcloud would probably dislike him even more if he were to drag the warrior out and then complain about the cold. Mumblepaw said nothing as he waited for his father's former apprentice to give him some sort of direction.