A Wisteria Sprouts Beneath the Sun (closed)

Sunpaw sighed in contentment, rolling over in the snow. He knew that there were other cats that hated the cold, but he didn't feel the snow as a biting cold but rather as a soothing chill thanks to his long fur and optimistic attitude. He watched the other cats going about their daily lives; the morning patrol taking off, apprentices emerging from the den with sleep in their eyes, a small ginger-and-white she-cat sitting by herself at the edge of the camp... wait. Sunpaw's brown eyes widened, then narrowed as he tried to figure out why she was sitting all by herself. That just wouldn't do, would it? She looked so... lonely. With a huff of breath, Sunpaw rose to his paws and shook the snow off of himself. Once he didn't look quite so much like a cat that had fallen in a snow puff, he approached the she-cat. "Hi there! My name is Sunpaw. Why are you sitting all alone?"

Wisteriapaw had been there the entire morning. Sitting at the edge of camp in the white, fluffy snow had pretty much become her own little tradition. At least, if she was alone, then she wouldn't have the chance to completely mess up. Considering that she was an apprentice, Wisteriapaw still had to go on patrols and carry out her normal duties. However, she  barely ever spoke. Letting herself get lost in her usually irrationally fantastical thoughts, the apprentice rested her head on her paws.
Then, Sunpaw came up.
Wisteriapaw stared up at the tom with her bold yellow eyes, and she attempted to think of something to say.
"U-uh... w-" The she-cat stammered, "H-hi..."

Sunpaw noted her nervousness and gave her a soft smile. "Sorry, that was kinda rude of me. Let's start over... my name is Sunpaw. What's yours?" He mewed. Sunpaw swept his feather-like tail across the snow, clearing an area for him to sit... far enough away for the other apprentice to feel comfortable yet close enough to let her know that he was interested in the conversation.

Wisteriapaw dropped her gaze and looked down at her paws. She didn't have the courage to look the tom in the eyes. At least this cat didn't seem rude or mean. Usually, the she-cat would lean on her siblings to do all of the talking for her. However, in one on one conversations, Wisteriapaw had to lean on herself to answer questions. The apprentice didn't answer for a couple of heartbeats. All Sunpaw had asked her was what her name was. That was an easy question, right? She could respond, right? She sucked in a shallow, soft, inaudible breath.
"W-Wist..." The she-cat paused, feeling as if her throat was clogging up, "W-Wisteria...paw..."

"Wisteriapaw?" Sunpaw mewed, scooting slightly closer to her. "That's a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful, er..." The brownish-red cat coughed. "So, uh... what do you usually do on a day like this?"

Wisteriapaw, being completely oblivious to what the tom had been meaning to say, didn't react at all. She gained a tiny bit of motivation to look up at Sunpaw, but for the most part, she still kept her gaze lowered a tiny bit. On most days like this, Wisteriapaw would just sit by herself, contemplate things, and go on patrols. While that sounded completely relaxing to her, she knew that other apprentices would consider her idea of fun to be boring. She began to feel self-conscious as she searched her brain once again for a sufficient answer.
"U-uh... w-well... I-" The apprentice's voice seemed to be quieter than usual, "I d-do apprentice th-things..."
Her voice awkwardly trailed off in the end. Sunpaw would know what "apprentice things" were, right? This was why Wisteriapaw never built up the courage to speak to strangers, she always ended up tripping over her own words and giving a terrible first impression.

"Yeah? What kind of apprentice things? And surely that isn't all you like to do!" Sunpaw leaned slightly towards the shy cat with a conspiratorial grin. "Personally? I really like rolling around in the snow. The chill of leaf-bare is really nice, and the way the snow whispers as it falls at night..." Sunpaw smiled softly, closing his eyes fondly. "Sometimes, I wonder what it's like being so high in the air, and falling gently to the ground. I wonder what kinds of stories snowflakes would tell if they could talk. Do you think they've been so high up that they could have met Starclan?" Sunpaw looked up the the sky, then jolted as he remembered that he was talking to someone. His ears flushed red in embarrassment. "Uh. Wow, I probably sound like an idiot. Sorry Wisteriapaw, sometimes I ramble." The brownish-red tom laughed nervously.

Wisteriapaw just stared at the brownish-red tom as he began to spoke then continued on while rambling. She still felt a tad bit uncomfortable, but what Sunpaw had said sparked an interest in the she-cat. She had always loved snow, and she had always wondered what it saw and what it did before it landed on the ground. Perhaps snow even saw some interesting things while it was on the forest floor. Wisteriapaw gently nudged the snow in front of her with her nose. Sunpaw's sudden embarrassment was obvious, and she couldn't help but put on a tiny, unnoticeable smile.
"T-that's o-okay," The she-cat told him, trying to put on a reassuring tone, "S-sometimes I t-talk t-to the snow... I pr-pretend i-it can an-answer me. M-maybe it-it'll ans-answer y-you if y-you try."

Sunpaw smiled at the she-cat. "Really? Well, I guess I don't feel quite as dumb now." The tom pawed at the snow and contemplated her words. "Yeah... maybe it does talk to us and we just can't understand what it's saying. Kind of like how we can't understand Twolegs." Sunpaw turned to Wisteriapaw and smiled, a smile so big it crinkled his eyes. "You know, if you ever want something that'll respond when you talk to it, you can talk to me. I might not be as pretty as the snow, but I'd really like to get to know more about you!"

Wisteriapaw supposed that Sunpaw's logic was true, and she slowly nodded in silent agreement. She was surprised that she hadn't completely stumbled up in front of this cat, and even if she had, then she supposed that Sunpaw wouldn't shun her for making a mistake. While Wisteriapaw was self-conscious about her shyness and her stuttering, this apprentice that she was sitting with didn't seem to care. She still didn't know the tom that well, but she supposed that getting to know him more would be a good thing to do. As time progressed, she wasn't always going to have her littermates by her side. Her littermates would end up branching off, getting other friends, and perhaps they'd all end up getting mates and having kits. Wisteriapaw would have to branch off, too, and get her own friends. Sunpaw would be a perfect start.
"T-there's n-nothing that's r-really that in-interesting ab-about m-me," The she-cat started, shrugging, "I h-have t-two sisters and t-two br-brothers. I h-had to f-fight a Sk-SkyClan c-cat once. I w-was b-born with a s-stuttering pr-problem. W-what about y-you, t-though?"

"Hmmm... once I caught an owl with my mentor Heatherpetal, and I later saved her from a raccoon... it was really scary, but I can't imagine it being any scarier than fighting a Skyclan cat! You must be really brave." Sunpaw turned to Wisteriapaw with curiosity in his eyes. "I've never fought another cat before. What happened?"

Wisteriapaw awkwardly shrugged after Sunpaw called her brave. She had actually been more terrified than she had been courageous, and while she didn't run away from the battle, she had still wanted to flee. The sound of fighting off a dangerous raccoon and a deadly owl also sounded frightening, and she couldn't help but admire the fact that the apprentice had fought both of them.
"I-I w-went for a w-walk wi-with m-my bro-brother, Fea-Featherpaw, and w-we ran in-into tw-two SkyClan ap-apprentices at th-the border. W-we ended up b-beating th-them, l-luckily."
Fortunately, she and her brother hadn't gotten terribly injured. It wasn't like the SkyClan cats had gotten their heads torn off of their necks, either.