A new season for an old soul (open. ***pls read "disclaimer" bellow***)

Laying in a soft patch of grass near the edge of camp with his head resting on his paws and his hind legs sprawled out behind him, Cedarfur basked in the warm Newleaf sun, the tip of his tail flicking every so often. A comfortable breeze sent the tall grass that sheltered the camp swaying to and fro, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. This, was truly the definition of perfect.

Just like any elder would agree, he'd absolutely hated the last few cold and merciless Leafbare moons. The near freezing temperatures made his already hurting bones ache even more and he couldn't stand being cramped in such a small den space for such a lengthy period of time, especially with his abnormally long legs. So now, with the cold weather gone, he'd wasted no time to sprawl out in the comforting rays of sunlight.

Letting out a sigh, he watched as some kits romped around in the distance, their mothers sitting close by, and ever so slightly moved his eyes to see hunting patrols come and go from the camp entrance, their jaws filled with prey. Breathing in, the sweet scent of rabbit soon wafted through the camp. Great StarClan, why couldn't life always be this wonderful? Being the second oldest cat in WindClan, he'd been through so much during this lifetime that he'd almost forgotten about the simple things, such as a day like this one. No cat was angry or fighting, no blood was being shed, just... peace.

'Guess I'll just have to enjoy it while it lasts,' the old tom thought to himself and closed his eyes, his ears occasionally flicking back and forth as certain pieces of conversations between clanmates from across camp made it to him.

Pawsteps padding towards the elder grew louder as Fernpaw approached, dragging a rabbit in her jaws. She set it down in front of Cedarfur and nuzzled his graying muzzle affectionately. ”Cedarfur! Cedarfur, I brought you some fresh-kill! I caught this rabbit all by myself! Won’t you try some? I caught it just for you!” Her light green eyes shone with happiness, her long bushy tail swishing excitedly behind her.

OOC: screaming cause fern is too cute for me ToT

Having not heard the soft thump of small pawsteps approach, Cedarfur jolted his eyes open when something touched his cheek, but was relieved to see that it was just Fernpaw, one of the clan's apprentices. Lifting his head from where it rested on his paws, he returned her affection by pressing back against the younger cat's face. Looking down to the rabbit that she'd brought him, the succulent smell filled the air around him as he listened to her exclaim in excitement.

"Oh Fernpaw, you spoil me," the elder chuckled with a smile, his voice much more hoarse than it'd been moons ago.

Putting a paw over the rabbit's back legs to make sure he had a good grip on it, he leaned down and clamped his jaws around it's back. The tangy yet delightible taste of fresh blood overwhelmed the tom's senses. He hadn't had something this delicious in what seemed like... forever!

Tearing into the rabbit, the tom took a bite, ripping out some meat. 'Thank StarClan for apprentices who know how to hunt,' he thought to himself, swallowing that bite. Biting back down into the prey, his teeth hit something hard and a shock shot through his mouth. Snapping his head up, Cedarfur let out a growl, trying to suppress a pain-stricken yowl and practically biting his tongue doing so. What in StarClan's name...?

Looking down to the rabbit, something that looked like a tooth sat wedged in one of the ribs. Was that... his tooth? Leaning down, he nudged the little white thing off of the rabbit with his paw, and stared at it as it fell to the ground between his paws. 'Geez, already starting to fall apart? I really am getting older by the second,' the elder thought to himself. Licking around the inside of his mouth, the sour taste of his own blood replaced the once amazing taste of rabbit, and sure enough, there was a little hole where one of his canine teeth should've been.

Remembering that Fernpaw was still waiting for his approval on the prey that she'd caught, Cedarfur looked up from where his tooth was and tried his best to replace the pain on his face with a smile. "It's amazing, thank you," he began. "Here, why don't you try some? It's your catch after all," the tall elder added and nudged the rabbit towards her with his muzzle. "And I don't think my old elder stomach will let me eat it all," he chuckled, trying his hardest to forget about the pain so that he didn't worry her. Besides, what was one lost tooth when he had plenty more teeth to go?

Fernpaw purred happily as she watched the elder take a bite, but then blinked in alarm at his sudden changed expression. She may have been naive sometimes, but after that battle with that mean RiverClan apprentice who attacked her for no reason she could recognize Cedarfur’s expression as one of pain. She was about to comment on it when he raspily invited her to eat, and she glanced unsurely at the other two sleeping elders. ”Thank you, but I’d rather wait for Dewtuft to wake up first. He may want some, too, and I don’t wanna rob him of food. I can just grab a mouse and eat next to you, instead, if that’s okay!” Without giving Cedarfur a chance to reply, she rushed off to do just that, returning from the fresh-kill pile with a plump mouse.

She was about to take a bite of her prey when she spotted something glistening in the light in the rabbit’s side, and she leaped to her paws in alarm when she realized it was a tooth — most likely Cedarfur’s tooth! So that’s why he was in so much pain! ”Oh, no, Cedarfur! Your tooth! Are you okay? Are you in pain? I can go get Featherlight to give you some herbs! Oh, but it might hurt if you try to chew them... I can ask her to make it into a pulp instead!”

While he'd tried to hide the pain the best he could, he wasn't the best actor and soon enough, Fernpaw saw right through his attempt as keeping a calm composure.

"Fernpaw!" the tom mewed over her panicked jabbering. "I'm quite alright. There's no need to bring Featherlight into this," the elder added more calmly, a smile on his muzzle. "I'm getting older and things like this happen, it's no big deal, I promise," he chuckled, hoping that she'd calm down. He hated to admit that he was beginning to deteriorate, especially when it meant that he was potenially worrying his clanmates.

"And I insist, you must try some of this rabbit, it's amazing," he added, nudging it towards her with his paw. She was a good friend in that she wanted to wait to eat, but there would always be more prey around, especially in this change of weather.

Fernpaw still looked worried, but she reluctantly nodded anyway. Perhaps if he got hurt again she would be able to get him help. At the second offer of rabbit, she opened her mouth to decline again, but she could tell by the look in Cedarfur's eyes that he really wanted her to have some. Well, if sharing his rabbit would make him happy, she would do it. She would just have to hunt more to feed the other elders when they woke up.

She settled down beside the fresh-kill and took a hearty bite, making sure to avoid the tooth. She hummed happily at the flavor and she licked her lips after swallowing. "It's delicious! I really like rabbit a lot! I'm so glad I'm WindClan. The open air and fresh breeze is just the best! And I love spending time with you and the other elders whenever I'm not training or doing other chores."

Relieved that the apprentice accepted his offer, Cedarfur watched as she took a bite from the piece of prey. When she finished, he leaned down and took another bite for himself, holding back a chuckle at how quickly she was able to start chattering on again. Swallowing the delicious piece that he wished he could've savored for longer, the elder shifted his weight and stretched out his paws in front of him, making sure not to go too far in case of possibly hurting his back.

Waiting for the she-cat to finish, he couldn't help but admire how optimistic and accepting she seemed of everything. The clan could use more cats like that... "So how's your training going?" the tall tom asked, curious as to how training was going these days and wondering if anything has changed since he'd been training apprentices.

”It’s going great!” the eager apprentice meowed. ”Lionstorm is so nice and I think he really likes having me as an apprentice. I’ve also caught lots of prey and I’m really good at running along the moor. I’ve also learned how to fight; in fact, there was this one time I was out with Acornpelt and her patrol and we encountered an eagle, and I helped bring it down! ...Oh, and... I was also attacked by a RiverClan apprentice.” Her mood suddenly soured at the thought of Cinderpaw. ”I was just talking to him over the river. I stayed on my side of the border, but he decided to attack me for no reason. I fought him off because of my great training I got from Lionstorm, but... he was so mean! I don’t know why he would do that to me. I just wanted to be his friend...” She looked down sadly at her paws. ”I’m trying to tell myself not all RiverClan cats are mean bullies, but... I’m starting to think they are. How could any cat ever be like that?”

Listening to the apprentice, he was so glad that her and her mentor got along and seemed to be fairing well. It always brought him joy seeing younger cats learn the ways of the Warrior Code, especially when they were as enthusiastic about it as Fernpaw was.

Paying attention intently as she went on, the elder cocked his head to the side when her once ecstatic expression fell and she went on to speak about some RiverClan apprentice. Hearing her story immediately reminded him of Smokepelt, his nephew, who'd done the same thing as this RiverClan cat. Driven by his pride for WindClan, the tom had lost control of his emotions and rationality, and thus made several decisions that he most likely still regretted to this day...

"I know, it's terrible to think that some cats could act such a way, and so suddenly too," he spoke softly when she finished, his defeated tone matching her's.

"But we just need to understand that there are some cats who aren't able to control themselves, or their emotions, like they should, and for that, they'll be punished someday, trust me," Cedarfur mewed, looking at the ground. While he'd been attempting to change, which was good of course, Smokepelt's past had been full of confusion and anger, and it was obvious to the elder that after all that had gone on those many moons ago, it was as if a bit of the warrior's soul had been lost, never to be found again.

OOC: ahahkjahkw memories of Nam ;A;

Fernpaw listened to the elder give his wise advice on the difficult subject, and she nodded slowly. ”Yeah, I guess. It still hurt, though. I know we aren’t supposed to make friends with other cats outside our Clan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be enemies, either. Does it? I’m so confused.” She looked up at Cedarfur.

Fernpaw's confusion was not a surprise to the elder. It seemed as thought many young cats now and days didn't yet understand the reason for clan borders and separation, but he knew that over time, everyone learned the reason for these "laws."

"No, it doesn't," Cedarfur mewed when she finished, nodding his head back and forth. While it was sometimes hard to see cats hold such hatred towards each other, it was the way that things had always been. There wasn't really anything that could change clan rivalry, no matter how peaceful every-cat tried to be. "Fernpaw, it may seem confusing now, but you need to learn that the separation among clans is for a reason. Yes, some cats are more cruel than others, but we can't help that and just need to accept it," the elder mewed softly, a hint of sorrow in his voice as he remembered his daughter, Thistleblaze, who moved to RiverClan.

"And while you may be curious as to what's on the other side of that river, you mustn't forget that you're a WindClan cat, so stay true to who you are and don't try an befriend those fishbreathed RiverClan cats, no matter how nice of a cat you are," Cedarfur added, sternly, meeting the apprentices eyes. After a moment, his once serious facial expression turned into a smile and a purr emitted from his throat. "Don't worry, you'll be able to converse with other clan cats at Gatherings. That's what they're for, after all," he mewed and leaned down to take another bite of the half destroyed rabbit.

Fernpaw nodded as she listened to the elder’s wise advice. It did cheer her up knowing she would still be able to talk to other Clans at Gatherings. She smiled up at Cedarfur. ”I think I understand. Thanks, Cedarfur. And I really do love being a WindClan cat. One of the reasons is because you’re here.” She purred and padded over to the old tom’s side to lay down and nuzzle herself into his fur.

Watching as the apprentice's expression lifted from a frown to a smile, more or less, the elder dipped his head at her thanks. Shifting his weight once more, a purr emitted from Cedarfur's throat as Fernpaw settled down beside him. "It's good to hear you're proud to be a WindClan cat," he purred softly. "And I'm glad that some-cat actual enjoys my company," he added.

”Well, of course! Who wouldn’t want to be with their Clan elders, especially if your Clan elders are you and Dewtuft? You’re so wise and you teach good morale and responsibility, and you’ve helped shape WindClan into what it is today!” Fernpaw rambled happily, nuzzling under his chin. She stopped when she felt a small bump underneath, and she snorted. ”Seems like tick season’s already started. I can get that for you if you want, then I can check the rest of your fur and clean out your bedding! I’ll have to be super sneaky around Dewtuft, though. I wouldn’t wanna wake him.”

(OOC: Sorry if this is going on longer than you intended for it to be, but I hardly ever see apprentices react with or assist elders. XD)

Purring at her comment, it made him happy that Fernpaw appreciated his and Dewtuft's presence so much. "It's always reassuring to know that my wisdom isn't going to waste," the elder chuckled as she began to check his fur for more ticks. "The other clans must be jealous that they don't have apprentices as amazing as you," the older tom mewed, closing his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Fernpaw's paws sifting through his fur.

OOC: nooo, don't apologize, I like long topics!