December sharing tongues (Open!)

Leafbare was a season. Simply more cruel than the others. Oakstar had accepted that fact long ago. His pelt brushed the cold branches of the camp entrance as he padded into the clearing. A large central patch was lower than the rest, carefully cleared for the cats to maneuver in and out of dens. The cold cruelty had already claimed one life this season… though it had granted four more.

He wouldn’t trade any of them for any other season. He’d live a hundred leaf bares to have his kits, mate, and his clanmates by his side. The camp glistened with a soft layer of newly fallen snow as he padded to the prey pile and set down his catch of a single squirrel.

Leafbare was also not a time of plenty. He looked at the small pile with concern. The sun would set soon, and the night guard might not have much more success than the morning and day patrols. Still, Oakstar determined already that he wouldn’t eat any of it. Ignoring hunger that pinched in his belly, his clanmates and kits needed food more than he did.

Instead, he glanced over at the apprentice’s den. A mischievous glint in his amber eyes as he forced hunger away in lieu of a better thing. He padded over to the apprentice’s den, and waited for one of them to come out before playfully nudging the upper branch of the den. Causing a small drift of snow to fall onto the leaving apprentice with a chuckle.

Stormpaw had been enjoying as much of the warmth as she could get from her nest, before a bitterly cold breeze woke her up. She shivered, flicking snow off her ears. Oh well, a nice hunt might warm her up. She'd been wanting to go hunting with her mentor, Mistwalker, for a while now, anyways.

Yawning, she stretched before delicately padding out of the den. What she was not expecting was a snowfall. She screeched, and launched herself forward, ramming straight into Oakstar. Once she regained her senses, she gasped, "Oakstar! Oh, I should've known!" She growled playfully, launching a pawful of snow at him.

As the grey tabby bolted out of the snow, Oakstar’s voice rumbled in a joyous laugh as the apprentice pelted directly into him, knocking him back into the snow. He smirked at her playful growl and jumped easily away with a chuckle.

"Is that all?" He asked, a teasing tone to his voice as he opened his paw wide and used it to scoop a large lump of snow onto Stormpaw’s grey pelt. This was what he lived for. The joyful things, that even the coldness of leaf bare and the pains of hunger could never take away. He bounded towards the tall rock and peered out from the other side to keep an eye on his ‘opponent’.

This time she was ready for him, and Stormpaw managed to dodge the worst of it. Shaking snow from her ears she gave chase after her father, determination in her step. Oh, she'd get him back!

The snow had woken her up; her limbs felt full of energy as she hurreled after Oakstar. Suddenly, she veered away, trotting at a fast pace over to behind the elders den, peeking out slightly to watch what he would do. Keeping one eye on the tall rock, she began to roll a bundle of snow between her front paws, ready for a full on attack. If her father wanted to play this way, well, game on.

"Mooooom I'll be fiiiine!  It's not that cold outside!"  Leopardkit, his sun-gold eyes alight with excitement, dashed from the nursery's restraining bramble walls before anyone could stop him and leaped into the air, landing with a satisfying crunch in the all-encompassing snowbank that was ThunderClan's camp, laughing giddily all the way.  Despite his confident words, a sweeping shiver rolled down his spine as the moisture and chill soaked his silvery pelt, but he didn't mind.  Dustcloud would warm him up later, once he'd had enough fun!  Pulling himself out of the kit-shaped hole he had created, tiny grunts of effort escaping him, Leopardkit found that - though getting bigger every day - he was still light enough to walk on top of the layers of snow without sinking too far.  Shaking off the flakes clinging to his ears before looking around, the spotted tabby kit noticed a very familiar face...two actually!  But why were they hiding?  Head tilting to the side as he tried to make sense of this conundrum, Leopardkit watched his father Oakstar and older sister Stormpaw as they engaged in their battle, balls of snow forming between their paws as they peaked out around their barriers, grins on each face.  Why would Dad ever need to hide, he's the strongest, most bestest leader in the whole world!  Oh!  They're playing a game!  I knew he wasn't scared!  Well...they both best be scared of me, cause I'm gonna be even cooler and fiercer and stronger than Dad!  Long tail sticking straight up in the air, Leopardkit crouched down with a playful growl, locked sights on his target, and with a steadying wiggle of his haunches took off running towards where his father was hiding.  "I found you, INTRUDER!"  The cold breeze whipping against his elated face, Leopardkit's loud cry echoed around the camp as he took a running leap onto Oakstar's back, hooking into thick fur with tiny sharp claws and clinging on determinedly.  Mini-growls rumbled from his throat as well as purrs, but his job was not yet done.  "Get him Stormpaw, now!"

Coniferkit watched with mild interest as his slightly older, much more outgoing brother ran out of the nursery into the snow. He stayed firmly planted next to Daisykit and Dustcloud for a while, too comfortable and warm to leave in any hurry. However, the snow did look tempting, and his stiff legs could use some movement... With a sigh and a stretch, he slowly walked out of the nursery. Being somewhat bigger and heavier than his brother, his stumpy paws sank considerably deeper into the crisp snow than Leopardkit's. His fur was lightly dusted in a layer of the snow by the time he reached his sister, and his paws were encrusted in the stuff. "Hey Stormpaw, mind if I join in?" his tone was quite monotone, but his tail twitched in anticipation at the thought of getting to play in the snow with his family.

Stormpaw watched as a spotted blur raced out of the nursery. Leopardkit! [\i] Stormpaw thought joyously. As her brother jumped onto Oakstar's back, Stormpaw suppressed a laugh. She was about to take off after Leopardkit to join him when a monotonous voice made her look over.

[i]Coniferkit!
"Hey Stormpaw, mind if I join in?"

Of course she didn't mind! "Not at all, Coniferkit! Come on, let's go take down that ShadowClan intruder before they reach the nursery!" And with that, Stormpaw took off towards her father, playfully batting his ears with sheathed claws.

The cold snow bit at Oakstar’s paws, but he didn’t mind as he watched Stormpaw while she gathered her own snow. His attention sufficiently distracted, but his ear twitched at the sound of snow being crunched under tiny paws. A tender smile graced his muzzle, and he patted a couple of his bundled snow piles. Allowing himself to be distracted until a small weight crashed into him with a mighty yowl.

Oakstar fell forward into the snow. His paws folded to allow Leopardkit the joy of being ‘victorious’ as he mock snarled in ‘defiance’.
"How dare you, little ThunderClan kit!" His rumbling growl was toned down by the sheer joy that took hold in his voice, even as he knew Stormpaw would probably bound around the corner any minute with more snow.

He’d happily take being a little wet and cold, if it meant his clan could enjoy the peace and snow. He made a small, half-hearted gesture to wrest the little kit off his back, but the claws held fast. His tail twitched in humour and pretend aggravation.

Stormpaw looked behind her to make sure Coniferkit was coming, before going back to here father. "How dare Leopardkit? How dare you, ShadowClan cat! You'll pay for trespassing on ThunderClan land! Right, kits?" Stormpaw yowled, a mischievous glint in her rich, deep blue eyes. Whiskers quivering, she launched for the tom's tail and yowled in victory. "Go for your opponent's tail, it'll unbalance them. Stormpaw explained to the kits, playfully batting her father's tail between two fluffy paws, a 'vicious' growl in her throat.

Leopardkit clung on with all his strength as his father fell to the ground, not able to withstand his ferocious attack!  It took a lot of effort to not dissolve into giggles at the sound of Oakstar's 'mad' voice, but Leopardkit managed to growl out a counter-threat, scrambling so that he had his forepaws wrapped around the big brown tabby's neck.  "I'm not just any ThunderClan kit, evil ShadowClanner!  I am Leopardstar the Mighty, and I will DEFEAT YOU!"  Chomping down on his father's ear - making sure to be gentle - his eyes locked on Stormpaw as he hissed around his opponent's appendage; "A true warrior alwayf fashes hish enemy head on!"  Letting go of Oakstar's ear, he allowed himself to slide off while still keeping his paws locked around the leader's neck, danging in the air to try and pull him down.  "When he falls, jump on him!  He can't get away!"

Oakstar listened with pride at Stormpaw’s instruction to Leopardkit, a muffled purr in his chest as he felt the kit’s teeth gnaw on his ear. He mock-growled further and pushed himself off from the snow, letting the momentum of the force help him raise onto his back paws for a moment with a ferocious snarl as he crashed back down to the ground. White tipped paws unsheathed as they gripped the snow and ice covered clearing. He abruptly pulled his tail back from Stormpaw as he leapt over the pair with a powerful leap.

With a smirk, he positioned himself into a crouch. Legs spread with claws sunken into the snow as his tail twitched in amusement behind him.
"Come get me then, little thunderclan kits." He growled, humour in his amber eyes.