My Heart is Full [C]

It had been the first time the sun had shown itself in moons, or so it felt that way to Falconpaw. Leaf-bare was slowly releasing it's grip on the forest, the cloudy days beginning to give way to the sunshine and blue skies that signaled the arrival of the new-leaf to come. The air was still sharply cold and smelled of crisp, decaying pine needles and leaves that were scattered all around Skyclan's territory. The upside was that there was little to no breeze, so the cold was wonderfully tolerable. To cats with thicker, longer hair than others, it was refreshing. Clumps of snow was scattered around the ground in haphazard piles on the landscape, some of which were taller near the trees as snow fell from the branches as it melted.

Falconpaw had come out with a few other warriors on patrol, as well as his brother and sisters. They finally had a patrol together and Falconpaw hardly contained his joy. He had more bounce in his step than normal, he was in good spirits and hunting had been easy. He'd caught a squirrel and a few mice already. He'd watch as his siblings made their catches and was the first one to compliment them on each success. The patrol eventually made their way to Halfstone. The warriors on patrol seemed content to leave the apprentices there, with one warrior staying behind, while the rest of the patrol kept moving to hunt and mark borders. Apparently the siblings had been louder than they liked. That was fine with Falconpaw.

The white and gold apprentice leaped up onto one of the boulders, scrabbling up just a little bit as he misjudged exactly how tall the boulder was, and looked around the little clearing with his vantage point. The boulder was freezing cold on his paw pads and his breath was visible in the air, but the cold didn't bother him as much as it normally might have. This might be a fun place to play for awhile.

"Hey you guys! Come up here with me!" He mewed excitedly. He looked at the other half of the boulder that was a short leaping distance away. Maybe he could make a game out of this. Birds fluttered around in nearby branches, apparently feeling quite safe where they were. Falconpaw smirked, knowing he could probably still get one... but he'd caught enough for now. If he could get a chance to play games with his siblings he'd rather do that anyway. Who knows when they'd all be together again like this.

"It's about time mom put us on the same patrol!" Graypaw chirped cheerfully as she padded alongside her siblings. Quickpaw had finally been made an apprentice, and Graypaw was happy to finally spend more time with them when she could. "How's training been for you guys?" The warriors seemed content to let the apprentices talk among themselves, and Graypaw wasn't going to complain about that little bit of freedom. She'd caught a squirrel before, and Falconpaw had caught prey too, so it wasn't like they were slacking off or anything.

At Falconpaw's call, she darted over to him, leaping to stand atop the rock beside the golden and white tom, golden eyes bright as she glanced back at her brother and sister.