Thornheart's Acceptance

Chapter 12

 It's been three moons since Thornpaw's first gathering. All of the 'younger' warriors said that it was well into leaf-bare, but the elders and Brackenstar said that it would only start to be leaf-bare when the first snow starts to fall, whatever that meant, but no matter how cold it got the snow never came.

"Are you sure, we are not in Leaf-bare?" Thornpaw called out to Brackenstar as a preticlery strong gust of wind shook the leafless tree branches above them making her shiver.

"I'm sure." he said, stopping walking. He closed his eyes with a smile as the wind picked up again letting his fur dance in the wind.

"When will leaf-bare get here then?" she asked.

Brackenstar opened his eyes and turned his head to the apprentice, "I told you." he said with a sigh, "Leaf-bare doesn't start until the first snow falls."

Thornpaw walked up next to her mentor and stood almost shoulder to shoulder with him. Over the past three moons she had hit a growth spurt, pasting the other apprentices and some of the warriors too. The cats that she used to think were tall were now half her size and the cats that were massive are now only a few ears taller than her. Everyone in the clan found it weird, because most she-cats in any of clans never got to be this tall and of course every cat seemed to have their own idea of why she was so tall. Antpelt and Timberpaw, both at least half of her height now, said it was because her body was trying to compensate with her snarky attitude. Echosong said she was just growing into herself, beauty and that it happened to all cats, just some more than others. While Poppypaw, no matter how much she tried to ignore her, thought to use this to point out how different she was and how weird her parents must look. Her favorite was still Antpelt"s and Timberpaw's, "But what if it doesn't snow this season?" she pointed out looking up at the dark cloudy sky.

Brackenstar's eyes narrowed as his brow drew together. He stood there and thought for a moment, ear twitching in anngornes. Thornpaw sat down and watched her mentor. She could almost hear his train of thought, "Well, if that is the case then we might have to find another way of knowing when the seasons change." he said still thinking, "but that would be unfortunate. Snow is one of the best parts of leaf-bare."

Thornpaw cocked her head, "What else is so good about it."

"Snow is about it. The rest is not as pleasing." he admitted looking up at the dark cloudy sky.

"Question. What is snow? And why do you enjoy it so much?" she asked eyes still on her mentor.

"It's hard to describe without seeing it, but I like it because of how it makes the forest look and how peaceful it is." he said, still watching the sky.

"When do you think the snow will come? If it ever does."

"Any day now. When it does start, Echosong is going to want to take more walks around the forest." he said, as his eyes flashed with fondness, "I hope you would be willing to help with that."

"For Echosong? Always." she said with a smile. Recently, Echosong has been looking for someone to go on walks with her. Normally it was her, Timberpaw, sometimes Antpelt, but there were those rare moments when Brackenstar would insure that he would go with her. Those walks were some of the best times she had had, she knew what Echosong talked about with the Timberpaw and Antpelt, but she never asked what Brackenstar and her talked about.

Thornpaw was pulled from her thoughts were interrupted by a light tip on her shoulder. She turned back to Brackenstar confused before he justered up to the sky. There coming down from the clouds were small specks of white. She watched as the specks fell lightly letting the cold wind danced them around the tree tops. She then looked back at Brackenstar who tiled his head to them. She walked forward and out of the slite cover of the trees until she stood in a small clearing. The specks were coming down harder now and as it started to come closer; Thornpaw sat down on her haunches and reached out with her claws to try and touch the closest speck. As it touched her she felt a prick of cold before it disappeared. She turned back to Brackenstar, who was now sitting and watching her with a small smile on his face,