There are times when things get so tough and hard for us that we just need a break. It doesn't have to be a full-blown vacation or anything like that, maybe just a nice dinner with friends and family to take your mind off of school or stress. While it does take time away from solving the problems, it does give your brain and body time to heal as it prepares itself to take on those challenges. We've all had moments when we've snuck on a computer and played a game instead of doing schoolwork or times when we doodle on the corners of our notes instead of taking notes instead. Short breaks that even last just a few seconds can be enough to distract you from your worries and troubles. 

Nothing is wrong with breaks. During those times, you tend to be more open and laugh a little harder. If you have company, they make you smile and laugh until your chest or sides hurt and are also a good person to talk to about your problems. They listen to you and give feedback how they'd tackle the problem if they were in your shoes. Not every little break doesn't have to be like this, sometimes you can just joke and be yourself regardless if you're with other people or not. 

When you can just let go of your troubles, your feet are lighter, making your steps faster and swifter, and maybe the world isn't as harsh as it was a few seconds ago. 


X X X

"This is the first time I've messed around in snow," Finchpaw noted, poking her paw in the cold patch. Her fur tingled and her face split into a bright smile. A yelp escaped her when Icepaw swept his leg across the ground, throwing a ball of snow at her. The younger she-cat fell face-first, her tail sticking straight up in the air like a frozen tree. Flintpaw let out a defensive growl, readying himself to lunge at the older tom. Nearby, Firepaw snapped his head up from his wrestle with Lightningpaw and let out a cheer.

All of the apprentices managed to slip out from camp, a few paces away but still able to see their home if they looked left. Mothpaw found playing in the snow strange but seeing Breezepaw jump around kicking it everywhere, it made her paws shake for some kind of play. Eveningpaw and Goldenpaw rolled clumps of snow - only for Cloudpaw to come over and crush the piles with his feet. Runningpaw currently chased after a fleeing Harepaw after the latter lost their last competition of who could sneak up on another unsuspecting apprentice and take them down in a single blow, a trail of flying snow following their path.

Slatepaw and Olivepaw were the only two apprentices that stayed clear of the mess, one of them eyeing the playful apprentices with disgust and a long groan at kitful actions. No matter how hard Wasppaw and Leopardpaw begged, they wouldn't join. Even when the spotted she-cat took a flying jump at the silver apprentice, she was sent away with a nick in the ear. Breezepaw still recovered from the last jump-scare, freed herself at last, and angrily chased after the older apprentices, laughing and growling. Whitepaw stayed huddled next to Mothpaw, attempting to draw something in the snow with her paw.

Scarpaw entered a playful state and roped himself in Firepaw and Lightningpaw's brawl, squashing both of them. In a flurry of snow, both toms summoned their strength and threw the red apprentice off and into a massive pile of snow. They wasted no time and dove right after him, disappearing into the mound in a series of hisses and growls. Separated from the group, Honeypaw and Beechpaw both rose to their hindlegs before they came crashing down, sending a wave of snow at the other. Mothpaw's heart pounded harder, old desires racing to her, wanting to pull her in the direction of her family.

Becoming kits again had a strange taste on her tongue.

"I win! I win! I win!" shouted Harepaw, dancing in the air. With a pile of snow on his head, Runningpaw growled and clenched his teeth, muscles bunching together to pounce. The tan-colored apprentice sprung into the air again and got a rude surprise from his ally.

"Icepaw...!" Finchpaw moaned, getting up and shaking her pelt clean. "That was mean of you!" Her eyes scanned the white field for an orange pelt but she couldn't identify anyone through the thick cloud of snow. Giving up, she jumped out of the little hole and followed a random set of jumbled pawprints.

Slatepaw's eyes flashed with mischief and she advanced, throwing the younger cat back into the snow, placing a paw on the back of her neck to keep her down. Withering and flailing, Finchpaw thrashed helplessly at the CinderClan cat's mercy. A stone-gray tom sprang from a clump of snow, disguising himself poorly but using the she-cat's boasting to his advantage, tackled her from behind, freeing his sister.

Finchpaw scrambled to her paws, spotted her brother, and raced to join him as they ganged up on Slatepaw. That left Olivepaw by herself with a pesky Leopardpaw clinging to her side, desperate for a playmate. A chunk of snow flew from a powerful kick, and both she-cats took the attack full-on, drenching them in cold. Icy and fiery remarks exploded and showered down like icicles just as a spotted she-cat bolted toward the first cat she could grab. Owlpaw let out a screech as an endless ball of energy rammed into his side, furiously hitting his flank with her tiny paws.

Whitepaw giggled and trotted off, bidding Mothpaw a farewell to join her sister, who cleverly hid in the white grass. Eveningpaw whirled around at the sound of someone trudging through and easily picked out a patch of gray fur. A joyful laugh split the air as the three she-cats got into a wrestle. Honeypaw darted between two apprentices and delivered a swift kick of snow, flying in Beechpaw's direction. Through the clumps of white, the silver apprentice's heart fluttered and crouched down, withdrawing her claws.

With a silver pelt, maybe hiding isn't going to be as hard as I thought, she considered, placing her paws in holes. Mothpaw kept a watchful look and then lunged, piling onto her sister forcefully, shoving Honeypaw's face down.

"Hey! No fair!" Honeypaw snapped, thrusting upward. Mothpaw flew off and caught herself before she could hit her back. Her paws dug into the dirt underneath the snow, snowflakes clinging to her fur. The golden cat shook out her pelt clean of flakes and smirked at her, then the two sisters stopped dead.

Honeypaw's face dropped before she covered it up with a smirk, the two of them hiding their embarrassment. Then the she-cat let out a sigh and lifted her head, showing another fake smile to clean things up. At that, Mothpaw froze, unable to say or move at the disguise. This wasn't her sister, after all. Stabs like thorns and regret as heavy as a mountain was only a figure of her imagination.

So why did she smile?

"Where's Firepaw?" Cloudpaw's voice broke the moment and stopped all wrestling. Scarpaw went toward the pile of snow they had fought in and poked his nose in, searching for the orange apprentice. Eveningpaw shivered and Whitepaw curled herself in a ball, conserving body heat in the pouring snow. A line of snow touched her head and tickled her ears with each flick to ward them away. Mothpaw let out a huff and watched her breath rise into the gray sky, snowflakes passing through the visible gas before melting.

"He's probably hiding somewhere! He'll be fine!" Leopardpaw protested, flicking her tail, pushing away a snowflake. "Besides, he can't really hide very well with that bright pelt of his!"

"Then where is he? Is he hiding?" Runningpaw considered, romping through any piles that were untouched by little pawprints. Mothpaw narrowed her eyes and stopped, opening up her nose to take in the scents of all of them. Lavender, berries, and mint flooded in, but Firepaw's scent wasn't visible and only to traces of his siblings' scent. Worry set in and twisted her stomach in all kinds of knots, the snow washing away any trails that the apprentice left behind. Icepaw was the first to yowl and shove his face in the snow as if he could miraculously find him.

"He couldn't have gotten buried," Honeypaw noted, whisking her tail over a mound. "If anything, I would've assumed Finchpaw or Whitepaw would've been taken."

"Hey!" snarled Breezepaw, overhearing the comment. "My sister wouldn't get buried! She's right here!" To prove her point, she bent over and yanked up a yelping, gray-spotted pelt. Secured, Whitepaw wrapped her tail around her sister's back, squeezing it as if it was a root and could absorb heat. Honeypaw marched over and dug around a hole, revealing the barren earth. She placed a paw and within moments, it was buried in white.

Mothpaw blinked away the flakes that landed near her eyes, her pelt collecting more and more snow. She shivered, now noticing the drastic weather that she had once frolicked through. Pelt soggy, her paws dragged across as they searched for Firepaw, squinting through droplets. Despite not lifting a paw to save or find her brother, Leopardpaw stood on her toes to see above the snow's level, her back weighing down with more and more flakes. Runningpaw and Harepaw were the tallest and scouted for the smaller cats as they jumped and dug around the walls to avoid getting buried underneath.

"The snow's getting too strong for us! We have to go back or we're gonna get buried alive!" Slatepaw roared as she staggered to her paws, only to fall and clammer haplessly. "Who are the smallest cats?!"

"That'd be you and most of the MeadowClan apprentices!" Goldenpaw retorted, storming over and grabbing his sister's scruff. "What part of you promising us you'd keep watch on the snow so we wouldn't get trapped did you not understand?!"

"That was also Olivepaw's job; don't blame me for that," Slatepaw spat, lashing her tail. "Put me down you lump of fur! Go after someone who actually needs the help!" The striped she-cat hurled over, coughing out a snowflake she inhaled. Goldenpaw left her side and jumped, snatching Flintpaw before he could reach Finchpaw, who, stuck next to Scarpaw's legs. Mothpaw pushed through the bundle and bit her tongue, keeping quiet and opening her ears wide, picking out small sounds of an apprentice.

"Did you really think the cat in a comatose-like state would keep watch?!" Cloudpaw snarled, giving his friend a slap to the head. "Where's Harepaw?!"

"Here!" The lighter apprentice shouted, hurtling over.

"Leopardpaw! Icepaw! Firepaw!" A stronger voice cried out, causing the apprentices to whirl around. Through the thick snow, they barely made out faint shapes of a group of cats heading their way. The younger cats jumped up and raced toward the figures, colliding with Tigerfrost and Lionfur.

"Are they over there?!" Speckleflash's voice rang and Beechpaw scrambled to his feet, using Runningpaw as leverage to spring off. He crashed into his mentor in a bundle of brown fur and snow, purring over the storm. Mothpaw pressed her ears to her skull, shivering in her tiny ball.

"They are?!" At this, Lightningpaw abandoned the group and clashed into the pelt of his mother, who grabbed him with equal force and embraced her son.

"Thank StarClan, they are!" Breezepaw and Whitepaw cried out in joy and hurried over to their mother, fighting through the snow that slowed their pace. Dapplefur's calico pelt stuck out as she made a beeline toward her kits, no longer hiding the truth about their birth. The CinderClan cats with them stared at her, saying nothing but showing no signs of shock or distraught.

"Mother!" The herd of Wasppaw, Slatepaw, and Goldenpaw trampled over one another in a desperate race to reach their parents. "Father!" Mothpaw scurried out of the way and eventually caught whiff of Sparrowblaze's scent, her heart skipping a beat.

Honeypaw ran behind her tail, skidding to a halt by Sparrowblaze's side with her. Mothpaw let the tom examine her before he placed a paw around her shoulders. When she looked on her right, her heart melted, remembering the first time when her mentor did this. She could've sworn his paw had been longer last time, but she brushed aside the fact and stayed close. Scarpaw came over, helping Eveningpaw drag her younger brother, Owlpaw, through the ice and snow. Nightbreeze spotted her kits and bounded over, grabbing ahold of the freezing chunk of fur and began to lick him all over.

Runningpaw came over, Olivepaw in the front, heading for Hailbreeze. The warrior surrounded her two and held them close as if she'd lose them if she let go. Beechpaw clambered over his mentor while Mothpaw leeched herself to Sparrowblaze, the two siblings refusing to part from the cats that they saw as parents. Honeypaw and Scarpaw stuck together, watching the apprentices reunite with their parents in the snowstorm.

"Where's Firepaw?!" Lionfur demanded, instantly realizing one of his sons was missing. Icepaw and Leopardpaw let out a yelp at Tigerfrost's sharp gaze, and they shook their heads, denying any knowledge of their brother's whereabouts. Their parents' faces dropped and they broke away, calling out Firepaw's name, roaring over the falling snow.

Scarpaw glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if an orange head would suddenly pop out from a patch of snow. The CinderClan cats didn't move, but they did gang up on their apprentices and harshly scold them for ignoring an ally. Lionfur's voice dropped with worry each time his calls went unheard, the fear bleeding over his mate. The tiger-colored warrior looked left and right desperately, shouting her son's name, hoping for an answer. Mothpaw's legs began to shake and her stomach curled into a ball, the same feeling coming back up when she was in the nursery anytime she heard news of another missing cat.

By then, Icepaw and Leopardpaw exchanges worried glances and eventually, they left and trailed after their parents, struggling to follow their steps. The snow rained harder, drowning Flintpaw, Finchpaw, Breezepaw, and Whitepaw. Their parents picked them up in their jaws, trying to keep them above the snow's level, but when the other fought to stay up, they were quick to switch kits. Lionfur and Tigerfrost's bright pelts slipped away in white, their voices no louder than an echo.

"Wait! We can't lose you too!" Speckleflash snapped, about to chase the two warriors. "I know you won't listen, but we can't risk losing three cats!"

"Mother! Father!" A higher voice squealed, and Leopardpaw let out a scream of delight. Mothpaw darted her head to the side, spotting two cats walk into sight, one belonging to Firepaw, the other a mystery. Heavy pawsteps signaled Tigerfrost and Lionfur rushing back at the sound of their kit's voice. 

Speckleflash parted her jaws open to thank the kit when Beechpaw let out a horrid scream, high-pitched like a dying crow's. Mothpaw and the others gritted their teeth as the tom bunched his muscles together and leapt across the snow, snatching a frightened Firepaw. Propelling himself, he aimed a kick of snow at the apprentice's rescuer, and sprang off, jerking the apprentice's body violently. He let out a cry and his siblings bolted over, showering him in cries of happiness and screaming. 

With a face full of snow, Mothpaw could still identify the cat that had saved them. Beechpaw positioned himself protectively in front of her, lowering his voice and arching his back, claws slithering out of his paws. The snow raged around them, and the cat stood there, cleaning themselves with their paw to see the apprentices. Tigerfrot and Lionfur skidded to a halt and stared at their kit's hero and frowned. Speckleflash's eyes narrowed and she eyed her apprentice suspiciously. 

Beechpaw stomped, curled his lips back in a threatening snarl, and advanced toward the sleepy-looking cat. From behind her brother, Mothpaw could recognize the scent from a mile away. It was distinct and left a scar across her memory. While she might've picked it up during that fleeting moment when the two last saw each other, she grabbed and stored the scent far in her memory, placing it next to another scent she refused to forget. The anger emitting from the thick-furred tom was enough to trick her, believing it was their ill-intended father.

Instead, Sleekfeather's murderer happened to be the cat that saved Firepaw's life.