Now, Crash knew that he was technically supposed to stay in the medicine den, but in his defense, he had been left unsupervised. It wasn't like he was going very far. He couldn't go very far, not with his hind leg in the shape it was in, anyway. The blue tomcat had dragged himself out of the den and made himself comfortable right outside, simply observing the goings on of the clan cats. The camp was much bigger than he'd imagined it being, and there were so many cats around! It was strange to him, seeing such a large group of cats just... coexisting with each other. What kept them from being at each other's throats all the time? Especially when winter rolled around and things became scarce. How did they survive, all lumped together like this?
The season was changing, so the temperature was dropping every day. A strong wind was blowing, but because of the wall of foliage around the camp, the effect was dampened slightly. 'Walls. That must be why the mothers are letting their kittens play outside,' he thought to himself, whiskers twitching faintly. 'They keep the wind at bay a bit and predators out.' As he pondered his observation, he carefully lowered himself into a laying position, his injured leg sticking out awkwardly at the side. It didn't hurt much anymore when at rest, but he still couldn't walk on it. Hopefully that would change soon, he hated being unable to do things for himself.
The loner was deep in his thoughts, simply trying to figure out how this community he had been brought into worked, when suddenly, he felt something soft bounce off his cheek. Confused, his violet gaze turned in the direction the sensation had come from, and there, sitting on the ground just a few inches away, was a ball of moss. How odd. Then, he heard a small, nervous voice. "I-I'm sorry m-mister, I-I swatted the ball t-too hard..."
Crash's attention turned from the moss that had hit him to the voice. It was one of the kittens, standing a good distance away from him, as if he was afraid to get too close. Crash raised an eyebrow. This kit had seemed pretty confident when he had been playing with the other kits earlier. What changed? "No need to be sorry, kit. It's just a wad of moss, it's not like it hurt." The blue loner said simply, shrugging his shoulders. He waited for the kit to come forward to reclaim his moss, but the little furball didn't budge, just stood there and eyed the toy warily.
After a few moments of simply staring, Crash finally reached his paw out and swatted the moss ball back towards its owner. He'd realized that the kit was likely scared of him, and that's why he wouldn't get any closer. The kit seemed surprised, but quickly grabbed the moss in his jaws "T-Thank you!" He squeaked before turning around and quickly scampering back over to his friends. Now that the kit was gone, though, Crash realized that maybe he should have offered up a trade for the mossball. He was getting hungry, and a mouse sounded pretty good to him at the moment. 'Oh well, maybe next time,' Crash yawned and stretched out his front legs, lazily taking another glance around the clearing. Was it about time for one of the medicine cats to come back from whatever they had to do today? He was bored, and they were really the only cats here who would talk to him.
W A S P P A W
"For a big, scary loner, you're awfully soft when it comes to kits," came the soft teasing of a voice not too far off from the blue-hued tom. Nearby was Wasppaw, who had just returned from gathering herbs, if the bundle of leaves by his paws were any indication. Both he and Hareflight had to preserve as many plants as possible while snow marked the ground and the temperatures froze the earth. It was a two-cat job and it required much more attention than herb gathering in the warm seasons. Unfortunately, it also meant that their new, apparently energetic patient was left alone and free to run rampant in their camp.
Thankfully, so far, Crash had proved not to be too troublesome. The Clan had worried when Hareflight had suddenly decided to take in a loner, many in the clan hesitated to support the inclusion of the outsider, but it was so unlike the timid medicine cat to speak up and to choose to do something that others had spoken out against that no one had tried to say otherwise again after that.
Not only that, but the tom appeared to be somewhat fond of his mentor. As far as he could tell, it was Hareflight's gentle and kind nature that had allowed the loner to relax under her care and to transition into the medicine den as passively as he had. The loner had been attentive to her wishes and even seemed to be gentle around their kits, if the encounter that had taken place just heartbeats ago was any indication.
Hence why Wasppaw felt comfortable enough around him to be so formal with him. Normally, it took the timid tom a lot of time to warm up to someone. He wasn't even fully casual with Mellowfrost yet, and he was Clan deputy for crying out loud. There was just something different about Crash, though. The two of them seemed to just... connect easier. Perhaps it was his relation with Hareflight that made it easier for him to open up.
"Let me put these up and I'll be back to check on your leg, since it seems that you'd like some exercise." Picking up his bundle, Wasppaw briefly disappeared into the medicine den before he had returned and settled an appropriate tail-length from Crash. "How does it feel today?"