It was cold. Not unbearably so, but just enough so that it was easy to feel on the air, and easy to tell that it was winter, rather than any other season. When winter in The Palm Glades had initially started, it had started off with a bang. A massive snowstorm had hit the territory, ripping through and not only burying them in snow, but also driving a great deal of their prey underground. Thankfully, it seemed as though the winter had decided to start anew after that event, however. Not only was their prey gradually beginning to return, but the Glades were having their usual weather, which was certainly on the chilly side, but not as incredibly cold as it had been before. Rhinestone had to admit that he was glad for that, considering he probably would've fallen apart if they had to deal with another massive snowstorm like the one that had hit a month or so ago. He would've dealt with it, obviously – he kind of had to, in order to keep things running – but it wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for any of them. Especially since it probably would've involved more deals with Stryker in order to keep their prey stock up.

Instead of a terrible and unbearable snowfall, the first snow of the proper Palm Glades winter season was a gentle one. Rhinestonestar had just been exiting his den for the moment when he saw the flakes of white raining down at a slow place, sticking briefly to the ground and covering it in a thin sheet of white. The air was chilled, but his thick pelt was keeping him warm, and the clouds weren't the unbearably dark color that they had been when the blizzard had hit. Although the leader's black eyes lingered warily on the clouds above, he eventually found himself able to relax, a soft sigh leaving him as he stepped out onto the beach. He began to leave light tracks in the snow that was sticking to the ground, a little chuckle leaving him as he moved in a circle. Turning his head towards a few unsure looking NPCs nearby, he purred reassuringly, "Don't worry everyone, I think this is just a regular snowfall. Not another blizzard, thank the waves..." With a calm smile, Rhinestone then stuck his paw out into the air, allowing a few snowflakes to drop down onto the pads of his foot. He chuckled, glad that they could have at least one pleasant snowfall this year.

Cherry had encountered unfavorable snowfall before and, judging by the wary gazes of those around him as gentle snow fell before them, they had as well. Cherry let a smile curl on his muzzle. "Yeah, I think Rhinestonestar is right. This just seems to be a regular, gentle snow." He chuckled as he moved to his den, the sweet cherry smell welcoming to his nose. He dug around before bringing out his satchel.

Moving to a nice spot by the gathering rock, he took out a canvas and his set of acrylics, followed by a bundle of brushes and a few cups to hold water. He scooped snow up into the cups and set them aside, then took out a palette for his paints. His paint was then laid out in rainbow order, with white and black on either end. Taking a good look at the scene before him, he dipped his big brush into the blue and white, then started painting a loose sky. NPCs occasionally looked at him and most ended up shrugging his actions off, but some of the younger members started to gather around him as he worked.

[color=#c76a6a]"Speech"

After a long moment of staring at the slow and pleasant fall of the flakes from above, Rhinestone found his ears perked up when a familiar voice sounded nearby. Turning his head a bit, he spotted Cherry, doing his own work in reassuring everyone that they weren't having another horrendous storm. Rhine felt a faint smile come to his muzzle, the serval getting up to his paws as he began to roll small snowballs from what had already fallen. He wouldn't be able to make any snowmen from the loose stuff that was on the ground currently, but perhaps once it was dense enough, he would be able to. He was so caught up in his childish little task that he almost didn't notice Cherry's actions nearby, dark gaze lighting up when he saw the other working on a canvas once more.

Driven by a similar curiosity to the youths that had already formed a crowd nearby, Rhinestone padded over, smiling before he took a seat. As his short tail came to rest near his paws, the male found himself muttering, "You really do enjoy working on artwork, don't you? I guess the sight of the snow is pretty inspirational..." When the snow wasn't threatening to rain down upon them furiously and cause them to starve, it was actually pretty pleasant. He wouldn't mind if they got a couple more of these snowfalls before the season ended, as long as they were similarly gentle.

For a blissful moment, Rhinestone had simply allowed himself to relax, short tail curled near his side as he watched Cherry work. However, he was broken from his lazy concentration by the sound of frigid layers being split apart, ice and snow cracking and crushing beneath the steps of a kit. Dark eyes sought out the source of the noise, eventually pausing when he saw the small form of Foamkit trotting forth. For a moment, the legate was able to see a similar sense of hesitation on the boy's face, obviously brought on by past experiences. Snow had not been kind to them in the past, bringing with it prey shortages, destruction, death, and sickness, particularly in Foam's case. Rhine wouldn't have blamed the other if he had just turned around and gone right back inside, refusing to meet a day that had greeted him with the flurry of white falling from the sky. Thankfully, it seemed as though Foamkit was willing to give snow another chance, as the child threw himself forward, snow and sand flying up in his wake and falling down upon Rhine's resting tail.

Snorting softly as he shook off the few flakes that had fallen on him, the tall feline got back up to his feet, following after Foam as he began to bound around camp. He cleared his throat to hopefully get the other's attention, pointing out as he gestured towards the sky, "You probably won't be able to feel it if a snowflake does fall on your tongue, except for maybe the cold. They're not exactly heavy... you'd probably just be better off taking a scoopful of the already fallen snow." A faint chuckle left Rhinestone, before he found himself pausing. Hastily, he made an addition to his statement, realizing Foam might not have realized he was joking, "Don't... don't actually do that, though. We don't want you picking anything up off the ground, and plus the taste isn't all that exciting. It just tastes like water... maybe at some point we could make snow cones. Those would taste much better." The legate then paused, one blue paw tapping against his chin thoughtfully. It wouldn't be too hard for them to make snow cones. Hell, there might even have been some machines for doing just that scattered on the boardwalk.

Rhinestone's head snapped up from its relaxed position of thought when a frantic call for him echoed through the air. The call for papa could've actually been for several different members of the group, but the serval was able to immediately recognize the cadence and sound of Onyxkit's voice. He shot an apologetic look towards Foamkit before he turned, lightly jogging in the direction of his daughter's panicked shout. He couldn't imagine that anything too horrifying was going on, since the sound of her voice was still coming from camp, and no one else appeared to be in a state of shock or horror. Despite this, he walked into camp with a concerned look on his face, paws crunching down small flakes of snow and sand beneath his feet, sticking slightly before he lightly shook them.

Moving inside the nursery, Rhine paused for a moment upon spotting Onyx, wondering what could've been causing the look of fear and anxiety in her gaze. However, it only took a moment for him to put things together, turning towards the snow and remembering her aversion towards the cold. A small chuckle left him, the legate unable to hold it back as he realized what was going on. He supposed it made sense, considering Onyxkit's hybrid form made her more susceptible to the cold. Despite this, the snow was falling so gently that it was hard for him to think of it as a threat. Turning back to Onyx, he moved closer to the girl, sitting down beside her and letting his short tail rest over her back. As he did so, he questioned softly, a light smile curled on his muzzle, "I guess this is your first time encountering snow, huh Onyx? I promise it's not going to hurt you... it's cold, but that's nothing some blankets can't fix. After all, once the snow is done falling and things warm up again, it'll all melt anyways." That would certainly lead to some interesting struggles with the wet sand, but at least it was better than a terrible blizzard.