Snow Day

"Maybe ee can use ee pockets" Rylee said to Chit as she patted some more snow on top of the fort, as she was one of the taller dibbuns, being just a little bit older. "Norra helpful wi' ee snow fort but yurr paws be warm."

Major Rifflerun strolled through the Abbey grounds, watching the dibbuns, who had separated into two teams, furiously trying to build forts for their upcoming snowball fight. The poor little things were building their forts high enough that they probably wouldn't be able to see where they were throwing the snowballs. Approaching Rylee and Chit's fort, he looked over the top of it at the dibbuns.

"First class fortress building there, chaps! I'd say you've built it a bit high though, wot." He crouched down besides the dibbuns. "You'll want to see where you're throwing your snowballs. Otherwise how will you hit those other tiny terrors."

Lucerne took a bit of snow and flicked it at Dianthus.

"You make a handsome model, but I'd rather have you here helping me build it! I'm not sure what it is yet either, what do you think we should make? I'd considered making m' father, but I don't think he'd be too happy about how fat I'd have to make it. "

Merryfeather had been uncharacteristically quiet for nearly an hour now. Sitting on the floor by the fire, his legs seemed to have disappeared entirely beneath him, making the wren look like a small, fat loaf of bread with a tail and beak. Every now and then his upright tail would flick down and back up excitedly, as if with a mind of its own that protested Merry’s relaxation. Otherwise, he looked almost asleep.

Even the clamor of dibbuns didn’t seem to disturb him much, though he did open his eyes and observe the ruckus with a smile. Once they had gone, he peered thoughtfully around at the group by the fire. “I say, it is rather cozy just here, isn’t it?” he said. The usual twittering energy of his speech was somewhat subdued, like it was getting melty and stretched by the fire. “A body could doze in a blink and not even realize he was asleep. A jolly old frolic in the snow sounds lovely, but I can’t quite work up the desire to leave.”

The wren let out a few lazy warbles. “I do think I have a song or two in me, though, if anybeast should like.”

Father Cornelius loved the winter. Well, he loved all seasons. But at this point in time, winter was shaping up to be his favourite.
 He loved how the snow completely blanketed the forest in a way that it had not done in the south. Even he, the largest creature in the Abbey, often found himself wading knee-deep through the cold substance. He loved the bitter cold that stung the tip of his black-button noze and sent shivers down his furry body, loved the warmth of the fires inside the Abbey as creatures gathered around to tell stories, and loved the peace and tranquility of the forest, as the birds headed south and the trees and plants took time to re-grow again.
 But life at Redwall could never truly come to a standstill. Birds and plants, or no birds and plants. There was always something to be done, which was particularly useful in the winter to prevent anyone being idle enough to freeze off any number of their digits. 
 But at that moment, his head was leaned back over the ridge of his gigantic arm-chair, and he was snoring away with that, without the chatter around him would have been enough noise to wake a bear from hibernation.
 A young creature dropping their chair to the ground was enough to jolt him awake however, just in time to see the dibbuns filing out of the Great Hall behind Lord Cyphel. Cornelius smiled; poor little blighters, probably had their badgers confused. Not that he was complaining of course.
 Chuckling to himself, he snuck up the stairs behind the procession, and watched as the other similarly-aged male badger took the children out to play. He was standing just outside the doorway and watching the Dibbuns playing and the Badger Lord's skating efforts with a paw to his mouth to conceal his chuckles.
 Cornelius was sighing wistfully, and made as though to join one group or the other when...splat! His entire forehead down to his eyes was covered with snow, turning his head almost entirely white except for the lower stripes. Standing totally still, the badger heard a rush of wings above him, and the unmistakeable chuckle that could only belong to one mouse, most likely with his semi-willing accomplice in tow. The badger forcefully wiped off the snow with one paw, and gave an un-characteristically loud yell that caused a flock of crows a few trees outside the Abbey to fly up with caws of distress.
 
"BOOYYYSS!"

---

"What did you do that for? We'll be in even more trouble than we already were now!"
 "Ah lighten up, he'll have forgotten about it by the time we're down. Once more around the Abbey birdy!"
To say that Ryan was taking snowball-fights to the extreme was a massive understatement. He personally had saught out the giant raptor that had been in attendance for the winter feast and spent a considerable amount of time trying to win her over to his idea, then he, Kiostra, and an un-willing Daniel had spent the rest of the evening collecting snowballs and stowing them in an enormous basket.
 Now, the huge raptor was flying in cirlces around the Abbey, sending black shadows over the snow-white ground, often with a heart-soaring screech. In both her talons she was clutching the handles of the huge basket tightly, being more than strong-enough to carry the huge amounts of snowballs coupled with the weight of the two mice.
 Kiostra gave another joyous screech of consent and made a sharp turn around the corner of the huge Abbey building again, almost flying vertically. Daniel was thrown to one side of the basket and stood up quickly to stop the snowballs from being smashed (He had spent a good amount of time making them perfectly rounded, he didn't want all that to go to waste). "I'm gonna be sick." he warned his friend, leaning over the rim of the basket and looking down at the dizzying drop, and the grounds that were passing by in a lightning-quick blur.
 "Good! We can use that to chuck on our enemies then! Speaking of which - Targets in sight! Take us lower!" he called up to their 'pilot', who began tilting herself forward.
 "Ready, aim-" Ryan grabbed a snowball and looked with malice at the forts the Dibbuns were building. Sure, they were going down, but he'd be relativley easy on them. The big hare currently inspecting them however? Well, he was fair game. "Fire!"
 Immediatley he leaned over and began chucking a borrage of missiles down at the group on the grounds, two each for the Dibbun forts, and one particularly hefty one for the Major. The projectiles were solid enough so they wouldn't disintegrate on their way down, but not so much that he would get the blame for any Dibbuns with large bumps on their heads the following day.
 Daniel meanwhile, was only dropping them half-heartedly, sort-of hoping they would hit their targets. He felt as though he was beginning to catch a cold; his nose was going red, he was shivering, his incisor teeth were chattering. He really should have insisted on warmer clothing now that he thought about it. On top of that, he was still leaned over the edge of the basket. The birds could keep the sky for all he cared.

---

 The hunter was stalking his prey.
 Well, not intentionally really. It was more of an accident that Claudius had even stumbled across Scrawf and Fratch, but being the natural feline that he was, he made sure that they did not see him. He melted into the leafless woods behind them, and got down on all fours, waiting to pounce. He could have done it right there and then of course, but where was the fun in that? They were clearly waiting to ambush someone. Puh, amateurs. For the best total chaos possible Claudius would wait until the fox and ferret's intended prey was upon them, and then he would pounce out from the shadows and stake wintery claim to them all.
 His amber eyes only widened in eagerness when they saw none other than captain Bruke striding up the path. Oh this was rich. Those two lowlly hordebeasts were in for a beating from either one of the captains. Claudius watched humourfully as the fox aimed a snowball and the weasel dodged it as only a weasel could. Here it came-
 And sure enough, the ferret and fox split up; one taking one path, the other the opposite. Consideirng going after the soloist would be most fun initially, Claudius quickly changed his mind and turned around after the weasel captain. He kept to the forest; weaving in and out of the trees while he trotted level with the weasel who was too busy trying to catch her attacker that she would have failed to notice his heavy paws on the snow. 
 Then at one point the pair apparently stopped, and Claudius hunckered down with a malicious grin on his face. His fur blended perfectly with the surrounding trees, no-way he would be able to be seen as he long kept quiet enough.
 After pressing himself into the snow for a few moments to check the security of his position, Claudius scooped up a pawful of snow, and lobbed it straight at the back of the weasel's head. Hissing with delight at himself, he changed positions immediatley, repeating the same process from the start.

Eyes blinking open from their sleepy haze, Mildred watched Merryfeather stir as well, slightly amused that the creatures near the fire had all seemed to doze off for a bit. Shifting slightly in an attempt to rouse herself, she took her notebook in her hand, lazily writing a few lines she would certainly expand on in the evening before bedtime in the official recorder notebook in her chambers.

"What better beast to give us a song, than a bird such as yourself?" she asked feebly, moving to adjust the glasses on her nose when she realized they were gone.

Outside, Chit had watched the Major get clobbered by the snowball with amazement. Where did it come from? How had those other dibbuns thrown hard enough to reach all the way at the top of the Major's head? Narrowing his tiny, beady eyes, Chit puffed out his chest dramatically and nodding his head, offering the Major a salute - with the wrong hand. Then, leaning down to grab some ammo, he shuffled behind the fort and began to rapidly fire snowballs at the "enemies". 

A ways off from the snow war, Dianthus watched Lucerne for a moment longer before walking a ways to gather a large amount of snow up in his arms, carrying it over and beginning to liberally apply it to the structure. If she didn't like how it was being shaped, she could scrape it off to suit her ideas. Looking down at the dibbuns with a clumsy smile, Dianthus laughed loudly at the sight of the eyeglasses, wondering who they belonged to. 

"I say, good show, chaps! These buttons 'n pebbles will suit our badger quite nicely, don't you think?"

Chortling, he continued working with the snow, weight shifting happily from foot to foot despite the cold. Admittedly, Dianthus didn't care for the wintertime due to the poor weather, but the sight of the snow lying sleepily in the distance... or being used for the dibbun's every wish... And the way a few stray flakes might settle on a certain hare's eyelashes... Well, he figured he could at least give winter a chance, for that. 

Margorr applauded the little bird when he was done singing.

"Ye've got quite a nice voice! Lovely little tune, thank you for that." He nudged Argrav, who had snuggled down even more into his blanket. "Wasn't it nice, Captain?" Argrav just nodded.

-------------------------------

Having gotten the general shape of the Snow Badger down, Lucerne stuck her paws in her pockets to warm them up a bit while she and Dianthus evaluated their work. The snow badger looked passable enough. She and Dianthus had used the materials brought by the dibbuns to give their snow badger a face.

"Looks pretty good I'd say! Badgerish enough, wot. I'd say we go inside and warm up a bit before continuing, my paws are frozen."

(sorry it's short. I'm sleepy and I wanted to get a reply done)

Merry's tune did indeed warm Mildred's frosty heart, and after Margorr commented, she added, "Yes! Did you think of that all on your own? What a talented individual you are... I used to try my paw at poetry, but goodness, it always came out a mess. I don't think I have a creative enough mind for the thing - after all these years of writing down facts, coming up with fiction is just...! Well, I just don't know how you'd do it!"

Outside, Dianthus stepped back alongside Lucerne, squinting at the snow badger and making a great deal of tilting his head, observing it critically. After moment, he nodded his head and declared, "Yes! I'd say that is most certainly the finest snow badger to ever have existed, wot! The noble shape of the snout, the commanding presence in the shoulders! I daresay, there's snow-way anyone could top it! Hoho!"

Ears flopping a little, he rubbed his paws together rapidly, her mention of the cold finally getting to him. His nose was frozen and his ears were beginning to ache from the chill. Hopping from foot to foot, he gestured to the door with a tired smile.

"Yes, I think I'm quite ready to get m'self warmed up! The snow is fun 'n all, but dash it, I think my fur might freeze! This sort of weather positively sleighs me!"