Ever since the Frozn had begun to drift away from the sheer of cold of Mt Glatz, the icy clan had had to deal with new seasonal changes affecting the city around them. Especially Tiwi, who didn't know a lot about the natural world anyway and required Kalindra's guidance to steer away from ignorant panic.
However, urgent business had resulted in Thorpah having to keep watch over Tiwi that day; though still denying the little yeti as his son, even the warrior couldn't refuse his leader any requests, well, she called them requests. Kalindra was just too nice to use words like order or command.
"What are you doing, Dadda?" Tiwi asked, clinging onto his father's back and peering over his shoulder.
"Off me, child," was the gruff retort, as he attempted to bat the curious infant away; foiled when Tiwi suddenly jumped onto his shoulder, he couldn't help sighing as he continued to check over his weapon. Father and son had been engrossed in their own endeavours, but now it seemed the little yeti was fixated on his Dadda's weaponry.
"How come you use that big hammer?"
"It was passed down to me from my father," he explained. "And one day, I shall have to pass it down to you. We must respect the traditions of Frozenra regardless of paternal errors."
"But I could improve it so much, I've got designs for a good dozen hammers from my blueprints, and-"
Suddenly interrupted by a single, brown leaf that had fallen and landed on his nose, the little yeti found himself shaking his head in a bid to remove said leaf. Wondering where it had come from, he glanced at his father, who in turn simply glanced upwards; then turning his attention to the malting branches hanging above their heads, Tiwi couldn't help clamouring onto Thorpah's shoulder and gripping him in a rather fearful hug.
"The trees are dying, Dadda!"
"The trees aren't dying, you delusional child," The older male retorted, sighing in an irritated manner. "It is a natural, earthen change. The trees shed their leaves and the humans call it 'Autumn'."
"Au..tumn?"
Bending down and picking up the fallen leaf, Thorpah had to be careful that his brute strength didn't crush the fragile brown; then passing the leaf to Tiwi, who's initial reaction was to peer at it through his glasses in a bid to have a better look.
"So this is a leaf!" He exclaimed, suddenly gasping when the clawed nail of his thumb ripped through the crisp, brown 'skin'. "And so fragile! I'm sorry, Dadda, I didn't mean to kill it!"
"When the leaf falls from the tree, it's already dead," was the blunt reply, swiftly followed by an even more blunt 'and they say that you're the clever one, child'. However, upon noticing Tiwi's hurt expression, Thorpah couldn't help sighing with remorse as he gingerly ruffled the little spoke of hair-esque fur on the little yeti's head; feeling his discomfort, Tiwi didn't care as it was still affection from his Dadda.
"Why do we have no leaves on Mt. Glatz?"
"Why are you asking me?' The bigger male asked in reply, beginning to ready his heavy, bulky hammer. "I don't take any notice in environmental affairs, that's up to the likes of Annuqa and Mylka. I don't discuss. I just do."
Bending down to pick up a bigger, browner leaf, the adult male soon shook his head as a thoughtful expression formed on his face. Having prepared his hammer for a rather focused swing, Thorpah suddenly smashed the hammer against the bark; just about managing to avoid breaking the tree in two, he couldn't help wearing a pleased-with-himself smile when he heard Tiwi's giggles through the rain of leaves that had just fallen on top of him.
"All the leaves he could possibly want," he thought, beginning to turn away with hammer still in hand. "Maybe the child will leave me to it now."
However, at that moment, it was Momma's turn to bother him as he noticed a familiar figure begin to approach him.
"Kalindra," he simply stated, giving a single nod.
"Hello Thorpah," she said, flashing him a smile. "Having fun with your son?"
"The child isn't mine," he muttered, yet his protests were ignored by Kalindra once more; noticing Tiwi's head pop up from underneath the leafy pile, the female couldn't help shaking her head in a humoured manner as she picked the little yeti up.
"Having fun, Tiwi?" She asked, giving the tuft of hair on his head a quick yet gentle ruffle.
"Dadda was telling me about Au..Autumn," he chirped, seeming pleased with himself that he remembered the name. "He knocked down all these leaves for me to study."
"You mean he was destroying public property," she said, raising an eyebrow as she noticed the bashed yet still intact bark. "Though I'm glad to see you only took it out on the tree."
Both yeti and human managed a good-humoured chuckle but there was a serious truth behind Kalindra's words; through no intention and fault of his own, Thorpah was prone to accidentally hitting members of his own clan when he was engaged in combat, due to the size and power of his mighty hammer. Had he accidentally hit Tiwi, then the Frozn may have been one member down permanently.
At that moment, Tiwi escaped his Momma's grip and began to kick the leaf pile in quite a playful manner, giggling as he did so.
"And you say you aren't good with kids," Kalindra said, shooting a somewhat humoured look in Thorpah's direction, who's only response was a rather chilling "I never said I wasn't good with them, I said that the child isn't mine."
Noticing one of the 'pile' leaves had strayed onto his shoulder, Thorpah sighed rather heavily as he flicked it off with a rather powerful motion of his bulky fingers; tensing up when he suddenly felt Kalindra's grasp on his arm, his stance relaxed a little, yet his face still wore a rather serious expression.
"Try and keep a smile up for five more minutes, please," the female said, her hushed tone a mixture of advising and pleading. "He picks up on paternal signals so much. If he senses you're not having a decent time, he'll follow suit and it'll knock his mood."
"Didn't realise it took one's eager mood to perfect looking at leaves," he retorted, darting a rather irked look in the human's direction, but his actions spoke of a different sentiment; bending down to Tiwi's level, Thorpah managed to allow a smile to naturally form on his face as he began to tickle the younger yeti's nose with the edge of the leaf, causing him to giggle (that hadn't been Thorpah's intention, he just thought a really close look would calm Tiwi's curiosity down).
"It feels a little warmer than before," Kalindra then said, sounding rather concerned at the slight rise of temperature. "Mylka must have moved away from the area. We should catch up to her. I know you can take it but Tiwi's immune system isn't as strong as yours and I don't want him getting sick from any temperature fluxes."
"If that's the case, then come on, little one," he said, hitching his hammer onto his back before (if a little gingerly) picking up the little yeti and holding him close. "We'll find a much grander tree for you to study, I promise."