Bill Nye comes across a vast, flat arctic area with no trees. Shivers are crawling up his spine—not because the place is creepy, but because it is incredibly cold. Gelid.
Bill Nye: *teeth chattering* I—I hope there isn't a Clan living here so I can get out of here f-fast. *Spots a patrol of strange cats heading towards in the distance and lets out a shaky sigh*
Tundrastar: Hello, Bill Nye! All the Clans know why you're here, so let's get started before you freeze to death! *nods to the two cats on either side of him* Now, why don't we introduce ourselves to Bill here?
White tom: I am Arcticbreeze. Welcome to TundraClan's territory.
Cream she-cat: I am Freezetail. We are honoured to have you here, Bill Nye the Science Kitty. *Glances at the tom in the middle* This is our fearless leader—
Tundrastar: —Tundrastar, who will teach you a lot today. Or, in the few minutes you'll be able to listen before you die from hypothermia.
Bill Nye: *half-dead* S-so, tell me about your Clan.
Tundrastar: Well, as you can see and feel, we live on tundra, which is a large expanse of arctic region that has two variations: the Alpine Tundra and the Arctic Tundra. We live in Arctic Tundra. *Watches as Freezetail and Arcticbreeze see Bill's struggle to fight the cold and press against his sides, ther body warmth seeping into his flanks*
Bill Nye: Ah, thank you. I think that it's strange how you all are still alive and functioning in extreme temperature like this.
Arcticbreeze: Yes, it's fascinating, isn't it? We only got use to this after generations and generations of adaptation, which you probably know about from one of the Clans you've visited.
Freezetail: You may have noticed how strange we look compared to other cats. We have really short ears—which does not affect hearing, for your information—, a short, round body and very thick pelts that keep a lot of the cold away.
Tundrastar: Honestly, it's a wonder how we've survived this long. Even the subsoil here is frozen. We refer it to permafrost. In the summer, which is quite short, the surface soil that the permafrost doesn't reach will grow some plants and herbs that we gather a lot of as soon as they come out, as it will freeze again soon and most of the plants will be dormant.
Bill Nye: How very interesting.
Freezetail: *looks up and hisses a warning; there is an owl perched on a precipice, its golden eyes trained on them*
Tundrastar: It should know not to bother us—we've got four cats here. Even though one seems to be rendered useless due to the cold.
Bill Nye: Excuse me? I just got here! I've never been to Arctic Tundra before!
Arcticbreeze: At least you're learning a lot! Our Clan mainly feeds on lemmings and snow hares. You know, we've been through some hard times—because it does not rain a lot here, surprisingly like deserts, we are forced to eat snow to get enough water.
Bill Nye: How awful! I would make a horrible TundraClan cat. Thank you, I have learnt a lot. I think I might be on my way now.
Tundrastar: We'll welcome you any time, Bill Nye the Science Kitty!
Bill Nye leaves, not at all reluctantly.
Written by Saph! 🍩✨