A/N: Hello there! This is the 100 one-shot challenge as created by queen Prin Pardus! I saw someone else doing this and thought It'd be fun to give it a go.
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Theme: Injured
"No, you ignorant mouse-brain," Sorrelfeather flicked Shadefrost, her mate, across the ears with a purr, "Like this."
Claws extended, she leaped at the oak tree opposite her. Grabbing on with all four paws, she scrabbled her way up to the first branch.
"You're like a squirrel!" he exclaimed, putting his front claws on the dark brown trunk and looking up at her with amusement in his handsome blue eyes.
"Squirrels are cute!" she protested.
"I never said they weren't," Shadefrost chuckled, grunting as he launched himself onto the tree for the second time.
He made it three-quarters of the way up the trunk, and then started to slip. With an amused purr, Sorrelfeather leaned down from her narrow perch and grabbed his scruff. Hauling him onto the branch beside her, she watched as he groomed the bark from his fur.
"You're welcome," she said, nudging Shadefrost.
"Thanks!" he piped up, licking her over the ears.
She purred softly, leaning into her soft mate's fur. He wrapped his plumy tail around her protectively as they looked out over WindClan's territory.
They were in a tree relatively close to the ThunderClan border- one of the only trees on WindClan territory. But then again, WindClan was known for it's barren landscape.
The sun was just starting to set, casting a purple and red glow onto everything it overlooked. The rise at their top of the territory, nearest the Moonpool, was illuminated quite nicely. You could easily see every piece of heather swaying in the soft breeze.
"Are we just going to stay like this for ever?" Sorrelfeather joked, nuzzling farther into Shadefrost.
"Why not?" he chuckled, licking her cheek, "May as well."
"Cats back at camp might be worried," Sorrelfeather said, "We said we'd be out to hunt. We've been gone since sun-high."
It was true- Sorrelfeather and Shadefrost had spent a good half of the day racing, playing and in general just enjoying time with each other. They had both been on the dawn patrol so they had the rest of the day off.
"You're right," Shadefrost admitted, almost sadly, "We will hunt, I swear. Let's get down from here first though."
Sorrelfeather nodded, purring. She stood up, stepping in front of the fluffy dark gray tom and grabbing the trunk with all four paws. She slid most of the way down, tearing out pieces of bark as she moved. Landing on the ground gracefully, she watched while Shadefrost struggled to get down from the tree.
"Don't feel bad," she purred, "I've been climbing this tree since I was a new apprentice."
"And I've never been up it until today!" Shadefrost continued, letting out an 'oof' as he hit the ground.
"Good job," she purred, laying her tail on his back briefly.
"First one to catch a rabbit wins, go back to camp as soon as you're done," Shadefrost said in one breath, dashing off before Sorrelfeather even agreed.
"You're on!" she yelled to the retreating dark form.
She shivered as she broke into a jog, heading downstream from the Moonpool. She followed the winding water for about four tree-lengths before she broke off to the side, pressed low to the ground to avoid startling any potential prey.
A large hill was visible up ahead, casting a large shadow over a cluster of heather at it's foot. A great spot for rabbits to hide.
Sorrelfeather purred to herself as she neared the hill. She put her nose in the air just as a breeze passed over the moor and she nodded. She could definitely smell rabbits- quite a few of them.
Just a mouse-length away from the plants, she settled her paws on the ground and waited, head pressed to the ground as she peered into the tight bunch of plants.
Suddenly, one of the bushes moved. Whiskers flicking, Sorrelfeather moved closer, making no noise. She lashed her tail, ready to pounce on the delicious prey.
One…
Two…
Three…
Sorrelfeather leaped into the air, claws outstretched.
Something hard hit her side and she was thrown to the ground. Letting out a startled yowl, she looked up to see three cats standing over her.
"Who are you?" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet.
"Stay down!" a golden tabby roared, headbutting her. She let out a grunt as she was thrown to the ground again.
"What are you doing on our territory?" a gray she-cat questioned, lashing her plumy tail.
"Yeah!" a brown-and-cream tom exclaimed.
"I'm not on your territory! I'm on WindClan's side of the river!" she flicked her head towards the river, which was behind them.
"No, our territory goes to this line of heather," the golden tabby tom pointed his tail at a clump of heather.
"It absolutely does not!" Sorrelfeather exclaimed, outraged, "You mouse-brains made me miss a rabbit, and now you're going to have some explaining to do when Heatherstar hears what you did!"
"She'll apologize," the brown-and-cream tom declared.
"For what?" the sorrel warrior growled, flicking her tail that was now covered in dust and bits of grass.
"She'll apologize to ThunderClan for making us waste our time clawing up an intruder," the gray warrior nodded.
"Anyway, we're going to claw you up a bit, teach you a lesson," the cats started to stalk in a circle around her, "I mean, just taking you back to Heatherstar wouldn't teach you anything."
"That's not fair! I'm completely at the disadvantage, and the warrior code says not to injure helpless cats!" she scrabbled for a decent argument.
"Judging by those," the gray she-cat flicked her tail at Sorrelfeather's extended claws, "You're not helpless."
"Fine!" Sorrelfeather yowled, "Try and claw me up. But give me a fighting chance!"
"Sure thing," the golden tom purred, "Cinderfoot, get her up and pin her down. When I say go, you're going to let her go. If you run, you'll be hurt worse than you can imagine."
"You've got it Sunfang, Weaslefrost, be ready," Cinderfoot grabbed Sorrelfeather's scruff, yanking the she-cat away and stepping on her neck with unsheathed class.
Sunfang and Weaslefrost took their fighting stances, backs to the river. Devising a plan that might get her out of this alive, Sorrelfeather readied herself to be released.
"Go!" Sunfang roared, springing towards Sorrelfeather.
Cinderfoot released her grip on the sorrel warrior immediately. Rolling to the side, Sunfang missed her by a rabbit-hop. She growled, lashing her tail as he advanced towards her with his hackles sticking straight up.
He feigned lunging at her, which she didn't fall for. Combat was Sorrelfeather's strength, and she was nearly the best fighter in the Clan. She was confident she could beat these forest cats any day.
She leaped at Sunfang, grabbing onto his head and pushing off of it. Her momentum threw Sunfang to the ground, stunning him. She landed elegantly, spinning all the way around and leaping at Weaselfoot. He darted to the left and Sorrelfeather dug her claws into the ground, springing in the same direction he was running.
She grabbed his tail in her jaws and yanked, causing him to land on his haunches. He stood up, regaining his composure, just to have Sorrelfeather barrel into him and flip him over, batting at his face with unsheathed claws. He yowled as she cut him across both ears, his nose, and once down his cheek. He pushed her off with his back legs, causing Sorrelfeather to gasp for breath. In that short time, Sunfang had managed to get up and be able to leap at her. He grabbed her head this time and slammed it to the ground, scratching the back of her neck and her shoulders with his thorn sharp claws. She threw him off and went to attack again, the pain blurring her vision. She swayed on her paws as she flung herself at Cinderfoot, who had appeared to have sat out most of the fight. Purring, the gray warrior smacked Sorrelfeather with her front paws and sent her rolling down the steep hill.
Dirt and grass seeped into the sorrel she-cat's bleeding wounds and she cried out in pain. Finally coming to a stop near the lake, she tried to stand but the blood loss was taking it's toll. Her head spun and she just collapsed again, meowing pathetically. She faintly heard the laughs of the ThunderClan patrol before her vision went black.
Her senses rushed back to her all at once. Gritting her teeth, she opened her eyes as the pain from all her wounds returned to her.
Already feeling weak again, she looked around with her drooping head. She appeared to be in the medicine den, of WindClan thankfully.
"Hey, you're up," a soft voice came from behind her. Gently turning her head, she purred softly when she caught sight of Shadefrost's handsome eyes and white face.
"Yeah," she murmured weakly, turning her vision to the entrance of the den.
"What happened?" Shadefrost asked softly, licking the top of Sorrelfeather's head comfortingly.
She rested her head on the edge of the moss, "I was looking for the rabbit and ThunderClan cats jumped me. I didn't know their border went all the way to the heather patch."
"It doesn't," Shadefrost paused in his licking to shake his head, "They're just mouse-brains. I'm sure Heatherstar will have something to say to Redstar."
Sorrelfeather didn't reply, she just flicked her tail in acknowledgment. She felt sleep begging to claim her, and the last thing she felt was Shadefrost resting his soft head on her back.
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Word Count (not counting A/N): 1,582
A/N: Awe. Cute. I tried to do an injured/love one because I am trying to work on romance writing. I liked the beginning more than the end but it wasn't too bad in my opinion.
Well, that concludes the first challenge for Prin Pardus' 100 One-Shot challenge! It was fun. You'll see me back here with another one soon!