Chapter 1 – Pride and Humility

Thornbreeze flicked his tail as he stretched, unsheathing his claws. He grinned at the pretty white she-cat before him, his icy-blue eyes sparking. His brown pelt was tugged gently by a warm breeze as it blew past the two warriors.

She was thin and lithe, and she just smiled nervously at him. Her warm amber eyes were thoughtful, while her usually smooth fur was being buffeted by the wind, making it messy and ruffled, "So you want to race? Um, sure. I could always improve my speed, I guess. We need to make it quick though. I need to get those Juniper Berries to Sunbreeze and Sweetpaw. They're running low…" the she-cat mused, sounding a bit unsure as she flicked her tail toward the herbs at the roots of the nearby tree. She was always happy to learn or improve, but she sounded indecisive. She also didn't like to be competitive, and she always complemented others and their accomplishments, so this was a rare opportunity, getting to compare Thornbreeze's own skill to hers.

Thornbreeze thought it was dumb. You had to strive to be best, and that's what made him a great warrior. He didn't like to be rude and boast though, like Darkflame did. He was loyal and strong, and his female counter-part, Brookspirit, in front of him was, too, just not quite as much.

Warriors had to compare themselves to others in order to get better; otherwise they would have no inspiration. He still respected his best friend's opinion though. She thought her way was right, so she could continue living like that if she chose, too. It just wasn't anything Thornbreeze would do.

Thornbreeze cut off his own thoughts, shaking his head, to rid his head of them. They were wasting daylight. He extended his paw toward the line he had scratched into the dirt and began to speak.

"We'll start here. We'll race to that oak tree over there," he flicked his tail toward the towering tree before continuing, "and then we come back here. Whichever one of us wins gets first pick of fresh-kill from the pile," he explained, "Simple, right?"

Brookspirit thought about it for a few heartbeats, and then nodded, "I guess that's fine. You say when."

Thornbreeze readied himself, bunching his muscles. He laid his ears back and took a deep breath, "Go!" he yowled and immediately set off, kicking dirt up in the air behind him. He pushed hard off the ground with each stride, slamming his paws into the ground each time they came in contact. He already saw Brookspirit out of the corner of his eye though and she was right beside him, having easily matched his speed, with her white fur coated in bits of dirt, most likely what he had kicked up at the start.

She barely touched the ground with her paws, making her look like she was floating, her streaming fur like wings. She didn't make a sound, unlike Thornbreeze, and her soft, relaxed gaze didn't even flicker to the tom. She was focused solely on the tree. She passed him with ease, but she didn't seem to be trying to beat him.

Thornbreeze frowned and began to take larger stride, almost leaping through the air as he stretched his paws out, then pulling them in again. He had heard that's what one of the ancient cats did. They weren't a Clan, but they had still existed, according to the legends. He stumbled a bit as he tried it out, so as soon as she was ahead of Brookspirit again, he sprinted normally again. He was at the tree by then, so her curved sharply around it, heading back to the line. He passed his friend and flicked her shoulder with his tail, teasing. He reached it and nearly collapsed. He hadn't realized how much energy he had been using. He pulled in a few deep breaths and coughing a bit, trying to recover from the sprint.

Brookspirit joined him soon after, "Are you okay? We should get back to camp and eat." She offered her shoulder for him to lean on, but he just shook his head, standing on unsteady paws, refusing.

"I'm fine, and I still get first pick," he reminded her, and grinned back at the she-cat as he led the way to camp, trying to hide how tired he was. He had beaten her, but he couldn't stop his efforts now.

(I'll probably be posting the next chapter today, or at least after I get some feedback on this one. I want to give you a chance to critique it. ^^' It's probably not the best thing I've written… at all… but you tell me, since I'm terrible at judging my own work. Also, you wouldn't believe how many times I had to correct 'Thronbreeze'… Oh, and this is for the Warriors Challenge Forum. The challenge is Seven Sins, and it was set up by Smokestream. I was given Thornbreeze as my main cat and he had to commit each sin. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and please review. As usual positive and negative feedback is fine, just no flaming, please.)