DEAR READERS,
I sincerely apologize for the lack of indentation. This cannot be helped. (computers are strange.) Please do not let this distract you.
Many thanks,
Eomer's Queen
| Maybe It's Just Love… | TalonXThrush|
Chapter One
Talonkit wriggledwith excitement. She felt Swiftbreeze's tongue lap her tabby coat for the millionth time that morning. She didn't mind though, she wanted to look her very best for her apprentice ceremony. She couldn't believe she was finally six moons old! She scampered away as Swiftbreeze finished grooming her and began on her brother, Snowkit. Snowkit was much less cooperative and jumped around, making Swiftbreeze chase him. Talonkit stifled a purr as she listened to her mother berate the excited white tom.
"Snowkit! You come right back here! Do you want to look like a hedgehog who fell in the dirt place? You're filthy! You can't have the clan seeing you like that!"
Talonkit gazed around the camp. The first time she had come out of the nursury, it had seemed as if the camp was as large as the whole forest. She couldn't imagine there being more territory beyond. Now, she was an older, wiser kit, and knew that there was a whole forest outside the camp, as well as the moor, river, and marshes. She puffed out her chest importantly. She would get to see the whole of Thunderclan's territory today, instead of just hearing about it in the elder's stories!
Snowkit came scampering up to his sister and sat down beside her. His eyes sparked with excitement, and Talonkit knew she must look the same. She looked up happily as Adderfang and Swiftbreeze sat down beside their kits.
Where was Pinestar?Talonkit didn't think she could wait another moment to be made an apprentice.
As if Starclan had heard her thoughts, Pinestar emerged from the gorse tunnel, followed by Thrushpaw and Stormtail. The leader nodded to Adderfang and his kin before leaping onto High Rock.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath High Rock for a clan meeting!" yowled Pinestar.
The cats gathered in the clearing. Pinestar beckoned Snowkit and Talonkit forward with his tail. Talonkit felt her heart start to beat faster and she glanced over to see Snowkit's whiskers trembling. The two padded to the middle of the clearing.
Pinestar looked down at Talonkit. "From this day forward, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be called Talonpaw." he meowed. He lifted his chin. "Stormtail, you are a loyal and fierce warrior. I trust you to train this apprentice according to our warrior code."
Stormtail trotted up to Talonpaw and touched noses with her. "Congratulations." He purred.
Talonpaw felt a paw nudging her awake. She was exhausted after patrolling the entire territory the day before. She opened her blue eyes to see Thrushpaw standing over her.
"Wake up Talonpaw." he purred. "Or you'll miss the hunting patrol."
Of course! Talonpaw recalled Stormtail telling her he would teach her how to hunt in the morning. She scrambled out of her new nest, (careful not to step into Whitepaw's nest like she'd done the night before) and followed Thrushpaw out into the morning sun. Leaf-fall was coming. The trees were losing their bright color and a chilly breeze had picked up.
Stormtail was waiting at the entrance of the gorse tunnel with Moonflower. Talonpaw and Thrushpaw raced across the clearing and out into the forest with their mentors.
"Now, steady yourself like this." Stormtail pressed a paw down on Talonpaw's haunches. "Good. Straighten your tail, and keep your chin forward. Don't let your tail sweep the floor! All the prey from here to Windclan will here it sweeping the dead leaves!"
The apprentice's whiskers drooped.
"Don't be too hard on her, Stormtail." Moonflower gently chided. "This is her first time hunting."
"True." The gray warrior replied. "And she is doing very well." He lifted his nose and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that Talonpaw?"
She let the forest scents wash over her. Mouse! "I smell it!" she exclaimed.
"Now is your chance to try out that hunter's crouch. Remember, the mouse will feel your pawsteps before it hears, sees or smells you. So you must pretend the ground will crack if you step on it. Imagine your paws are like air." Stormtail demonstrated the move.
Talonpaw nodded earnestly and began to creep forward, pinpointing where the mouse was. She spotted it by the roots of the Great Sycamore. Slowly, slowly... When she was a tail length away, Talonpaw waggled her haunches and pounced on the mouse, claws outstretched. She snatched it up and killed it. She stood and turned with the mouse in her jaws. Stormtail, Thrushpaw and Moonflower looked at the mouse and congratulated her.
"Great catch!" Thrushpaw admired.
The rest of the patrol was successful. By the time the patrol returned, there were five new pieces of prey to add to the fresh kill pile. Talonpaw had learned how to stalk rabbits and climb trees to surprise squirrels and birds.
"You'll be a warrior faster than Stormtail can say mouse!" Moonflower congratulated. "You're a quick learner, little Talonpaw."
Chapter Two
Talonpaw raced through the forest, Thrushpaw, Patchpaw and Snowpaw at her side. Their mentors had challenged them to a race. They had to race all the way from the Owl Tree to the Great Sycamore. It was a test of speed and stamina. They had to jump the stream and find a way around the camp and sandy hollow.
Talonpaw saw a flash of white as Snowpaw scrambled up a tree. She glanced up to see him leaping from branch to branch above them. Thrushpaw fell slightly behind. Now Talonpaw and Patchpaw were neck to neck. The tabby brown apprentice bunched her muscles and took a flying leap over the bramble bush ahead of here. The jump caused her to fall behind a bit. Patchpaw pulled up a whisker's length. The long legged apprentice was beating her now.
Oh no you don't! Talonpaw forced her legs to take longer strides. She heard a crack over hear head. Snowpaw, nimble as a squirrel was still running through the trees. Her brother was more comfortable in branches than any other apprentice. But he was falling behind.
Patchpaw, although the newest apprentice, was already taller then Talonpaw and Snowpaw.
He and Talonpaw were the fastest cats in the Clan. Their clanmates joked that they had more WindClan blood in them than ThunderClan. They got their long legs and nimbleness from their mother, Swiftbreeze. Snowpaw and Leopardpaw, who was Patchpaw's littermate were stockier like Adderfang.
Talonpaw leaped over another bush, Patchpaw dodged around a tree. A sapling appeared in their path, they slipped around it. They weren't even paying attention to Thrushpaw and Snowpaw now. Talonpaw felt her blood burning, her paws pounding, the wind whistling through her ears.
"Talonpaw! Watch out!" Patchpaw called out. The Great Sycamore loomed ahead of her. There was no time to stop, or dodge. Patchpaw skirted to his heart side, but a large rock blocked the way for Talonpaw. She had one choice. She kinked her tail and bunched her muscles. She took one, massive flying leap, claws extended. She felt the sycamore's bark scrape against her belly fur. She had judged her leap right. She scrabbled up the trunk and perched on a low branch.
"I win!" she crowed.
"No! I did, you may have touched the tree first, but I reached it first!" Patchpaw protested.
Talonpaw rolled her eyes. "We reached it at the same time!"
Snowpaw suddenly dropped out of a tree, and Thrushpaw came pounding up.
"Wow!" The white tom meowed. "That was some race! I've never run that far!"
"Nor I." His friends purred in reply.
Talonpaw stretched her legs and extended her claws. She was breathing hard from the fast run, but she felt wonderful. She hadn't stretched her legs like that since she and Snowpaw were kits. She had challenged him to race her from the nursery to the medicine clearing.
Eight moons had passed since her apprenticeship. She, Thrushpaw and her brother were expecting their final assessments at any moment. They were more than ready. Swiftbreeze and Adderfang had had another litter, Patchpaw and Leopardpaw. ThunderClan was thriving.
Fuzzypelt, Moonflower, Stormtail and Larksong burst through a bramble bush. They began to question the apprentices. Moonflower began.
"Thrushpaw, I noticed that you fell behind a bit. Do you have an idea of why you lagged?"
Thrushpaw thought for a moment. "I guess... Well, I noticed Talonpaw and Patchpaw take long easy strides."
Moonflower nodded. "Yes. Taking longer strides keeps up your metabolism better. You don't tire out as fast as you would if you were taking short, quick paces."
Larksong turned to Snowpaw. She was the oldest warrior in ThunderClan, and it had been a great honor to be given her as a mentor. "Snowpaw, it was clever to gain some ground by running up in the trees, but very risky. For one thing you could fall. But putting aside danger, a branch might fall short of another, you have to jump, and fall back."
Talonpaw looked around the clearing. She couldn't help but notice that her mentor Stormtail and Thrushpaw's were standing so close that their pelts brushed. She glanced at the sandy apprentice. His whiskers twitched and she heard a purr, even though he tried to stifle it. Moonflower's ears turned pink. Embarrassed, Stormtail called out gruffly,
"Who won?"
"Me!" called his apprentice, just as Patchpaw meowed "It was a tie between me and Talonpaw!"
Fuzzypelt loooked questioningly at his apprentice. "A tie? Hm, we can't have those. How about a tie breaker?"
Larksong nodded. "A tie breaker is exactly what we should do. Let's see who can climb the highest up the sycamore?"
Talonpaw felt her jaw drop and closed it quickly. She could hardly believe that Larksong, the most senior and experienced warrior in the clan would suggest such a daring thing. True, she was the best climber in the clan, which was probably why her apprentice, Snowpaw, loved it so much.
"Sounds dangerous." Snowpaw's eyes gleamed at the prospect.
"Let's do it!" Patchpaw gave a little bounce. He hared up the tree and stood on the branch next to the tabby she-cat apprentice.
Talonpaw looked up. She couldn't even see the top of the Great Sycamore, it was so tall. How would she ever climb that high?
Chapter Three
The Great Sycamore seemed to reach as high as the clouds. Larksong's voice seemed very far away as she called out, "Go!" Patchpaw leaped up and started clawing his way up. Talonpaw snapped back. There was no way she was being beaten by her little brother!
She jumped up to the branch above her head. She clawed her way across and gripped the trunk of the tree the way she had seen squirrels do. OK, this should be easy right? Just pretend you are a squirrel. She fluffed out her long tail and straightened it, using it to balance as she began to climb straight up the tree. She began slowly at first, and then faster, until she was swarming up the trunk. A huge bulge in the tree, sticky with sap, was in her way. She climbed onto a nearby branch. Then jumped onto another branch, and then another, higher and higher...
She looked up. Patchpaw was ahead of her! He was three tail lengths above her head.
He growled playfully, "Come on slow-mouse! Scared?" He was on a slender branch, and he bounced on it and let it wobble and shake under him, gripping it with his claws.
Be careful! She begged silently. Patchpaw was just showing off, but it could lead to some serious injuries if he wasn't more careful.
She hopped again, onto another branch. She crawled onto the trunk again. Glancing up at Patchpaw, she decided to tease him right back.
"Watch this clumsy-paws!"
She bolted up the trunk, fast as she dared. She shot past him. A sparrow flew by her face, and she nearly lost her grip in surprise. She looked over her shoulder and saw a bird's nest lodged in the leafy tangle of branches. Springing onto a branch, she dared to look down. She gaped in surprise. Patchpaw seemed far, far below, and the ground even farther. Suddenly she felt dizzy. She glanced up, and realized the top of the sycamore was not far away. The branches up here were slender and wouldn't support her weight. Should she attempt go any farther?
"Talonpaw! Talonpaw, come down!" She heard Stormtail calling her. He was so far away though, she could just barely hear him.
Uhoh, getting down is going to be a lot harder than going up. Mouse-dung.
Focusing on her front paws and balancing with her tail again, Talonpaw picked her way slowly down the tree.
Maybe it will be easier if I branch hop down.
She was closer to Patchpaw now. As she drew near, she saw his face was a mix of annoyance at being beaten, and wonder at her having risked going so high. Her pelt prickled.
I hope he isn't mad.
"Come on Patchpaw, lets go down."
He grunted in reply and followed her lead.
"Hey," Talonpaw began. "You climbed really high."
"Yeah."
"Come on Patchpaw, you aren't mad are you? You're six moons younger than me! Everyone will be really impressed with how far you got."
He looked at her and purred. "I guess."
Good, that's more like the Patchpaw I know.
She jumped lower. The branch wobbled and she gripped it with her claws. It felt brittle and weak. Talonpaw heard a snap, then another one, louder. The branch was breaking! She tried desperately not to panic and inched her way off the branch. But she wasn't fast enough. With one final, blaring crack, the branch broke off entirely, and she felt herself begin falling.
"Talonpaw!" Snowpaw screeched.