Author's Note: I'm very sorry for my rather long absence. First I had finals and then the holidays came around and this fic ended up taking a backseat, but I'm back and ready to write! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, please leave a review if you have the time.
Also, I changed Featherfall's name to Quietbird because the old name was too close to Flutterfall.
"Are you listening right now, Sunsplash?"
"Huh?" Sunsplash snapped out of her daydream, her reply immediately proved to her deputy that she was, in fact, not listening. She pinned her ears back in embarrassment as a few cats chuckled at her and she felt like an apprentice who'd been told off by her mentor.
"I see, well then, perhaps you would like to demonstrate the move I was just describing to our apprentices?" Cobrastrike suggested.
"A-and what move would that be?" She asked, feeling foolish.
"The kickback," Cobrastrike hissed impatiently.
"Oh, yes, that one," Sunsplash mewed as she mentally shook herself.
Earlier that morning, Cobrastrike had decided to have him and a few other warriors aid Quietbird and Goldenstripe in training their apprentices. Stating that it would teach them to 'be more obedient' if they received instruction from other cats. Goldenstripe has been very upset when he'd heard about it.
"Does he think Quietbird and I are not competent enough to train our own apprentices?" He hissed, which he rarely ever did.
Sunsplash has argued on the ridiculousness of it on her friend's behalf, but that only seemed to make Cobrastrike more determined to do it.
"Why don't you come join us, Sunsplash? Since you're so good at training apprentices," the deputy had sneered passive aggressively.
To make matters worse, Cobrastrike had invited Moonstep to come as well, which Sunsplash felt had a lot to do which her opposition on the activity. The fact that the dark-furred tom was there added to her embarrassment. Sunsplash had decided to tune herself out during the training session, as to avoid any chiding she'd possibly get from either tom. Daydreaming had become much easier for her since she met the loner by the border a half moon ago. She'd seen him a few more times after that while on patrols, and each time he'd compliment her in just the way she liked. So it wasn't very hard for her thoughts to drift to the handsome tom, anticipating when their next encounter would be. However she could not think of such things now with so many eyes on her, half of which encouraging, and the other half waiting for her to fail miserably.
"Don't worry, you got this, Sunsplash," Goldenstripe whispered to her encouragingly.
Sunsplash smiled in appreciation, feeling a surge of determination to prove her doubters wrong in at least this one moment. She went and stood in front of one of the trees surrounding the training hollow, bunching up her muscles as she waited for Cobrastrike to barrel toward her. There were a few moments of tense anticipation before the deputy bolted straight toward her and just when they were about to collide, Sunsplash jumped straight up. With the help of the tree behind her, she launched herself forward, landing behind Cobrastrike and delivering swift yet soft blows to his hindquarters.
The deputy turned around, looking slightly annoyed, "good job, Sunsplash," he meowed reluctantly.
Sunsplash smiled, feeling proud of herself for having bested him despite her lack of focus earlier.
"Don't let it get to your head," Cobrastrike hissed to her quietly before raising his head and asking the apprentices if they'd like to try.
Sunsplash scowled at his remark as she padded back over to Goldenstripe, huffing as she sat down.
"You showed him up," Goldenstripe meowed out of earshot of the others, "I could tell he wasn't very happy about that."
"At least he'll leave me alone for the rest of the training session," Sunsplash sighed in relief.
Goldenstripe tilted his head, "you usually love training sessions," he commented, "especially when you get the chance to prove someone wrong."
"Yeah, well, it isn't very fun when two cats who hate your guts are in attendance," Sunsplash retorted, coming off as more rude and defensive than she had intended.
Goldenstripe pinned his ears back and didn't say anything else to her for the rest of the training session, which made Sunsplash feel horrible for snapping at him. She tried not to focus too much on it at the time, letting her thoughts go elsewhere.
The training session came to an end and as the group was making their way back to camp, Sunsplash pulled Goldenstripe back to talk to him in private.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, I didn't mean to come off as rude," she meowed apologetically.
Goldenstripe shrugged and smiled, "it's fine, I know you didn't mean anything by it."
He's too kind, Sunsplash thought to herself. "Let me make it up to you."
Goldenstripe pricked his ears, "and how do you intend to do that?" he asked curiously.
Sunsplash gave him a mischievous smile, she briefly cast a glance at her clanmates who were walking away without them and turned around, "follow me," she invited before running off. She heard Goldenstripe laugh before chasing after her.
Sunsplash knew exactly where she was going to take her friend; the waterfall. It was his favorite spot in the territory. He liked to watch the rushing water, and in Newleaf- or rather right after Newleaf in this case since Greenleaf had started not long ago- it was even more beautiful, with the pink petals gathering at the bottom of the waterfall and laying atop of the calmer waters.
She could hear Goldenstripe gaining on her, and it wasn't long before she saw him beside her. "Do you intend to beat me?" Sunsplash asked, "you don't even know where I'm heading."
"I think I have an idea," he replied as he increased his speed.
He knows me too well, Sunsplash thought endearingly, though she felt a little frustrated over the fact that her surprise was ruined now. She should've known he'd figure it out.
Goldenstripe skidded to a halt as the arrived at the waterfall, Sunsplash followed suit.
"Ha! I beat you. You should know by now that I'm the better racer," Goldenstripe teased.
"That's what you think, but I'm afraid this is not where I intended to take you," Sunsplash lied.
Goldenstripe narrowed his eyes suspiciously, seeing through her lie immediately, "oh, stop teasing, Sunsplash," he scoffed.
"I'm not!" She remarked defensively.
"Uh huh, so where did you mean to take me?" Goldenstripe asked, tilting his head.
"I meant to take you… here!" Sunsplash gave him a quick shove, causing him to lose balance and fall into the water behind him. She let out a victorious laugh, "I bet you weren't expecting that!"
Goldenstripe shot her an unamused look and then smiled, "well, unless you intend on joining me in here, I suggest you get away from the shore." He threatened as he swam toward her for emphasis.
Sunsplash let out an undignified squeak of alarm and ran away. Water, in any form, was her worst enemy. She could hardly stand rain, let alone swimming in a river.
Goldenstripe chuckled as he lifted himself out of the water, "come on, you know I wouldn't have," he teased.
"When it comes to water, it's difficult to trust whether someone is joking or not," Sunsplash retorted.
"You know you can trust me no matter what," Goldenstripe chuckled, though his words couldn't be more sincere.
Sunsplash sighed, only going toward him when he shook the water off his pelt, though still keeping her distance.
"You seemed distracted during training," he commented with obvious concern, "is there something wrong?" He closed the gap between them, a move she often observed her friend doing when he wanted answers from her. Unfortunately, it usually worked, the intimacy making it hard for he to feel comfortable lying to him. Not that she made a habit of lying to him, but there were moments when she was reluctant to share how see truly thought or felt.
Sunsplash scanned Goldenstripe for a moment, quickly deciding that the sudden tinge of nervousness she felt was due to the fact that she felt that he somehow knew about her feelings for Frost, and not for any other possible reason. She took a step back from him, receiving a confused and slightly disappointed look from the golden tom.
"Your fur's still wet," she meowed, hoping that excuse would suffice, though it earned her an eye roll from him.
"Avoiding the question, I see," Goldenstripe chuckled fondly as he started to groom his damp fur. Sunsplash watched for a few moments before looking away.
"It was just stress and tiredness, I guess. I wasn't exactly expecting to be questioned on my knowledge of battle moves when I woke up this morning. Much less by cats who scrutinize my every action," she suggested.
The excuse seemed to work as Goldenstripe nodded in response, "I understand. Those two are so harsh toward you. You'd think they focus their criticisms on less capable warriors instead of one who's just not clanborn." He gave her a sympathetic smile and Sunsplash mentally sighed in relief, glad that her secret attraction was successfully hidden. She was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her feelings for the loner hidden from her close friend. She was used to telling him everything, a habit she had conditioned herself to since they were kits, but this she knew she couldn't tell. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd disapprove and discourage her from interacting with Frost any further, but Sunsplash didn't consider that perhaps she needed that.