Van: Time for Chapter 7!
Kai: Sorry it took so long to update!
Van: We've been really busy.
Kai: Stormtalon's turn!
Van: How about... Mistaken Paths ... it fits, because Stormtalon is our pathfinder.
Stormtalon woke to the sharp barking of dogs. He instinctively tensed before he remembered the events of the past night. Rainsong lifted her head from the movement, gazing at him a moment. "It's okay," she whispered. Stormtalon thought that she was talking to herself as well.
The rest of the cats were still asleep; the apprentices together, Leafpath and Starshine close, and Honeyheart, Milkbird, and Blossomsky in a circle, tails twitching in their dreams. The dogs, for the most part, were also sleeping. A few were padding around, growling quietly to each other, and grooming themselves. It looked, Stormtalon thought, just like the TreeClan camp had, so long ago.
He turned to Rainsong. "I am restless," he admitted. "I will not relax until we are far from here."
Rainsong met his gaze, brown eyes cool. "None of us shall."
"How long must we stay?"
Rainsong hesitated. "As long as it takes to gain their trust."
Stormtalon stood, stretching to buy time and resisting the urge to dig in the dirt with his claws. "Why must we?" he asked finally. "Pack has not killed us. Why press our luck? StarClan would want us to go."
Rainsong's gaze strayed to Starshine. "Why does Starshine sleep so peacefully, then?" She sighed. "Stormtalon, I share your concerns. We are doing what no cat has dared to before. We are befriending dogs. But...they have accepted us. It is only right that we accept them."
Stormtalon looked at her a moment. "What is it, Rainsong? I know you well enough to see that you are planning something."
Rainsong hesitated, but the words poured out of her like a river. "You know how badly outnumbered we are against MightyClan. What if... What if Pack and LightClan can join, and... Stormtalon, what if we can win? Before, I never had much hope. But now... if we can get Pack to side with us, we could actually regain the forest, and we might be able to return things to how they were."
Stormtalon was dubious. He doubted he could return to TreeClan and abandon Rainsong and the others. The thought was painful. "Not the way things were. Never the way things were."
Rainsong dipped her head in aknowledgement. "But we may be able to bring LightClan to power. Oh, Stormtalon, do you see it, too? Or am I just becoming a silly elder?"
"I think," Stormtalon looked the she-cat in the eye. "that you are the most daring and brave cat I have ever met." Rainsong immediately dipped her head, trying to hide embarrisment that Stormtalon saw clearly. He felt a sudden warmth in his chest, and continued, "You're smart and strong, and LightClan wouldn't be here without you."
"Stormtalon," Rainsong's pelt was twitching, as though she was uncomfortable. "Please."
Stormtalon knew that he was pushing his luck. He knew that he was being reckless, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from saying, "And you're beautiful as a light summer rain."
Rainsong looked up, and Stormtalon saw fire in her eyes. "You," she said. "brought us here. You're our Pathfinder. Without you, we'd all be long dead from MightyClan patrols we happened along. Without you, there'd be no LightClan. You're just as important, if not, more, than I. And...you're sweet."
Stormtalon purred deeply as the sun rose above the tips of the trees and the cats around them began to wake.
Streampaw pressed close to the ground, his tail perfectly balanced. That's right, that's right, Stormtalon thought. Just a bit further... Stormtalon leapt and pinned the mouse to the ground. He nipped its neck a few times and it fell, limp.
"Nice catch, Streampaw," Milkbird purred as Streampaw sat up, purring, his paws still upon his kill. He looked expectantly at his mentor.
Stormtalon knew he was purring in his good mood. "Good job, Streampaw." he nodded. His eyes strayed to the three dogs accomponying them, black shadows watching them calmly.
"Is this Streaming Paws's first kill?" Milkbird asked for a dog called Mind of Claws - Clawmind, as the cats would call him.
"Yes," Stormtalon answered. "Tell him, Milkbird that Streampaw is a...what do they say for apprentice?... a beginner only a few sunrises ago."
"And you have been on the move, Storm's Talons?" asked another, called simply Terror.
Stormtalon muttered assent.
"Then that is quite admirable, Streaming Paws," the third, Face that it Fair, nodded to Streampaw. "Few pups can accomplish this." Streampaw purred slightly, but Stormtalon could tell his was uneasy as he conveyed his thanks.
"All right, let's continue," Milkbird mewed, and they all continued deeper into the forest. They had made a good amount of catches that day. Of course, the dogs had contributed most of it, but Milkbird and Stormtalon had contributed a fair amount, and Stormtalon was satisfied. Stormtalon had made small adjustments to their course over the day, according to where he had a hunch the prey was best. However, his mind kept drifting back to that morning with Rainsong. Why hadn't he followed Streampaw's suggestion before? It seemed silly now.
Then, the dogs stopped. They began to sniff at the air and whine. One let out a howl. Milkbird sniffed and immediately tensed as well. Streampaw was gazing at Stormtalon, terrified. Stormtalon lifted his nose and carefully sniffed. "Badgers!" he hissed, fur standing on end as he cursed the creatures. "We have to move!" Fear clung to him. He had been changing their direction all day. Why hadn't he sensed that they were there?
Suddenly, four black and white figures burst into the clearing. One slashed at Stormtalon, and he stumbled back, feeling the sting. "Badgers!" he howled, and launched himself at the badger that had attacked him. He slashed at its nose and hissed in its face. The badger stumbled back, and Stormtalon hissed in its face. Somewhere nearby, there was a bark, and one of the dogs - Terror, maybe? - crashed into the badger. The two began to claw ferociously at each other. Stormtalon hissed, and launched himself at the badger when they had broken apart.
The badger was much larger than Stormtalon, so he could not meet it with force like the dogs could. Instead, he required nibleness. He danced around the dog, nipping at it when it least expected it. Soon the badger, frusterated, gave blows that missed more and more each time. When Terror took over again, Stormtalon took the chance to look around at the clearing.
Clawmind faced one badger alone - but he was doing splendidly. The badger could barely move without getting a crashing blow, and Mind of Claws had only the tiniest of scratches. Milkbird and Face that is Fair faced another badger, fighting it similarly to the way that Stormtalon and Terror were theirs.
That left Streampaw to face the last. Stormtalon felt a prick of fear, but the apprentice was managing remarkably well. He was coated in water - his elemental powers kicking in, fueled by his fear. The water appeared very thick, and it clung to him like goo. Whenever the badger grabbed at him, Streampaw slid easily out of his grip; whenever the badger slashed, it caught water, not flesh. Stormtalon subconciously wondered if Streampaw was completely water.
Stormtalon dashed to the rescue of his apprentice. He darted in front of him, and hissed directly into the face of the badger, spitting between its eyes. The badger swatted him aside, and Stormtalon's muzzle stung like his side where the other badger had struck him. Careful, he got up. Streampaw was spitting in similar manners beside him, keeping the badger momentarily at bay. Stormtalon nodded to his appentice, a clear signal, and they leapt for the badger.
The poor badger didn't stand a chance. With the combined powress of Streampaw and Stormtalon, they clawed at his eyes, pelt, paws, nose, and anything else they could reach. Streampaw's elemental powers definately helped, and slowly, Stormtalon became coated in water as well. When, finally, the badger lay on the ground, barely breathing, Stormtalon cast the death blow. Then they looked around.
Terror had long since abandoned the badger he and Stormtalon had begun upon. It seemed to have escaped. Now he faced another with Mind of Claws. Even as Stormtalon and Streampaw watched, the badger whimpered and fled. Fairface and Milkbird were still facing the last badger. When the rest stepped forward to help, Face that is Fair growled and motioned them away.
Milkbird was facing the badger, nearly nose-to-nose, and Stormtalon guessed that she was in its mind. Suddenly, the badger dropped to the ground - fainted? - and Fairface leapt forward and slew it. Milkbird watched, a dazed expression on her face.
"Milkbird!" called Stormtalon. "What happened?"
Milkbird turned to him, appearing revolted. "I...entered it's mind...without its permission...and...I told it to faint. I made it want to die." she let out a keening yowl. "I didn't realize its pain would become mine."
"Are you okay?" Stormtalon had long since raced to her side, watching the white she-cat stare into the distance on unsteady legs.
"He had a mate," she whispered, "and three kits, or pups, or... Now they're alone. They can't...she's just kitted. She can't feed them all, and now there's no one to do it for her..." she gazed at the body, remorce and revulsion clouding her gaze. "What have I done?"
When the reached the camp once more, Milkbird immediately touched Pack Leader's mind and told him about the attack. Stormtalon sought out Rainsong, and told her.
"Four badgers?" her eyes were wide. "and you killed two?"
"Yes," he nodded. "We...um...I suppose you could say that we cheated." he quickly explained the way that Streampaw and Milkbird had used their powers against the badgers, and Milkbird's distress over it. Rainsong immediately scanned the clearing for her sister.
"I must go to her," she said quickly. She reached over and licked Stormtalon's cheek briefly, which made his fur hot. "Go see Leafpath." And she scampered off to Milkbird and Pack Leader.
Stormtalon ignored Rainsong's advice, and instead sought out Streampaw. He found the apprentice speaking quickly with Mistpaw, but upon seeing Stormtalon, he hurried to his mentor. "Leafpath," he gasped. "Mistpaw told me that she had a vision."
"Of what?" Stormtalon said sharply. He had grown to dread Leafpath's visions, which nearly always seemed to come to pass. Though he was ashamed to admit it, some of this dread had seeped over to his feelings of the medicine cat.
Streampaw only shrugged. "No one knows. She's with Starshine. Is that where we're headed?" he glanced at their wounds.
"Not yet," Stormtalon responded, "as long as you can still manage."
Streampaw bristled. "Of couse."
"Good," Stormtalon led Streampaw through the camp aimlessly, looking for Terror, Mind of Claws, and Face that is Fair. After a bit of searching, they found them in a joint clearing with another dog. The other dog immediately began eyeing at their wounds in such a way that told Stormtalon that he was a healer. However, Stormtalon ignored him and padded up to the closest dog, Mind of Claws, whose wounds now seemed more severe, and was lying down. Stormtalon could not speak to him without Milkbird, but he locked eyes with the dog, and tried to convey the sense of friendship there. He thought he saw the expression mirrored in Clawmind's eyes, and touched their noses together.
He completed the exchange with the other dogs, as did Streampaw behind him. Stormtalon found this manner of communication unbearably slow and misguided, but simple and meaningful all the same.
When they had exchanged this with all of the dogs, they turned to the healer dog, and tried to convey their worry about the others, and gratitude that he would take good care of them. Then they dipped their heads. The dog, after a moment's hesitation, also dipped his head, which, Stormtalon was sure, was not part of Pack's culture. Then the healer motioned towards a bush. Stormtalon and Streampaw entered it without hesitation, and there they found Leafpath and Starshine.
"Stormtalon? Streampaw?" Starshine asked. Stormtalon's eyes took a moment to adjust in the darkness, but they soon found Stormtalon standing before Leafpath, who was gaping as though seeing a StarClan spirit.
"It's us," Stormtalon confirmed. "What is it?"
"Leafpath's just had a vision," Starshine said, gazing back at Leafpath worridly. "I think they keep changing, and she's getting confused. I think..." his eyes clouded momentarily, and he shook his head. "I don't really know. Sometimes I can get an idea of what she's seeing, but it slips away quickly."
"What does she see? Has she said?" Stormtalon asked.
"I see," Leafpath announced, voice shaking "I saw...Streampaw... dead."
There was a pause, utterly silent and still. Then, Streampaw's voice, dark and disbelieving: "What?"
"You..." Leafpath's eyes were as wide as moonbeams. "You should be dead."
Van: That took us forever.
Kai: But it was good - really good!
Van: Review, or PM!
