Hey guys! I'm back again real quick with a chapter that I had had 90% done when I dumped all those chapters on you before! I dunno when the next update will be, but hey, at least the story is reaching its climax and will soon end on a terrible cliffhanger that will make all you loyal readers want to die XD

Jk!

... but seriously though I plan to make the end days sooooo dramatic and the last chapter like BAM!

Since I'm on a time crunch right now and just quickly uploading this I won't answer comments or put a question and verse like I normally do, but I willllll say to pleeeaaasseee check out the forum Hidden Hollow by Storm of Golden Lighting. Its a great, friendly warrior cats RP forum but we're literally just starting up and she and we really need more members! It would be AMAZING if you could go check it out!

Anyhow! Enjoy!


Chapter 51: Gold

"They're weird," Gold said with a snort as Irvine and Sparrow walked by them.

"How so?" Zadimus asked snidely from her side, and she looked over to see a smirk on his face.

The tabby she-cat growled lightly. "Oh, don't pretend you don't see it! Those two have been making goo-goo eyes at each other ever since they bailed on us during the first sparring session! And just before that they were all finicky, as if the other had fleas." She snorted again and stomped a paw. "I don't like how chummy those two are."

Understanding dawned in Zadimus' eyes, and he smiled even more, raising a brow at her. "Now! Look who's jealous! I never thought I would see the day!"

"Oh, shut up!" She cuffed him over the ear, prompting mocking laughter. "I'm not jealous of anything! I'm too awesome for that! What does she have that I'd want?"

The brown tom just continued to snicker as he straightened back up. "If you say so, boss."

"Don't call me boss," she snapped, lashing her tail. "We're partners now, remember? I watch your back you watch mine. Friends."

"Uh huh," he remarked with a sideways glance. "And you're not jealous at all, I'm assuming?"

She glared at him, her voice lowering. "What do you mean, Zadimus?"

He smirked at her again and sauntered to his paws. "You wanna have the sweet stuff with me?" He flourished his tail. "All the lovey-dovey weirdness that you clan cats always talk about?"

"No!" she snarled, pouncing on him to pin him by his neck. The tom just laughed and went limp in submission. "Zadimus that is so-so gross! I would never be your mate you creep!"

He just chuckled and waved a paw at her. "I'm joking; I'm joking. Let me up already!" he added with a laugh, and she roughly shoved him away. He just shook out his pelt with a cackle and licked a shoulder. "I could never look at you like that, Gold. You're like one of the toms."

For some reason, that stung a little, and the golden she-cat turned up her nose at him. "Whatever, Zadimus. And don't you forget it."

She pricked up her tail and strode away from him. He was, of course, back at her side in an instant, but she'd gotten her last word. That was what was important.

"Okay eagle-brains!" she yowled, coming up over a stone hill to see the congregated cats chatting amongst themselves. "Time for a test!"

"Test?" Velvet sighed, "Not another one…."

"Yes, another one!" Gold bared her teeth at them. "Unless you want to be helpless when the battle starts?"

No one made any objections to that, so Gold smiled smugly and plopped down on her stomach. The stone was warm under her fur, heated by the sun's gentle rays.

"Stack!" she yowled, examining a claw. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a grey coat slip from its perch and quickly jump back on. "Dead," she said dryly, looking up from her paw to see Sparrow perched precariously on Irvine's back. The tom looked at up her in embarrassment as her sister flattened her ears in shame. Gold felt the familiar prick of guilt sting her heart, and she nodded to Zadimus to continue calling out commands before hopping down into the shallow bowl.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sparrow asked shyly, though there was a hardness in her voice that Gold found easy to notice. Her sister wouldn't even meet her eye.

With a sigh, Gold kicked a small pebble and tried to sound kind. "Hey, Sparrow, I've noticed that you've been having trouble with the attack commands.

She shrugged, still not meeting her eye. "Yeah. They're a bit hard."

Gold pressed her muzzle into Sparrow's shoulder. "I know they are. You've been coming along very well, but your body is still weak from… from the-"

"From Blood," Sparrow spat, acid in her green eyes. "I know I'm weak. I want to be better."

Her sister looked so defiant right then that Gold felt transported back to that moment before the incident, to those moments moons and moons ago when her sister would come crying to her side late at night. She shook her head. Those days were gone. The pain of them had never left, though.

"Why don't you sit out on training today?"

Sparrow's head jerked up, the fierceness in her eyes blazing. "No. I won't get stronger if I take a break. I've taken enough breaks." She looked away again, glaring off into the rocks, and whispered, "Blood will never be punished if I can't be stronger than Greyleaf."

Understanding dawned in Gold's heart, and she laid a paw over her sister's. "I know.

"That's why I'm going to help you."

The smaller she-cat looked up at her with a dubious expression. It stung in Gold's heart, but she ignored the twang of pain and shot a glance up at Zadimus. He was gazing at her with curious eyes, and as he looked back and forth between the two of them sympathy sparked within their orange depths. He nodded to her and got to his feet.

"I will be taking over training today," the brown tom called. "Now badgers! Strike!"

"Come with me," Gold mewed, waving her tail for Sparrow to follow. They crested a rise in the land and traveled along the hills until they were far away from the others. Gold had never realized just how large her training grounds were; they stretched off for fox-lengths upon fox-lengths. They could disappear if they wanted to and no one would even know where to look.

"What are we going to do?" her sister asked, sitting down heavily and wrapping her tail around her paws.

Gold couldn't help but take a glance at her teats, full of milk... for dead kits.

She shook away the horrifying image of those mangled lives and cleared her throat. "My method of training doesn't suit your skill set. We're gonna have to change things up."

"Okay." Sparrow got to her paws with only the slightest of winces. "What do we do first?"

"First," the golden she-cat began, walking closer to circle and size up her sister. "We have to find out what your strengths are. I know you're fast, but you aren't strong. Every day I want you to sneak out into the territory and lift rocks up with your teeth and back. You have the most freedom to move out of all of us, but try to make it seem like you're still completely broken. Blood expects you to be; give him what he expects, and use it to your advantage."

She nodded. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Starting tomorrow you and I are going to slip out at moonhigh and practice your attack moves. You should also sprint to the place you're going to pick up rocks-I'll show you where to go-and go faster and lift heavier as you go along. One day I want you to be able to sprint while carrying a rock on your back. A big one."

At this, she wrinkled her nose a little, but she nodded anyways. It took a few seconds for Gold to hear what she was thinking. "How does this help me?"

The tabby she-cat swatted a pebble away with her paw. "That's how easily I want you to be able to throw off opponents." Sparrow flinched at the word, hate in her eyes. It both broke Gold's heart and filled her with pride; a student with a vendetta was a listening ear. "I know you don't have the strongest claws and hate to draw blood, so I want your power to be in your ability to stagger your enemy. With the rock-lifting you'll be able to throw off almost any opponent; they won't expect your strength.

"And no one will ever be able to put you down. Again."