Hi! Missed me haven't you? I've decided I'll do the Harry Potter fanfic, but I'll focus on this one because I just
oldphilosopher - Thank you so much! I try! I like to think that you're enjoying the A/Ns as well as the story. And I like how random your name is... Was it your idea or someone else's? *HUGE very conspicuous wink*
Thank you so much for the favourite and follow, FaeGhostReader!
I've also got a special message for coronavirus: If you are reading this, will you please leave me, my wonderful readers, and our families, alone? And move to another planet? Maybe Pluto? Just a suggestion, cause you might not have noticed but you're taking up more space than necessary on our planet, so I kindly invite you to leave. (Lol if only that could make it go away)
And now it's time for me to distract you from all the problems in the world, because that's a writer's job! Here's the new chapter (slightly longer than usual)!
Chapter 22 (Can you even believe it?!)
Ivy just stood there, hoping not to combust at the embarrassment of everycat's gaze on her. The ginger she-cat was staring especially hard with her unsettling dark amber eyes. The others were looking too. Night had gone right after she had finished introducing her, as though she hated the Trainees' den for some reason.
So now she was alone with eight complete strangers who were staring at her like she had unexpectedly grown a second and very ugly head. Everycat knows those moments when you'd rather be anywhere than exactly where you're standing. Well this was one of those moments. Ivy was basically paralysed. She tried to analyse her options but everything she could do might be taken the wrong way or put even more attention on her. She was saved from having to decide by a light grey tabby she-cat with green eyes gleaming with friendliness.
She came up to Ivy, meowing.
"Hi, Ivy!" she said. "I'm sorry if the others are acting all weird, but we don't often get new faces around here. I'm Cloud."
Cloud's words seemed to unblock something in the other Trainees, and they all came forwards to welcome her. Soon she was drowning in questions.
She noticed that the bright ginger she-cat was sitting slightly apart from the group, looking at them, but not speaking, or moving closer. Ivy could feel dark amber eyes boring into her pelt, and it was making her slightly nervous. She felt like these eyes could burn through anything and reveal what is cowering behind. It wasn't an altogether pleasant feeling at all. Ivy liked to keep her walls up around strangers, and didn't really appreciate the thought of cats she had just met seeing right through it.
Besides, I'm probably just imagining things. I'll just ask Cloud about her, and see whether she's like that all the time.
And Ivy threw herself back into the conversation with the Trainees, answering all their questions. A few of them looked disdainful at her admission of having been a citypet, two identical black-and-white toms with their faces split down the middle; one half black and the other white, green eyes displaying the exact same amount of scorn, named Frost and Raven. Ivy guessed they were littermates. She defended herself as best as she could.
"I'm never going back there!" she exclaimed, when a golden spotted tabby she-cat, Buttercup, implied that maybe life in the Blood would be too hard for her. "And I've living on my own long enough. I can take care of myself."
Buttercup muttered. "It's not like you can leave anyway."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the fiery she-cat narrowing her amber optics, as if she had seen or heard something interesting, which could be of help later. Despite her fire-coloured pelt, she looked cold and calculating, and Ivy shivered slightly. The she-cat's eyes were fixed on her, ignoring the crowd around her. Dark amber eyes seemed to pin her in place, making Ivy feel trapped. She needed to get out. She needed air. But she couldn't leave now: her fellow Trainees would think it was weird for her to just run off for apparently no reason.
"So what's the deal with that orange she-cat over there?"
Cloud laughed. "I see you've noticed Flame. She's like that with everycat." She paused for a heartbeat. "You'll see, she's a very accurate judge of character. She probably knows more about you from watching you a few minutes than you do from your whole life! That's why she likes to watch, and keep quiet. It means she gets learn about other cats. She usually avoids direct conversation."
As if wondering whether to continue, the light grey she-cat stopped. When she started again, it was in a low voice. "It can make her dangerous. She's so closed off, no one knows anything about her, but she guesses anything about anycat... She can guess your weaknesses and strengths in a second. It's almost creepy. I wouldn't get in her way."
Ivy shivered again. "Thanks for the advice."
"Wait, that's not everything." Cloud continued. "In battle training, she's deadly. She's logical, analytical, calculating. She judges your position, knows if you're planning to bluff, double-bluff, triple-bluff even. She never misses a detail."
How was Ivy going to sleep at night in the same den as a cat who could slit all their throats in the darkness? "Great," she lied enthusiastically, "is there anycat here who isn't really creepy and a potential serial killer?"
Cloud laughed again, a crystalline mrow that sounded like bright meadows and sunshine. "Oh, Ivy." she touched her tail-tip to Ivy's shoulder. "Everycat here is deadly."
Ivy fought the urge to back away from her and make a bolt for it. She had to be imagining the savage light that had ignited in Cloud's pale green eyes, the menacing glint of sharp white teeth, the glimmer of unsheathed claws... This camp was looking less like a place where cats lived and more like a deathtrap every second.
Why does trouble always seem to find me?
Quit whining. The Blood can make you stronger, more skilled. It was Crystal. Her voice wasn't really that sharp, or as hard as it could be. Ivy was becoming more and more certain that her friend was just a figment of her imagination, but she was mostly fine with that. Being a bit weird, or having an imaginary friend, had never hurt anycat. Hearing her voice in her head was starting to get ridiculous though. But, on instinct, she replied mentally.
Yes, Crystal.
Night had come, both of them. The cat was curled up next to Ivy, and the darkness had settled over camp like a stifling pelt. Ivy didn't know whether Night was really allowed to be in the Trainees' den, but she let it slide. Her presence was reassuring.
She had kept whipping her head around for no reason at all following the strange incident with Cloud. She knew she was acting really paranoid, and that her mind was probably playing tricks on her, but she couldn't get the image of the transformed Cloud out of her head.
It was horrible. She never wanted to see that again. That was her last thought as she fell into sleep, into the Land of Stars.
"Crystal!" Ivy purred and bowled her friend over easily thanks to her slightly bigger frame.
Crystal pushed her off with her hind legs, and Ivy landed on her paws, whirling around to face her friend, too slowly. She was pushed over by Crystal mid-turn, where her balance was most unstable, and ended up on the floor.
"You know what you could have done there?" Ivy shook her head no at Crystal's question. "You could have landed on your hind paws only, it would have allowed you to spin around faster, so that your opponent was still on the ground or dazed when you leapt again, or that you'd be ready when they attacked."
Ivy's midnight blue eyes opened wide. This was a real challenge. Of course, she was up for it, but what worried her was whether or not she would succeed. This was going to be a long training session indeed.
(Later, after the end of the session)
Crystal's POV
This had taken less time than she had thought, but no matter. She would just have to move her plans along faster. She hadn't thought that she would need to make training harder before at least a moon, but this actually just sped up her plans. It only unbalanced them slightly, and Crystal was an expert at getting back to her paws easily. There was a light to every situation, and the advantage in this one was crystal clear. The white she-cat, her pelt nearly swallowed up by the shadow of the 'Land of Stars', chuckled at her own play on words. Everything was going so perfectly that she smiled the most genuine, if not entirely reassuring, smile that she had in a while.
If Ivy was going to receive more fierce training from the Blood - and Crystal would see to it that the training was fierce - then the icy-eyed she-cat would have to up her game too. That meant training Ivy harder, for longer, each night without fail. Claws unsheathed, now that no cat would notice what with the scratches on her pelt from the day training.
The one thing that worried her was this cat. She sensed that this one could seriously upset her plans. She would have to keep a close eye on that particular cat, or the whole thing could go to ashes.
Crystal could see the fire that burned inside that cat, despite all the ice around it that was all the other cats could see.
Her ice-blue eyes narrowed. This fierce a flame couldn't be put out -
and it was dangerous.
Well, looks like another cliffhanger for y'all. Review me your guesses on who Crystal was thinking about - I think I made it pretty obvious.
So, Ivy thinks it's all in her head, but we all know otherwise. Crystal's 'plans' are unclear, but we do know that her final goal is to 'take revenge' on the Clans. So where does Ivy come in? Also Allegiances time, only the Trainees for now.
Ivy - brown tabby-and-cream she-cat with blue eyes like the midnight sky
Boulder - stocky dark brown tom with a white dash on his chest and forehead, yellow eyes
Cloud - light grey tabby she-cat with pale green eyes
Flame - bright ginger she-cat, muzzle, paws, and tail-tip fade into black, dark amber eyes that see right through you
Frost and Raven - identical littermates: black-and-white pelts, faces split down the middle with half of it white, the other half black and dissimilar eyes. Light green eye on the black side, dark green on the white side. Subtle pelt differences, Crow has slightly bigger ears.
Buttercup - golden spotted tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Leaf - light brown tabby she-cat, her tabby markings look like fern fronds, round gold eyes
Sky - blue-grey tom with light blue eyes
That is IT for today, see you soon! Oh I almost forgot, disclaimer time!
Disclaimer:
Crystalshine: Raven, say the disclaimer
Frost: Crystalshine doesn't-
Crystalshine: Frost, I know it's you, quit playing around, and Raven, say the disclaimer
Frost: Okay. Crystalshine owns nothing but the plot and her characters, this whole thing was originally the Erins' idea
Crystalshine: Purrfect - wait WHAT? You guys fooled me again? Raven, say the [censored] disclaimer unless you want me to resort to the sort of threats that no cat wants to hear
Raven: *squeaky voice* Oki, Cwystawssine
Crystalshine: I know you got a kit to say that now - what? Now I'm just really confused. You know what I'm just going to say it my-[censored]self. I own nothing but plot and characters, Ice and Raven are absolute [censored], the world and original idea belongs to the Erins, or Sparkpelt would've been named Sparkfire like Greystripe suggested because it's so much cooler and because I wish Firestar were still alive - don't get me wrong, I love Bramblestar, but he's still Brambleclaw to me in a way, the young warrior who went on the TNP quest.
Gotta stop rambling now cause this chapter is getting real long, so see ya!
B
Y
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~Crystalshine of LightClan (I say that too much but REVIEW)