Tempestpaw

From my experience on this planet earth, I can say with utter certainty that however much you prepare for them, changes always come faster than you expect them to.

And, if you're like me and haven't prepared at all, they hit like a landslide.

"I have to fight that?" I squeaked, pulling myself closer to Ghostflight's side. We were crouched under a thorn bush, the sliver of a moon just bright enough to see the creature in the trees: a thin thing, looking something like a ferret or mink. Maybe a stoat, a weasel, a fisher? I can never tell the difference. It was long, hairy, with beady eyes and two large fangs.

Eight spindly spider legs jutted out from its sides as it skittered over the leaves, dragging its long, striped tail behind it.

"You've watched me kill a pukiir before, Tempestpaw." I watched as it climbed atop a stump, all eight legs stabbing deep into the wood as it hauled itself upward, sniffing at the air with its narrow snout. "Pukiir have two methods of defense, what are they?"

Right. Ghostflight had taken to lecturing after every kill, telling me everything I needed to know about the creature. Its weaknesses, its strengths, whether or not it had poison (or magic, or telepathy, or could kill me with its eyes, ect, ect). I tried to recall what exactly was on the pukiir's list. "The second set of legs. They have venom."

Ghostflight nodded. "The claws hurt, but only the second set can cause dizziness with a scratch, and a deep enough wound will knock you out cold."

At least it wasn't deadly. The pukiir were scavengers; it would run before fighting, incapacitate instead of kill. "And the second is their musk. They have a nasty spray." As if to demonstrate, the pukiir shook its fur from across the clearing on the stump, spreading its stink across the forest. Even this far away, the diffuse scent was stifling. It smelled worse than the rotting crow somecat had forgotten near the camp walls. I hadn't even gotten a full whiff of it, but I trusted Ghostflight when he had lectured that a full blast could literally hold a cat in place. It was the stink that alerted us to the pukiir in the first place.

Ghostflight turned to face me. "Their spines are weak, one strong blow to the back will paralyze it. Make sure you get it above the second set of legs, the closer to the neck the better." I nodded, still crouched low to the ground. I peered over at the pukiir, watching its insect-like movements. It had stopped to rest on the stump, cleaning its spindly legs with a curling tongue. I shuddered. It really was gross.

"And you'll need to use a Night Stalker's most important bit of magic: agility enhancement."

I froze, my attention snapping back to Ghostfrost. "Magic?" I couldn't help but touch my soul stone with a paw, the familiar weight feeling somewhat forign with this new implication. Of course, I had seen Ghostflight use his every night since I first learned of Siva. It just never felt like I could do that. Ever. And now Ghostflight wanted me to do it in the field? Shouldn't I have practiced first or something?

"Just feel for the onyx. It's a part of you; like Mallowsun said, just like your paws and tail. You can control it, Tempestpaw. Just tell it what you need it to do and it will listen." Ghostflight closed his eyes. The onyx at my mentor's chest flashed, then disappeared. A faint white glow pulsed from his paws, sending dark shadows across the dirt. His eyes shone yellow, like they reflected the light inside of him, amplifying mirrors for the energy.

Okay. If Ghostflight could do it, so could I. Breeze had said I was part Svan, that we all were. That's why MapleClan cats needed soul stones. I closed my eyes and focused inward, towards the darkness. I felt Ghostflight move, a ripple of a breeze against my whiskers as he turned around. His voice was low, humming against my ears: "Find the soul stone. Feel it. Pull it, allow it to break free."

For a while, I felt nothing. I felt the cool night on my fur, heard Ghostflight's breathing and the shifting of my paws against the soil. It was frustrating, so I pushed harder into the darkness of myself. Heartbeats ticked away. The sound of a stick snapping under my claws startled me.

Ghostflight prodded my onyx, pushing the stone hard against my chest. "Feel it." I took a deep breath and dove inwards again. I could feel the stone as Ghostflight pushed -physically, painfully. I focused on that pain until I found its twin, shrieking against my mind. "Take it." I flailed towards the object, the light in the darkness. With a quick yank-

It hurt, oh, stars it hurt. Fire ran down my veins, lightning through my paws, acid down my throat. I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't- "Relax, Tempestpaw." Ghostflight's slow words pushed through the pain and I grabbed onto him in my panic. "Control it. Breathe."

The first breath was the hardest. I hadn't ever drowned, but it must be easier to breathe underwater than it was to pull in that first breath. On the exhale, all the pain suddenly disappeared.

Poof.

My paws shook. I opened my eyes to see Ghostflight crouched in front of me, a smile on his face. "Good."

It sure felt good. Energy coursed through me. I felt quick. Powerful. The forest was bright as day under my gaze, all the shadows stripped away from the world. The pukiir sat on the stump, outlined in bright electric blue. The sight of my prey made my mouth water and my blood sing. "Go," Ghostflight said.

I went.

I flew across the forest. Time stretched as I crossed the gap in seconds, the forest around me falling aside in a blur as my target sharpened. The pukiir moved in slow motion, its claws rising slowly as I leapt straight up, twisting midair to land both my paws in the center of its neck.

A sharp snap and it was over.

The blue glow around the creature faded as I stood, gasping, over its corpse. The spindly legs curved inward as the body crumbled away under my paws. I coughed from its stench, shaking my head to rid myself of it faster.

Ghostflight left the thornbush, his paws still radiating white light as he crossed the distance. "You have to let it go now, Tempestpaw."

Oh, but the power was so addicting. I felt as if I could run all the way across the territory in minutes. I could. And I knew it. I jumped off the stump, feeling as though I were a feather floating in the air. I took one last look around the bright-as-day forest and then I sighed and pushed on the light again, shoving it out.

The world snapped back into darkness and I staggered against the sudden vertigo. The soul stone swung against my chest, humming. I didn't know how I had never felt that before now. "Can you make it until morning? I'll be doing the rest of the hunting tonight," Ghostflight asked.

"Of course," I said. It was well past moonhigh, perhaps only an hour until dawn. Everything felt slow now, but I was expecting that.

Ghostflight prodded my side and I slipped a few steps away, glaring back at him. He nodded, satisfied. "We'll take it slow."