Chapter 2: Angry Yellow Eyes
A/N-I apologize for any grammatical errors, sentence/word problems, or anything else in the last chapter (and this one, but that's not the point). After I posted it I read it and found about a million problems. Sorry… Oh yea, the characters will become more in depth, I'm just introducing them.
Disclaimer: I own only what was not in the books
"Windheart! The General needs to see you!" Windheart sighed and turned to a Hunter resting in the warm sun. "Will you take this trainee out. She's a little behind on her hunting." The Hunter rose, nodded ( "Yes Windheart") and left, the trainee at his heels.
Windheart blinked in surprise. She was still getting used to her new authority as the female Elite of the Clan of the Running Cat. Since she had been brought up by a foster mother, the Clans Medicine Cat Whitefoot, she hadn't necessarily been looked down upon, but she hadn't been shown the greatest courtesy. Now the Clan acted like it was a natural thing.
She sighed again, shrugged, and trotted toward the Generals den, the short fat bush, bare on the bottom but with a perfectly round, hollow, dome on the top. A tree stump provided a step to the small hole in the side.
Windheart paused before the stump, giving her chest a quick lick, then leapt up. Squeezing through the entrance she was enveloped in darkness. Her eyes cleared to the sight of her General, Mora. A few dots of sunlight, those that had managed to get through the tight weaving of branches, danced and bounced on her rippling tabby pelt.
Windheart blinked enviously at her leader. She was young and beautiful, but everyone respected her. Windheart's own brown tabby pelt was pale except were it was white on her chest and paws. The long fur stretched over her lithe body. She could be described as pretty, but never beautiful.
"Windheart, three Hunters came in two days ago, said they'd scented two cats from the Clan of the Hunting Cat and the smell of fresh kill. It hasn't rained since then so the scents will probably still be there. I want you to check it out for me. Your friend, Tres, was one of the Hunters out that night. Take her with you and see what Splitfang's been up to."
Windheart dipped her head, looking forward to a few days with only her best friend on the open moorlands of her Clans territory. "Yes General Mora ma'am."
Mora nodded. "I don't expect you back until this time tomorrow at the soonest. That border is at least a quarter days fast march away. Take all the time you need." She paused then added with a slight smile, "I expect you are looking forward to a little privacy. I originally offered the job to my male Elite, you know, Konan. But he said you would enjoy it more." Windheart purred. "I certainly am ma'am. I am grateful that Konan was willing to give up this assignment." Mora chuckled. "I'll be sure he knows. That is all. Dismissed."
Windheart bobbed her head, wiggled through the entrance, past the guards and a waiting warrior who hurried in just after her, leapt off the stump and looked around for Tres. Spotting her sprawled out on the flat rock that served as a 'deck' to the cave the Hunters slept in she padded over.
"Tres, the General says we have to check out those strange scents you found a few days ago. We can take as much time as we want!" Tres got to her paws happily. "Two days of absolute freedom, without Captain Padfoot breathing down my neck telling be to get moving! Hurry up!" she added as she ran toward the entrance.
Laughing, Windheart followed. The two friends sprinted happily across the moorlands, into the setting sun.
"Where are we going Thunderfoot?"
Thunderfoot turned to look at his apprentice, Mouse. The young brownish-black she-cat was small, but extremely fierce… and very energetic as Thunderfoot had found when she had woken him before dawn, ready to head out and start her training.
"We're going to see my foster uncle, Bristle's brother. He's a captain of the Frontline soldiers along the Swimming Clan's border, right next to the Two-tailed River." Mouse stared at him with wide eyes. "Is he a good fighter Thunderfoot? My mother said that Frontline soldiers have to be very brave." Thunderfoot nodded. "Byron is very brave and an amazing fighter. He's been offered a promotion several times, but turned it down saying he likes the life of a Frontline." Mouse giggled. "That's silly."
Riverstripe padded along the riverbank, looking for the perfect place to dive in. She was gathering a plant found only under water for Fernpelt's store. She waded knee deep into the brook and stopped, looking up and down the river. This will be perfect. I can dive in, look for the plant, and resurface in time to catch myself on that rock. But that will mean trespassing on the Hunting Clans territory. She hesitated, then shrugged to herself. What were the odds that a patrol was going to come by right at that point?
"Thunderfoot! It's been so long! Is this your new apprentice?" Byron's white, scar tattered, pelt shone in the sun. Thunderfoot purred. "Yes uncle. This is Mouse." Byron studied the apprentice until she started to fidget uncomfortably. "She is small," he said at last, "but she has a lot of spirit. If she was chosen to be trained by an Elite she must be pretty powerful."
Mouse purred and Thunderfoot chuckled at her pride. "The place hasn't changed much has it?" he asked looking around.
The camp was situated under a earthy overhang, were the river had once run. Now it was kept shallow by the dutiful forest cats. The Frontline soldiers slept under a small forsythia bush in the corner of well worn clearing. The small space was bordered by thick thorn bushes. The only way to get in was through the entrance at the front. Prey lay in a small hole beside the rock in the center of the clearing and makeshift 'toys' were scattered all around.
Byron blinked. "Why would we want it to change?" Thunderfoot rolled his eyes. "Never mind." His uncle stared at him a moment longer, then shrugged. "Where about to head out on a patrol. Care to join?"
Riverstripe positioned herself on the edge of the river, ready to jump. Her muscles tensed, and she prepared herself for take-off, when there was a sudden loud rustle in the bushes. Riverstripe yowled in surprise and promptly fell off the rock. She resurfaced, spluttering, to a grinning patrol of Hunters, her best friend, the brown tabby Brook, at their head. "Well, well, well, looks like our Elite isn't so amazing after all," she teased.
Riverstripe snorted water out of her nose, trying her best to ignore the grinning cats, and grumbled, "I, unlike you, was about to do something useful for the Clan. If this is how Hunters spend their time, I may have to report you." She bumped playfully against her friends shoulder. "I'm going to try again. Watch my back, as it will take me onto the Hunting Clans territory."
Byron, Thunderfoot, Mouse, and a large black tom called Night, were trotting through the undergrowth when a terrified, surprised yowl range through the air behind them. All the cats stopped and stared over their shoulder, ears pricked. "If I'm not mistaken, and I've been working on this job for years, that was a Swimming Cat's yowl. We should head back and check it out." As the cats started toward the source of the noise the only thought in Thunderfoot's mind was to drive out these arrogant invaders.
Riverstripe launched herself into the river, and as the cold, fast water enveloped her, sinking into her fur and weighing her down, she let herself sink to the bottom, looking around. Only when she saw the plant she was looking for did she push back up. She broke the surface, paddling against the river to stay in one place, took a deep breath, and disappeared underwater again.
The current tried desperately to pull her back, but she stayed calm, having done this many times before. Paddling strongly forward she grasped a chunk of the plant in her teeth and pulled hard, using the undertow to help her rip the weed away from its bed. Once she had a large chunk in her mouth, and she felt herself running out of breath, she simply stopped fighting and let the current take her.
Turning, she aimed herself for the rock and stuck her legs out in front of her, preparing for impact.Her paws slammed against stone and she scrambled to the top, dropping her burden and gasping for breath. Never gets any easier she though wirily.
Just then she heard a warning yowl behind her and looked up… into the enraged eyes of a large gray Hunting Clan tom.
Read and review. It will get interesting, I'm just introducing the characters.