Chapter 2: Choices

Soryn stared up at the ceiling of their den, frustration welling up in him. The prickling that had been dancing through his pelt towards the end was nearly unbearable by this point. It ate away at his exhaustion and felt like every individual fur on his pelt was stinging every part of his skin. His ears itched and no matter how much he scratched, the feeling never went away. His collar- usually soft and comfortable suddenly seemed suffocating and rubbed against his skin in all the wrong ways. He'd only gotten a few tail shakes of sleep before being awoken by the sensation.

He sighed finally getting to his paws. Ahasra had already left the den a while ago, called out by one of the guards. He might as well join her in the cool night air. He stretched and still the prickling didn't fade. He chuckled when Nakori made a remark about his paws burning off with all of his wandering about.

He strode out into the clearing and paused seeing his sister talking excitedly to a chocolate brown molly with glimmering yellow eyes. He purred excitedly, recognizing her- Aniya! His sister's tail was upright with excitement at whatever the conversation was about. He purred in amusement watching her do several rapid spins as Aniya walked away.

He walked over as she continued to dance excitedly- wiggling and prancing about.

"Good news?" Soryn mewed whiskers twitching.

"Great news!" Ahasra cheered. "You were right! I'm a Little Fang now- Aniya's gonna take me to get my charm at sunrise- I'm too excited to sleep!"

The prickle in his pelt reminded him of its existence and he shook his fur roughly hoping it'd fade.

"Wanna go for a walk in the main woods?" Ahasra asked, watching him.

"Isn't the forest clan territory?"

Ahasra shook her head, "As long as we don't catch any prey, we should be fine. It's not like they own the whole forest- a large section of it is neutral territory. The only reason we don't hunt on it is courtesy- they need the prey more than we do."

Soryn stretched and smiled, "In that case- let's explore!"

Ahasra purred at him and led him to the entrance to the ravine. They nodded at the two present guardians by the entrance and strode from the territory. Ahasra led him down the main ravine until the ground began sloping upward and they clambered up and into the woods. The trees and grass grew thicker and the brushes began clumping and crowding the floor. Ahasra sniffed the ground and then trotted around for a while. After a while she walked right up to a tree with claws marks scratched into it in the shape of an X.

"This is the border marker," she announced. "There's a line of trees all along here with the same marks. Stay on the right side of these and you'll be fine."

"In that case," he drawled, slinking towards her. He slapped his paw on her shoulder, almost bowling her over. "Tag! You're it!"

He took off at full speed cackling as his sister protested ("You cheated!") and sprinted after him laughing. She chased him around a tree and managed to bat his flank and ran away. She managed to dodge around his paws and slipped seamlessly through the branches despite her fluffier coat. He cut her off, leaping over a bush instead of running around it and started gaining on her.

He quickly pursued her laughing loudly and pounced on her when she slowed down to catch her breath. She rolled, knocking him from her back and kept running. Soryn laughed coming to a halt, panting with exhaustion but grinning as he flopped down on his side.

Ahasra for her part had managed to scare a squirrel that had made the mistake of trying to run past her and into a tree. Soryn watched her chase and corral the squirrel into her paws, stopping it from getting into any trees. Finally she made a powerful leap landing on it and grasped it gently but firmly in her mouth turning to look at him proudly.

"Nice catch," Soryn laughed.

Ahasra tossed the now very frightened squirrel towards the border. The second it hit the ground, it took off at full speed disappearing deeper into the wood. Ahasra wandered back over and laid down by him. They caught their breath together watching the stars in the sky, just enjoying each other's presence.

"How was Hanasio?" he asked finally.

"Not bad," she admitted. "He was very kind- obviously he was bored hanging out with a nanin but he wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be."

"That's good. You managed to survive him and you're a Little Fang now."

"Yeah, I'm gonna be the best Guardian this kingdom has ever had. How were the farms?"

"They're alright- there's a hole in the chicken pen though."

"That's rough- I hope it's fixed before too many get away."

"They have cats watch-" he cut himself off and went silent, listening. Ahasra's ears pricked as the crunching and snapping of dried leaves and broken branches on the ground as something stomped on them rang through the air. The calmness surrounding them vanished, replaced by a tense one as he rolled to his paws and Ahasra crouched.

An angry yowl rang from the other side of the woods and a pair of kittens leapt from the brush. Soryn dodged to the left, hissing as a brown kitten landed where he was. He vaguely noted from the corner of his eye, Ahasra pounced on a pale molly. Soryn swiped at the tom's ears and the brown kitten hissed when he clipped him. He was charged but Soryn dodged left again only to get caught by the scruff.

"Mrooow!"

Ahasra heard him and caught the molly's next swipe in her mouth, biting down. The pale cat yowled in pain and backed up enough to allow Ahasra to dart around her and rip the brown tom from his back. She flung him as best as she could- which really only amounted to knocking him over.

Soryn took advantage and bit the tom's tail earning another screech of pain as he was dragged back. Soryn released his tail then quickly leapt on top of the tom and sank one set of claws into one of his shoulders and let his other paw press firmly on the tom's throat. Ahasra for her part had one paw on the molly's face with the rest of her body weight bearing down on his.

"Who are you?" snarled Sorynn, his tail lashing. "Why are you attacking us?"

"What is going on here!"

Soryn looked up, fur bristling further as a tall blue furred molly emerged from the brush followed by a slightly smaller hissing calico tom with a vibrant red tail and a tall, lanky white tom with blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Ahasra hissed, ears pulled back.

"Help!" cried the tom under his paw.

"Let them go!" demanded the calico.

The blue cat snarled before her eyes landed on their collars. She stiffed even as the fur on her body slowly continued to bristle.

"Who are you?"

Soryn narrowed his eyes, "Soryn of the Shining Sun. Now I ask again- who are you?"

"I am Bluestar of ThunderClan," the molly said slowly as if forcing her fur to flatten. "This is my deputy Redtail and one of my warriors, Whitestorm."

"You've attacked our apprentices and you're trespassing!" accused Redtail.

Ahasra scoffed and flicked her tail towards one of the scarred trees, "Some deputy you are. We're on neutral territory."

"The forest-"

"She's right," interrupted Bluestar. "This is territory the Sun chooses not to hunt on for our sakes. Sandpaw and Dustpaw may have caused a diplomatic incident."

"It shouldn't come to that," Ahasra informed her fur slowly flattening. "So long as your apprentices don't attack us, this doesn't have to be reported as anything more than a minor misunderstanding."

"Of course."

So Soryn released the brown tom- Dustpaw he presumed- and Ahasra freed Sandpaw allowing the two apprentices to slink towards their clanmates heads low. Sandpaw gingerly held her front left paw off of the ground, limping.

"You're very skilled fighters," remarked Whitestorm. The tall tom had sat down and begun licking his chest, easily the calmest cat in the clearing now. Soryn felt his fur flattening at the familiar motion- talking as a way to eliminate some of the tension in the air.

"Thank you," Ahasra nodded. "Soryn's the real fighter though- my talents are from self training but Soryn's battle instincts can overwhelm actual experience at times."

Soryn ducked his head, ears twitching with embarrassment.

"You are very skilled however," Bluestar noted, nodding to Ahasra. "You showed immense control and impressive planning skills with the way you pursued the squirrel."

Ahasra dipped her head in acknowledgement of the praise and began licking scratches Sandpaw managed to clip her with.

"Your apprentices are good fighters as well," Soryn said. "Who were their teachers?"

"Whitestorm is Sandpaw's mentor and Redtail is Dustpaw's," informed Bluestar. "They were made apprentices two sunrises ago."

"Impressive," Soryn praised. "We've been training for about a moon now."

"How old are you?" Bluestar asked.

"Six moons now," Ahasra informed.

"That's young," Redtail said with a frown and Soryn was surprised to see concern in the tom's eyes. He'd certainly changed tune once the apprentices were free.

"Well it's all self-defense," Ahasra informed with a flick of her tail. "Soryn and I are just particularly scrappy."

Whitestorm hummed, "Kits in the clans may only start being trained once they're 6 moons old."

"What happens if you're attacked before then?" Soryn asked.

"Kits under six moons can't leave the camp so our warriors look out for them."

"And if someone invades your camp?" inquired Ahasra.

Whitestorm smirked, "They regret it."

Soryn released a quick surprised laugh, "You sound like our sister."

"Thank you I think," Whitestorm said with a slight smile.

"That's a good thing," Soryn said. "Asha is really blazing."

"So what do your warriors do?" Ahasra asked curiously. "Beyond picking fights that is."

Bluestar chuckled and Redtail laughed softly. Sandpaw and Dustpaw averted their eyes, ducking their heads.

"Everything," said Bluestar. "Warriors defend cats unable to defend themselves, gather food for the rest of the clan and create tools and materials for other cats."

"Ah," said Soryn glancing to Ahasra. "So kind of like Enforcers then."

"Must be exhausting having to do all that," she remarked.

"Enforcers? Are they your warriors?" asked Redtail.

"Kind of," said Ahasra. "Enforcers are a group of Guardians. They perform all the general tasks like guarding the heir's den, escorting visitors, settling minor disputes and stuff."

"The heir's den?" blurted Dustpaw.

"Leadership in The Skies is inherited," Bluestar informed him. "You'll learn more from your lecturers but the Heirs are the kits of the leader who will lead when the leader is too old to."

"They have specific guards for it?" asked Sandpaw.

"Have to be prepared for assassins," said Soryn, flicking his ear.

The two apprentices nodded and went silent again, shuffling in place.

"So how big is your clan?" prompted Soryn. "The Sun is decently sized but the way your apprentices reacted to one little squirrel…"

"Reasonably sized," Bluestar responded either not noticing or choosing not to acknowledge the dig. "Our territory can support us."

"How many clans are there?"

"Four, you didn't know?"

Ahasra snorted, "You cats are so aggressive lately no one's known how many clans there are for moons. Everyone who tried to get a count was attacked."

Bluestar winced as the rest of the cats exchanged looks, "On behalf of all of us, I do apologize. It's been a difficult season for us and we've been a little more on edge than usual."

"No lasting harm done," Soryn chuckled. "At least you're not like Havoc's pack."

"Those mutts are a pain in the tail," grumbled Redtail. "They've been in the forest so often you'd think they lived here!"

"What does you clan usually eat?" Soryn prompted.

"You seem very interested in our clans," said Whitestorm tilting his head.

"Soyrn's always been interested in clan life," Ahasra said shoving her brother lightly. "He used to keep dad up for hours begging him to tell us stories about his adventures with clan cats."

"Your father was a clan cat?"

"No," Soryn denied, shaking his head. "Kokino was from The Sun too- I suppose the borders were just looser back then."

"Still if you're so interested," Bluestar glanced at him looking thoughtful. "...would you like to become a member of ThunderClan?"

"What?!" demanded Sandpaw and Dustpaw as they leapt up.

"Bluestar?" said Redtail in confusion. "A farm kitty can't be a warrior. They don't have warrior blood."

"I will decline as I'm already a Little Fang but what does our blood have to do with anything?" Ahasra demanded.

"Warrior Blood is… a way of life. You can be born in a clan and not have Warrior Blood- the desire to live the way we do… without the softness that farm food builds," explained Redtail.

"If a clan cat can be born without Warrior Blood, then shouldn't it be possible for a non-clan cat to be born with Warrior Blood," argued Ahasra.

"Regardless," Soryn intervened. "That's a big decision to make in one night. And if your warriors are so against it, why offer?"

"...the truth is, we need more warriors," admitted Whitestorm. "These past few seasons have been harsh. The leafbare was ruthless and newleaf brought no new kits. We're short on paws and when our survival depends on the number of paws we have on demand, we'll take all the help we can get."

Redtail glanced away, looking embarrassed. Soryn wondered how this cat could possibly be the deputy- Whitestorm seemed much more suited for the role. Maybe Redtail just wasn't good at talking? Then he thought back to the caring look of concern when he heard they were training young. Maybe the position of deputy is meant for gentle cats to ensure they care about the clan and not just power?

"How about this," Soryn quickly returned his attention to Bluestar. "Three sunrises. And on the third sunrise, you come back with your decision."

Soryn glanced at Ahasra and was surprised when she nodded, "Sure," he agreed.

He gathered his paws beneath himself and stood up with a yawn. Ahasra stretched, extending one leg at a time before she turned swiftly and began padding back towards the kingdom.

"Anehayeyi," Soryn called to the clan cats and followed his sister from the clearing, their eyes creating pins and needles under his fur. He fell into step beside his sister as she glanced at him.

Ahasra grinned, "Do you think kokina will notice the cuts in your fur?"

Soryn snorted, "Can an eagle catch a limping rabbit?"

They laughed their way back home.

"As I said, I understand your concern but that is a completely unreasonable demand."

Soryn was exhausted. His mother had snapped at him and Ahasra the second she'd smelled the forest on them. While Ahasra was more or less used to being snapped at for her every movement, Soryn usually went unnoticed by her. The emotional exhaustion he'd felt as their day started tied with the physical exhaustion he still felt further ensured his belief that it was an act by Urakira theirself that Ahasra hadn't snapped yet.

The wounds from last night's scuffle had really begun to sting and his muscles were sore. He didn't bother going to Amira, his mother would've crowed on and on about him getting just what he deserved for sneaking out so he'd have to slip into her den later in the day. The heat of Rayushu's gaze bore down on him cruelly.

He was barely holding onto his temper as it was and this ridiculous tom wasn't helping matters in the slightest.

"Clearly you don't," spat the brown tom. "With Havoc's pack so nearby, my chickens will need protection! I run two chicken farms and if I were to quit, you'd regret it!"

Soryn took a deep breath, "As I said before sir. As hard as it would be on you, chickens are replaceable, our lives are not. Xibotoro is responsible for defending the kingdom as a whole and she is much too busy to only guard chickens."

The tom scoffed, "Replaceable? Chickens are very hard to raise!"

No they aren't, Soryn thought to himself dryly. You feed them and keep them in a fenced-in area.

"Look," he said in his most reasonable voice. "There are already Little Fangs around to look after the ducks. If it's really that important, ask the duck farmers if they'd be willing to allow you to bring your chickens near the ducks."

"What if those ducks attack my chickens?"

"Chickens and ducks get along just fine," Soryn sighed. "At most you may end up with a chick-duck."

The tom paused, processing this. Then he gave a sharp nod, "fine" he declared and stomped off presumably to harass other cats.

"Hey Soryn."

He glanced up, smiling reflexively at his sister's voice. Ahasra wandered right up to him and rubbed her face on his flank.

"Hey isi," he greeted.

"Rough time?" she asked.

"Nsake is demanding that we place fully collared Guardians in permanent positions to look after his chickens," he deadpanned.

Ahasra blinked.

"He what?"

"That's the argument I've been having since the sun was at its peak."

"I'm so sorry," Ahasra purred giggling.

"You don't sound sorry," Soryn laughed, shoving her.

She hissed a bit, her muscles clearly as sore as his were and he shot her an apologetic look. She waved her tail dismissively.

"What've you been up to?" he prompted her.

"Hung with the moon brat some more," she said casually. "I feel bad. I was using him to get away from Akoi."

"The Cloud Prince," Soryn asked, his whiskers twitching. "Why are we hosting two princes?"

"Only firewings fly effortlessly," Ahasra said, waving her paw. "Ashara herself could demand kokina explain and she'd remain silent as dawnscales."

"Make sure to keep an eye out," Soryn warned. He felt his spine bristle as his mind raced. "...it's possible he's Isaria's pair."

"If he's Isaria's pair, why was he padding after me?" she asked.

Soryn made a show of looking his sister up and down. Ahasra turned her head away as her ears turned red. Soryn purred, nuzzling his embarrassed sister.

"It's possible he wants you as his consort like Ahiti was to dad."

"Ug," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Why would I be a mate to someone who's mates with my big sister? I'll have to hear them make an heir."

"Hey, it's happened," Soryn shrugged with a smirk. "Better him than Hanasio en?"

"I don't know," she said playfully. "Hanasio is pretty…"

"As you said, he is old enough to be our father," Soryn chuckled.

"Did I hear responsible and well mannered?" she joked.

Soryn nipped at her tail and chased her into the main clearing laughing.

"What do you think?"

It hadn't taken him long to tell the rest of his siblings about the offer from the wildcats. He had agonized over the pros and cons for the entire night before but this sunrise was the last night he had. His brothers and sisters are smart and none of them would rat him out to his mother- especially before he'd made a decision.

They'd all sprawled out in their den, legs and tails crossing over each other in a tangled mess of limbs. He shook his head as Ahasra's tongue swiped furiously behind his ears and flexed the claws in his right paw turning his attention to Isaria.

His eldest sister was constantly busy and was the subject of their mother's favor, but she'd never been mean to him or Ahasra. She'd always shown kindness and empathy for them when their mother unfairly went after them. She'd been supportive of all of their plans for the future and she was wise.

So he watched her carefully as she thought over the offer from Bluestar

"..I say… you should go."

"Really?" Soryn asked her with surprise.

"You've always been more interested in the forest than the rest of us," Isaria remarked. "If you give up and come home that would be sad- but I think you'd regret not trying even more than failing."

"She's right," said Hrahsi. "Your eyes have always drifted towards the treeline rather than staying in the kingdom."

"If you don't join the clans, I can see you as a messenger," agreed Asha. "You've always been more interested in things far away rather than the things here."

"So that's it then," Soryn said determinedly. "I'll go."

Ahasra pressed her face into his neck.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I won't be far," he told her as the rest of his sisters and brother snuggled closer to him as well. "I'll see you guys at the neutral stretch okay!"

"The dynamic trio," Ahasra whispered. "Now it's just me."

"Don't cause too much trouble without me," Soryn purred.

And he hunkered down enjoying the feeling of his siblings pressed around him for the last time.