A/N: Okay, don't mob me! It's been forever, I know. School and crap. DON'T KILL ME!!
I know, I have the disclaimer in the summary, but I felt like putting one here.
Disclaimer: Is dead. I'm not dead. Oh, yes you are. I'm not dead. You're not fooling anyone. I can't take 'im like that. Oh, just wait, he'll be stone dead in a moment. I don't want to go on the cart. Oh, quit being such a baby. I feel fine. When's your next round? Thursday.I can't wait that long. Just let me go. Can you do me a favor? You know I can't. Aww, c'mon, please? –slams disclaimer on head- -falls limp- Here's your pay. Thank you. –drives away-
I love Monty Python.
Wicked Meets Warriors—Chapter Four"The forest was going to change her…for the better?"
Glinda and Dustpelt finished their fresh-kill. Glinda ran over to Elphaba, who was trying to hide a snicker.
"What?" Glinda demanded. "What are you laughing at?"
"Oh, don't be like that," Elphaba responded. "You know he likes you."
"Who, you mean Dustpelt. No, no he doesn't." He can't, Glinda thought, I don't—no, can't—like him back. Oz knows what happened the last time that I liked someone. Her thoughts drifted to Fiyero. Oh, is he watching us now? Is he there, there with the Unnamed God? Sighing, Glinda put her head down on her paws. Maybe I do like Dustpelt. Maybe. But, I can't let that happen again. My poor, wounded heart can't—or won't—take it again. If he rejects me… I don't know what would happen to me, then. The only thing I have left is Elphie. That's all that matters to me right now.
"Glinda?" came a soft mew from behind her. She whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Firestar. "This is Sandstorm. She volunteered to teach you and Elphaba how to hunt for the clan."
"Yessir," Glinda mumbled.
"Follow me," Sandstorm mewed and went through the gorse tunnel.
Glinda stole a glance at Elphaba—only to find that her friend had already taken off after Sandstorm.
"Elphie!" she squealed as she took off after them.
Sandstorm let the witches through a short stretch of forest before they came upon a hollow.
"This is the Sandy Hollow," Sandstorm explained, "it's where the apprentices come to train. Only, you're here because Firestar says you don't know how to hunt.
"Now, this is the way to stalk a mouse…"
At around noon,—Sunhigh, Glinda reminded herself,—Sandstorm, who looked pleased, led Glinda and Elphaba back to the ThunderClan camp, with a few mice, voles and a single squirrel. Glinda dropped her load of fresh-kill and grabbed the squirrel for herself.
"Elphaba, want to eat with me?" Glinda asked her friend.
"Sure," Elphaba replied. "Where, over there, by the warriors' den?"
"Sounds good to me," Glinda replied, and the two walked side-by-side to the den.
When Glinda took the first bite of squirrel, she immediately spat out a mouthful of fur.
"What? Swallow something?" Elphaba asked. Her voice sounded serious, but Glinda could see amusement shining in her eyes.
"Oh, shut up," she replied irritably. "If you think it's so funny, then you can eat the squirrel, and I'll take your vole."
"Fine." Elphaba took Glinda's squirrel and ate several mouthfuls without complaining.
"You're hopeless!" Glinda cried, and she turned to the vole.
Not much later, they were joined by Cloudtail and Brightheart. Glinda almost stared at Brightheart's injuries, but she was too used to a physical… disability? misfunction? disformification?… whichever, she was used avoiding Elphaba's green verdigris. Actually, she'd gotten so used to it that she'd been generally shocked when the Clan stared. Either way, Brightheart's scarred face was nothing to stare at, in Glinda's eyes. She did, however, want to know what happened—but, she also wasn't going to ask.
"Hello, Cloudtail, Brightheart," Elphaba mewed politely.
"Mind if we join you?" Brightheart asked.
"Not at all," Elphaba replied.
Cloudtail might have started up conversation, but Glinda was off in her own world, daydreaming. She hadn't realized she wasn't listening until Elphaba jabbed her sharply in the side with her forepaw.
"Ow! Elphie, what was that for?"
"Brightheart asked you a question!" Elphaba said, then she muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "She isn't even blonde anymore and she acts it."
"I'm sorry, Brightheart, what did you say?" Glinda made a mental note to smack—or swat?—Elphaba over the head later on.
"I asked if you wanted to go hunting later on. It's getting close to leaf-bare and with prey getting scarce, we need to build up the Clan's stores," Brightheart explained.
"Uh… sure, why not?"
Days went by fairly quickly for Glinda and Elphaba. It must have been… three weeks or so since they had arrived at the forest. At least, according to Glinda's reasoning it was. She briefly wondered what the witch hunters had said when they'd arrived to find Kiamo Ko empty. They must've been happy, Glinda mused, their enemy disappeared. But, are they sad that I'm gone, too? Am I even missed? Who took over? The Wizard—Glinda cut off her thoughts before they drove her mad. It would do her no good to let unanswered questions bug her, not when there was no possible way to find the answer.
Before Glinda knew it, she was being asked to be assessed for her hunting and fighting skills. Elphaba seemed pleased with this, she apparently knew what it meant.
Glinda was asked to hunt near Sunningrocks, where she liked to lay out and warm her fur. Elphaba was hunting near Tallpines, where Twolegs—Odd, Glinda thought, I hardly sould like the figurehead of Oz, now I sould like a forest-born Clan cat—grew pine trees to cut for wood.
Glinda headed out to Sunningrocks with Dustpelt, the two had grown quite close. When they got there, however, Dustpelt seemingly disappeared. Not worrying too much, Glinda turned her attention to smelling prey.
After a few clock-tics, she scented a vole crawling along the riverbank. Without thinking, Glinda dropped into a hunter's crouch and leaped at the vole before it scented her.
When Dustpelt showed up, between sunhigh and sunset, Glinda had caught a reasonable amount of prey. He helped her carry her catch into camp and the two sat with some fresh-kill to wait for Elphaba.
"Firestar will be pleased," Dustpelt said. "You've caught a good amount of prey. Depending on your fighting skills, he might make you a warrior."
A/N: I'm deciding to stop there. So, again, sorry about the long wait, but I haven't had time to write, and when I did, I had writer's block. So, review and make my day:) Oh, right, and the pagebreak line thingie is working again! YAY!