Wow, I haven't updated this in a while...I went through the reviews and tried to find the most-suggested odd couple, and the winner was: Runningwind and Mousefur! Aw.
"Wait up!" Mousefur leaped over a fallen log, skirting a jagged stone as she jumped back down. The brown tabby tom she had called to weaved through the greenleaf undergrowth, avoiding tree roots with light steps. Mousefur paused for a moment to admire his grace, but looked away when he turned around to look at her. His yellow eyes narrowed. "Catch up!"
She snorted, but darted after him anyway. "I should have known, even Bluestar couldn't order the great Runningwind to stop his chase once he's started," she teased. His tail flicked her muzzle. "That's right."
Warmth shot through Mousefur's veins at the touch, light and taunting as it was. She suddenly had the speed to catch up to Runningwind, keeping pace with him. Or had he slowed down for her?
"Where's Thornpaw?" he asked. Despite their sprint, he wasn't even panting.
Mousefur's ears twitched, and she reluctantly skidded to a halt to call to her apprentice. "Thornpaw! Where'd you go?"
The small golden tom popped out of a heather bush, carrying the large body of a rabbit in his jaws. His amber eyes were wide with pride at his catch. Runningwind purred with amusement. "Well done!"
"Next time tell us before you make a stop to go hunting, though," Mousefur added.
Thornpaw's ears drooped, and he dropped the rabbit onto the ground. "Sorry."
"It's all right," Runningwind meowed, slinging his tail around the other cat's shoulders. He looked up at Mousefur. "Don't be so hard on him. It isn't as if we're on a strict patrol or anything."
"But we're near the Thunderpath. Even a senior warrior doesn't have the right to go wandering around." Mousefur lashed her tail, and then took a few steps foward to nose the rabbit. "Still, this is a fine catch, Thornpaw. Bury it here, and you can give it to Cinderpelt and Yellowfang when we get back."
Thornpaw's ears shot back up. "Thanks, Mousefur," he meowed, and began to kick dirt over the body. Mousefur glanced at Runningwind over the head and found him looking at her. "You're probably right," he admitted. "And you're the mentor. Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I am too hard on him." She twitched her whiskers and nudged Thornpaw with one of her forelegs. "I'm sure he agrees!"
Runningwind purred and came to rub his shoulder against Mousefur's. Heat spread through her pelt that had nothing to do with the beating sun overhead, but she leaned into the touch until Thornpaw looked up again. His tail curled over his head. "Where to next?"
"The Thunderpath," Mousefur decided, taking the lead. Her paws stirred up puffs of dirt that settled into her pelt, already weighted down from the heat. Runningwind glanced up at the cloudless evening sky. "I feel sorry for the WindClan cats," he commented. "They have to trot around the moors in this weather, and StarClan knows there's no shade there."
"I feel sorry for us," Thornpaw complained. "It's so hot, my pads are going to burn off."
Mousefur let out a mrrow of laughter. "If they do, you still have to carry that rabbit of yours back to camp. Think of it as punishment for wandering off."
Runningwind's whiskers twitched. "You know Fireheart will hold you responsible if he collapses."
"Well, you'll vouch for me, won't you?" Mousefur nudged Runningwind's shoulder and was pleased when he stumbled slightly, veering from his prancing step. He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Why would I ever do that?"
"Oh, I don't know..."
The Thunderpath came into view, shiny-pelted monsters roaring past. Mousefur flicked her tail at Thornpaw. "Stay close by me," she ordered. She knew Thornpaw wasn't foolish enough to wander onto the Thunderpath himself, but it was fully dark now and there was always a chance that one of the monsters would veer off the path.
Runningwind lifted his muzzle to the air. "I smell something."
"Really?" Mousefur meowed. "I can't smell anything with the stench of those monsters."
Runningwind flicked his ears. His shoulder fur was rising uneasily. "I think we should go back to camp."
"But we haven't finished the patrol," Mousefur mewed. She opened her mouth, tasting the air. It was thick with the reek of the Thunderpath, and the forest underneath that. "I don't smell anything strange."
From behind them, Thornpaw let out a violent shriek. Mousefur spun, her fur bristling, and saw him with his claws digging into the ground, being pulled backward by a ragged form. She knew it was a cat by shape, but it was too dark for her to make out the pelt color, and the smell of the Thunderpath made it impossible to tell if it was a Clan cat or not. She felt her lips draw back into a snarl and launched herself forward, landing across the cat's shoulders. She dug her claws into the matted fur, calling out a battle cry. "Let go of my apprentice, foxdung!"
"Mousefur!" Runningwind's cry made her look up in time to see more of the cats advancing out of the bushes, fur bristling and teeth gleaming in the early moonlight. They threw themselves into the fight, forming a knot of ragged pelts and broken teeth. Mousefur lashed out blindly, feeling her claws dig into fur and flesh. There wasn't enough light for her to tell the identities of any of the cats, and the Thunderpath roared into the background, drowning out everything but her own panicked heartbeat in her ears.
"Mousefur!" Runningwind's voice came from the heart of the fight. "Mousefur, take Thornpaw and get help from camp!"
"No!" Mousefur screeched back, sinking her claws into another cat's ear. "You'll be killed!"
"I'll be right behind you!"
"Runningwind--"
"Mousefur, run!"
&&&
They found his body by the Thunderpath, right where the fight had been. His claws were unsheathed, his ears flattened. He had died fighting.
Died saving me.
Mousefur buried her face in the ripped fur, closed her eyes tightly. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, and she felt as if she were in a battle all over again. But the camp around her was silent, and the shadows cast by the moonlight were still. Even Bluestar, lying beside Whitestorm on Runningwind's other side, lay silent as if dead. Her blue eyes were open and unblinking.
I'll be right behind you!
"You lied to me, Runningwind." She whispered in the tom's ear, as if he could hear her. "You said you would be right behind me..."
Sorrow fell over her like water, clogging her throat and making it hard to move. Mousefur leaped up anyway, not able to lay still anymore.
"I'll be back in time to bury him," she murmured to Whitestorm. He nodded absently, his eyes on the camp wall.
The night was just as still as the camp, as if the forest itself was mourning Runningwind. Mousefur walked blindly through the darkness. She knew she probably shouldn't be wandering around so soon after the rogue attack, but she took a completely different path from the one on the patrol. After today, she never wanted to see the Thunderpath again.
A vole scuffled in the undergrowth. Mousefur's claws unsheathed instinctively, but she didn't stop. Why should she want to hunt right now? Why did it matter?
Mousefur, run!
His voice was a familiar whisper in her ear, and Mousefur obeyed without a thought. She leaped foward, crushing wildflowers beneath her paws, causing dandelions to explode in puffs of pollen. She could hear small creatures crashing around, avoiding her, but she didn't try to be stealthy in her run.
He could do it without even trying. He could sneak up on a mouse looking right at him.
Mousefur's heart lurched. She dashed forward, trying to be faster than the pain and sorrow that trailed her like burrs caught in her pelt. The night air was cool, and there was a gentle breeze she hadn't felt during that day. It played around her, tangling with her breath and rustling her fur. Mousefur felt as if she were keeping pace with it, letting it leap with her. She ran with it.
Ran with the wind.