Chapter 4-Love at First Conversation

Streamleaf's POV

When Streamleaf had been heading towards camp, she'd stopped on the hilltop to survey her surroundings. At that time, she thought she had seen a brown pelt flitting through the trees below.

Shivering, she had realized it was tainted red, as though blood stained mud had been plastered on any given cat. Pineheart couldn't have gotten there so fast anyway.

Now Streamleaf was with that very cat, teaching him how to fight. She had an uneasy feeling that there was no need to.

Arriving at a large clearing, Streamleaf came to an abrupt halt and turned to look at him.

"So, what do you know about fighting, as of now?"

"Well, I know I shouldn't fight if I don't know who I'm fighting." There just could have been a slight smirk playing at his lips.

"Streamleaf." She meowed curtly.

"Mahogany."

His name was strange, she didn't recall ever hearing that word. But she had that distinct notion that told her it described his pelt.

"Hello, Mahogany," Streamleaf said impatiently. "What else do you know about battle?"

"I have no name for my moves," Mahogany mewed. "May I?"

At this he placed a paw firmly on the ground before him and crouched, a battle stance strangely experienced. Streamleaf nodded and put herself in a hunters crouch.

With no sign of hesitance, Mahogany darted forward and swiped a sheathed paw at her snout. Streamleaf ducked, but this was already anticipated, as was her quick nip to his other fore paw.

Confidently Mahogany turned one hundred eighty degrees, Streamleaf's attack passing by harmlessly. He stuck out a hind leg and swept it neatly under her, knocking the warrior off her feet. Smartly he turned around and pinned her by the shoulders.

"Are you going easy on me?" He asked, his green gaze genuinely hurt.

"A little," she lied grumpily. To this he nodded and released her.

"Let's do it again," he meowed, switching to a slightly but not quite crouching battle stance. Streamleaf twitched her ear and sat down on her haunches, as if waiting for prey. There was something about her that was tense, so Mahogany might have seen that she was actually getting ready to spring onto him. This was a new battle move that she hadn't mastered yet.

Mahogany, not touching the ground, dropped incredibly close to doing so. It was what the clans called the 'spider walk', a very hard piece of footwork used by warriors advanced in stamina. No one could knock you over if you were doing it. That's when Streamleaf saw the muscles bulging under his pelt.

This was not a normal kittypet.

Mahogany spider walked rapidly closer to her, his paws moving in a blur around him, instead of underneath him. Streamleaf sidestepped when he got there, and cuffed his ear. Both their claws were sheathed.

Receiving the blow, Mahogany was dazed for a few seconds. This allowed her to back off a little distance.

He did not understand that she was scared to show that she was weaker than him. The crouch was sapping all of his strength, and by this point he was ready to collapse. He slowly raised himself the tail length of a kit.

Without warning, Streamleaf leaped into the air, her flying silhouette shadowed against the sun. She landed squarely on his shoulders before he could move.

"Oof!" With a great heave, Mahogany rolled over and squashed the she cat under his larger frame. Streamleaf gritted her teeth.

Alright, if you want to play it hard.

With a heave of her chest, she mustered all the strength she could and pushed him off with her hind legs, since her fore paws were twisted into an inconvenient position.

Mahogany's POV

Mahogany's bottom half flipped into the air, his head crushed against Streamleaf's snout. When he landed, they both found themselves in an embarrassing position.

Shoved against each other, Mahogany and Streamleaf now had their snouts pressed together most inappropriately. Flustered, both cats tried to scramble to their feet, only to be helplessly tangled.

"Uh..."

"So, yeah...you were pretty good. I liked the spider walk."

"Um. Thanks. What's the spider walk?" He wasn't quite a wild cat...

"Oh, its this thing in the clans. When you crouched really low so I couldn't knock you off your paws."

"Oh. Sorry about...you know, that."

"Its okay. It wasn't terrible." Streamleaf looked away, seemingly embarrassed. He couldn't tell.

Mahogany nodded, and wouldn't meet her gaze, even when she looked back.

"Okay, lets just forget about that, okay?" he asked. "Tell your mate I wasn't messing with you."

Streamleaf gave him a confused look. "But I don't have a mate."

A secret warmth spread around deep inside him. Although he hadn't seen her acting like a mate to someone, he did this on purpose to make sure.

"Oh. Sorry," he mewed, and they went back to camp without another word being said.