"I'm sure you're all curious as to why we brought you here." Greysight meowed, stepping in front of the four toms that now stood with her, Lostheart, and Moonfur in the training hollow.
Darkpelt snorted from where he stood beside Browneyes in the clearing. Greysight shot him an invisible glare and continued on. "Lostheart has put me in charge of preparing you some training exercises-"
"Training? I don't have time for this, there are patrols to be run!" Darkpelt growled. His days of being an apprentice were over, and he had already completed his training. Was she trying to say he wasn't good enough?
"Too bad, because you're going to do it. It's a direct order from the clan's deputy, if you challenge her decision, you are, in turn, challenging the decision of our clan leader."
Darkpelt's tail lashed, but the flecked tom held his tongue and stepped back with a hard glare in his eyes.
"Good." Greysight meowed, "Your objective in this exercise is to collect five of these."
The toms watched curiously as Moonfur pushed forward a small shiny stone that had been picked out of the stream. "I've hidden them throughout the forest, and the first team to return to this spot with all their stones wins."
"Sweet! Is there a prize?!"
Darkpelt's tail twitched in irritation as Thistleprick's loud voice cut through the air. Greysight grinned smugly, "Maybe. You'll just have to find out." she replied. Browneyes looked slightly worried, but Thistleprick appeared very excited. His brother, on the other hand, had yet to say anything.
The tom's tail twitched ever so slightly, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Lostheart. Raggedear sat very stiffly and Lostheart couldn't help thinking he looked odd . His fur was uneven and uncared for, his whiskers frayed, and the torn ear on his head gave him a very rugged appearance. 'He looks like he's ill.'
"All right! I am pumped! Let's-"
"What does this have to do with anything?" Darkpelt suddenly snapped. He didn't want to waste his time chasing through the forest for a couple of useless rocks. Browneyes lightly flicked his brother on the shoulder, "Come on Darkpelt, it's not so bad." he reasoned.
"Yeah Darkpelt, lighten up it's not so bad!" Thistleprick echoed.
"If you're finished." Greysight cut in with growing irritation. The blind she-cat cleared her throat, "The teams will be Darkpelt and Thistleprick against Browneyes and Raggedear." she meowed smugly.
The toms' eyes widened slightly, and Browneyes looked at Greysight as if she had grown a second head.
"What?" Darkpelt growled.
Thistleprick had shrugged and quickly changed places with Browneyes. The silver tabby shot his brother a sympathetic look before joining Raggedear. Thistleprick laughed and flicked Darkpelt with the tip of his tail. "We totally got this!"
"Good. The contest starts...NOW!"
At the sound of her voice, Raggedear and Browneyes shot off into the trees leaving Darkpelt and Thistleprick in the clearing.
'This is a horrible idea.' Darkpelt thought inwardly, he could already feel his eye beginning to twitch.
"Come on Darkpelt! They're getting a head start!" Thistleprick yelled, jabbing Darkpelt roughly in the side and bounding forward after the other two toms.
"Alright, where do we look first?" Thistleprick meowed, sniffing the air slightly in an effort to pick up any leftover trace of Greysight's scent.
Darkpelt snorted and shoved past him, "That won't help. If Greysight set this up, it's not going to be that easy." There wasn't a chance in StarClan that Greysight didn't hide her scent or pawsteps. Although he didn't like to admit it, the she-cat was an experienced warrior.
Thistleprick was only half listening to Darkpelt's words. Instead, the tom's violet eyes searched their surroundings for any sign or flicker of light that a stone was nearby. The two padded side by side through the forest, focused on finding the stones. 'The faster I can get this over with the better.' Darkpelt thought.
Thistleprick suddenly stopped abruptly in his path, and his eyes lit up with excitement. "Look Darkpelt! There's one right there!" he meowed, dashing ahead of them to where a shiny stone lay a few tail lengths ahead on the dry leaves.
Darkpelt flinched slightly at Thistleprick's outburst and glared hatefully at the tom as he ran forward to retrieve the stone, however, his eyes widened in realization and he dashed forward in an effort to stop the tom. "Thistleprick, wai-!"
But it was too late. In seconds, the ground had vanished beneath their paws and the two toms found themselves falling into a small ditch. Darkpelt landed with an audible thud and shut his eyes tightly as a layer of dirt and dried leaves came crashing down on top of him.
After a moment, the white tom pulled himself to his paws, ignoring the new sore feeling in his side. Darkpelt shook the dust off his pelt and let out a low growl, instantly turning to face Thistleprick.
"You idiot!" he hissed angrily, turning to look up out of the hole above them. Thistleprick was lying on his back, and after a few moments of silence, the tom's body shook lightly with laughter. He pulled himself up slowly and shook the dirt from his fur.
Thistleprick blinked and looked up into the dim light of the forest and laughed, "Well at least we can laugh about this later, right?"
"Don't speak to me."
It wasn't hard for Browneyes and Raggedear to find their stones, the two were nearly done. Browneyes had managed to work it out that Greysight had placed every stone within seventy fox lengths from one another. Randomly searching for stones in the forest would take forever, he knew there had to be some sort of pattern to where they were hidden.
Although Raggedear didn't say too much, Browneyes felt like he and the mottled tom got along well. Raggedear was clearly very skilled, Browneyes had watched him climb several trees and avoid Greysight's numerous tricks with ease.
"Alright, I think we only need to find one more stone and then we can go back to the training hollow." Browneyes meowed.
Raggedear nodded and looked around the area, " I think I see one up there." he meowed, turning to look up into a tall pine tree.
Browneyes followed his gaze, squinting slightly, he was able to make out the familiar pale color of a stone where it sat in a small knot on the tree. Browneyes padded up to the trunk of the tree and turned to face Raggedear once more.
"I can give you a boost."
Raggedear nodded mutedly and waited as Browneyes crouched down. After a moment's hesitation, Raggedear pounced forward and sprang off of Browneyes's back, using Browneyes's supportive push to propel him upward.
As he felt his body begin fall downward, he lurched forward and scrabbled against the pine's bark with his claws. Browneyes watched anxiously from beneath him, prepared to take action if the tom slipped or fell.
It took a moment, but Raggedear was able to securely hold on to the tree. Using all of his strength, the black tortoiseshell pulled his body upwards, fighting the push of gravity against him. The knot was only about a tail length away, he could make it.
"You're doing it!" Browneyes shouted.
Raggedear gritted his teeth as he reached forward shakily with one paw, the other trying desperately to keep him attached to the tree. 'Come on.'
With a great amount of effort, Raggedear reached the knot and knocked the stone from it's place, sending it hurtling toward the forest floor. The stone hit the ground with a quick, audible ping and was quickly retrieved by Browneyes.
"I've got it!" Browneyes yowled, "Try to come down, I'm watching you!"
Browneyes held his breath as Raggedear slowly began to make his way back down the trunk of the tree. He gasped slightly in surprise when Raggedear pushed himself off the tree, turning in mid-air and landing behind him.
Browneyes blinked at the introverted tom in awe. "Wow, that was incredible! You and your brother must have done some training on your own, huh?" he meowed, hoping to get Raggedear to open up more.
However, the tom's reaction was not what he had expected. Raggedear had simply turned away from him and shrugged.
"I guess." he meowed, "Come on, we still have to beat them to the training hollow."
Browneyes decided not to question the tom's strange behavior and laughed. "I don't think we'll have any problems."
Darkpelt shoved through the thick branches of the brush in the swamp angrily, not bothering to hold the braches back for his teammate as they trudged through the mud and thick undergrowth.
"Hey, Darkpelt! Wait up!" Thistleprick yelled, rushing forward only to be smacked in the face by a branch, knocking him onto his back. Thistleprick yowled in surprise and held a paw up to his now aching face, "What was that for?!"
"Because I hate you." Darkpelt growled, glaring down at the tom lying in front of him.
"Oh come on! How was I supposed to know that wasn't a stone?" Thistleprick protested, pulling himself to his paws and rubbing his now bruised nose.
"Because it had fur you imbecile! And even if it was a stone why would you throw it at me?!"
Thistleprick scoffed, "Because, Darkpelt, it tried to bite me."
"So naturally throwing it in my face was the logical solution!"
"Well I thought you'd kill it!"
"I'll kill you!" Darkpelt hissed, striding towards the other tom, eyes darkened in rage.
Thistleprick backed up quickly, a weak smile on his face. "Now, now, Darkpelt." he stuttered, "Let's not get too hasty." Darkpelt paused and glared at the tom as he suddenly went quiet, looking at Darkpelt with a sort of sincerity the tom hadn't seen on him before.
"Look, I think we got off on the wrong paw here."
Darkpelt's glare never ceased, but he allowed Thistleprick to speak.
"Let's just get some of these stones so we can get back to the camp. Okay?"
Darkpelt was silent for a moment, but quickly snorted, turning away from Thistleprick. That was fine with him, he couldn't stand it out here. He hated the swamp, and he really hated Thistleprick. Darkpelt wanted nothing more than to return to camp and clean off his fur before getting a good night's sleep.
He sighed irritably as he shoved past another patch of thorny brambles. A sharp crack made Darkpelt look up in alarm, but the tom didn't have time to react as a branch came flying toward him and nailed him straight in the face. "Great StarClan!" he swore, trying to ignore the sharp pain.
Thistleprick howled with laughter and collapsed, rolling onto the ground. "IN THE FACE!" he yowled.
Darkpelt eyed the patch of brambles suspiciously. It appeared that they had been moved to hold the branch back, and when he had moved them, the branch was released. He growled angrily, knowing exactly who had set this up.
'Never again.' Darkpelt thought inwardly.
"What's taking them so long?" Browneyes meowed openly as he and Raggedear sat silently in the training hollow. Greysight had already grown bored and returned to camp, suggesting that they do the same. Browneyes and Raggedear both preferred to wait for their brothers, but it was getting ridiculous.
Raggedear sighed and rose to his paws, looking up through the small cracks in the canopy to see the dimming night sky. "Come on, they'll return to camp when they're finished."
Browneyes still looked doubtful, but he conceded with a small nod. "I guess you're right."
By the time Darkpelt and Thistleprick had staggered into the training hollow, the moon already hung in the center of the night sky, and the stars of Silverpelt flickered through the small gaps in the trees.
Both toms were exhausted and covered in filth, their trek through the swamp had not been a pleasant one. Dust and dirt hung on their pelts and dried mud coated their paws. Darkpelt blinked when he realized they were alone in the clearing, he couldn't believe Browneyes would just ditch him like this.
"You're back."
Darkpelt and Thistleprick looked up to see Moonfur leap down from the shadow of a nearby tree. "Greysight thought it might take you a while, so I offered to stay here and wait." Her pelt appeared to glow in the moonlight as she stepped out into the clearing and away from the cover of the forest.
"I was supposed to give you a message when you got back, but..." Moonfur trailed off awkwardly, shuffling her paws in the dirt. Darkpelt's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but Thistleprick only blinked before reacting with a loud outburst.
"Tell us! Look, we got the rocks and everything!" Thistleprick meowed excitedly, still somewhat proud of his achievement.
Moonfur sighed, "Okay..."
***FLASHBACK****************************************************************************************
"I'll wait for them here until they get back."
Greysight turned toward the pale she-cat with a look of disbelief. "You sure? It could be a while."
Moonfur shrugged, "Yeah."
"Well okay..." Greysight replied. Lostheart stood beside her, watching the exchange quietly with an unreadable expression.
A smirk broke out over Greysight's face. "Make sure you give them this message, I need you to relay this to them perfectly."
Moonfur gave a small nod, curiosity clear on her features.
"Idiots, I hope you enjoyed this little training exercise I designed. I did everything in my power to make it the worst day of your life. Especially you Darkpelt...I really don't like you. You may be a strong warrior, but your arrogance will always bring you down. Hopefully by being forced to work with another, you will have learned a lesson when it comes to teamwork. And Thistleprick...well I plain just don't like you either."
***END FLASHBACK******************************************************************************************
Darkpelt was so angry that he dug his claws into the ground and ripped out a chunk of the earth, "WHAT?!" he growled.
"I KNOW!" Thistleprick huffed, "Everybody likes me!"
Moonfur and Thistleprick could only watch as the flecked warrior stomped away in the direction of camp with his ears pressed firmly against his head. 'This whole thing was a complete waste of time! We're not kits! We shouldn't be wasting our time playing silly little games in the forest at such a critical time!' There was also the fact that he had been forced to spend an entire day with that filthy rogue. The tom was a complete fool, he had led them in every wrong direction and seemed to find trouble in the most unexpected places.
"He seems pretty ticked..."Thistleprick meowed before turning back to Moonfur. "You know, you look stunning in the moonlight."
Moonfur rolled her eyes and shoved past him, "Come on," she meowed, "Let's go."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
First thing to say right off the bat. This is a very lighthearted chapter, meaning I had an extremely difficult time writing it because it's not really my style. However it did have a relevance to our story. We'll pick that back up more in the next chapter and start getting into some stuff. ALSO I posted four or five new pictures onto my tumblr so you can check that out if interested. They're just some drawings/sketches I did.
Lost Out
P.S Much, MUCH DIFFICULTY.