Chapter 3: A Game of Introspection
While tracking the Wind Clan scent, Fireheart decided to chance a discussion with Longtail.
"Hey Longtail. What was up with Darkstripe."
Longtail immediately signalled for Graystripe and Darkstripe to scout ahead.
"You can't talk to the rest of the clan about what you hear. Promise me on whatever honor you've got."
Fireheart quickly glanced around, surprised at the seriousness Longtail was taking for this.
"I promise on the code, I won't tell a soul unless necessary."
Longtail seemed to take his time looking Fireheart up and down searching for dishonesty before settling down with a light huff.
"Darkstripe gets panic attacks. He has an imagination that is a great boon for the clan. He's the one who came up with the pair fighting style, but this imagination can get the better of him. He starts panicking at a hypothetical scenario that he feels sure is going to happen, so he does something rash. He's nearly thrown himself off out of trees because he felt certain that a hawk he saw minutes ago was coming after him. Tigerclaw's training helped with that somewhat. When Darkstripe begins panicking now, he kind of shuts down. He'll follow the orders of someone he trusts because he believes we'll get him out of whatever he's cooked up in his mind. If he ever trusts you and you take that for granted, I'll make sure to display your corpse for all future kittypets to see."
Longtail immediately turned away leaving Fireheart somewhat petrified on the spot. Never had Fireheart been threatened so passionately. It also gave him chills that one of Darkstripe's trusted was Tigerclaw. Given how easily Tigerclaw could kill a clanmate without regrets, he would not be surprised for the cat to make Darkstripe his perfect pawn.
Soon Fireheart caught up to the rest of the group at a thunderpath. Longtail seemed to have been searching for somewhere to rest for the night. Darkstripe spotted the ginger cat and padded over quickly.
"What took so long kittypet? Foot get stuck in a rabbit hole?"
"No. I just got lost in thought."
"Well stop thinking. We've got some training while there's still daylight."
Fireheart could feel his pads aching from all the travel.
"Please no sparring."
"Nah. We're partner hunting. Neither of us have the legs to rundown a rabbit, so one will be the chaser and the other will be the trap. Since I'm better than you," Darkstripe said with a smug grin making Fireheart's eyes roll, "I'll be the chaser. I'll tell you where to wait and chase it right into your paws."
The pair failed to catch three out of the four rabbits Darkstripe chased over. Fireheart had a habit of trying to lead the rabbit based on where it was going only for Darkstripe to spook the rabbit in a way that turned it to the spot he had set aside for Fireheart to wait. It was a frustrating endeavor for the both of them.
Darkstripe stomped over and was almost nose to nose with Fireheart before speaking, "Clearly you don't trust me to do my part properly and I don't trust you enough to lead, so instead we are going to play a game."
Darkstripe pulled back smoothly.
"We'll play this game every night until some level of trust is built between us."
Fireheart was wary.
"What is this game?"
"Its nothing difficult. We'll each ask a question that the other must answer. Turning the question around does not count as your question."
"Ok." Fireheart paused.
"I'll give you the first question Kittypet."
Fireheart paused to find a question he truly wanted answered by the dark tabby. He decided to play it safe and ask a question that was a curiosity but did not risk suspicion towards his thoughts on Tigerclaw.
"How do you decide compatibility in your partner fighting?"
"Of all the things you could ask for, you asked something I'd probably would have told you for free. You could have asked for something embarrassing or for a secret, but you asked that. Fine. I'll humor you. Personality and teachers are the biggest deciders of how a cat will work in a duo. You've been given many freedoms while training under Bluestar and act as the leader of your friends, so its obvious you'd be what I call a lead bruiser. A cat that makes the decisions in a fight and is the one to trade blows. You share that in common with Tigerclaw, except his ideal support is a bit different. Let's take Bluestar as an example instead. She is what I call a lead switch. She shifts from attacker to support on a moment's notice, but needs a partner who can follow her lead. Whitestorm is a codominant switch. He's Bluestar's partner. It only works because Bluestar is codominant with cats she trusts deeply. I am what I'd call an adaptive support while Longtail is an adaptive bruiser. We both can be a lead, codominant, or follower. I lean towards follower while Longtail is closer to a lead. Back to Tigerclaw. He is an interesting one. He's a lead bruiser, but he doesn't think of his partner while he fights. Any tips or typical support I'd do in a fight instead throws Tigerclaw off. It was difficult to find him a cat for a partner until I stuck him with Goldenflower. I think he only humored the training because he is fond of the she cat. Goldenflower turned out to be a purely defensive follower support. She does not hit in a fight, but she is good at blocking hits on her partner without changing the opponent's position. A perfect partner for a cat used to fighting alone."
Fireheart took some time to process the information before starting to ask a question.
"What of Sandpaw and Dustpaw?"
"Those two are utterly incompatible. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a partner for Sandpaw now that Ravenpaw has passed."
Fireheart winced at Ravenpaw's name.
"Honestly those two would have been a force to be reckoned with. Sandpaw is a lead switch, but she switches so often and rapidly that its hard to follow. Ravenpaw would have been a follower switch. His timid nature as well as his aggressive training from Tigerclaw made him incredibly bright. Tigerclaw would hate hearing me say this, but he had great potential. He was fast to read situations and with training, could respond just as fast, but now I don't think we'll ever find some cat to match Sandpaw. Her personality is too fiery and abrasive and she's too dominant to match anyone else in the clan. Dustpaw on the other paw is just a codominant bruiser that I think could easily shift to a lead or follower with little training. Once his ego settles down, he might become just as adaptable as Longtail."
Fireheart was deep in thought before Darkstripe spoke up again.
"My turn kittypet. I think I'll give you something easy as well. What is one thing you do not like about yourself?"
"… I don't like how everyone calls me a kittypet."
"No! No. no. That's something you don't like that others think of you. Do you truly hate your roots? Do you hate the mother that birthed you? Do you hate your memories of before you met the clan so much so that you wish they did not exist at all?"
"No. I do love my mother and I feel like my life before is worth remembering."
"Right. I'll give you an example. I dislike that I have no leadership potential. I preform poorly under stress and make poor decisions when I don't have someone else to guide me. Now try again."
"I dislike…" Fireheart was lost for words. What did he truly wish to change about himself? "I dislike how my heart tends to act before my head."
"That's a good one! Elaborate."
"I tend to do what I think is right before considering the consequences. It has hurt me and others before."
"So, what will you do to fix it?"
"I guess slow down?"
"That's step two. You've already completed step one and recognized it is a problem. I think that will be all for tonight. Get some rest Firekitty."