Falling Star [1]

Chapter 2

            Soot rose from her nest,
Her breath thick in the misty morning air. She trotted through the hanging vines of the Infirmary, her ear twitching.
   It was still dark outside, and the moon was hovering just above the horizon.
Hah! I beat that old vole! Maybe I can get off easier- she bumped into something furry and strong. "Why weren't you up sooner?" Her father glared down at her, making it feel as if she was being compressed into a small space. "I-I was I was j-just-"
   "Don't stutter when speaking to your father  like that!" He growled.  
    She flattened her ears, holding back a hiss. "At least the moon is still out!"
He cuffed her ear over, hard. She had a feeling it wasn't just to be playful.
   "Be better next time," Is all he said before padding silently out through the fort entrance.  
    It was big, surrounded by large bramble bushes. Two walls of reeds made a good excuse for camouflage and grew around a small trickling stream. Both cats hopped over it easily.
    After a short, silent walk they came to a small clearing surrounded by birch trees. By now the dim light of early dawn was starting to appear, so they could see slightly easier.
     Snake turned to his daughter, ears tilted back. "For today I thought I'd keep it simple. It will be a building block for a move I will teach you later on. I'm going to run at you and pin you, and I want you to bite at my paws in an attempt to get me off."
    He ran at her before she could think, but she knew better than that. He pinned her down, and with a great jolt of force she was sent crashing down, the back of her head hitting the hard packed earth with a thud. Impulsively, she recalled little blips from his instructions, biting at both his left and right paws viciously. He unsheathed his claws, digging them into her shoulders. She didn't dare yelp in pain, but instead bit down harder on his leg to keep from emitting the shrill sound. He lunged, opening his mouth and revealing a firm row of long, sharp fangs-
  He stopped. Getting up, he sat a few tail-lengths away from her, waiting off her to get up. "You would have been dead."
   "But I'm only a kitten! Once I start training I'll-"
  "No. You needed to think faster."
She noticed with great disappointment that his paws were perfectly fine.
  He looked her dead in the eyes and gave her one clue: "Bite higher." He lunged again, meeting her with the same force and speed. She started biting at the base of his right leg before moving up, seeing what he meant. There, on the inside of his leg just above his ankle, was a throbbing tendon. She bit furiously at it and he almost instantly fell. She kicked him off, hopping up and lunging, but stopping at the lunge. 
   He looked at her, expressionless.
"At least you got what I told you." he finally said after a long gaping hole of staring and waiting. And that was all. He got back up, stalking back towards the direction of Fort. She sighed, setting off after him. She looked to the horizon, now a deep purple edged with yellow. Sighing again, she looked back forward. Even though she tried her hardest, she knew in her heart that her father would never truly appreciate her.