Stormflame's POV:
Stormflame pelted across the forest floor, his long black tail streaming behind him and icy blue eyes narrowed in concentration. Bumblestrike dashed beside him as they gave chase on the squirrel. Clearlight burst from the bushes further along to try and catch the squirrel but he was too slow and he skidded to a hault right in front of Stormflame and Bumblestrike. The Lightclan deputy let out a shocked yowl and nimbly dodged the large senior warrior but Bumblestrike wasn't as small or nimble as Stormflame and crashed straight into Clearlight. The two grey toms fell to the ground in a tangle of tails and legs.
The young black tom made a sharp turn and trotted back to Clearlight and Bumblestrike. They had managed to untangle themselves and Bumblestrike was already on his paws but Clearlight seemed to be having more trouble. The grey tom winced as he finally found his footing and rised to his paws.
"Clearlight, are you okay? You didn't twist a paw or anything right?" Stormflame asked the senior warrior and carefully leaned forwards to sniff at the grey tom's paws but instead he got a mouthful of thick grey fur as Clearlight shoved the deputy away irritably.
"I'm fine!" He snapped and started walking away. A small limp was noticeable but Stormflame didn't want to upset the old warrior anymore so he left the subject and padded beside Bumblestrike after Clearlight.
Bumblestrike leaned in and muttered in Stormflame's ear, "Grumpy as an elder, that cat. I think it's time he joined Slowsky and Bigstep." The grey tabby tom grunted, "He's ruining too many hunts."
"If you're talking about me, stop it now." Clearlight's voice came out calm and cold. Stormflame didn't answer Bumblestrike in fear of annoying the old tom and trotted further ahead.
Clearlight's behavior was really depressing. Ever since the battle with Magiclan, the old grey tom had been snapping more than usual. He nearly attacked Stormflame one time when he tried to ask him what prey he would like. Actually, Clearlight had been more rude to Stormflame than any other cat in the clan. Why? Why him? They used to be such close friends, especially after the Battle of the Elements in the leaf-bare hunting grounds.
Perhaps he is jealous. Stormflame's guardian's voice sounded in his head. It surprised Stormflame; Skystar hadn't said anything to him since the day of the battle, when she had to stop him from killing all of Magiclan's kits, queens and elders out of rage from being captured by them.
What is he jealous of? Stormflame asked Skystar and quickly dodged a tree he was about to walk into.
Of you and Silverstar... He misses his mate... He misses me. His kits... Her voice lowered to a gloomy whisper inside Stormflame's head.
"Oh..." Stormflame whispered softly and lowered his head guiltily even though Skystar couldn't see him. "Sorry.."
"Are you talking to yourself now, Stormflame?" Clearlight hissed from in front of Stormflame. The grey tom had stopped walking and he now stood facing Stormflame with his tail flicking irritably.
Stormflame raised his head a little and frowned, "No. I was just lost in thought." His whiskers twitched uncomfortably as he trotted past Clearlight, "Come on, let's get back to camp. It's getting late."
"But we haven't caught anything yet." Bumblestrike complained, "Silverstar won't be pleased."
"I'm sure I can get her to go easy on us." Stormflame responded and continued to trot ahead.
He heard Clearlight grumble, "Yep, because Silverstar is so soft around you, just because you're mates."
"And I'm also deputy." Stormflame retorted without turning to face the fiercely grumpy tom. "Now, let's go! I want to get back to camp sometime this moon!"
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Silverstar's POV:
The apprentices tussled in the ground outside their den and Silverstar found herself tripping over Blackpaw's tail to get past them and towards the fresh-kill pile. "Oof!" She gasped as she fell but quickly caught herself and rose to her paws, brushing the dirt from her fur with a quick shake.
"Careful you three." She warned Blackpaw, Blizzardpaw and Icepaw as they continued to wrestle. A pang of sadness shot through Silverstar as she saw Goldpaw, Rosepaw and Shinepaw emerge from the den. Birdkit should be with them; but instead he was in Starclan.
Hatred for Magiclan's leader, Rabbitstar, burned in the pits of Silverstar's stomach and she dreaded the day of the next gathering, which was only in a quarter moon.
It seemed as though the kits had not heard her and Blizzardpaw yowled triumphantly, "I'm the strongest! My mentor is the best at teaching fighting moves!"The little white and grey tom reared up onto his hind legs and batted at the air with sheathed claws.
Silverstar stood and watched the apprentices as they debated.
"Bumblestrike isn't the best fighter, Stormflame is because he has powers!" Icekit growled bitterly. Jealousy came off the white she cat in waves and she lashed her thin tail.
Silverstar narrowed her eyes at her kit, "Excuse me Icepaw. Here in Lightclan we are all equal. We may have powerful cats but they all work the same as everyone else, if not more. Together, we make Lightclan strong." She had always been worried about Icepaw's antagonistic and rude personality. She didn't let any cat give their opinions to her. The feisty young she cat managed to upset her den mates on a daily basis.
A soft breeze suddenly blew into camp, signalling Silverstar was losing control of her powers. She took a long, deep breath and breathed out the air slowly and felt the breeze around her slow down. The disadvantage about having Wind Powers was that the speed of the wind was determined by her mood. If she was angry, a raging hurricane could occur. Put that together with Stormflame still learning the extents to his Storm Powers, and you basically have a ticking timebomb. It wouldn't be long until something happened...
"Mother? Are you okay?" Rosepaw reached up and nuzzled Silverstar's neck reassuringly. "Is Icepaw annoying you? I can tell her off for you if you want."
Silverstar blinked her dark green eyes kindly at Rosepaw, "No, it's fine." She smiled and turned to Icepaw. "Icepaw, if you keep this up, I will have to be forced to confine you to camp for a quarter moon where you will only look after the Elders. No training."
Icepaw scowled and bared her thorn-sharp teeth, "You wouldn't do that to your own kit would you?"
"I would if I had to." Silverstar replied calmly, not showing any impact from Icepaw's aggression. That reminded Silverstar; she had to tell Sunpatch, Icepaw's mentor, to stop her constant aggression towards her clanmates. One day, when Icepaw would be a Warrior, she might cause serious damage.
Without another word, Silverstar turned and padded towards the fresh-kill pile and sniffed at the left over prey. There was only an odd-smelling shrew, a scrawny blackbird and a mouse left. Silverstar felt her stomach growl but she couldn't eat anything. Especially when the Elders weren't fed.
She picked up the mouse and carried it to the Elders den. She would have preferred to offer two mice instead of one but the pile didn't allow that. She stepped inside cautiously incase the two Elders were sleeping but found they were both wide awake and chatting about non-important matters.
"I brought you some food." Silverstar placed the mouse at Slowsky's and Bigstep's paws.
Slowsky purred and leaned against her mate, "Oh thank you Silverstar. But Rosepaw already delivered us a nice and fresh squirrel she had caught earlier this morning." Amusement danced in the old she cat's gaze and she rasped, "You eat it, I can see your ribs poking through."
"I'm fine," Silverstar replied softly. Even though it wasn't true, the clan came first. She decided to try the Medicine den since there were no queens in the nursery, thank Starclan. If kits had been born during leaf-bare then it would have been a lot harder to raise them.
"Come again soon!" Bigstep rumbled as Silverstar padded outside and the cool air blew in her face as she emerged from the den. The silver tabby she cat looked up at the sky to see clouds moving in overhead. A storm was coming. Perhaps Stormflame could practice his Storm Powers on this one?
Lately, the black tom had been practicing on stopping storms. So far he had been unsuccessful, but maybe this time he'd do it.
As Silverstar padded into the Medicine den, still holding the mouse, she saw the curled up shape of Nutwhisker. She noticed he too was a bit skinny and she fought the urge to wake the brown furred medicine cat up. He needed his sleep. She carefully placed the mouse beside his nest and stepped outside into the main clearing of camp again.
Silverstar was just in time to see Stormflame's hunting patrol return and see expected to see them holding at least a morsel of prey but instead, they came empty-pawed. Clearlight looked like he was fuming as he broke away from the patrol and stalked straight into the Warriors den without an utter of a greeting to Silverstar. Stormflame was nicer, however and the tom padded up to Silverstar. His whiskers were pinned back nervously.
"Nothing, not a scent nor a sound. The whole west side is empty." Stormflame sounded like he was telling a little white lie but Silverstar let it slip.
"Don't worry, the Elders have had their food for today and so has Nutwhisker. Have you?" Silverstar asked her mate softly.
Stormflame was about to answer but Bumblestrike got there first. "Nope. No one has. It looks like we're going hungry today."
"Oh no. It's not even leaf-bare yet and we're already starving?!" Silverstar felt the winds pick up around her and Stormflame leaned into her reassuringly.
"It's okay, we aren't starving yet. I'll go out again on patrol and see if I can catch anything. The leaf-bare hunting grounds should be open now so maybe I can check out that area." Stormflame murmured in her ear and licked her cheek affectionately.
Silverstar was still frowning but the winds died down and she nodded, "Okay. But be careful, a storm in approaching."
"I'll be fine." Stormflame purred and pulled away from Silverstar. "I promise."
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