Ivyshadow woke up earlier than usual, briefly pausing to stretch before leaving the den. It was two days after she'd become a mentor, and she still hadn't gotten to know Forestpaw very well yet. They had the gathering the first day (during which Ivyshadow and Forestpaw had stayed in the camp) and patrolled the rest of the territory yesterday.
She passed over the clearing now, nodding to Pebbleclaw and the rest of the Dawn patrol. It was snowing lightly, her pawprints making little indents from the Warrior's den to the Apprentice's den.
Inside the warm den, Forestpaw and Goldpaw were curled up in the corner. Morngingpaw had joined Dawn Patrol, so Daypaw slept alone near the entrance. Ivyshadow slipped past Daypaw and leaned over Morningpaw to shake Forestpaw awake. The dappled brown tom startled before following her out of the den silently.
As soon as they broke back into the white camp, Forestpaw turned to her excitedly. "Can we learn how to fight today?"
Ivyshadow smiled down at him, wishing that was what she had planned. "Not today. Maybe we can start on that tomorrow."
Forestpaw's face fell, and Ivyshadow's mind whirled. She knew she had to teach him to accept things not going his way. But to accept it, he'll have to understand the reasoning behind it, Ivyshadow realized. "Forestpaw, do you see the fresh kill pile?"
Forestpaw glanced over to the snow covered spot the prey pile usually was. He frowned, "There's nothing there."
Ivyshadow waited. Is this how Winterthorn feels?
Finally it dawned on him, his blue eyes widening, "We're hunting!"
"Correct!" Ivyshadow grinned, pleased.
Ivyshadow had never been taught to hunt in snow before, but she'd accompanied many hunting patrols in the snow anyway, and filled the gaps in her knowledge by watching the others.
They walked through the forest, Ivyshadow eyeing the trees with disdain. Her beautiful, full forest was gone, replaced by bare trees and the ever growing piles of snow. "We won't be running into birds, and probably not any mice or moles right now. What I'm going to teach you is how to hunt rabbits and squirrels."
Forestpaw nodded, his eyes intent.
Ivyshadow dropped into a crouch. "Squirrel and rabbit hunting have one thing in common; speed. In both instances you need to be able to break your crouch in a second to run all out." Forestpaw copied her crouch and she moved closer, pointing out the flaws with her tail, "although they are similar, there is a difference between them. It is-" Ivyshadow thought back to Blackstripe, and changed her sentence, "What do you think is the difference?"
Forestpaw relaxed his stance, frowning. "Umm, well squirrels can climb trees, right?"
"Correct! Cats can, of course, climb trees as well, but as a general rule; if the squirrel reaches the tree, you lost him. So with a squirrel crouch you want to rest most of your weight on your back legs, ready to leap up and pounce onto the squirrel before he can reach a tree." Ivyshadow demonstrated for the young cat, springing up and forward to land on a leaf. "While with the rabbit," she called back, "you don't want to waste time with a crouch - he's too fast. Instead you immediately start into a run. Keep your weight on your front paws." Ivysjadow demonstrated again, leaping close to the ground to land where she'd been standing. "So, let's practice!"
Forestpaw was, as expected, clumsy. He became increasingly frustrated as his paws tripped over each other again and again. Finally he stopped, frustrated and angry, "I can't do it."
"You've made progress!" Ivysjadow tried to assure him. Inwardly, she frowned; she would have never given up this easily. maybe Blackstripe would have taught him better... maybe, I'm not doing this right. Ivyshadow took a deep breath. "I think we both need a break. Let's go hunt for live prey!"
Forestpaw brightened again, glancing around the snowy forest. "Where do we look?"
Ivyshadow murrowed in amusement, "Nowhere close by - we've scared them all off from our training." She paused, thinking, "What do you want to hunt for? Squirrels or rabbits?"
"Rabbits." Forestpaw said immediately.
Ivyshadow guessed he was itching to run, a feeling she could understand. "Alright! To the Swaying Grass border!"
As they walked, Ivysjadow took the opportunity to teach him something Blackstripe had pounded into her head, "one thing to understand; just because you're hunting a rabbit does not give you an excuse to cross the border."
Forestpaw snorted, "If it's our rabbit, shouldn't I be able to hunt it? They have fish to catch."
Ivyshadow stared at him, shocked at him disrespect. She had told him what to do and he was just going to disregard that? "Do you know what happened last time a clan attacked us?"
Forestpaw blinked, surprised. "Nightkit died."
"And I carried your little mewling self out to safety, risking my life and ignoring the pleas of the friends in battle to save you. One border crossing can lead to a bad relationship, which can lead to war," Ivyshadow leaned closer, "which always leads to death. You understand?"
Forestpaw nodded, looking a little scared. Ivyshadow leaned back, immediately feeling guilty. Was that really necessary? Had she just traumatized him? Was she too harsh? Was she failing at being a-
"But still," Forestpaw argued, appearing to have already recovered, "It's our rabbit."
Ivyshadow sighed. Of course. Why would Acornstar give her beloved Violetfang the difficult apprentice? "Prey doesn't belong to us, the territory does." Ivyshadow settled for a straightforward explanation, "we only own the land. The prey on it belongs to the Clan Of Rising Star. This is why every time we kill, we thank the Rising Star for giving us its life."
Forestpaw opened his mouth as if to argue, then shrugged, "I guess that makes sense."
Thank the Rising Star. Ivyshadow thought, relieved.
○○○
By the time Ivyshadow and Forestpaw had made it back to camp the snow piled up to Ivyshadow's belly fur. Forestpaw hadn't managed to catch anything, but Ivyshadow had caught a rabbit that had escaped his hunt and was now letting him carry.
"Goldpaw!" Forestpaw pranced over to his sister, proudly showing her his catch.
Goldpaw smiled, turning to congratulate her brother. Ivyshadow watched, a smile on her face. The two siblings were close, and had a rare relationship. Most - or all siblings she knew would not be so supportive. Ranging from Snowfall or Birchtail's sarcastic responses all the way to Cobaltwhisper, Rockwhisker or even Violetfang.
Speaking of her sister... Ivyshadow turned to look for Snowfall. She still hadn't got the run down of the latest gathering. Snowfall was standing next to Winterthorn underneath the elder's tree for some shelter. Her belly was already stretched out, the promise of kits beneath her skin. Leaf-bare kits, Ivyshadow thought worriedly, but pushed it away. "Snowfall!"
She joined the two of them, grinning, "So what's it like to finally blend in with the forest?"
Snowfall laughed, "It's great! Isn't it beautiful?"
Ivyshadow was about to disagree, but thought better of it. "Yeah!"
"Sooo I'm guessing you want to hear about the gathering?" Snowfall asked, always ready to give gossip. "Nothing new with Swaying Grass. Oh, except for Dreamwalker had another prophecy."
Ivyshadow frowned, "What ever happened to his blood one he had when we were apprentices?"
"Beats me," Snowfall shrugged, unconcerned. "their deputy - Lily-something - had kits. Reedstar is still as handsome as ever."
Winterthorn suddenly regained his hearing. "The frog-eater?"
The two she-cats ignored him, "Boulderstar didn't show up, Rockwhisker came in his place. Apparently a bunch of their cats are sick or something. Only four warriors besides Rockwhisker even showed up. Maybe the old leader will finally die and give us all some peace."
Ivyshadow snorted, "I hope so." Whatever sympathy she felt towards Falling Rock cats did not extend to their leader.
"That annoying apprentice became a warrior; Granitefur now." Snowfall frowned, "what even is a Granite?"
"He's red." Winterthorn broke his silence.
Ivyshadow and Snowfall stared at him.
"Imagine what your kits would look like." Winterthorn wrinkled his nose, "all red."
Ivyshadow rolled her eyes, and Snowfall barked out a laugh. She leaned against her mate, "You're absolutely right. The only reason I chose you is so we could have white kits."
"Well, whatever it was, it wasn't his personality," Ivyshadow said, leather in her meow.
Winterthorn ignored her, but Snowfall laughed. She turned over to nuzzle her mate on the cheek, Ivyshadow taking this as cue to leave. She scanned the camp, spotting three people she could talk to. Birchtail, whom she still needed to make things up with. Windfur, who she hadn't spoken to in a while. And Runningmouse.
Ivyshadow padded up to him, a smile already forming on her face, "How was training Daypaw today?"
He glanced up, then grinned, "it went great. And you, with Forestpaw?" He padded up to rub against her flank, sending butterflies into a frenzy in her stomach.
She took a step away, not wanting anyone to see her blush. "Great! Although I'm not sure I'm ready to take on an apprentice. Granitefur of Falling Rock only just became a warrior - we were apprentices at the same time!"
Runningmouse shrugged, "I think he was made a warrior late. It's been five moons since you were an apprentice."
Ivysjadow tried to think back to when Granitepaw and Earthpaw had been made apprentices, but couldn't remember. "I suppose. But still! What am I supposed to do if he doesn't listen to me?"
Runningmouse frowned. "He doesn't listen to you? I can go and make su-"
"No no no." Ivyshadow laughed at his determined expression, "I can handle it."
"Has anyone ever told you your laugh is beautiful?" he leaned closer.
"That- that wasn't on the subject!" Ivyshadow tried to glare at him but an embarrassed smile surfaced instead. She looked away, hiding her expression, only prompting him to lean closer, his whiskers brushing her cheek.
"It wasn't? I didn't notice." He whispered.
Ivyshadow could feel his breath, and breathed in his pine scent. She should jerk away. What if someone looked over at them, just staring at each other? But then again, the sun was falling, casting shadows over them. Most of the clan had already begun to filter into thier dens.
"Hey," she whispered, feeling her heart race.
"Hey what?" He swallowed, for once sounding nervous.
"I like you. Like a lot." Ivyshadow didn't blush this time, but he did.
It was his turn to look away from her, hiding a grin. "I like you too, Ivy. A lot a lot."
○○○
Ivyshadow stood once again on the rocky cliff of Falling Rock, but the lushness of the mountainside told her she was with the Clan Of Rising Star.
Ivyshadow glanced around, expecting to see Crystalpelt. Instead of the pale eyed she-cat, Ivysjadow spotted three little kits, wrestling together in the grass. With a start she recognized Nightkitamoung them, the black and white kit chasing another one with a smile on his face.
"Ha, you can't beat me Batkit!" Nightkit called, before jumping on the kit he was chasing.
The third kit joined the fray with a joyful whoop, leaping on Batkit. "Aww, no fair!" Batkit protested, "Stonekit always sides with you!"
NOOOOOOOO
The cry split the peaceful air, but the kits didn't seem to hear it. Ivyshadow jumped, turning towards a small pool she hadn't noticed before. Amberstone lay, sobbing as her final kit lay still. Mineralkit climbed out of his body, padding up to join his littermates.
"Mineralkit! Noooooo!" Amberstone wailed.
Mineralkit glanced back at his mother, worry in his eyes.
"Don't worry," Batkit nudged his brother, "Mother will join us soon! Come play with us!"
Ivyshadow watched the kits run off together, a peaceful feeling in her stomach. They were free from this world of suffering. Free.
"Now I am finally free to join them." A familiar voice whispered from just behind her, "free to hunt, and run like a kit again."
Ivyshadow turned to see who it was, but all at once Rising Star was gone.
Ivyshadow woke up from her dream, still feeling satisfied and peaceful. It was the middle of the night, the moon shining on Runningmouse's pelt beside her.
Ivyshadow got quietly to her feet, not wanting to wake him and padded outside. It was snowing again, the flakes landing on her whiskers. Maybe the snow is beautiful, Ivyshadow thought. She watched the perfect crystals land on the mounding pile. She looked up, the falling snow making it feel like she was flying.
Ivyshadow stood like that for a while, thinking of all the spirits in silverpelt watching down over her. Cats that had once been her enemies were now her allies. Finally she returned to her paws. She was just about to turn to head back into the den when she froze.
"No, no, no." Ivyshsdow ran through the snow, brushing it back.
A cat lay, frozen in a curled up position. The snow covered up his face and scent, but Ivysjadow knew who it was. She now knee who had spoken to her in the dream, why his voice had been so familiar. "Windfur." she whispered.
She felt her knees shake, and she allowed herself to collapse, laying her head on his frozen body. "Windfur, please don't leave me." She whispered into his flank.
She knew he was gone, and yet she began licking the snow off his face, wanting him to see, to - tears slid down her face, mixing with the snow in her fur. Her body shook with sobs, not recognizing the cats who began to press around her.
"Windfur!" Runnginmouse choked out a sob, joining her. He had suffered so much, did he really have to suffer this too? Why, Rising Star? Why?
Acornstar soon joined them, leaning down to say her own goodbyes. Snowfall pulled Ivyshadow back as more cats came, each leaning down to whisper their words to the elder. Branchfall broke down halfway through, Larktail supporting her mate, eyes hollow.
"Take care of Nightkit for me," Sunshine whispered.
"Run as fast as the wind, my friend." Pebbleclaw said, tears gathering in the fur under his eyes.
Ivyshadow helped Runningmouse bury him, both of them standing in silence near his grave. "He was the main reason I left my clan." Runningmouse whispered, "the only kin I've ever had that understood me. That cared about me."
Ivyshadow pressed closer to her mate. "He is with Rising Star now, running free."
"Free as the wind," Runningmouse smiled, tears still falling, "as he used to."
This is Goldpaw, Violetfang's apprentice. She is the daughter to Larktail and Branchfall and the sister to Forestpaw.
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