[Strelles] Strike the Match

Chapter 5: The Great Games (Edited)

"Alright Cardinalpaw, try to dodge this!"

Cardinalpaw grinned, tensing his muscles as Chaffinchpaw came sprinting towards him. Instead of dodging, he let her tackle him; letting her momentum and larger size flip them over. His back was bruised but it was worth it to be able to slam her down with a triumphant smirk. She hissed her frustration, lashing out with her hindpaws and kicked him harshly in the stomach. Cardinalpaw grunted, immediately losing his grip on her in response to the pain which allowed her to toss him off. He scrambled to his paws in time to see her launch herself at him once more, jumping back so her attack fell short.

These last few days had been fun and rapidly picked up in their intensity. Some days - the ones he didn't like - Asterdawn would drag him from his warm and comfy nest between his best friends and out into the cold blue air. After he'd shaken his exhaustion from his pelt enough to see straight, she would march him over to a few other cats unlucky enough to be assigned dawn-patrol as well. The dawn patrol after the first walk around the territory had been catching him up on the far side of Stormborn land near the rogue-lands, this time with just himself and Asterdawn. When that tiring patrol was over, the dawn patrols he went on became blissfully shorter; only performing the mandatory single-border patrols. In exchange however, Asterdawn would then lead him through the middle of Stormborn's territory, introducing him to all sorts of landmarks and important places like the Sky Oak, Temekur's Tree and Treesoul's Ravine. He was bombarded with so much faction history in those few days, his leader and mentor determined to catch him up to where the rest of his denmates were in knowledge.

At the end of those days Cardinalpaw would be exhausted, usually streaked with mud with leaves and twigs caught in his fur. He would grab a meal, sit in on another lecture as the elders regaled him with tales of the Ancient Factions before dismissing him to the cadet's den. The russet tom would sink down into his nest, forcing himself to stay awake long enough to lick the paw salves into his fur, occasionally assisted by Jackdawpaw or Ravenpaw when they finished their days at the same time. Cardinalpaw would push his shell-bowl off to the side, rest his chin on his paws and was out cold in seconds.

On other days like this one, Asterdawn would let him sleep in, allowing the cadet time to recover from the exertion he was being put through. He would wake to the sunlight illuminating the entrance to the cadet's den, well-rested and only slightly stiff from the way he slept. Cardinalpaw would stretch languidly, groom down his messy coat and enter the clearing to join the faction as a whole. He exchanged sneers with Pricklestripe and Urchintail as he picked something from the fresh-kill pile and wait patiently for Asterdawn to finish whatever leader duties she had. She would usually arrive at sunhigh, bringing him to the sandy hollow to test the skills and conditioning he'd been put through before he joined their faction. He was pleased that even though it didn't feel like it, he wasn't that far beyond the other cadets - in fact, in some ways he was a bit ahead of them. The conditioning he'd been put through meant that Cardinalpaw - despite his grumbling and sighing - was used to waking early and already on track for the long days of training ahead of him.

She taught him the basics of hunting, showing him how to modify his techniques to fit the dense brush and thick wood rather than the more decently spaced trees and open stretches of the Shining Sun. He would finish his training his hunting training and Asterdawn would lead him back to the Sandy Hollow for proper battle practice.

Today, Chaffinchpaw was his sparring partner so he was giving this his all. The cream furred molly had been taken by surprise regarding his strength the day she and Wrenpaw had attacked, sheepishly admitting that she hadn't expected a 'soft-belly' to have as much strength in his as he did in addition but the few spars they'd had since then had taught her firmly. Since the time he'd managed to unbalance her, tossing her neatly to the ground in a similar way to his sister; Chaffinchpaw had taken their training with a more serious air. Though serious didn't mean she was devoid of joking - if anything, she was thrilled that Cardinalpaw was taking sparring so intently.