[Strelles] Strike the Match

Chapter 6: The Suncairn (Edited)

Cardinalpaw's pads stung as he leapt over the long before him panting with Jackdawpaw and Ravenpaw racing at his side. Not for the first time during this tortuous event, he cursed the apparent sadism of his mentor and the determination of the Stormborn to make their cadets suffer. After returning from the Games, all of the day's activity had slammed into him and his cohorts at once. Having already eaten before they returned home, they had staggered on shaky legs through the gorse tunnel; barely hearing the cats around them as they slipped into their den and clambered into their nests. He'd been woken up the very next day - thankfully, not at dawn or he may have actually swiped at his mentor - to discover that Asterdawn was a boar-driver with standards as high as his mother's.

The reports from the Vastweald about Havoc's presence continued coming in and all of the senior legionaries seemed to pushed into complete overdrive. The initial sprints through the forest meant to help them learn the routes and boundaries had become training to ensure that each of them can traverse the tangled forest like winged beasts.

They were brought to random spaces in the forest, left there for a short bit before being told to find the fastest route to the barracks from where they were. In theory, Cardinalpaw understood its importance - if they really were attacked by Havoc, the best they could do is find more warriors rather than attempting to fight the mad-dog with their own paws. It had its uses in the case of invasion as well - newer cadets tended to serve as messengers during battles after all and if they couldn't find their way back to the barracks, it would make getting back-up harder. The effects it had on his body were readily apparent as well - Cardinalpaw had built muscular faster during these last few frenzied runs than he had in previous training exercises and he can tell that his stamina had improved drastically. He'd even noticed - much to his delight - that his pads were finally starting to toughen up in the face of the forest. The menacing forest and it's sharp thorns still pierced his innocent pads but he hardly noticed the hard rocks he trampled over anyone.

In practice however, his lungs were currently burning, and his muscles were begging him to stop. It was never just one sprint a day after all - the forest rushes were given a block of passing time based on the sun and they would do as many as they could in that period of time. Their mentors always rated them higher when they could perform multiple and so, Cardinalpaw found himself cursed with the desire to make his mentor proud.

Green-eyes caught sight of the fallen branch and adjusted his course towards the side lower to the ground, leaping seamlessly over it and onto the other side. He darted right through the gorse tunnel and skidded to a halt a few tail-lengths from the barracks's entrance. Cardinalpaw shook his head while he panted, recovering as Jackdawpaw and Ravenpaw finally caught up with him; scrambling through the tunnel and collapsing at his side.

"Well done you three."

Cardinalpaw twisted, looking up tiredly to see his mentor looking very pleased with herself. She was flanked by Larkwing and Lionbelly who were watching with equal amounts of pride for themselves.

"Cardinalpaw, your coordination is improving with every drill," Asterdawn praised him. "However you need to work on your breathing, you run out of breath very quickly and that is dangerous on the field."

Cardinalpaw raised his head, pride flooding his body at her words. Asterdawn wasn't exactly sparse with her praise and she didn't go out of her way to ignore him but she didn't toss it around willy-nilly either. Every word of praise, every sound of approval made towards him had been hard-earned and it meant all the more to him when he received it. The faction from her praise softened the criticism allowing him to think through what she was saying, thinking as hard as he could while his lungs recovered from his sprint. As his mind sharpened, the truth in Asterdawn's words hit him - that it took so long for him to recover... a battle could've already been lost before he was recovered enough to ask for reinforcements!