Raven woke with a jolt. Her eyes flickered from side to side as she struggled to take in her surroundings. The panic was still in her, and she leaped to her feet and up a tree. From a branch there she looked around, trying to calm her nerves. When she had managed to calm down a little she looked up through the leafy branches to the sky. She guessed it was dawn because of the milky light in the bottom of the sky, which slowly grew to a stronger blue. It seemed it would be a fine day, but it didn't matter much to her anymore. Rain or shine, she was even more determined to get to the mountains. But who was the cat who had challenged her? Raven hadn't recognized the voice or her surroundings. Nor was there any scents for her to recall. She jumped as some leaves next to her rustled and she unsheathed her claws, only to relax again when Amber padded out and joined her on the branch.
"Is something wrong?" he asked with a frown. The worry in his voice touched Raven, but she wasn't sure if she could tell him about her dream. Shuffling her paws she looked at the ground below and tried to act nonchalant.
"No, just a bad dream." she mewed and tried to smile. Amber didn't look convinced, but respected her privacy and didn't question the matter further. That was one thing Raven really liked about Amber; he always seemed to understand if she had a bad day and didn't question her motives. To her it seemed like he really tried to be a good friend, and she appreciated that.
"Come on worry-head." she purred playfully. "Let's get down from here and hunt before going on." With a few graceful bounds she leaped from branch to branch until she reached the ground. Amber tried to follow, but stumbled and ended up balancing precariously on the third branch with half of his body threatening to tip him over the edge. Ravenpaw leaped up again and pulled his tail, dragging him back up so he could gain his balance.
"Thanks!" he huffed. Raven smiled.
"No problem!" she laughed.
Being more careful now, Amber climbed down and landed on the ground next to Raven heavily. Scratching himself behind the ear he grinned sheepishly.
"That went better than expected." he joked. Raven nudged him affectionately, then stood up and circled around the small clearing.
"Come on, we have to hunt!" she meowed. With an exasperated sigh Amber collapsed on the ground, clearly faking his exhaustion.
"Go without me." he rasped. "I don't think I'm able to hunt." he rolled over dramatically, stretching out every paw in a weird angle. Playing along, Raven padded back over to him with a worried look.
"Oh, poor kit!" she crowed. "Come on, let's get you back into your nest while I catch you a juicy mouse." she hustled him over to his nest and made him lie down. Amber looked VERY pleased that his acting seemed to be working, and made no objections. When he was lying down and Raven was sure he was about to doze off, she made a big deal of walking away so she was sure Amber would hear it. Then she quietly circled back and scratched up a pawful of dirt. Then she padded back to him.
"I've got a gift for you!" she purred. Amber started to open one eye, but she put her other front paw over his eyes, balancing on her haunches. "No, no. Just open your mouth." she crooned. Unfortunately trusting, Amber did as he was told. With a triumphant yowl Raven slapped the earth into his jaws, relishing as Amber leaped to his paws and spat out the dry dirt. She mrrowed with laughter as she watched him flick his tongue in and out, gagging in his desperate attempt to rid himself of the 'gift'.
"That will teach you not to be so lazy!" Raven smirked. Amber glared at her good-heartedly and swiped a pawful of dead leaves at her. They didn't make it half ways before they drifted lazily to the ground again. "Nice try." she teased. Amber just huffed and stood up straight again.
