Shadow Claw: The Life Story - The Fourth Chapter

Ch. 12 - Nova's Birthday

"Damn. You look like shit. What did you do last night?"

I gave Nova a somewhat bored look, most likely because I was ridiculously tired, "I fucked my mate. What were you doing?" If I had been thinking properly, I would not have said that. Well... maybe...

She burst into a fit of coughing laughs, clutching at her sides, before she wiped her eyes and shrugged, "Made out with Thorny a little." I raised an eyebrow. "Thorny?" I mumbled. "Yeah-" She blushed, "-Hawthorne." I rolled my eyes, "No surprises there, really. Now where are my little friends that I left last night?" I asked, yawning with a big stretch of my wings. Nova laughed once more.

"They're trying to hunt."

"Ah, shit. This, I have to see."

We made our way to the edge of the forest where we spotted Jenny and James attempting to catch a badger. James was in his baby Grim form, crouched not-so-silently in the brush, while Jenny was playing bait to the poor badger. Oh crap, I never mentioned that Jenny was an unregistered Animagus - whoops, clumsy me - indeed, she was; a brownish hazel ferret and was being prodded at by the badger.

Nova held in her giggles while I still had a mildly bored expression.

James leapt out of his hideout and the badger whirled around, slashing at him - it had obviously been clever enough to know it was a scandal. I snarled at the small creature and it fled the scene, leaving James a lump of matted fur, and Jenny squeaking as she clambered up my front paw. I yawned widely, flashing my teeth, and glanced at her on my shoulder. I nudged James with my muzzle and he barked at me, up and about in a flash, like a- well, he was a happy dog, that's all I could say.

"It's my birthday today, Shadow." Nova said proudly as she padded up beside me, flicking her wings and fidgeting. I gave her a mundane look, "And?" Her face fell.

"Aren't you going to give me a present or something?" She whined. I felt Jenny nibble my ear harshly and I snapped at her, threatening to eat her, before turning back to Nova. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever." I yawned again and glanced at James with a disinterested expression. "Great! Hawthorne's hosting a party later in the clearing nearby, you know the one, in a few hours. See you there!" She yipped as she bounded away into the forest.

Jenny changed back and I growled, "You have sharp teeth you know." I grumbled, flopping to the floor with a great sigh. She folded her arms and glared at me, "And you threatened to eat me." She shot back. I gave another indifferent sigh, "Your point?" I uttered. She rolled her eyes, "I have Quidditch try outs later. I won't be able to go to Nova's party. Tell her I said Happy Birthday." She said, stroking my head quickly before jogging off- no, wait, she walked. Jenny never exercised.

*

I napped for two or three hours, but then James woke me up, still a baby Grim. "Yeah, yeah. I'm up." I uttered, stretching and sighing as I felt much more replenished than before.

I zipped to HQ cave quickly, because I had actually known that Nova's birthday was upcoming, so I had prepared a gift for her. It was a necklace - its chain made from interwoven leather strips that made it look like leaves, and there was a stone charm attached to it, with the latin word for 'night' on it.

Nox.

The stone was a beautiful moonlight blue and had small leaf carvings etched into it.

I shifted back and slipped the necklace into my black satchel and made off with James to the clearing that was populated by a good few Claws.

Willow was there, Shade was there, Hawthorne and Nova were there, obviously, my dad Pierce, and my mother too, Svana, as was the Healing Claw, Sara. Some of the mothers and their cubs were there too, talking and smiling and taking care of their babies. There were small log tables with nibbles and snacks and, bless the All-Maker, there were Pringles. And there were balloons, and a big cake on a larger log, as well as 

I walked in and my father smiled at me, as did my mum, so I waved and then went to talk to Nova. "Hey." I said and she giggled, "Hey, Shadow. What's up?"

"This awesome party is what's up." I chuckled and I glanced at Hawthorne, "Someone's interested in a little more than friendship." I nudged her with my elbow and she blushed, "He says he's got something special planned for me tonight. I-" She bit her lip and paused, leaning towards my ear, "-I think we're going to mate." She giggled and I laughed, "Lucky you." I grinned, then went to talk to my parents.

"Hey, princess." Pierce kissed my head as I hugged him and then over to my mum, who hesitated before rubbing my back soothingly, "It's lovely to see you here." She murmured before I pulled back and we shared a knowing smile. "What's a tough manly man like you doing at a birthday party?" I teased, playfully punching my dad's arm.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Your mother made me come, I'll have you know. And I like to see my baby girl-" Svana cut off her mate, "And if we have grandchildren yet." She chuckled. I coughed harshly, "Woah. Alright then." I stepped back with a giggle, only to hit a firm chest, and warm arms that encircled my waist. "How's mea umbra?" Shade purred quietly in my neck. I shivered and bit my lip, "G-good." I stuttered as he splayed his hand under my shirt, and he smirked against my neck. "That's good, baby."

I squeaked and pulled away before he could attempt anything else, and hit his arm, but then I found Pierce and Svana kissing and I almost puked. "Man, that's nasty." I shivered in disgust and Shade bellowed a laughter, "That's probably what we look like." He slipped a hand around my waist again and I gasped softly. "No. Way."

Shade nodded and I grimaced, "Alright. No kisses for you until the day we die." I groaned. Shade whined, "That's just mean."

*

"Eeek!!" Nova cried out from across the clearing and I rushed to see what was wrong...

Only, nothing was wrong, it was just James had given her a bag of... white skittles? He was in human form and giggling boyishly. Nova was nibbling the skittles, "They smell like you, James, what did you do to them? It's nice." She mumbled happily, eating the seemingly slimy sweets. James shrugged, "I like skittles too, so I sucked all the colour off, and you could have the inside bit."

We all groaned in horror, "Awh, James, that's nasty."

Nova giggled girlishly, "I'm really super hyper crazy right now." She squealed and the rest of the afternoon pursued to be a load of fun, and very entertaining.

But, I did catch James sucking some of the Skittles again...