WarriorCats: Raised by foxes

Chapter Five

"I've got you!" squealed Dazzle, pinning Scratch to the ground.

"Nuh-uh," Scratch replied, flipping Dazzle over and baring his tiny, pointy teeth.

River was watching from the side. She was slightly smaller than her littermates, her snout not as pointed, her tail not as bushy. Whenever she had a mock-brawl with them they always won. Sometimes, when no one was looking, she would sit behind the den and practice, jumping and dodging, new battle techniques until she collapsed. Then she would run inside and cry, and Soft Heart would come in and assure her she was special.

River had a new move that she wanted to try. When Dazzle and Scratch finally pulled apart, panting, she asked, "Can I try?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Dazzle immediately. "Fight me."

Dazzle leaped into the air, making a graceful arch. She would have landed square on River's back, but River was expecting that. She dodged, landing a blow on Dazzle's legs and knocking them out from under her. Her sister landed in a tangled heap of legs, and River took that opportunity to pin her down.

"Wow," yipped Dazzle, panting. "You actually beat me. First time ever!"

"I know, right?" exclaimed River.

"Where did you learn that move?" asked Scratch, curiously.

"I don't know... It just kinda made sense, I guess. I knew she was going to jump, so I anticipated it and dodged it."

Dazzle suddenly laughed, rolling on the ground and flailing her paws, a twinkle in her eye.

"What's so funny?" asked Scratch, staring at Dazzle.

Dazzle could barely squeeze her words in between laughs. "Imagine...the look...on Soft Heart's...face...if she heard...us talking!" she squealed, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

River couldn't stifle her laughs any longer. She rolled around on the ground, laughing almost as hard as Dazzle.

After a brief moment's hesitation, Scratch chuckled, then finally joined them on the ground, snorting, and trampling the grass. Dazzle suddenly stopped and turned, and after River looked in the direction she was looking she saw why, and immediately ceased her laughter.

Scratch, however, did not notice, and started mocking his mother. "If she could see us..." He laughed, then continued in a high-pitched, mocking tone. "Snorting isn't proper. Behave all dignified and snotty and stick your noses in the air! The ground is dirty, blah blah blah bla-"

Soft Heart came up from behind and stared at him. Dazzle motioned frantically for him to turn around. Scratch still didn't pay attention. "Scratch Claw! I did not raise you like this! Stop rolling in the dirt like a pig and apologize!"

Scratch suddenly turned around and looked surprised, then ashamed, then confused. "What's a pig?" he asked.

Soft Heart turned to him, a smile briefly illuminating her face. "I do not suppose I have brought you a pig before. I shall bring you one sometime, I suppose. And it is 'What is' not 'What's'. Foxes do not use contractions." Her disapproving face appeared again. "But it is rude to mock. Go to the Time-out corner."

Scratch turned to leave, and River and Dazzle tried to stifle their giggles at his retreating back.

"All of you."

Dazzle and River obediently lowered their heads and walked towards the den. As soon as Soft Heart was out of earshot, Dazzle started to whisper to River. "You do remember what this means, right?"

River groaned. "No duskfeast or storytime."

"And Scratch was the only one in trouble. It's so unfair!" Dazzle exclaimed.

"I know! But we can always slip out the secret entrance to the Mossy Hollow.

The Mossy Hollow was a clearing surrounded by rocks on all sides, only accessible through their tunnel. It was a clearing populated with ancient trees, the ground covered with plush moss. Light softly filtered through the leaves, giving the whole space a magical, underwater-like quality. It was a perfect training hollow, game space, moss-lump field, and story hollow.

As soon as River wiggled through the hole into the Mossy Hollow, she felt instantly at peace. She took a deep breath of damp, sweet-smelling air and raced inside, letting the green glow turn her fur the color of moss.