Warriors fanfic: Weightless , Book one in the Legacy series

Chapter 1

Ibis took great unwieldy leaps to catch up to Gator and Tamarin, at barely eight moons old, her pale fur was still incredibly fluffy, and her paws seemed to get in the way of everything. Gator slowed long enough for her to get to him, he laughed, nudging her to catch up to Tamarin.
Even though her littermates were the exact same age as she, they both seemed more mature, Tamarin's fluffy white and gold fur was silky and glamorous, and Gator was sturdier than both of them with muscular legs and shoulders, some of the elders believed that he would become the best climber in the rainforest.
     Then there was Ibis with her delicate bones, her thin body was no good for climbing, and not to mention unattractive. And then there was the fact of-
       Tamarin looped back, coming at Gator and Ibis from Behind, Gator leaped out of the way, Ibis however, was bowled over. She went careening towards the edge of the vine platform and would have slipped right over the edge if Gator hadn't caught her, his brown wings flared as he struggled to pull her back up the platform.
      By the time Ibis had her heart rate under control, she was painfully aware of the loud raucous laughter coming from Tamarin and her two friends, Hibiscus and Dart.
       "Wowwwww, it's too bad your big brother pulled 'ya back up, you 'woulda fallen straight into the river, the gators in there would've liked the snack!" Hibiscus taunted, her tawny kit fur sticking up all over the place. Tamarin nodded, tsking, She turned over a claw to examine.
"What an absolute tragedy, in the rainforest those who can't take care of themselves are supposed to die, it's a miracle that your still around little sister...," Tamarin looked up to meet Ibis's eyes.
Gator muscled his way in front of Ibis, "Yeah? And why is Ibis any less of a rainforest cat than you or me?" He spat.
Tamarin gave a teasing purr, "Because she hasn't got wings brother dear, don't tell me you haven't noticed," at that moment, Tamarin, Hibiscus and Dart all spread their wings.
Gator hissed, "So what? She's still our sister you Crocodile!" His mud colored wings spread in anger and he looked ready to pounce.
"Who is calling who a crocodile?" A voice sounded from behind Ibis and she spun to face her father, Parrot.
Tamarin's ears flattened, "Daddy! Gator was being mean to Ibis and called her a crocodile!" She shouted, rushing towards their father.
Gator yelped in protest and lunged for her, only to be blocked by Parrot, "Gator, we've talked about this, name-calling is a horrible habit, and picking on your little sister because of her, ahem, disability, is even worse!" Their father went through the spiel, believe it or not, this was not the first time this has happened.
Ibis stared into the swirling Rapids that rushed unburdened far beneath the platform. For a moment she wondered if she truly did belong down there like her sister had said, she imagined what it would be like to be a part of the Rapids, swirling uncontrolled in every direction with nothing tugging at you. She felt a breeze brush at her shoulder and turned to see that Parrot, Gator, and Tamarin were walking off towards the pavilion. She hopped up and trotted after them, rolling her shoulders the way she would if she had wings.
       Toucan had explained her disability to the tribe when she was young, but that's was alright, because Ibis still remembered it. He had explained that it was the result of a genetic default the entire tribe had. Every 1 in 40 kits or so was born without wings.
A flowery smell hit Ibis and she came face to face with Peacock, the young tortishell nodded happily to Ibis before continuing on her way, it seemed that she was heading towards Toucan's den, a hollowed out tree. Ibis watched Peacock go before turning and continuing carefully along the rope bridge. She was headed for the pavilion, the center of their home in the trees.
The pavilion was shaded by the widespread branches of the banyan tree it was built around. Cats lounged on the lower hanging branches, eating freshly caught prey and sharing tongues. As Ibis stepped into the pavilion, she felt a body press up beside her, a warm smell with hints of mangos fell over her, Dart.
        He gently nudged her into the shadows, "Hey, Ibis, listen, I just wanted to say-"
         She cut him off with a hiss, "I know what you want to say, you just want to do more hurtful things!" She pushed past him with a growl and stomped over towards the other side of the pavilion.
          Gator joined her, "Sorry I took so long, Parrot was telling me off, again. Was Dart 'givin you any trouble?"
         Ibis shook her head, "I think he wanted to say something, but I'm not sure if it was kind or hurtful..."
         Gator frowned, he leaned over to lick her cheek, "don't worry about them, those three are the only ones who seem to have a problem with you being here,"
Ibis gave her brother a small smile, but before she could say anything, a tall shadow loomed over the pair. She looked up to meet the eyes of Panther, the head of the tribe.
Panther nodded to Gator before fixing his eyes onto Ibis. "Ibis, walk with me, we have things to discuss." Gator respectfully bowed his head as Panther led Ibis away.
Panther paused at the base of the Banyan tree, then he was a blur of black fur as he leapt for the branches. Ibis gulped, she could feel his gaze on her as she carefully braced her front paws on the tree. Her muscles bunched and she used her hold on the tree for an extra boost as she sailed towards Panther. She overshot by a few centimeters however, and her hind legs swung in the air below her for a moment as she struggled to pull herself up.  Panther was settled comfortably on the branch already, watching with his unearthly blue eyes as Ibis struggled.
       She felt a hot burst of anger at the tribe leader before shoving it down inside of her. She unsheathed her back claws and hauled herself into the branch, daintily sitting beside Panther and struggling to catch her breath.
        The tribe leader turned his blue eyes onto her, "Ibis," he rasped, "you are the correct age to become a trainee like your siblings, yes?"
Ibis's heart lept, she was the right age to become a trainee, but to be honest she hadn't expected it to ever happen, not with her defaulted wings. How could she ever learn to hunt birds? Worst of all if something happened on the rainforest floor she wouldn't be able to get away.... The happy feeling in her chest was gone, leaving a sorrowful cavity.
         The tribe leader went on, ignorant to what was happening inside Ibis's head. "Ibis, you will learn to become a hardworking member of this clan, or you will die trying, do you understand?"
        She gulped, nodding. She did understand, she knew she was different but that didn't mean she couldn't contribute, she had to contribute or die, because in the rainforest those who do not truly have something to live for, die.
       Panther straightened up, looking perhaps more alive than Ibis had ever seen him look. "I will be assigning Moss to train you, although you will receive training from the entire clan on different subjects, he will help you cope and find ways to adapt." Ibis nodded, eyes shining once more. Panther dismissed her with a flick of his tail and glided down from the tree on velvet black wings, leaving Ibis to slide and crawl her way down to the platform, but it didn't matter, because she was going to train, and she would be the best trainee the tribe had ever seen.