Warriors An Awaiting Dawn: The First Trial

Chapter 5

The camp was relatively quiet as Ginger Foot and Viper Strike were play fighting each other.
"Young love." Orchid Petal purred.
"Ew." Sage Pelt meowed, wrinkling her nose.
"Tell me about it." Night Wing put in.
"Wolf Fur and I scrambled up that tree so fast! I never thought those Twolegs would stop." Violet Leaf meowed.
"Their paws were so big and this fur looked so weird." Meowed Wolf Fur, making an obviously uncomfortable face. Wren stared up in admiration beside Stone Frost, Hawk's Cry, and Curly Branch. "Wow!" She beamed. Stone Frost stood beside her. "I can totally fight a Twoleg." He meowed, puffing out his gray and white chest.
"In your dreams." Hawk's Cry mewed, whisking his tail.
"I could so fight one!" The gray and white tom huffed to his littermate.
"You couldn't fight a coyote given how small you lot look." Light Mist meowed walking past them.
Curly Branch tipped her head with curiosity. "What's a coyote Light Mist?" She asked. The gray she-cat stared at them. "It's like a wolf, only smaller and more mange-fur than the brute thing."
"How come we never see them?" Hawk's Cry asked, bouncing on his toes beside his sister. "We're not in the deep mountains where they usually are found, but it's rare to see one. Now foxes are the real deal." Leaping Breeze joined beside her campmate. Then Flick padded over. "What about the wolves?" He asked. The cats of Little Ear's camp have seen the dangerousness of the wolves first paw. They had to be careful to avoid being killed. Ever since Thistle Tail had the idea to use fox teeth over their claws, they had been able to annoy them in hopes of driving them back to wherever it was they came from.
"I want to fight a wolf!" Hawk's Cry mewled his tail fluffing up.
"You are not doing that!" Eagle's Speck intervened, scooping her three kits close to her to lick their heads. "Come, it is time for you to be groomed." She guided them away. Flick let Wren play with his tail. It had only been quarter-moon since Viper Strike found the helpless kit beside her dead mother. Wolf Fur blinked. She'll grow big and strong one of these days.
Hawthorn entered the camp with prey. She put it down on the heap. Shade and Owl sat side by side, sharing tongues. Little Ear trotted over to the fluffy tom. "Shade, we've all noticed you have not been hunting. Or patrolling. Or battle practicing." He explained.
The tom looked up. "There's no action around here."
"No action?" The ticked tabby echoed. "We have wolves, foxes, other cats." His tail twitched.
Shade sat up. "I came here to line some fur for my nest." He let his claws slide out. Viper Strike looked at them seeing that they were eerily long.
"Shade, I don't think you know what being in a group is about." Silver Leaf mewed gently joining to stand beside his leader.
"Silver Leaf is right. When being in a group, all cats do their parts." Running Fern put in, flanking the silver tabby tom.
Shade let his hackles rise. "Are you suggesting I'm dumb?" He hissed quietly.
Viper Strike looked at Ginger Foot. "Should we stop them?" She asked her mate. He purred with amusement. "Nah. Let's see what happens."
"No. But what we are suggesting is that you are lazy.." Light Mist grumbled.
"You'll have to excuse him, he can be a walking gorse-spine." Owl meowed, standing between the four toms. Suddenly, Shade gazed at the she-cat with warmth, even though she called him a gorse-spine.
"Cannot.." Shade rumbled lowly, curling his tail.
"Can too." Owl purred teasingly.