Stormy Nights

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Darkness. That's all there was. Tall, dark trees towered above; dark, slimy mud covered the soggy ground. No stars speckled the sky, and none of the usual forest sounds decorated the thick, warm air. There was no rustling of leaves or the crackling of bracken and ferns. There was no sign of prey to sustain the rumbling hunger of a cat's belly. The only sound was that of a ginger cat circling tautly. The ginger cat called out tentatively, its tail flicking nervously. His voice broke the seemingly endless silence, echoing around him almost mockingly.

"Hello?" He repeated. "Twistfang? Leapclaw?" The ginger tom paced back and forth, his paws squelching on the sticky ground. At his request, a tortoiseshell tom and a long-legged tabby padded out of the trees. The ginger cat crouched respectively.

"Say, Leapclaw, do you think your apprentice here is ready to become a full warrior of the Dark Forest?" The tabby smiled wickedly at the ginger tom, revealing twisted yellow teeth. The tom shrank back instinctively, fear-scent radiating off him in waves. Luckily for him, though, the overpowering stench of the two Dark Forest cats masked it.

"Of course!" Agreed the tortoiseshell. His leering grin unnerved the ginger tom even more, and his courage scattered. "Are you ready, apprentice?"

"Well, ah, actually, I had, ah, a question." Stammered the ginger tom. With one deep breath, he summoned up his remaining bits of courage and his question burst out. "Has Wolfsong ever been here?"

"Why, Bloodpool, you already know the answer to that! Of course she has! Where else would have she learned to tuck in her tail so her opponent can't unbalance her? Or the leap-and-hold? How about the snatch-and-roll?" Scoffed a third voice. A black she-cat with delicate white paws slunk from the shadows to join them. She wrapped her tail around her paws and sucked in her plump belly in a futile attempt to 'look pretty'.

"In fact, I was her mentor! Very shy apprentice she was, too! I bet I taught her all she knows!" She added proudly.

"That," mewed Leapclaw dryly. "Is Whitefoot. She's one of the senior warriors of the Dark Forest." He added with a sarcastic note to his voice. "She's bragged about that enough times. As is being old is something to parade!"

Looking closer, Bloodpool noticed that Whitefoot's paws were faintly see-through, revealing the murky ground beneath them. He nodded slowly. The she-cat rolled her honey-colored eyes and sneered at Leapclaw. The tortoiseshell tom stood his ground, though he recoiled slightly as he caught a whiff of her stinking breath.

"Oh, yes, let's all laugh because I've trained more apprentices than you two have combined in your entire life-dead and alive!" She snarled bitterly. Twistfang exchanged a nervous glance with Leapclaw, and the two cats bowed to the senior warrior respectfully. Whitefoot lifted her head jubilantly and stalked away.

"Well, now that she's gone, we can train!" meowed Twistfang in relief. Bloodpool purred.

Leapclaw shouldered past his brother and stood in front of the young warrior. "Let's start with the snatch-and-roll that Whitefoot mentioned." He growled. "First, you pounce on your enemy. Then, you dig in your claws and roll them over as many times as you have to for your opponent to get dizzy. Release them, and they'll be so disorientated, they won't be able to fight back! At least, not for a little while." Bloodpool stared at him with wide eyes.

"But that wouldn't be fair! The warrior code says you have to be fair..." He trailed away as his mentor stalked past, Twistfang hurrying after him. Dragonflame limped into the clearing, and was promptly bowled over by a strong blow of Twistfang's massive paw.

"You're late." Growled the tabby.

"I'm so sorry! I was on the dusk patrol, and we had to drive off a couple foxes! It was nasty; look, see? One got my leg!" mewed the black SparkClan tom defensively lifting his single orange paw for his mentor's inspection. Blood dripped to the leaf-mold covered ground.