Spirit's Journey

Chapter 55- Storm: Icy Stares

I shuffled my paws uncomfortably in the snow, sitting awkwardly next to Aspen and trying to get comfortable without lying down to wait for all the she-cats to get back.

They had just left a few moments ago, I knew, but the few moments had felt like a long time already.

Blaze sat stiffly to the side, his spiky tail curled over his paws and staring out into the snow with Diamond doing the same next to him.

The little she-kit looked very small next the the cheetah's tan, blotchy pelt. I could feel the vibrations of the stone through the thin snow underneath, telling me that Diamond shivered involuntarily every now and then.

I felt sorry for the kit but understood, and huddled close against the rock while my breath showed in billows of air.

Aspen sat much more closer than Blaze did, and I wasn't so much awkward with the young cat next to me. In fact, it surprised me that I had ever gotten close to a natural human-cat, but now I regarded the orange-and-white tabby as a friend. Human-cats and wild cats almost always regarded each other as natural enemies, but I'd never felt such a way toward any of the ones in this Pride. So long had I lived on my own that I'd never known the companionship and security of having friends- it was nice, and I could only hope I would make more here with time.

Aspen had been gazing at his large white paws for awhile now, but suddenly looked up with intense yellow eyes. His ears pricked as he scuffled his feet in the thin layering of snow.

"Hey, do you remember that move you didn't get to finish teaching me the last time we battle trained?" He meowed excitedly, and I sat up straighter to acknowledge the tom's words.

His eagerness to learn exited me, and even I found myself willing to do anything to bring off the bordem. Too bad we couldn't hunt- but maybe there was another way to make ourselves useful. My hope stirred.

From the corner of my eye, I could even see Diamond's head turn sideways quickly as her icy eyes stared intently. Clearly Aspen was not the only one interested.

"Yeah," I meowed, hesitating, then letting my words fall as I recalled where we were right now. It was certainly not a good place to battle-train, with slick stone under-paw and thick snow anywhere else.

"There's not that much room to do a lot in this space, but I can show you it now."

I recalled the last 'Paw when I'd shown aspen the leap, twist, and hold move, and bent my legs by the slightest to begin circling Aspen. Diamond scrambled to her paws excitedly behind us as Aspen fluffed out his fur in mock-battle.

As the orange and white cat leaped for my neck I lowered my head and felt sheathed paws fasten into my throat, knowing what to do next. Naturally, as any other opponent would, I twisted my neck to try and throw Aspen's gripping paws off, not sunk in hard enough to hurt.

When I couldn't throw Aspen off after a couple of heartbeats, I did as was planned and threw my body sideways roughly on the ground in an effort to squash Aspen underneath. But instead of hearing the wind being knocked out of him, I heard a surprised yowl from the tom and realized he had successfully twisted his body around when he'd seen I was going to roll on the ground and drive the breath out of him.

I'd explained the move to Aspen simply out of an idea, and said like a snake as I explained that he could inflict wounds on both the neck and stomach if he moved quickly enough. Aspen was atop my back now, clinging confidently with rougher paws that didn't prick the skin.

As soon Aspen scrambled off of me, I noticed Blaze looking at us with a slightly snob expression, and pushed down one single tiny claw of annoyance that jabbed though my head.