"This is nice," Leopardeye sighed, shutting her eyes against the hot green-leaf wind. "I've missed the forest." Scarlegs nodded next to her, hyper aware of the dried up marsh under her paws.
"I've wanted to take you out to stretch your legs for quite some time; I'm sorry I haven't been able to do this with you sooner."
"It's been too busy, there's nothing to apologize for." The two found themselves near the lake's edge, watching the small waves sparkle under the burning sun. "I'd like to see the ravine while it's flooded, but I don't think we'd be very welcome."
"I'll take you there once we sort the territories out," Scarlegs mewed, remembering yesterday's encounter with the Mapleclan patrol. The memory of Snowstar and Webear's conversation still burned sharply in her mind as well, but she attempted to put it away for now, trying to enjoy this time with her closest friend. They haven't walked the forest with each other for a few moons.
"Why don't we just take a quick look from the trees?" Leopardeye mewed, "we can climb up the tallest one and look out at the ravine from the top; that way we'll still be on Rainclan territory." Scarlegs looked to her friend, curling her tail in happiness.
"I've missed this Leopardeye."
"What do you mean, this Leopardeye? The one with brilliant ideas?"
"Oh, hush," Scarlegs purred, padding off towards the ravine with Leopardeye laughing behind her. They kept under the shade, Scarlegs thick pelt already feeling the effects of the hot sun above, and eventually found themselves near the fallen log Scarlegs had stopped at with Sparkwhisker the previous day. The two she-cats could hear the water running just beyond the screen of bramble ahead of them, and Scarlegs noticed Leopardeye's gaze light up with her old child-like spirit.
"Come on," she called, "this tree'll do." She crouched at the roots of the large oak in front of them, running swiftly up the slope of the roots to reach the lowest branch. Scarlegs followed closely behind, aware that Leopardeye hasn't had much practice with climbing for quite some time, but she began leading the chase, climbing higher and higher branches until she was waiting on Scarlegs to catch up at the top. Scarlegs leaped, claws outstretched, to stand on the same branch, shaking her pelt against the sun that now beat down onto them, the cover of the leaves gone. The sight of the green forest ahead of them was stunning, and Scarlegs noticed Leopardeye's gasp at the sight of the ravine below. The water seemed a bit higher than before, visibly flowing in from the lake, sparkling brightly.
"This is incredible," Leopardeye purred, "the elders always used to talk about when the ravine flooded, but I never knew it would look so... full!"
"Don't pretend you really listened to their stories," Scarlegs teased, resting her head on her friends spotted pelt for a moment. "Maskclaw's going to have my pelt for stealing you away for so long."
"Oh, he'll live. Besides, those two baby badgers will keep him plenty busy. They've been all tooth-and-claw ever since they first opened their eyes."
"Maybe he should spend some time with them in the nursery, give you a break," Scarlegs said, twitching her whiskers.
"I wish! He can barely fit his big head inside the entrance!" They both laughed, shaking the branch a bit. Leopardeye turned to blink at her friend, letting her tail droop off the branch behind her. "You know, once they turn of age, I'd really like it if you took Beetlekit or Bearkit on as an apprentice."
Scarlegs pricked her ears in shock. "Really? Me, the mentor to one of your kits?"
"Of course!" Leopardeye turned her eyes back to the ravine, her silver fur ruffling against the wind. "They respect you already, and that's rare for them. You're my closest friend, Scarlegs; either one of them would be lucky to have you as a mentor."
Scarlegs blinked slowly, realizing with a jolt that she had yet to be given an apprentice of her own. She hadn't thought much about being a mentor, so occupied with thoughts of other things, but the more she thought about it the more excited she felt. Plus, a mentor to one of Leopardeye's kits, she thought, what an honor!
"What do you think Maskclaw would say?" She mumbled, flicking an ear. "I don't think he would be very fond of me mentoring them."
"I know Maskclaw can be a thorn in your pelt sometimes, but he's just hot-headed; he does have respect for you, as much as he tries to hide it." Scarlegs huffed, annoyed and confused at her friends affections in the prickly warrior, but she respected Leopardeye too much to speak against her choice. Maybe she was right, and someday she could find a middle ground with the angry tom.
"It would be an honor," Scarlegs purred, standing to stretch and leave some marks in the bark with her claws. "They certainly won't be hard to get up for training each morning; I have a feeling they'd be the ones pushing me along."
"Come on, why don't we try some hunting? We still have some time before the morning patrols return, and I don't think I'm ready to go back to those two biting my tail just yet." Leopardeye smirked, leaping off the branch to climb back towards the ground below.
Scarlegs adjusted the blackbird in her jaws, waving her tail in greeting as Leopardeye joined her back near the lake carrying two mice and a squirrel. She blinked in surprise, nodding towards her friend.
"I think you may hunt better now than you did as a sharpened apprentice!" Leopardeye rolled her eyes, dropping the prey at her paws. She was silent for a moment, freezing, before locking her gaze onto Scarlegs.
"Do you think you could show me where Hazelkit was buried?" Her eyes were swimming with emotion, and Scarlegs felt sharp talons grip her heart. She wondered how Leopardeye was dealing with the loss of her smallest kit, and from the growth of Beetlekit and Bearkit, she assumed she was doing well; but deep down, Scarlegs knew Leopardeye would never forget the pain of losing her first born. It was something she couldn't even begin to imagine.
"Of course," she whispered, picking up the blackbird to slowly pad towards camp. The air was dry, most of the territory dried up and crinkly under paw from the harsh sun, and the two padded carefully down the path they knew so well. As they grew closer towards the camp entrance, however, Scarlegs took a sharp left, leading them to a small ditch in the ground. Ahead of them was a barely noticeable lump of dry dirt, weeds and flowers growing around it, seeming more like any other normal part of the forest than a small kit's grave. Leopardeye padded forward slowly, dropping her prey as she walked, flattening her ears against her silver head. Scarlegs watched as her eyes softened, seating herself slowly in front of the old grave. The wind caused the flowers to sway, quiet and soft, as Leopardeye shut her eyes.
"Sometimes I think I can see her playing with her siblings," Leopardeye mumbled, "they would've been so good to her. She was so small when she was born, so very small..." Her voice trailed off sweetly, blending into the wind around her. Scarlegs thought back to the kit's birth, when she had to pull the tiny bundle from Leopardeye's grief-stricken grasp. The two she-cats were the same age, but now Leopardeye felt moons older than her, Scarlegs not having kit's of her own to take care of or even a mate. Sometimes she felt worlds away from her best friend, but taking her out into the forest like this filled her heart with an emotion she hadn't felt for quite some time.
Leopardeye stood after some time, turning to nod towards Scarlegs. "Come on, lets head back to camp. I'm sure Maskclaw is tearing apart the place wondering where I snuck off to." Scarlegs snorted, but nodded, waving with her tail for her friend to follow her down the marshy path. Surrounded with warm green-leaf wind, Scarlegs found herself wanting to take the long route back. The two collected their prey, following the call of a blackbird into the undergrowth ahead.
YOU ARE READING
Warriors: Flesh and Bone
Fantasy(BOOK 2) With war declared between Thornclan and Rainclan, tensions run high within the forest. Ears are everywhere, and the meaning behind the dark prophecy has yet to be revealed. Scarleg must work even harder to prove her loyalty, and decide wher...
