Omen of the Sun Book Two: Snowfall ✅

Chapter Twenty Four

Sunpaw continued on her way, and soon she heard voices. She froze, then darted up the tree to be more hidden.

"Okay, you hid the acorn, right?" Came Moonpaw's voice. "Yeah," Gingerpaw replied. It felt strange to be hearing their disembodied voices coming from somewhere she couldn't see. "I'll make sure she can't get past."

"Awesome," Moonpaw meowed. "I'm going to go find Sunpaw's base. You stay and guard."

She padded off in the opposite direction Sunpaw had came in. Sunpaw grinned. Perfect.

Then she shifted into battle mode. Think about Gingerpaw. Her strengths. Her weaknesses.

Since Sunpaw hadn't trained as much with Gingerpaw and Moonpaw, she didn't know much. However, she did know from quick glimpses in the last battle they had had that she was alright fighting until her belly was exposed. But she was faster and nimbler than Sunpaw, so she would have to look out for that.

Sunpaw climbed even higher in the tree then leapt almost soundlessly from tree to tree until she was right above Moonpaw and Gingerpaw's base. She looked down. Gingerpaw was sitting next to a tree, the roots of which spread out and formed a sort of cocoon type thing, nestled in which was the acorn. Sunpaw noted that Gingerpaw stood near it, but she could probably jump onto the branch and come down from behind, grab it, then go back up. She decided to try that.

Sunpaw quietly picked her way around the tree so she wasn't facing Gingerpaw, then slid down the trunk. She landed with a thud in the snow that she just knew would draw attention.

Gingerpaw's head snapped around. She snarled, "Sunpaw!" And dove at her. Sunpaw sidestepped, letting her plummet into snow. Then she leaped onto her. But Gingerpaw was ready. Hissing fiercely, she rolled over and somehow pushed herself to her paws, and shook herself like a mad dog. Sunpaw ached to use her claws, but knew she couldn't, so just cuffed Gingerpaw around the head hard enough to stun her. Then she leapt off of her Clanmate's back and landed nimbly on the ground. Gingerpaw shook her head, ready to get back fighting.

Gingerpaw charged forward, and Sunpaw twisted and ducked, sliding neatly under the she cat's belly. Gingerpaw gave a small gasp as her breath was knocked away with a powerful thump from Sunpaw's forepaw. Quickly, she dropped on Sunpaw, and the silver tabby was trapped. No, buck her off! Sunpaw thought. She gathered strength in her hind legs and thrust herself upwards, flinging off Gingerpaw quite effectively. She charged for the tree, eyes fixed on the acorn.

Gingerpaw side-tackled her, buffeting her to the side with a grunted "No!". Sunpaw rolled with her in the snow so that she came out on top; however, Gingerpaw was quick to right herself and somehow twisted her nimble body to push Sunpaw's face into the ground. Sunpaw thought quickly and rolled, lashing a paw down Gingerpaw's nose, claws still sheathed, and nipping her tail. Then she rolled her over a few mouse-lengths.

Sunpaw quickly charged for the acorn. She grabbed it in her teeth, and turned. Gingerpaw had gotten up and was charging! Sunpaw turned again at once and hopped up the tree, climbing it like a nimble squirrel. She darted thorugh the branches, acutely aware that Gingerpaw was hot on her tail. She could hear the snapping of twigs as the two cats raced through the trees. It was rapidly becoming darker, and colder, with the snow falling even faster. Sunpaw shivered.

Finally, Sunpaw glanced down and recognized where they had started! She bounded down, her energy almost completely sapped, and landed on the ground neatly. She raced over to the center and sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws.

Gingerpaw puffed with fatigue as she sat down. "Good... job..." she panted. "Lion... didn't... think..."

Sunpaw's head snapped up. Lion? As in Lionscar? "Who is 'Lion'?" She asked Gingerpaw. Gingerpaw looked up at her, horror flashing across her face in a quick flicker, gone so quickly it almost left Sunpaw thinking it was a trick of the light. "Oh, nobody!" She squeaked, bending down to lick some ruffled chest fur. Sunpaw let it drop, but she meant to find out more. Was the Dark Forest gathering more and more members around her?

Just then, Moonpaw charged in, Sunpaw's acorn held in her mouth. "Oh, no!" She groaned. "You beat me, Sunpaw."

Sunpaw smiled. "Yeah."

Shadowfur, Hailheart, and Skypelt walked out of the shadows next. "Great job to all three of you!" Skypelt praised them. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering what the point of this exercise is."

Not really, but okay, Sunpaw thought, as Gingerpaw and Moonpaw nodded.

"Well," Skypelt meowed. "It was actually a part of Sunpaw's warrior assessment."

The silver she cat looked directly at Sunpaw. "And you passed," she finished.

Sunpaw's heart stopped. My what now?

Ahahah hiiii! So yay, Sunpaw WILL become a warrior soon. So awesome!

This is late of course because a) I was late (naturally) and b) I was grounded...

So yeah! :)

~Holly