Diverging Paths (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

"Yeah, it's definitely becoming clearer," Whirlpaw murmured, his eyes scrunched tight and his nose twitching wildly like it was controlled by something. "The hole is bigger."

"It's not a hole, it's a gap," Highwings grumbled tiredly, before shaking out her fur and getting mad at herself. "Well- You already know that. And soon you'll see."

Whirlpaw laughed, and continued smelling hard, training his nose to pick out the two trees apart from each other. It was after sunhigh, and they were tracker-training again, but this time without Sunroar. The she-cat had opted to stay in camp to watch over apprentices cleaning out the elder's den. After all, with her powerful nose, she would be able to smell if something was not properly cleaned.

So now they were at the same two trees that Sunroar had taken them to before, the cooler air of morning hovering lazily around her coats. Whirlpaw was still in the meek beginnings of tracker-training, but his nose had already gained some strength. The apprentice described it was like "unblurring his vision." With his eyes closed, he needed to see around him with the scent he inhaled through his nose, and initially everything had been too blended and blurred to make sense of much. But now, even though it was so soon after starting, his practicing with the trees made him unblur this second version of vision, and "see" things around him clearer.

Highwings could not fully understand this concept, as she herself was no tracker, but she felt proud of Whirlpaw for taking so well to it. He had at first complained about the prospect, believing hunting and fighting to be far more useful skills, but it seemed he now was having fun with it.

"Can you smell me?" Highwings inquired.

Whirlpaw frowned and sniffed harder. "Sort of. Are you to my left?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. You're kind of like a weird blurry blob," he giggled.

"That sounds like an insult," Highwings snorted.

"Well, it's my nose insulting you. Not me." He then dropped his smile, as he refocused on the trees, and continued his campaign of sniffing them intensely from a distance. It looked rather odd without context.

There was nothing to be said, really, as Whirlpaw continued smelling at the trees and Highwings continued sitting silently. After Sunroar had introduced him to the training, there was very little guidance required from her, as all it was was repeatedly sniffing a spot until it became clear from that distance. Then you would increase the distance and practice anew.

Highwings zoned out, staring off into the distance. She thought about a lot of things. How Bounceback had put his tail on her as she reentered camp, and she realized he would try to sleep with her in her nest that night. How she volunteered for camp guard for the remainder of the night to avoid having to deal with that. How Hollowfortune licked her on the nose, and told her it was going to be all right someday.

It's going to be all right someday. It was something her brother had spoken on a whim, on a night they both were stressed from several things, just before he had headed off to sleep. But possibly it meant more than she thought. Even if Hollowfortune had not intended it to be much deeper than mere random thoughtful words on a dark night, the words replayed in her head, over and over again. It was going to be all right someday. Despite the intended shallowness, she could not help asking herself: But when? What would be right, and what would still be wrong? Would everything ever be all right at the same time?

"Highwings?" Whirlpaw inquired, breaking her train of thought and making her blink at him. He had his head turned towards her. And just for a moment, as she stared into those amber eyes of her apprentice, she thought she saw Tiltpaw. When she blinked, it was Whirlpaw again. I need to get more sleep. "Is there meaning to life?"