Spirit

CHAPTER FOUR

Ivory came closer to the water. Robin saw something wrong with her; she needed to see it. She looked down, and saw a huge scar across her face, running in the same motion Singe had done in the dream.

She leaped back, the memory of the dream flooding into her mind. "This can't be happening; the dream wasn't real!" she blurted.

"Dream?" The golden tom lifted his paw from testing the water.

"Oh, no. It's probably nothing," the she-cat tried to convince herself, touching the scar with a paw. "I probably just scratched myself. . . in my. . . dream. Nothing. . . supernatural." She slowed down, becoming more reluctant of her theory. "It was real."

"You're right it is. No cat would do that to themselves, even in their sleep." Robin paused. "What happened in the dream?"

Ivory didn't answer.

The tom's snout tightened. "What happened in the dream?" he snarled.

"Singe attacked me. Her claws went over my face exactly like this." The beige and ginger she-cat traced her paw over her face, claws unleashed. "There. I told you. Now I'd rather go to training."

Robin's paw was on her tail again. "It's right here."

"Okay. It's at Spirit Lake." She looked into the water gain. "Now what do we—"

Out of the corner of her eye, Ivory saw Robin leaping at her. She whipped herself around to face him, but that was all she could do before his fur was in her face and they were rolling across the shore of the lake. Robin had her pinned with the water of the lake filling her ears, muffling what her friend had to teach her.

"You see, you need to react faster, in order to get your grip on the opponent before he has you," the tom explained. "You don't even need to turn to him, you just have to leap into the water. That would give you enough time." He let her go, and she shook her head, droplets of water released out of her fur. "Now you try."

Ivory readied herself, then she darted towards her friend, who just ran into Spirit Lake. It was surprisingly hard to stop, but the she-cat leaped into the water, her claws catching Robin's flank. They were outstretched, but she was too in the moment to care.

Robin must've been in the moment too, because he hissed and whipped around, his face showing anger. Ivory wasn't sure if he was faking or not. Suddenly his claws raked the side of her neck, and she felt she had no choice but to target her friend-turned-mentor's head.

Her paw caught his head and drove it towards the ground, water splashing into her face. Imagining that the water was Robin's blood was what caused her to let him go.

Ivory was expecting him to be furious at her; that she practically tried to kill him. But all Robin did was laugh, broken by occasional coughing water.

"Aren't you mad at me?" Ivory asked.

"I've seen worse," Robin replied. "Multiple cats were afraid they might accidentally kill me, but. . . they aren't as strong as Rogues, so I would've been fine anyways." He started to walk back to the shore. "You did good, though. Don't take that lightly."

~~~

Once they got back to camp, Ivory felt the same presence as when she first entered. The glint of an eye caught her sight, and she whipped her head around to face where it was coming from. This time, the cat sat closer to the territory. She reluctantly stepped forward, trying to get a better look at them.

Well it's a tom, that's for sure, she thought. Looking closer, she saw the unmistakable ginger tabby pelt with a bit of fur tipped with silver. "Fire!"

The Feather-Lifters around the she-cat stared at her. Of course they did; she just yelled 'Fire' at a tom that wasn't even part of the group.

Fire's teeth showed, and he flicked his tail. "Why did you do that?"

Ivory smiled nervously and stepped over the invisible line of territory. She was vulnerable yet again. "You're Fire."

The ginger and silver tom relaxed. "Ivory. You need to come with me, before they start chasing you."

The beige and ginger tabby tilted her head. "Before they start chasing me? Who?"

"Feather-Lifters, you fleabrain!" Fire hissed. "Now come on."

Ivory stood her stance. "They're my friends. If they see me talking to you they'll have your pelt."

Her brother's face was in a grimace of anger and frustration. "I don't care if they're your friends or not, you need to come." He flicked his tail again and darted away from the camp.

The beige she-cat reluctantly followed.

They ran until their paws were sore, and water licked their fur. "Spirit Lake? I've already been here before, it's nothing new!" she snarled. "You don't need to show me it!"

"Not the lake!" Fire looked close to having her pelt. "It's a cat! She also needs to see you." His voice drained into a soft whisper.