Tawnywhisker & Shrewpaw

[topaz]

"Ok!" He shouted. Oh yes he was excited. He shut his eyes right away and sat down for awhile as he waited for his mentor to go away. Finally we get to do some 'real' training. He thought. His heart sang with joy. Shrewpaw was too heated up with happiness that he didn't really understand that he was butting in his mentor's peace. The tom slowly opened one eye and shut it right back thinking that his mentor might see. "Imma goin to be leaving in a few moment!" He meowed. Inside his head, he counted every single second.

[topaz]

I'll be patient... :3

[glowlynose]

A flash of the eyes and a twitch of the tail later, Tawnywhisker was seeking out the best place to hide. This time around she was not making much of an effort to stay quiet; this was Shrewpaw's first time doing this exercise, and he would need all the help that she could give him. However, she was not bumbling around like an intoxicated badger either. The only sounds were the soft swishing of her pelt, the thruming of her paws on the forest floor, and her heartbeat. It beat a steady rhythm, a steady, calm rhythm. The she-cat warrior took a deep breath and expelled it in a soft sigh. Now that the little brown thing was being silent, she could begin to relax a little bit.

No, not that briar patch. It would make too much noise. The mottled warrior scanned her immediate surroundings for any place to hide. It had to be quietly accessable, but also traceable if the tracker was intent enough. None of the trees in the immediate vicninty would be strong enough to support her weight, but there was a nice ash tree a little way into the woods that would work well. She decided on that as her hiding spot.

"Remember, Shrewpaw, you can only use your sense of hearing to find me," Tawnywhisker breathed into her apprentice's ear before whisking off toward her ash tree. A smirk of satisfaction crept across her face when she pictured the young tom's shock at hearing her voice. He must have been shocked, right? Ah, no time to think about that. 'Twould be useless. Now get up that tree. As is the case with every sentient being, Tawnywhisker was powerless to resist the urgings of her subconscious and instincts. A twig snapped somewhere in the forest; it was either an enemy or a very clumsy squirrel. Tawnywhisker could practically feel the eyes of her blood enemies boring through her, could feel their breathing hot on her tail and could hear the sickening sound of claws ripping through feline flesh. The warrior's breathing quickened as she clawed her way up the tree. Suddenly, she didn't seem so in control anymore. Nothing was safe in the forest. StarClan, protect me.

[topaz]

Shrewpaw had his ears up high. He went right to left and right to left. His ears picked up the a noise of Tawnywhisker. "Ah-ha! I think I can find you very quickly!" he meowed to Tawnywhisker, rather she was listening or not. Having eyes still closed, he bumped his head into a tree. He felt pain swooshing through his body. "Ooof! That hurts...." The tom shook his head and started his steps again. First, he located the place where he heard a twig snap and noticed another noise coming from the tree. "Umm... Tawnywhisker? Please don't tell me that you are up on a tree." Shrewpaw said with a worried face smudged across his face. The brown tom didn't really favour being up in a high place.

[glowlynose]

"Ah-ha! I think I can find you very quickly!" Tawnywhisker's tail twitched as a voice came from the deeper reaches of the forest, carried on the bitter autumn air. It was the voice of a young cat, most likely an apprentice from a rival Clan. Perhaps it was even a young rogue out to prove himself to the leader of his group. Her breathing quickened and she backed into the darker areas of the shadows; her hair stiffened as her behind brushed the trunk of the tree. She was now as hidden as she could be. The drying leaves offered excellent camouflage for her mottled pelt. In a moment of abject terror she clutched the branch she was on with claws unsheathed, digging into the green, living wood as if it was the flesh of the enemy that was pursuing her. Oh yes, whoever was chasing her would get a big surprise.

This enemy must be cunning, she thought to herself. No foreign scents invaded her nostrils, but still she kept herself on guard. This would have to be a quick battle. She had the element of surprise, but there was no telling how strong her enemy would be. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, causing her pupils to narrow to mere slits. Ah, the thud of untrained pawteps! Whoever her pursuer was was obviously off their guard; the pads of their paws sent resounding thumps into the stale autumn air. The whole forest seemed to fear this Terror, this mysterious entity from strange soil. From her spot in the shadowy limbs of the ash tree, Tawnywhisker could now spot the defined form of a young cat. Brown-pelted he was, and quite small. Still, small cats could be formidable opponents.

"Prepare to taste the Wrath of StarClan, infidel!" Tawnywhisker's ferocious screech rent the silence that had previously consumed the forest, and with her leap from the tree came a flurry of newly awakened noises; limbs snapped, birds cried in terror, small animals squealed and fled from this intimidating monster with crazed eyes. Her paws hit the leaf litter and a bloodcurdling battle cry leaped from her throat, the words of which should not be repeated here. A red haze consumed her vision; she could see naught but her enemy, a small frightened figure. Why did he seem so terrified? Were the legions of StarClan, the glittering forms of warriors past, coming to help her restore rightness and purity to her Clan's borders? Ah, no matter. This invasion of impurity needed to be dealt with.

A low snarl emanated from behind bared teeth as Tawnywhisker slowly advanced on the little brown form. It was then that a voice pierced through her thoughts of bloodlust and violence. Stop, it cried, stop! Don't you recognize your own apprentice? What are you doing? Would you stain your own holy territory with the blood of an innocent? Tawnywhisker halted in her tracks. The voice was... it was right. The little brown tom in front of her was her own apprentice! As the red haze cleared from her vision, so did thoughts of evil from her mind. Oh StarClan, forgive me, for I am weak of mind and spirit. I pray that you will forgive my sins! Purge me of my evil intent, I beg you! With this prayer, she collapsed on the ground, racked with quiet sobs and cries of sorrow. "I am so sorry, Shrewpaw. I didn't realize it was you. I thought- I thought- I..." Her voice broke and she was cast again into her fits of guilt. At long last, her hackles lowered and her claws sheathed again. The Terror in the forest was over.

[topaz]

"Prepare to taste the Wrath of StarClan, infidel!"

Shrewpaw shrieked back in terror. His heart was beating fast. The young apprentice's eyes were open wide. Trauma filled his body as he watched his mentor make out a drama scene. Truly, this apprentice was scared like a mouse. But as his eyes understood what it was seeing, he let go of his fear."Tawnywhisker, I thought I was suppose to find you... not you just popping out of a tree!"

"I am so sorry, Shrewpaw. I didn't realize it was you. I thought- I thought- I..."

A sigh of relief escaped his mouth. So this she-cat was crazy after all. thought Shrewpaw. "You really scared my tails off." He looked back to see if his tail was still there."I mean, why did you... like, think I was a 'intruder' or something? Why?"In his voice, there was a light tone of annoyance. He wasn't exactly mad at Tawnywhisker for mistaking him as a 'enemy' but he just couldn't take it in a optimistic way. He inhaled deeply as a short grin crept up his face. This was funny. Tawnywhisker thought he was a intruder because of her outrageous imaginations.

[glowlynose]

Tawnywhisker was troubled, not by her actions, but by the lack of a reaction from her apprentice. As she looked back on what she had done, a shudder of horror swept through her. She had almost killed her apprentice. The worst part of it was that somewhere, deep inside of her, she had known that was Shrewpaw and not an enemy. There had been no signs of an enemy around except for what her own mind percieved to be threats. Yet she had progressed, driven by a desire for blood that ran deeper than her senses of morality and decency. That frightened her beyond belief.

"I don't know why I came after you, Shrewpaw. Please," she implored, "You must understand. I was not angry with you. It was nothing like that. Somehow I tricked myself into thinking that you were from another Clan, and were here to attack me." The mottled she-cat paused, trying to gather her thoughts. What could she say after that? There was nothing else to be said. She could not tell Shrewpaw the truth, that her terror had awakened a savage hunger for blood that even now was coursing through her veins. He wouldn't understand. He'd report her to Owlstar, and then she'd be kicked out of the clan.

"You did well finding me. Keep it up and you'll be a great tracker some day. Sort of like myself." A warm smile was sent toward the little brown tomcat, along with Tawnywhisker's hope that a kind word and cheery demeanor could cause him to forget what had just happened. However, she knew within her soul that what had just passed between the two cats would have a lasting impact on them both. Shrewpaw would never forget this; it would plague them both until the day they died, and even then beyond into the reaches of StarClan.

"Just without the paranoia. Listen, I'm really sorry about that. Can you... can you find it within your heart to forgive me? I swear to you, nothing like that shall ever happen again unless the cats really are enemies. I will never again lift a claw against an innocent clanmate." There. It was done. Tawnywhisker had made her vow, and she planned to keep it. A warrior without her integrity is just a savage cat, after all.