Amaranthine/part three

Tension hung in the air like fog for the next few days. We practiced our battle moves every day now, and even Blizzard started to take it seriously. The Council met every day, probably discussing the incoming threats. Mealtimes were often silent, the air thick with unspoken words. From what we heard from Elzora and Nascha's conversations, scouts were constantly checking both the other group's territory and the border. There was talk of sending spies or threatening them with an army, though to our knowledge no action had been taken.

Cherry had calmed down and was now constantly rambling about strategies and what she thought the Council should be doing. Her desperation to become a Champion was pretty clear. She would probably make a good one, seeing as most of her strategies had at least some ground. She often instigated debates with Nascha, insisting we should send spies to see how large their armies were and what they were planning.

The most memorable early-morning training session was our probably five hundredth battle lesson in the last few sunrises. Nascha and Cherry were arguing, as always, and Onyx was telling them to shut up and start fighting with claws instead of words (but not with claws, or deaths by blunt force trauma), as always. Cherry's newest point was that we knew next to nothing about them, which was true. Listening to the debate eventually bored me (and Magnolia told me to get off my lazy butt and start training), so I began a practice bout with Lark.

We sparred, getting into a rhythm of swipes and dodges, with the occasional leap or roll thrown in. It was oddly silent, as neither of us really yowled or hissed when fighting. I imagined what it would be like in a real battle, where a misstep wouldn't just cost me a bit of reputation, but my life. Any lack of focus and I would die.

In this bout, lack of focus only caused me to get pinned to the ground easily by Lark. Magnolia gave me a disapproving look, strutting over slowly.

"Concentrate! One wrong move and you will pay with your life on the battlefield."

I started another bout with Lark, managing to win this time. We were both decent fighters, though nothing exceptional. Raven was as nimble as a squirrel and usually planned four moves ahead while still managing to concentrate. How she did it, I don't know.

When the training was over Cherry padded up to Lark, Raven and I. "That stupid royal she-cat won't listen to my common sense."

I rolled my eyes. Cherry got rather involved in many debates, and never was satisfied until she proved her point. It got quite annoying after a while.

"If the Council won't do it, I'll do it myself," she continued, pacing back and forth. Her tail lashed rhythmically, as it always did when she was annoyed. She padded off through the clusters of blossoms that had once seemed peaceful, but now just echoed with the promise of the war.

Raven shrugged and headed back towards the camp. Lark and I followed the jet-black she-cat a few paces behind, our steps light and nervous. No matter how much we pretended not to care, all the Cadets were worried about the battle. Lark, Raven, Cherry and I, at least. Blizzard was questionable. A rustle sounded in the bushes behind us and I broke into a run. Raven and Lark had the same reaction, bolting through the flowery woods and back to the camp, gasping for breath.

Cats had already started eating around us. The Council was presumably having another meeting, because Nascha and Elzora were nowhere nearby. Lark picked up a squirrel for us to share and we padded over to the stump by the Cadets' den, where Blizzard was already gulping down a large mouse.

Lark dropped the squirrel on the ground and we all sat down, nipping at its flesh halfheartedly. I glanced around the camp for Cherry, but she was nowhere to be found. Maybe she was just still out there. She surely would return for our second training session, right? Cherry valued her training more than any of us, even Nascha or Elzora. The two daughters of the leader always acted like they already knew everything. Lark and I tried to do well in training, but we just weren't as good or invested in it as the others. Blizzard just plain didn't try, while Raven usually didn't really care. She was probably good enough to pass her final assessment right now.

The sun had crept down in the sky a little bit more when it was time for training again. Lark, Raven, Blizzard and I padded out of camp in a small clump, trotting down the trail created by Twilight Hunters long ago. Thousands of pawprints had walked this path before us, and now the land of our ancestors was being threatened. We think.

I glanced nervously around the training grove. Cherry skipping the meal at sunhigh wasn't unheard of, but Cherry skipping a lesson... It hadn't even started yet, why worry. Even Nascha seemed concerned. I knew the she-cat cared about Cherry at least a little more than her haughty sister, but I doubt either would miss her much.

We continued waiting in the training grove because the trainers wouldn't start the lesson if a cat was missing. Even Magnolia and Onyx started whispering about Cherry's disappearance. Eventually, Onyx held his tail up as a signal for us to stop talking and start listening. "It appears we have a missing Cadet. As you know, skipping training is not tolerated in any way, shape, or form. Cherry will be tracked down and punished. In the meantime, Magnolia will work on ambushes with you."

Magnolia split us into two groups. Nascha, Raven and I were ambushing Blizzard, Lark, and Elzora. The three of them, along with Magnolia, would hide in the woods somewhere and our group would track them down and ambush them. It was a task we'd done many times before, but always with the intention of attacking a fox den or badger sett.

The war was scary.

We had to wait until we heard Magnolia's yowl to start the search. Raven whispered attack strategies to us, suggesting that we split up and search, but Nascha cut her off.

"We are looking for Cherry."

The words took me by surprise, but also seemed oddly expected. We set out, not to track the waiting Cadets, but to bring Cherry out of the crepuscular shadows that seemed to have taken her.