Two Birds/Chapter 9

Talonfang's POV
PebbleClan was the first to reach the Dried River for the Gathering. Talonfang half slid, half ran down the slope, landing gracefully at the bottom with the rest of her Clanmates. The ground underpaw was cracked and dry from lack of water, but Talonfang wasn't worried about there being a flash flood. It had been dry now for seasons upon seasons.
As they moved, dry earth turned to dusty pebbles, making clicking sounds as they were shifted around. Bigger rocks sprouted from the ground, painted silver in moonlight from the full-moon. Then the biggest rock of all came into view; the boulder the leader's made their announcements on. It was about six full grown cats tall and Talonfang gazed at it in amazement.
Ravenstar stopped near one of the smaller rocks and settled down to talk with Lilacheart and Fireflight, while the older warriors did the same, making themselves comfortable, while the younger warriors played hide and seek or play-fought. Talonfang didn't join in, her gaze fixed on the leader's rock.
She made her way to it until she stood right in front of it, the rough rock brushing her whiskers. Talonfang gazed up at it, determination fizzing in her chest. She crouched, then sprang up the side, grabbing pawholds in it until she reached the top. The gray she-cat stood there, tall and proud, the cold wind bufting her whiskers and passing through her fur. She looked like a cat made of stone. Talonfang looked down at her Clanmates milling around below; pride and excitement flooding from her pelt. *I'll be standing up here one day. At every Gathering every full-moon.*
"Talonfang, get down from there!" came a voice from below. She turned her narrow head and found Eagleclaw's yellow eyes staring up at her, looking concerned but mischivous. "Get down before Ravenstar rips your tail off!" Talonfang obeyed, inwardly grumbling, *I'd like to see him try.* She might not have been so confident a moon ago, but Ravenstar was clearly getting old. He looked more frail now and had lost the shine and thickness to his fur. She knew she wasn't the only one to have noticed, by the concerned looks her Clanmates gave the once mighty black tom daily.
*Wouldn't be a shame if he turned up dead one morning? Such a terrible shame,* she thought as she landed beside Eagleclaw, the image of deathberries in her head. Talonfang realized Eagleclaw was staring at her, looking hopeful. *Act like a normal characterless young warrior.* She gave the tom a flattering smirk and shoved him lightly. "I have a fantastic idea! When the next Clan comes into the clearing, we hide behind some rocks and tackle the warriors, but don't hurt them so they don't think we're ambushing them." *Just get away from me.*
She had a feeling Eagleclaw had a huge crush on her, Wispheart even pointed it out to her. Talonfang felt nothing for the tom though and found him rather annoying. She didn't want to hang out around him.
Eagleclaw's eyes brightened. "That's a great idea! Let's get ready!" he paused, tasting the air with a twitch of his ear. "I smell StreamClan." He flicked his torn ear in the direction the scent came and Talonfang nodded. They made their way quietly over to some seperate boulders. Talonfang crouched low.
She cursed under her breath for her fluffiness. It was useful when fighting - it made her eneimes cower before her, but it made hiding a bit difficult. Slightly satisfied, Talonfang froze, her ears pricked toward the coming of paws. She stiffened when shadows came closer. Starlingcloud was in the lead, StreamClan's deputy. *Maybe Reedstar died.*
Next followed their calico deputy, Marigoldwind, who walked beside the old medicine cat Sapwhisker. A few older warrior's followed, and a little farther off, she heard Eagleclaw pounce on one of them, a disgusted hiss and the slight tang of blood in the air. *Maybe I should target a younger warrior. They won't be so fussy.*
Then a group of younger cats followed, a white tom with a flame colored spot on his chest, and then a cat who looked little more than a shadow. Talonfang tensed, then sprang for the shadowy cat, landing on his shoulders and flattening him to the ground, then leaping off before he could claw her, facing him, looking friendly as possible.
She could see him better now. The smokey tom let out a hiss, but it was none threatening, and sounded more like a cough. He looked at her with slitted amber eyes, then out of no where leaped at her, throwing her to the ground. Talonfang's back hit the ground, followed by her head and the breath was knocked out of her body. The tom glared down at her as she overcame her shock.
Talonfang remained limp, waiting for the tom to relax, then sprang up and rammed her muzzle into his chest. His StreamClan scent made her eyes water as she slammed him to the ground beneath her. She raised a "brow" at him and he copied her, then lifted a paw and smacked her in the face, catching her off guard.
The tom slipped out from under her and sprang onto her broad-shoulders. But his weight didn't make her collapse to the ground, instead, she savagely shook out her pelt, trying to dislodge the tom, but he clung on tight to the thick wool of her neck. *He's a fighter," she metally noted, admiring his courage to not be defeated. Most cats would have shyed away from her.*
Talonfang leaped into the air as high as she could manage with his weight, twisted mid-air, then body-slammed the dude into the cracked ground. She heard him lose his breath from the shock and felt satisfied. But he hadn't given up yet, to Talonfang's surprise. With a surge of strength, the tom heaved Talonfang off the ground. She yelped with alarm as he tossed her into the air and threw her into a rock.
Panting, Talonfang scrambled to her paws, glaring at the tom, admiring him but hating him all at once. He panted too, staring at her with those huge amber eyes. "Yield?" he asked. Talonfang glared at him, still panting and fighting to keep her breathing under control. She shook the dust from her pelt and stood tall and graceful in front of him, which he didn't seem to care for. "Yield," she huffed with a grudge and felt inwardly embarrased she had been beaten.
After a few moment and they both caught their breath, the tom looked curiously at her. "Nice battle moves. You don't happen to be... Talonpaw, of PebbleClan, are you?" he stared at her intently, smokey face silver in the moonlight. Talonfang let out a proud huff. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Expect I'm a warrior now." The tom stared at her, wide-eyed and admiring. "I've heard about you! You're one of PebbleClan's best apprentices - well, warrior now, I suppose. What's your name now?"
Talonfang dipped her head. "I'm Talonfang now. I was made a warrior today." She sniffed him curiously. "What's yours?" The tom dipped his head as well. "I'm Smokewhisker. I became a warrior recently too." They touched muzzles as greeting, and Talonfang felt a hot spark pass through her muzzle to the tip of her tail at his touch. Self consciously, she slowly pulled away. She gave him a small smile. "Guess I'll see you around, Smokewhisker."
"See you around, Talonfang." Smokewhisker grinned back, then turned and suddenly kicked a cloud of dust in her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and coughed until the cloud cleared up, then glared in outrage at Smokewhisker. He stuck out his tongue at her. "That's for savagely ambushing me like that." But his gaze softened and her purred. "Sorry, but don't attack cats like that. It's not nice. You scared me." He turned his head and began padding away. "See you around, Talonfang."
Talonfang sat where she was grumpily, tracking the tom until he vanished into the group of cats. *I guess I deserved it. He did seem kind of nice,* she reasoned.
She pushed Smokewhisker to the back of her head when she noticed LeafClan had arrived, prickly brown and white tabby Specklestar in the led, with Shadeheart and some senior warriors flanking them.
Starlingstar leaped nimbly up the Leader's rock and stood there proudly. Specklestar followed, leaning as far as she possibly could from the golden tabby, who gave her a smug grin. The she-cat looked troubled, but Talonfang didn't really care what her problem was. She was more focused on Ravenstar, struggling up the rock. His limbs seemed too stiff to launch himself up and he was trying to climb up the side, which wasn't going well. He made it to the middle but stopped to rest, as if this act was too tiring. *Wouldn't it be so tragic if he fell and cracked his head open on a rock below?* Talonfang found herself thinking, than soon having a nasty hope, which she pushed away with a snort. *Either Sharptalon or Dustclaw has to go first.*
Specklestar bent down and helped the black tom the rest of the way up, and Ravenstar sat on the far side, while Specklestar stayed in the middle, pretty much hovering over PebbleClan's leader, her eyes fixed firmly ahead, while Starlingstar watched her, with a slight disappointment in his eyes.
Before waiting to get the other leader's approval, Starlingstar stepped forward and cleared his throat, head held high. The clearing fell to silence. "As you can all see, Starlingcloud is no more. Reedstar had a tragic accident, which made her have to give up her rank as leader and be demoted to an elder." Talonfang heard an annoyed huff from somewhere behind her and glanced over her shoulder to spot a the old leader. The ruddy ticked tabby was sitting with her tail curled over her paws, glaring at Starlingstar, clearly seathing. Nothing appeared to be wrong with her. Talonfang turned her attention back to the leaders.