Falconblaze shook his head in amusement. Hawkpaw was bouncing a little way ahead, batting at any leaf straying too close to him. The young cat leaped high into the air, grabbing a leaf on his wat down. He growled playfully and bit hard down on it. He looks up at Falconblaze with the leaf clamped in his jaws, then quickly dropped it and padded back, ashamed.
"Sorry. I couldn't stop myself." he murmurs, giving his shoulder a few embarrased licks. Falconblaze smiles.
"It's fine. Just don't be that quick into battle!" he nudges him. Hawkpaw smirks and walks ahead again. He stops as he comes to two holly bushes. He waves his tail excitedly and leaps through them.
"Not so-" he breaks off as Hawkpaw shrieks with surprise somewhere behind the bushes. "Quick." he sighs. He bounds over and peers into the darkness of the holly stems. "Hawkpaw?" he calls.
"In here." the little tom's muffled mew came from somewhere to the left. Carefully he slinks in and waits for his eyes to adjust. When they do, he can barely stop himself from laughing.
Hawkpaw is hanging tangled up in vines and prickly leaves above the ground inside the bush. His tail is twined into a weird shape and his paws are dangling uselessly between the branches as he struggles to get loose.
"I'm stuck." he meowes unhappily. Falconblaze bites his lip as he comes closer.
"What did you-" he begins, but stops as Hawkpaw hisses angrily.
"Just get me out of here!" he growls. Falconblaze nods and tears at the vines. One by one they snap and the brown tom's tail is freed. Soon his hindlegs touch the ground, and he crashes to the ground as the branch under his stomach falls.
"Better?" Falconblaze asks. Hawkpaw just grumbles and slinks out from the bush. Falconblaze can no longer hold himself and laughs as he follows.
"You should have seen yourself!" he tells Hawkpaw. "All tangled up like that." Hawkpaw mutters something and ignores his mentor.
"Look at my fur! sticks and leaves everywhere!" he sits down and promptly begins to groom. Falconblaze smiles and lies down next to him. Hawkpaw furiously grabs the twigs, taking out chunks of fur in his annoyance.
"Hey, calm down. You won't have any fur left if you keep going like that!" Falconblaze flicks away a leaf with his tail tip. Hawkpaw just growls.
Falconblaze sighs and lays his head on his paws to rest.
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"Hey, come on! I'm done now." Hawkpaw's voice wakes Falconblaze. He grumbles and looks at the sky; the sun was setting. He leaps up.
"Why didn't you wake me before?" he hisses. HAwkpaw leaps back in surprise.
"I though we needed to rest?" he meowes.
"Not that long! I'm no elder." Falconblaze scouls indignantly at Hawkpaw, who decides this is a good time to tease his mentor.
"Are you sure? You muzzles is turning a little gray right.... There!" He smirks and flicks his tail on Falconblaze's nose. Falconblaze growls and knocks it away.
"Come on. We have to get going. I want to walk further before stopping for the night." he says and starts to walk. Hawkpaw sighs and follows.
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"What about here?" Hawkpaw calls over his shoulder. He is crouching half ways under a honeysuckle, looking around the open space inside hopefully.
"Nah, too windy." Falconblaze calls back. He is sitting a little bit away, cleaning his claws. His long tail is neatly wrapped around his paws and his ears are alert for any danger. Hawkpaw drags himself out of the bush.
"Oh, come on! This is the 5th bush you've turned down! If this is revenge for that nose flick earlier-" Hawkpaw starts angrily, but Falconblaze cuts him off.
"It's not. It's just... The wind will get through the weak branches." he retorts. Hawkpaw shakes his head and walks to another bush. It was a rhododendron.
"What about this one?" he asks. Falconblaze stands up and walks over. He peers inside through the leaves for a moment then pulls back out.
"Perfect!" he smiles and leaps in. Hakpaw bounces with glee and follows. Inside there was a vast open space and wide flat branches for them to sleep on. He leaps onto a tangle of stems near the center, whilst Falconblaze decides on a hollow near the roots. Hawkpaw ad just settled down when he spots a funny looking boulder a fox-length away. Curious, he leaps down from his make-shift nest and pads over. It was hard to see in the faint light, and the scent of withering flowers clogged his nostrils.
He leaps onto it for a closer look, but soon regrets that choice as the whole so-called boulder shifts and groans. The creature rises with a roar!
