Silenced Nights - wc

[KESTRELPAW/8]

     I ducked down as the wind battered my fur, giving my pelt a firm lick as Tallpaw droned on and on about his array of skills, boring Sootpaw and me. It had been a quiet night since Spiderpaw wasn't here, due to a collapse of one of the tunnels.

     Leopardstrike and Mousewatcher had both been injured, leaving Larkstem to be the only tunneler left to work on the tunnels for the time being... Taking away Spiderpaw's time AND Larkstem's time.

     Tallpaw stretched, before settling back down, continuing. I decided to direct some sort of attention towards him. "So, did you hear? Jaystar talked about it with Hollyshade, Maplestar, and Maplestar's deputy... we're going to go up against Shade Clan at the next competitions! We're totally going to crush their--"

     "Wait... how would that even work? Like, at the gathering?" I saw Tallpaw turned towards me, annoyed, although he looked like he was stumped.

     "Well--... well, they've been talking about doing it between the Gathering Crater and Shade Clan because that place has a lot of trees, but is also very..." Tallpaw trailed off, wrinkling his nose as he searched for the right word.

     "Moor-like?" Sootpaw suggested, making Tallpaw perk up with an eager nod. I snorted at how excited he was, flicking my tail around at the thought of the competitions.

     "Competitions are stupid." I hissed, tail flicking. "They take up so much training time and replace skills you need like hunting with jumping or climbing." Tallpaw just flicked his ears with a dismissive snort while Sootpaw leaned with an intent look on her face, listening closely.

     "You just say that because you suck at everything." Tallpaw growled.

     "That isn't true, Tallpaw. She just hasn't found the thing that drives her yet-- her passion." Sootpaw defended me, lowering her ears defensively. I blinked in surprise, my whiskers twitching.

     Tallpaw just sighed, flicking his tail around in annoyance. "Fine, fine. You aren't terrible at everything, Kestrelpaw. You just suck at most things. Is that okay?" He complained.

     Sootpaw purred, obviously very amused by his annoying, whiny nature. She leaned towards me, whispering, "I bet you're amazing, Kestrelpaw. They just don't see your excellence." I smiled at her, although I knew she was partly right.

     I had found my passion, just not the way to fulfill it. Tallpaw rolled over, yawning. "Want to go practice? I want to crush both of you."

     "Maybe later." Sootpaw murmured. "Mossypuddle says that she wants me to go talk with some of the collectors and cave hunters to see if that would be something better for me to do rather than be a patroller."

     "You're seriously getting rejected by your own mentor?" Tallpaw snorted.

     Sootpaw ducked her head, shaking it with a small laugh. I frowned, digging at the moss bed below me. "That's a surprise, considering Pebblethroat and Otterspring--" I stopped myself mid-sentence, noting Sootpaw's wondering glance. Tallpaw shrugged me off with a snort.

     "So, she wants you to go to those lame patrollers and cave hunters? You know, rumors were that Pineleaf was training to be a medicine cat, then the old medicine cat dropped him for Briarstorm!" Tallpaw burst out laughing.

     Sootpaw frowned, her whiskers twitching. "I can't see Russetfur doing that. Besides, aren't medicine cats allowed to have two apprentices?"

     Tallpaw just snorted. "It had something to do with Runningpounce, which is why he became a collector. All those collecters are just lame."