warriors: in the trees

chapter twelve, moon nine

"Again?"

Briarpaw sighed. Her muscles ached, and her vision was clouded, signs of her tiredness that surprisingly went unnoticed by Thistlepaw.

"Don't you think that it's getting too late?" Briarpaw said with a yawn. The sky was completely dark. However, Thistlepaw had insisted on sneaking out to train.

"It's never too late. Unless you want to be ripped to shreds by Shadowstar," Thistlepaw replied, jumping down from the boulder and moving toward Briarpaw like a snake. "You wouldn't want that."

Briarpaw shook her head. Of course not. What cat would want to get beaten in a fight?

Thistlepaw crouched before springing forward to attack a poor tree stump. Briarpaw watched; his long claws (although powerful) barely made any mark on the wood. She was just thankful he found a new training partner for the time being.

Besides Thistlepaw angrily scrambling at an innocent fallen tree, the forest was quiet. No running water, due to there being none. Briarpaw hobbled over to the large Silverpool, hoping for a drink. However, she found that it was nearly empty, and jumping down with no way out would be suicide.

"You're going to be really tired tomorrow," Briarpaw warned Thistlepaw. The tom paid seemingly no attention to the brown she-cat. Training was the only thing he could do that made him not think about Briarpaw.

Briarpaw, growing more agitated at the apprentice recklessly throwing himself at the stump over and over again, stepped in between them. Thistlepaw's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but that was momentary, as they softened after a few minutes.

"You're going to wear yourself out," Briarpaw repeated, once again warning the tom. Their green eyes locked; Briarpaw showed concern, Thistlepaw showed stubbornness.

"A good warrior is never tired"

"Yes, because a good warrior gets their sleep."

Thistlepaw rolled his eyes, then let out a long sigh. The ginger-brown tom turned away from the stump and Briarpaw felt a feeling of accomplishment.

"Imagine if Owlhaze found out you snuck out," Briarpaw pointed out. "You would be fresh-kill before you even got a chance to fight JadeClan."

Thistlepaw slowly started to creep away from the clearing. Briarpaw followed close by, making sure their pelts were touching so she wouldn't lose the dark ginger tom in the trees that blocked the moonlight.

"I don't even want to think about it," Thistlepaw meowed in response, leaping over a fallen tree. Briarpaw knew the forest like her own whiskers; she knew every nook and cranny and rogue tree limb to jump over and where the ground dipped and curved. Navigating it through the dark was hardly a challenge.

The two apprentices walked in silence for a while, until they were nearly to the camp. Then Thistlepaw spoke again.

"You know, If this battle goes well... you might be looking at LavenderClan's newest warrior."

"Really!?" Briarpaw asked, a little too loud for being so close to camp. This means Hailpaw and Hazelpaw might be made warriors too.

Thistlepaw nodded, and the two cats slowly padded into the clearing. It was empty, to Briarpaw's relief. The only cat out was Ivylight, who was sleeping silently on the Low Tree. Briarpaw imagined her as a sloth.

"Better get your beauty sleep, then."