Spark { Warrior Cats Fanfiction ; Complete }

{six}

It had been two moons since Sedgeheart was found murdered. Sparkfur twitched an ear as she thought about it; she was annoyed. Of course, the youngest deputy in history of the clan was named: Berryfoot. That bright red tom was climbing the ranks faster than Sparkfur could sniff out Frostleaf.

Sparkfur crouched down. While the white partner had gained the ability of walking silently (just as quietly as Sparfur, in fact) she hadn't managed to learn to hide her scent from the intelligent warrior. They'd have to correct that, but so far the ex-medicine cat had managed to learn how to hunt, though not as well as Sparkfur had hoped, as well as a few battle moves. Sparkfur sighed internally, only one more moon to fully train the cat. She caught a glimpse of the bright white fur through some leaves.

She lowered herself close to the ground, her ears pinned back and her jade eyes digging into the apprentice. Without a second to spare, she leapt over the shrub that was hiding her, tackling Frostleaf and pinning her to the forest floor.

"Gotcha." She said with a slight smile.

"Let me try again!" She pleaded as the golden tabby got off her. "Please, I know I'll get it right!"

"We're running out of time.. Let's do some battle moves." Frostleaf visibly became downcast. "Oh, come on... You should be ready to learn!" There was a distant rumble of thunder. Sparkfur was used to greenleaf storms and found them refreshing; but Frostleaf always prickled her fur.

"Of course, let's not think about the oncoming storm..." She muttered, flicking her thin tail. "It's getting dark!" She added hastily.

"Let's get going then. Come on, start by defending yourself!" Sparkfur lunged at the inexperienced fighter, who was brought down in a tangled mass of limbs. They struggled for half a second before Sparkfur came out on top, pushing the white cat into the damp soil.

"How do you always get the upper-hand?" She struggled away from the loosened grip, raindrops falling from the sky

"You have to push all your weight down on your opponent" the tabby warrior explained, dropping into a sort of crouch. Frostleaf nodded slowly, inadvertently mirroring Sparkfur's fighting stance. Before they could clash again, the rain began to pour down in sheets. Frostleaf's mismatch eyes were round with fear.

"Sparkfur, I don't want to train right now..." She whispered. Sparkfur flicked an ear.

"We're too far from camp to make it back before it gets really ugly, we'll have to find a place to hide out." She said quickly, her fur turning a darker shade from being wet. Lightning lit up the sudden gray darkness that loomed, the rain making it mostly impossible to see along with washing away old scents. Frostleaf made a small squeak as she stepped on a bramble thorn, and Sparkfur's green eyes desperately searched for a safe place.

"Hey, you two!" A voice called. They both looked up. A tom. Not just any Tom, Sparkfur realized.

"Ryeheart?" She called back. His gold eyes lit up with recognition.

"Hey, Sparkfur!" He purred, rain pouring through the canopy and rippling off their fur.

"Ryehearttt!" Frostleaf half-purred. "Please, do you know where we can stay?" She was shivering, her long white fur plastered to her small frame.

"Yeah, Mintstar's set up rain shelters around the woods." He murmured kindly, gold eyes flickering back to Sparkfur. She twitched her nose smartly.

"I know, I just don't know where we are." She defended herself. Testing him, more like it, to see how he'd react. He laughed.

"Of course. Right this way then," he held his tail up as he led them down a path to where  a rotted-out elderly tree sat. They all were able to fit in it with a bit of room to spare: old but still usable moss spread about to make a nest. Ryeheart shook out his fur, beginning to lap at it in an effort to dry his fur. Frostleaf lay right down in the moss, her muscles aching from the day's training so far. Sparkfur stood at the entrance to the den, watching.

Ryeheart looked up to her, pausing in his drying-off.

"What's the matter?" He asked is his usual soft voice.

"Nothing... Well, I'm curious. How is it you were in the exact area as us? We're pretty far out, not many cats would come out here. Especially a patrol-junky like you." He raised a brow.

"You caught me" Frostleaf was laying on the wrong side, her hearing ear pressed to the ground, and she couldn't hear but the reverberation of voices. "I was in fact, watching you two train."

Sparkfur flicked an ear and sat down, beginning to dry herself. After a moment of silence she spoke up.

"That's it? You just watched us train?"

"I've never had an apprentice." Sparkfur almost choked as she blinked up at him.

"You? You've never had an apprentice? You are the pinnacle of good morals!" He dipped his head, accepting the form of a compliment.

"I'm in the Cedar den." He said, blinking. The cedar den was a warriors den for middle class warriors: ranked below the bramble den but above the huckleberry den. The cedar den was a hollowed out tree on its side.

"Wowwww." She lay down all the way.

"Really, judging? What den are you in?" She blinked.

"My own." Now he looked like he was about to choke.

"Nobody is in their own den."

"I am. Mintstar knows about it, he doesn't care. It's right outside the camp walls. If anybody asks about it, he says its a rain shelter." She settled down.

"He cares." Sparkfur raised a brow at his response, shaking her head. "Yes, he does! He likes you, Sparkfur." She sat up quickly, her fur pricked.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Hold up! He does not like me." She blinked.

"Yeah he does. Letting Frostleaf stay in the clan? You wanted her in. You became a warrior a moon earlier than most. You get to back talk Waspclaw and talk him into things."

"Well, I don't like him.. At least, not like that." She relaxed, laying back down.

"Oh."

"What? Is that bad?" The rain thrummed against the tree bark.

"No, it's just, if I would have known that sooner I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble...."

She twitched an ear, interested.

"Never mind." He mumbled, getting into a more comfortable sleeping position. She did the same, her back against Frostleaf's spine, so that she could see the Tom.

"You'll tell me when you're ready." She whispered. And hopefully I will be, too...