Rising from the Ground/Seven

SEVEN. GWYN

 Like a skyscraper

Stormshadow gives me a sense of comfort I haven’t felt since Artic and I were kits. Before my parents had been slaughtered by a patrol of IceClan cats. We’re gathered in a tiny clearing and practicing a round. Stormshadow is slow but his graceful moves from being a river warrior makes it easy for him to learn.

To our surprise, there’s a tiny creek next to the clearing and Stormshadow uses that creek to manipulate the opponent to take the battle to the water.

Ravenflight emerges, spluttering. “Good move, Stormshadow,” she coughs as she clambers out of the creek.

I’m grappling with Sootflight. I glance over at Stormshadow’s sleek pelt. His dark gray fur is somehow a shade darker. His eyes shine bright, contrast to the darkness of his pelt. I’m so busy staring at him that Sootflight knocks me off with one swift move.

Staggering, I lurch towards the creek and Stormshadow rises to catch me. “Watch yourself,” he laughs, “don’t watch me.”

I blush slightly but I straighten myself before he can catch me. “I wasn’t watching you,” I mumble as I lunge for the brown tom once more. He dodges but I catch him in the side before dancing away. He’s not fast enough to match my Raider speed.

When we’re done with the round, Ravenflight gives me a warm smile. “You fight well, Gwyn.”

“Thanks,” I blink, “you’re really fast.”

Stormshadow taps me with his paw and leads me to the side so we can catch our breath as Ravenflight and Sootflight take on Mintsplash and Whiteflame.

“They don’t work well together,” he notes.

“Hm?”

Stormshadow points out how Sootflight doesn’t notice Ravenflight’s feint and crashes bluntly into Mintsplash instead of dodging her blow. “His old partner must not have the same fighting techniques as Ravenflight because he doesn’t understand what she’s doing at all. She’s also too fast for him. He can’t cover for her.” He’s proven right as Ravenflight doesn’t notice Whiteflame lunging for her and Sootflight is unable to recover fast enough to block the blow for her.

Ravenflight and Sootflight lose again.

Stormshadow frowns. “You told me Ashshadow is expecting kits, but what happened to Ravenflight’s partners?”

“I said not to ask,” I say tightly.

The river warrior looks down at me, “What are you afraid of?” He tips his head, “I’m not afraid of a little death.”

“That’s… not it.”

“Or betrayal.”

I feel my ears turn red. He sees my slip and frowns. I stay quiet, wanting him to light up with a smile but he doesn’t. He turns and pads to the center of the clearing. “Come on,” he murmurs, “we have to go off against Mintsplash and Whiteflame.”

I scowl at his retreating back and trudge after him.

He can’t know about Aspenpelt and especially not Artic.

~

We lay, collapsed in the middle of the clearing. Mintsplash and Whiteflame managed to best us because I didn’t see Stormshadow’s move to push them into the creek. Instead, I stepped in and got thrown in instead. The dark gray tom has been ignoring me since.

I stare at my paws as Ravenflight gives us a debriefing of what happened. When she’s done, Stormshadow stands and asks her if he could talk to her separately.

When they leave the clearing, I try to ignore the others. I walk over to Sootflight. “Ravenflight likes to use feints to trick her opponents.”

“Excuse me?” His baleful yellow eyes makes me narrow my own eyes.

“You’re being fooled by her feints yourself,” I mutter, “just trying to help here.” Sootflight just snorts and doesn’t reply.

I mumble something rude under my breath and turn away. Mintsplash is staring at me with malevolent eyes and Whiteflame is just ignoring me. I scoot far away from them and wait impatiently for Stormshadow and Ravenflight to come back.

When they do, I know immediately I don’t want to know what they talked about.

Stormshadow has a dark, brooding expression and when he seats himself next to me, he doesn’t speak. “Everything okay?” I ask quietly. He nods curtly and still doesn’t speak. I watch him for a moment but he jerks away from me.

I feel hurt flash through me and anger rises up. “What’s wrong?” I snap, “Just because you threw me in the river instead you’re angry at me?”

“That’s not it,” he says roughly. I wait for him to elaborate but I’m disappointed when he doesn’t speak.

I sniff, slightly miffed and turn away from him. Artic used to give me cold looks once in awhile and I get it: I’m an idiot.

Stormshadow doesn’t acknowledge my hurt and continues to scowl. I don’t think I’ve seen him go for so long without smiling. Ravenflight waves her tail, “Let’s head back to camp.” I stand abruptly and when Stormshadow stands to follow, I quicken my pace and drop next to Ravenflight.

The black she-cat glances over. “Hey, Gwyn,” she looks exhausted.

“Hi,” I flick my ear, “Stormshadow’s upset at me so…”

She looks sympathetic. “It’s hard when someone you care for won’t speak to you,” she nods in understanding, “Whenever Artic did that I felt so crushed.” She looks amused. “You and Stormshadow are like two fish in the river.”

I frown at her amusement but she doesn’t elaborate. “What did you tell him?” I ask curiously.

“I told him about Aspenpelt and Artic,” she admits, “he wanted to know what happened.”

I gape. I glance back at the dark tom but he is chatting with Sootflight with a dark look on his face. His eyes flit up and his normally warm blue eyes seem so ice cold this time. I wince and look away.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Ravenflight advises, “he still trying to understand you. Let him open you up.”

I stay quiet as we enter camp and then I head straight for my nest. As I curl up, I notice that Stormshadow moves his nest over so he isn’t curled up right next to me.

Familiar pangs of hurt and guilt runs through me but I ignore the tom.

So much for comfort.

 Like a skyscraper