the forest prince (alee)

Without Ravenpaw’s talking, it really was peacefully quiet. The wind whistled through the trees and rustled the branches above. A few birds sung in the very tips of them, content with the day than enveloped them. It was nice, a change from the loud hustle and bustle of the camp and training sessions that seemed to involve more and more cats of late. The she-cat gave a little shake of her head, studying the rocks carefully. She couldn’t see anything straight away, beyond the small plants cropping up between the sloping rocks, and the upper ridge that the stones were melted into. Whether that was a good thing or not, she wasn’t sure.

Tinypaw took a few more steps forward, and let out a sigh. He was stuck in something, wasn’t he? Ravenpaw didn’t wait behind unless something was wrong. Straightening, she turned her head back, in time for a loud yowl to slam into her face, and immediately propel the tabby she-cat toward the rocks a few paced, her heart in her throat and eyes wide. It took a moment for it to register who was even moving toward her, looking all too pleased with himself. Tinypaw’s heart thundered in her ears. "Did I scare ya or what? C'mon, you were scared! Ravenpaw one - Tinypaw zero!"

Ravenpaw. Of course he couldn’t help himself. Suddenly, sharply, Tinypaw sucked in a breath, and pouted at him, straightened and moving forward to ram her head into his chest, letting out her breath in a might exhale. “Ravenpaw!” However, he was already on the move, swarming past without a care in the world. The tiny tabby’s ears flattened against her head, whiskers back against her cheeks. The nerve of him sometimes. This was a serious situation! They could joke about in the night, but this was different. It was broad daylight, and they needed to be careful.

Not that she’d say so out loud, given this was his idea. She didn’t want to ruin it for him. Tinypaw let out a sigh, before straightening herself, and moving after him. However, while he threw himself into the hunt, she hung back, carefully watching the ground around them. "Tinypaw! I see 'em, I see 'em!" The she-cat’s head snapped up, and she padded forward, brushing against Ravenpaw’s side. “Where?” Amber eyes scanned the cracks as she slowly moved past Ravenpaw, and leapt up onto the surface of one of the stones.

Ahead, lying at the top of the stones, she found some of them. The brown, stripped creates lay, there must have been three of them, together on the smooth surface of the stones, right in the sunlight. For a moment, she stared at them, surprised. “They must come out in the day, like we do! Though for… another nap?”

"Baby snakes!" Ravenpaw’s exclaimation has Tinypaw peering around, ears straightening and amber eyes glowing. Sure enough, the tiny creatures were making their way across the rocks. "Aww. They look just like you!" Lifting her head, she wrinkled her nose at the tom. She didn’t look like those! They looked like… Well, they looked like worms, if worms had heads. Crouching down, Tinypaw peered at the small striped creatures as they slithered ungracefully past her paws, and along the surface of the rock.

Regardless of their size, it sent an uncomfortable shiver along her spine, fur bristling ever so slightly as she peered around. "Come on." She really wasn’t sure about this anymore, especially as sharp eyes turned toward them, peering out from smooth, almost shiny skin. Tinypaw slowly stepped forward. Only to take a step back again as one of the creatures rose and gave a low, sharp hiss in Ravenpaw’s direction.

The apprentice’s ears lowered against her head, tail twitching uncomfortably behind her. They’d seen that stare the night before. One that meant trouble. Yet, Ravenpaw strode on, sprawling out across the smooth surface as though they were something entirely different. Tinypaw wished she could get on board with his no-care attitude. However, she couldn’t. Not as her chest tightened uncomfortably, gaze lingering on the posed creatures a little too long as they watched, eyes unblinking.

"This is perfect!" The small she-cat pulled her gaze from one of the creatures, and instead turned toward her fresh, she was making himself comfortable. A lump grew thick in her throat. Ravenpaw prattled on about other apprentices and the spot as he relaxed into the heat of the rocks. However, Tinypaw couldn’t find that same ease at all. Instead, she moved up the rocks further, stepping far to the side as another of the lying creatures threw a hiss her way. They really didn’t seem very happy.

A flash of movement at the corner of her eye made Tinypaw’s heart jump again as a snake suddenly darted forward to her side, up the rock and onto the grass, before going still again. The quickness of the movement in itself was a little unexpected. “They seemed really… fast today,” she mused out loud, ears still lowered against her head. Carefully, she stepped around a few more of the creatures, away from Ravenpaw and toward a clearer patch of the stone.

It did seem however that more of the creatures appeared every moment. Was it the sun that was bringing them out? The heat of the day? She supposed so. That was the only thing different to the night they’d last come out. A sudden rumbling noise shook the air around them, and the ground underpaw, the scent of the thunderpath thrown forward with a wave of noise, the glint of a monster up the slopes just seen as the she-cat whipped her head up.

The rattling didn’t just catch her attention either. The adders were moving. Some shuffled about uncomfortably, adjusting themselves into their places. Others let out hisses of annoyance. Then a few whipped out, striking forward, agitated and snapping out across the smooth stone. Tinypaw found herself bunching up. “Ravenpaw…” This really didn’t seem to be good. One of the adders lifted itself nearby, hissing threateningly in her direction. Tinypaw took half a step back, finding it’s sharp gaze.

“I… there really are… a lot of adders here, Ravenpaw. Maybe we should…” her words faded as she moved back along the rock in the direction she came. However, another hiss was sign enough that one of the creatures has moved in the way. Tinypaw’s whiskered twitched, nose wrinkling.

They were awake, and they were angry. They slithered and stirred, agitated as the stench of the thunderpath stung the she-cat’s nose, despite their fair distance still from the road. It seemed the creatures really didn’t like the scents or sounds of the monsters either. The question remained, how did they get out of this mess? Tinypaw swung her head around, looking between the adders that begun to rise, a few more hisses and spits breaking free from their tiny mouths. "Uh...um...don't move!" Well, she wasn’t intending to, but the reminder that she needed to stay still only seemed to make her heart thump harder, defying the order. StarClan, what were they doing? She glanced toward Ravenpaw, meeting his gaze briefly.

"I'm comin' Tinypaw." She didn’t like the quiver in his voice, didn’t like that he even sounded nervous now. More hisses filled the air, more sharp eyes following their movements as a few of the creatures darted in different directions, over the rocks near them, under the rocks. Enough to make Tinypaw take a sharp inhale and pull her paws in that bit closer. She was balanced on a point, hesitating to move, even as Ravenpaw’s familiar scent flooded over the dry, salty scent of the adders that soaked the area. She really hasn’t expected… so many. "Come on, y'know, a lecture from Lilysong seems pretty good right about now!" Right, yeah. She’d take a lecture any day. Not that… Falconstar was prone to giving many of those. He was good that way. But she’d certainly rather receive her first one there and then than deal with what they were.

Tinypaw turned as Ravenpaw stepped forward, and took another sharp intake of air as Ravenpaw stepped forward. The squeal that came out of him with the movement did nothing to help their situation. StarClan, they were stuck there. With three adders raised, hissing at them, sharp fangs glinting in the sunlight, while four others move around them, it was not a promising situation to be in. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest. Where could they go? Her mind tried to find a solution, but came up empty. They were stuck, the snakes were everywhere. Her throat was dry. Tinypaw whipped her head around a few times, stepping back from Ravenpaw, as another of the adders rose.

“Ravenpaw!” She finally squeaked out, the fur along her spine on end, her back arching as one of the adders swayed in front of them.

The noise was sudden, sharp. A flash of brown and black, the thumping of large heavy paws, the sharp snapping of twigs. Tinypaw’s gaze snapped up just in time to see the huge tabby shape moving toward them, leaping onto the rocks, before suddenly a pair of jaws latched onto her scruff. Before the tiny apprentice could even get out a noise, she was being hauled in the air, a sudden, violent movement, as a sharp hiss snapped through the air. The grunt of the jaws was the only thing to jog her mind into processing enough to figure out what was happening.

Falconstar’s scent was undeniable, flooding through her jaws as he gave a shake of his head, and let go, sending her tiny frame propelling through the air. The yowl that broke from her jaws was involuntary as she hit the ground, sliding across the dirt, grass and pebbles, before stumbling to her paws. It was from there her eyes widened, body freezing up once more. The leader stood in the middle of the adders, one latched to his front leg, another lunging and hitting his hind foot. The leader shook them both free, somehow, before darting for Ravenpaw, not doubt intending to do the same thing he’d done to her.

The pit in Tinypaw’s stomach had never been wider. They’d bitten him. StarClan, she knew the dangers of their bite. “No! Get out of there!”

Tinypaw couldn’t breathe. Her whole throat felt constricted, her heart hammering so fast that she barely felt it anymore, her chest numb from the pressure as it constricted further. Every fur along her spine was on end, her amber eyes wide and ears pinned back flat against her head. Her back arched with the fur, whiskers trembling with barely contained emotion, a dam of shock and horror all that held it from breaking loose. She was rooted to the spot, even as Ravenpaw’s ebony form flew through the air toward her, limp, but alive. However, despite her fear for her friend, it was her mentor and leader that had every speck of the apprentice’s attention.

His giant form seemed to absorb every adder that came from him, even as he stumbled. The serpents wriggled and hissed, aggravated, vicious, attacking a cat they deemed a threat. He didn’t do anything to you! Yet, as the adders were ripped free, blood was what soaked through Falconstar’s fur, gleaming even from the distance away. Somehow, through his stumbling, through his slipping down the smooth, sandy rocks and away onto the grass, they came loose, many retreating as the rocks became a backdrop. It was with eyes that watched the scene without truly processing, that she watched Ravenpaw knock the last adder free from the leader’s leg.

For a moment, she could have believed that everything was fine. That somehow, their strong, courageous leader would just walk away. However, his strained, but thankful look toward Ravenpaw, and stumbling steps forward as the blood continued to ooze from the wounds said more than that. It was Falconstar’s stumbling step forward, that somehow triggered movement from the tiny she-cat, as she rushed forward. Why? She wasn’t sure. Maybe it was to support the leader as his paws slipped under his huge, heavy form. Not that she stood a chance of doing that, but maybe the thought was there. Or maybe it was just to say something, be there.

“Falconstar…” The name was strained, quiet as she moved to the leader’s shoulder as he eased into the ground. Carefully, she pressed her head into his shoulder. “We… Ravenpaw, you stay here! I’ll go back and… and I’ll get Blueberry!” The tabby swallowed, immediately stepping back, her movements quick, sharp, as she looked up to the wincing leader’s face as he nodded. She glanced toward Ravenpaw, his black form shaking, and that was enough to remind her of the own quake to her movements. But… they needed to do something, they couldn’t just… He couldn’t…

Tinypaw took a few steps back, ready to run, when suddenly Falconstar’s form went stiff and he held his tail up weakly. “Tinypaw, stop.” She did. Wide amber eyes stared at the leader as he went stiff, head lifted and tasting the air. It was enough to trigger the same response from the apprentice. There, on the breeze, mixed with the overwhelming scents of blood, adders, pines and the thunderpath, was another scent, a close one. A badger. No, not now! StarClan! Tinypaw took another step back, head spinning around, forcing her ears to prick straight. The rustling was only soft, but, it was there, and approaching.

“Go, both of you. We will need the warriors of Thunderclan to drive off this creature, if it is to come!” Falconstar’s voice remained strained, but held enough of an order that Tinypaw immediately nodded, before it occurred. “You need to come too! You’re hurt!” She looked to Ravenpaw, seeking his agreement, before the leader between them was stumbling back to his paws. “My duty is to protect you and ThunderClan both. Now, go!” Tinypaw opened her mouth, but argument falter on her tongue as a black form begun to move through the trees, its large form standing out from the green undergrowth. Tinypaw’s chest grew tighter. “Go!”

Falconstar was stumbling between the apprentices and the badger, bracing himself and growling, a deep, threating noise, despite the blood splattering to the ground with the movements, despite the tremble to the huge tabby’s form. Tinypaw didn’t want to go. But, her heart and her head had different ideas, and she turned. “Ravenpaw, come on!” She yowled, before forcing her paws forward, and launching toward the undergrowth. Camp. They needed to get to camp. They needed to get there right now and get help!