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strelles-universe · 9 months

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Strike the Match - Chapter 9: The Mastery Assessment

Cardinalpaw put his paw over his mouth, trying to stop himself from yawning too loud even as his vision blurred in his attempts to focus on Asterdawn. It seemed that vision in Spottedholly’s den had been the trigger for his dreams to become restless again. Every time he started to relax in his nest, his dreams would twist and morph creating monsters and madness that would shake him back into alertness. At first his dreams only featured vague silhouettes, potentially the ones he’d seen from the Sight in Spottedholly’s den.

Then they escalated.

If the dreams from before had left him tired, these left him panicked. Now he was being attacked by shadow figured clawing their way from the ground near the gorse tunnel. He attacks them sometimes, but his claws never seemed to connect, always passing right through the attacker’s body only for their teeth to connect in his skin. A pained wail would ring through his ears, its voice filled with rage tinted grief as a warm flash would encompass him before she would go toppling to the ground. No matter how fast he ran or how many times he twisted, claws would find their way into his shoulder and he’d be slammed to the ground, attacked by another; claws piercing his belly and it stung as the world grew fainter and fainter-

“Are you alright Cardinalpaw?”

He jolted a little, blinking tiredly up at his mentor as she watched him with eyes full of concern. Spottedholly had done as she’d promised and told her about the Sight he’d had and she’d called him into her den that morning. He’d been worried that she would be transferring him after all, that it didn’t matter what he wanted - to his surprise though, she’s asked him gently how he’d felt seeing the vision. She’d let him lean against her and talk about what he’d seen, empathy and sadness poured from her very being and Cardinalpaw wondered what she’d experienced of Sights to be so distressed by his.

“Just tired,” he said honestly. He’d had odd-dreams most of his life and sadly, this wasn’t even the first time he’d been killed in one. He shudders remembering the first dream he’d had of it happening - a flash of teeth and claws, a thick coat of white screaming nonsensical things to him already injured and running, running- he shakes his head again. “Bad dreams. I used to have them a lot but I’ve been so tired from training I guess my brain hasn’t had the energy to make any.”

Asterdawn made a sound of concern in her throat but she nods all the same, “You and your cohort were very busy yesterday so today is a short one. Just one assessment and some rank-specialty training then you may rest.”

“As assessment?” Cardinalpaw asked, perking up.

“Yes,” said Asterdawn. “It’s time for your Foundations Mastery Assessment. You’ve been a cadet for almost four moons now and despite the catch-up you had to do, you’ve advanced well. You should have mastered the basic skills that any legionaries should have - hunting, stalking and defense stances. If you pass, then we will begin to focus on training your elanki.”

“Elanki?” Cardinalpaw said, a bit of his tiredness lifting.

“The powers granted to us by the Mauwas,” Asterdawn purred to him. “When Nettleflower used her claws to attack you, that was her soulspark - unaligned but still very powerful.”

She means makai, Cardinalpaw connected immediately, nodding in understanding to her words. He flexed his paws a little in excitement - makai was usually restricted to Guardians as most cats from the kingdom simply weren’t able to manipulate it. He and his siblings had already received basic training in using it to defend themselves given that they were heirs and assassination attempts were still possible but they’d never really gone beyond learning to sense when someone else with the ability to manipulate it was nearby.

“I’ll get to do that too?” he said, trying to inject some energy into his tone.

“Yes but only if you pass your foundations assessment,” Asterdawn chuckled at him. “Do you remember which rule that was?”

Cardinalpaw quickly starting running through the Legionary’s Charter in his mind, sifting for the correct one. These spontaneous prompts about the Legionary’s Charter were becoming ever-more frequent - it wasn’t even just from Asterdawn; it was the entire faction insisting on it. Everywhere he turned, he was asked to spout rules from the Conventional Regulations at every chance. He’d be insulted if he wasn’t aware that his cohort were being treated the same way - Jackdawpaw complaining just recently about receiving a lecture for forgetting one of the Conventional Regulations again.

“I’ll give you a hint,” Asterdawn said, taking note of his hesitation. “It’s not one of the Conventional Regulations.”

“Oh,” said Cardinalpaw immediately. It was obvious in hindsight, but the random quizzes had a way of making his mind blank from easy questions. “Then um… the Cadet Regulations rule um…”

He thought about it.

“Eight?” he guessed.

“Correct,” said Asterdawn, nodding at him with approval. “Rule 8 - a cadet should not start learning to use their Mauwa-elanki until they’ve mastered the foundational basics.”

Cardinalpaw wondered if he was going to be expected to be capable of reciting each of the Regulations nearly word for word too or if that was something only the leader was expected to do.

“When will the assessment start?” he asks instead.

Asterdawn tilted her head towards the sky, letting her blue eyes find the sun, “At sunpeak. That should be long enough for you to eat and speak with your friends.”

Cardinalpaw nodded determinedly - he would pass this assessment with shining colors.

“We’ll retrieve you when it’s time so don’t fret,” Asterdawn told him, leaning down towards him. “Eat and rest Cardinalpaw.”

He waited for her to press her nose gently to his forehead to dismiss him before he rose and walked towards the ukennva. Another yawn broke from his jaws as he sniffed at the prey, trying to decide what he wanted to eat.

He was settling down with a shrew tucked between his paws (partially motivated by the idea of adding the feathers to his nest), a bleary-eyed Jackdawpaw crawled from the cadet’s den; glowering up at the sky mutinously followed by a yawning, shivering Ravenpaw. His friends spotted him and in a testament to his exhaustion, Jackdawpaw walked right by the ukennva as they flopped down beside him.

“Tell Sunsoul to close her eye,” Jackdawpaw moaned, throwing a paw dramatically across his face. “It’s too early for it to be so bright.”

“You’re up early,” said Ravenpaw, easily ignoring his best-friend with the practice of growing up with him. He ducked his head, drawing his tongue across his chest slowly as he worked the sleepiness from his body. It was nice to see truthfully, Ravenpaw was rarely this calm and relaxed when he was fully awake.

“Dawn patrol,” Cardinalpaw reported, licking blood from his lips as he readjusted his sparrow. “Fennyield are getting bold - if we’re right about Raggedjaw, the new Skua is testing borders.”

“Testing them?” Jackdawpaw said, tilting his head.

“Seeing how far they can go before we respond,” Ravenpaw explained to him, returning his gaze to Cardinalpaw. “Did you see any?”

“No, only smelled them. Our Storm’s going to bring it up at the next Peace-Gather.”

“Good,” said Jackdawpaw firmly, reaching out to steal Cardinalpaw’s shrew. He was batted at in response, the gray tom rolling on his back dramatically in response. “We have enough to worry about already.”

“The Styrman handled the attackers,” Cardinalpaw reminded his friend gently. Jackdawpaw had been part of the dissenting crowd on Ravenpaw’s behalf - not that the ruddy tom blamed him, his friend had been forced to see both himself and Ravenpaw in states of disarray. “They’ve been punished.”

“They ambushed you after we already won,” Jackdawpaw hissed, an uncharacteristic noise from the usually light-hearted tom.

Ravenpaw rested his tail on Jackdawpaw’s back as Cardinalpaw shuffled closer to him, allowing their pelts to brush against each other.

“We’re okay now,” Ravenpaw told him gently. “It was a battle - cats get hurt. It wasn’t honorable but if we held grudges for every ambush, we’d never stop warring.”

Jackdawpaw huffed but leaned into their comfort all the same. They remained silent until Cardinalpaw could feel his friend’s tense muscles relaxing again.

“Enough of the politics,” Cardinalpaw said, flicking his ear. “We have other things to worry about - Our Storm says we have an assessment today.”

“Another assessment?” Ravenpaw yelped, sitting straight up. “Already?”

“Foundations Mastery Assessment,” Cardinalpaw confirmed, another bemused purr rumbling in his chest. “If we pass, we get to work on our elankis.”

“Really?!” Jackdawpaw said, his bad mood completely forgotten in the face of elanki-training.

“Yep.”

“Awesome!” purred Jackdawpaw, kneading the ground. “I’m going to be the fiercest guard when I can train my elanki!”

Ravenpaw glanced towards the cadet’s den, “Maybe we should wake Chaffinchpaw and Wrenpaw so they can eat.”

“Nah, they had moonpeak patrol,” Jackdawpaw told him. “I’ll bring them a couple of robins.”

Cardinalpaw winced in sympathy - if there was a worse patrol to be assigned to than dawn patrol, it was the moonpeak patrol. Especially if you didn’t know beforepaw and used up a lot of energy during the day. He finished off the last of his shrew as Jackdawpaw quickly darted back towards the ukennva, to scoop up the birds as promised. He hummed lightly in satisfaction as Ravenpaw began to tell him about the dream Jackdawpaw had the night before.

| | |

“Your first task will be hunting.”

Cardinalpaw nodded, flexing his claws into the soft bark of the mossy-log he was sitting upon while his mentor stood before him.

“Unlike the Corrections Assessment, there are specific prey you will be seeking,” Asterdawn asserted. “You will need a mouse to prove your quiet paw-steps, a bird to show you’ve learned to move swiftly and either a frog or a minnow to show your willingness to hunt unusual prey to feed your faction in desperate times.”

Cardinalpaw wrinkled his nose - hunting another frog meant he would defintely be pushing through mud again. He mourned his pristine pelt even as he nodded his understanding. His mentor chuckled - clearly she’d chosen frogs specifically to challenge him.

“Additional points can be gained from rare catches such as porcupines, boar piglets and even adders - but be careful. These creatures are extra credit for a reason - all of them can be very dangerous. There is no shame in retreat to prevent yourself from being badly injured or killed.”

Cardinalpaw bobbed his head in understanding - he wouldn’t seek out any of those creatures on purpose anyway. He’d met one cat who’d been skunked when he was younger and swiftly decided he wanted nothing to do with the creatures. As for boar…

He shuddered at the mere idea.

“Your range is from he to the Neutral Stretch,” Asterdawn instructed him. “When you’ve finished your hunt, bring your prey back to the barracks to be distributed by the Head Sitter - then come straight to the Sandy Hollow for the next leg.”

He expressed his agreement then watched as his mentor strode off - not heading back to the barracks but intentionally vanishing so that she could follow him. He waited for her to leave both his eyesight and earshot, licking his paws passively to begin his assessment. Waiting had it own advantages, giving him time to pick up on the prey in the area. The conversation he had with Asterdawn had chased off the creatures closest to them. He lifted his head, opening his mouth to take in all the scents drifting through the air - this was an assessment testing his knowledge of the basic skills after all, he would be doing everything to the letter.

As usual, it didn’t take him long to catch scent of a mouse somewhere in the forest. He took a moment to figure out which direction it was coming from before setting off.

Cardinalpaw forced himself to move slowly, pulling on every lesson he’d had about mice up to this point. It was taking him moons and migrations to reach his quarry but it was better than moving too quickly, stepping too hard and missing the creature in front of Bluestar. It was fairly unnerving how such a large cat was capable of disappearing so thoroughly into the woods, that even his focused tastes of the air caught not the faintest scent of her on his tongue.

He pressed on through the bushes, allowing the leaves to drag across his back. It served a dual purpose - to make it sound like the wind was shaking the trees and to prevent the branches to snag in his fur, yanking at his pelt. He stepped around the fallen leaves, leaping up and shimmying across logs and rocks to minimize as much crunching as he could.

It felt like it took a moon and a half before he could finally see his target - a little brown mouse with small, rounded ears resting on its haunches. It was near completely engrossed in the maple-seed it was clutching in its tiny paws.

Cardinalpaw pushed down his excitement, staying low to the ground. Thus far, everything was in his favor - the wind was blowing towards him, the mouse’s back was towards him and only sporadically looked around as if certain in its safety. He had just entered pouncing distance and was bunching his hind-legs together to strike when the wind changed direction, blowing directly towards the mouse. Firepaw lunged in the same heartbeat that the mouse sat-up in, quickly slamming his paws around the rodent to keep it from charging off into the forest. His teeth connected in its neck and the mouse died instantly.

“Phew,” Cardinalpaw sighed, shaking off the nerves that had blossomed seeming the mouse ready to retreat. Maybe he would get extra points for catching it after the wind changed?

“A bird or a minnow,” Cardinalpaw mused aloud, thinking. Frogs and minnows would admittedly be easier to find than birds - all he had to do was search for a body of water and search the shore-line. They tended to stick to a few specific pools on Stormborn land. If he went for those first, he would be caked in mud longer which would be uncomfortable but could potentially disguise his deep red coat. On the other paw, he would probably be so itchy; he’d scare off any birds he came across.

After a bit more deliberation, he decided to find birds first. He would be too uncomfortable to focus if he let himself be smeared with mud for so long.

Decision made, he pricked his ears; listening for any sound that could indicate a bird - ruffling feathers from preening, flapping wings as one landed, bird-song and the rhythmic tapping on a tree. Birds were noisy creatures whose mere existence made up a large portion of the blissful ambience of the forest and if you followed the sound, you’d find one soon enough.

Before long, he’d found himself on the Neutral Stretch - something that made his pelt prickle with satisfaction. He didn’t know if Asterdawn was being gentle on him by allowing this particular section of territory to be involved in his assessment but he wouldn’t prod a gift-goose in the flank. Wild birds were frequent guests on the stretch, resting in trees and hopping around the ground in search of left-over seeds the gardens discarded.

Sure enough, it only took a moment of slinking around to see a small chickadee eagerly swallowing some of the spilled seed scattered on the ground.

Cardinalpaw immediately dropped into a crouch, creeping forward into the brush. He chattered a series of soft warbling sounds, enticing the creature to look up. He kept chattering, keeping to the pattern he’d heard birds sing of this song as the creature hopped closer and closer to his hiding place. It was cub’s play to lash out quickly, smacking the chickadee to the ground, stunning it. He pulled himself through the bushes to kill it properly.

He twisted around, preparing to bury it only to be abruptly bowled over. Cardinalpaw yelped loudly twisting as he fought back against his attacker. He kept his ears flat against his head, hissing as he swiped at his attacker’s face.

The ambush ended as quickly as it started, the attacker immediately putting distance between them with a startled, “Hey, calm down it was a tackle! I won’t do it again!”

Cardinalpaw’s ears immediately pricked, hostility dying immediately. He rolled to his paws as the soothing scent of charcoal, ashweed and silvermint touched his nose. Sure enough, he came face to face with a familiar silvery rosetted molly with deep cornflower blue eyes.

“Ahasra!” he called in delight, his tail immediately shooting up in greeting. She purred loudly as he tackled her, licking her forehead and purring hard in turn.

“Hi Soŕi! I saw you hunting so I waited until you caught the chickadee - how’ve you been? I’ve seen you a few times on patrol but I’ve been so busy training and you looked so focused I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Dawn patrols,” he tells her with a chuckle. “The bane of my existence.”

“You look stronger,” she remarked, giving him a once-over with critical eyes. He shivered a little, a little vulnerable to the intensity of her scrutiny now that they’d been apart for so long. He gave his chest a self-conscious lick. “Leaner too… do you even eat there?”

“Of course,” Cardinalpaw chuckled - he understood where she was coming from though. He’d probably burned away the last of his kitten-fat with all of the physical activity he was involved in. “But we spend so much time running through the trees like Taihakida is snapping at our tails that it’s all burned away.”

“Yikes,” his sister winced, pinna pulling back. “I hate running.”

“Ahasra, you run all the time.”

“Doesn’t mean I like it,” Ahasra told him with her whisker’s twitching. “My body always wants to run - hates walking - but I assure you that I hate every second of it.”

He shoved her lightly with his paw, rolling his eyes fondly at her antics.

“So how’s training going?” he inquired. “You look stronger too.”

And she did.

When he’d left his sister, she wasn’t exactly scrawny but a life-time of being forbidden from doing anything too strenuous had shaped her. Her face had been rounder than his and his siblings, her belly a bit plumper and her legs soft - in short; she looked like a slightly taller cub. Now, though her face was still round there was a bit of an angle to it, long slender legs revealed the outline of muscle even through her long fur and when she rolled from beneath him to stretch, he could see the other smaller ones flexing across her back.

He was proud of her - he knew how much work would’ve had to go into her training for her form to have changed like this.

“Training been great,” Ahasra purred. She gestured smugly to a sewn on golden-orange patch on her collar near the tag identifying her as a squire. “I’ve got my first pin already.”

“Really?!” Cardinalpaw gasped, moving forward to inspect it. He purred even harder, pressing his cheek against her. “That’s so blazing ‘hassi! How did makira react?”

She puffed out her chest, fur bristling slightly with excitement as a joy brighter than the day sky twinkled in her eyes, “I’m pretty sure that’s the first time she’s ever been proud of me!”

“I knew you’d get your stripes faster than anyone!” Cardinalfire purred harder, nudging his sister affectionately. “I’m proud of you nipuyu. You’re gonna scorch this world.”

A look of embarrassment crossed her face as Ahasra ducked her head, never very good at handling praise and compliments. She pressed her face into his neck a bit more firmly - it was odd to be the taller one, after spending so long in the Stormborn. He dragged his tongue between her ears gently.

“...yekiyai anasiŕo,” she murmured into his fur. “You’ve always believed in me.”

They took a moment to bask in the warmth of each other’s presence, enjoying being close again. Cardinalpaw breathed in his sister’s scent, missing her even more dearly though she stood beside him. Just looking at her, he felt like he’d missed out on so much of her growing up - it had only been a few moons and yet…

“Well, I’ve got to get back to my assessment,” Cardinalpaw said, reluctantly stepping back. He made sure to memorize her new appearance as best as he could.

“Assessment?” his sister echoed, realization dawning on her face. “You’re in the middle of an assessment? And you stopped to talk to me instead of telling me to screw off?! Sori you ash-brain finish your assessment! We can talk again later!”

He laughed at her scolding tone as hos baby sister darted back to where he’d dropped his chickadee, bringing it back and placing it in front of him.

“Thank you,” he purrs. As much as he cared about his assessment, he’d needed this - his sister was quite a sight for eyes as sore as his. He wished their brother could be there - standing beside her like a shadow but his absence panged in his chest, reminding him that things were different. “Tell the others that I love them and I miss them but I’m happy.”

“And safe?” she prompted.

He chuckles, “As safe as a cat could be around here.”

| | |

“Grooming again Cardinalpaw?”

The ruddy tom glanced up, tongue half out of his mouth paused where it was dragging at the base of his tail. He flicked his ear at the approaching for of Jackdawpaw and chewed at the base of his tail, discarding a thorn and continuing his bath.

“He’s been grooming since he got here,” Chaffinchpaw said rolling her eyes. “At first I thought he was just cleaning the mud, but there’s not been a speck of it in a while.”

“Old habits die hard,” Cardinalpaw grumbled around his fur. As if he’d ever go around looking like an abandoned badger cub when he had a chance to fix it. “Image is important.”

“But you groom so much your fur’s gonna fall out,” Jackdawpaw snorted.

Cardinalpaw stood up, shaking out his mid-length glossy fur allowing it to fluff out a bit. He gave his paws a little shake each, dislodging any dirt that could’ve built up on them; examining them for mud between his paws. Much to his pleasure he was as spotless as if he was still part of the Shining Sun. He would have to find a shallow stream to finish off his scales but for now, he was as clean as he could be.

“If I look bad, it reflects badly on my family,” Cardinalpaw explained to them. He knows he’s a bit more obsessed with his appearance than his factionmates but it had been bred and branded into him. A prince should look put-together no matter how they felt and no matter the circumstances. The lesson had been parroted to him day after day until he and his siblings had sickened from hearing it. “I don’t mind, I like my pelt.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Jackdawpaw grumbled, eying his own coat.

“It is,” Cardinalpaw admitted. “My sister’s fur is longer than mine and she hates grooming it.”

Jackdawpaw shivered, clearly remembering Ahasra’s long, silken coat.

“I’d hate to be her in the warm seasons,” Chaffinchpaw murmured.

“Her fur is silver - she’s fine.”

“That’s cold Cardinalpaw.”

He was interrupted from responding by Ravenpaw bounding down into the Hollow, trotting over to them with his ears flattened to the sides of his head.

“Hey Rave,” Jackdawpaw greeted happily, raising his tail in greeting.

“Hi,” Ravenpaw mumbled, his legs trembling as he sat beside them. He shook his head as if dislodging errant thoughts looking distressed, “I’m going to fail. I missed my shrew.”

“You’re not going to fail from one shrew,” Jackdawpaw soothed, running his tail down the lanky tom��s back. He pressed more closely against him, their pelts brushing reassuringly.

“But I missed!” Ravenpaw hissed. “I waited too long and I saw me and got away!”

“Maybe you’ll get a half-point for knowing what you did wrong,” Chaffinchpaw offered. “Callastorm saying knowing why you failed is half the battle to later success.”

“And Larkwing isn’t heartless,” Cardinalpaw added. “Sometimes even hunters come back with nothing - one missed shrew isn’t the end of the world.”

As Ravenpaw tried to absorb in their reassurances, taking in shaky breaths; Wrenpaw came pelting into the clearing panting. Cardinalpaw glanced at the sky - it was already late in the day, so the brown tabby had been cutting it close.

“I-I’m last?” Wrenpaw panted, looking at his denmates.

“Yeah - Chaffinchpaw was first. As usual,” Cardinalpaw sighed.

Chaffinchpaw just smirked, flexing the claws on her right paw smugly.

“I hope I don’t lose points for being last,” Wrenpaw fretted, sitting down.

“That wasn’t one of the penalties.”

They all glanced up - it seemed their mentors had followed Wrenpaw to the Sandy Hollow. Asterdawn was in the lead with Callastorm, Larkwing, Titfeather and Lionbelly following behind her. Titfeather had been given the responsibility of finishing Wrenpaw’s training in the wake of Mottletail. He was Callastorm’s own cadet before Chaffinchpaw and it showed in the tom’s calm temper and patient disposition. He was so dramatically different from Chaffinchpaw that Cardinalpaw was a little curious as to how much Callastorm must’ve struggled to adapt to Chaffinchpaw’s more aggressive, stubborn demeanor.

“You’ve all done well,” praised Lionbelly, bringing him back to the present. “A few mistakes but that’s to be expected of cadets.”

“You’ll receive your final scores after the sparring portion of this assessment,” Asterdawn informed them. “Now, let’s begin!”

| | |

Cardinalpaw flopped into his nest, stretching out his sore muscles with a sense of satisfied exhaustion. His cohorts followed his lead, stumbling to their own nests yawning and flexing their claws in turn. Quietpaw had taken up residence in their den with them although she’d been excluded from the assessment, Asterdawn had elected to continue their cadetships. The Stormborn didn’t have any ranks that would equate to escorts but Quietpaw had been ushered into the nursery under the gentle guidance of Brindlewing. As it was, the guest cadet had curled up together in a nest they built for themselves; resting as they weren’t used to the Stormborn’s working period.

Gales rarely allowed work to pass into the dark hours, their days beginning as the sun rises and ending as it sets. On the contrary, Storms have their cats split in half with some of them being primed to end their days at noon and others who start their days at dusk. Rarely did they perform official tasks at sunpeak, this period often being considered personal time. The two Gales had been on that morning’s dawn patrol followed up by a hunting patrol.

Though his body ached with bruised from thumping against the ground in both the sparring session and the encounter with his sister, it was laced with the pleasant sensation of a job well-done. Cardinalpaw had ended his assessment with an accumulative 19 points - he’d gotten nine points for the skills and motions he’d displayed during his hunting. He’d then gotten an additional five for the wind changing directions mid-hunt - he’d purred to himself with pleasure when that had been announced. He’d ended up losing a point for stopping to talk to Ahasra - sometimes he took in stride despite the disbelieving expressions from his cohorts and the other mentors when Asterdawn mentioned it - but otherwise, he’d done well.

Then moving into the combat portion of the assessment, he’d earned another three for his battle stance and adaptability.

Chafinchpaw had gotten her full nine hunting points as well, but then, Callastorm levied her with an additional ten for a repeat performance of catching a bird mid-flight - this time, she’d caught two at once. Netting six point in total for her sparring, Chaffinchpaw took the lead as the most successful cadet.

Ravenpaw wasn’t far behind netting 20 points because the lanky tom had neglected to mention that in exchange for missing the shrew, he’d caught an adder. He’d improved more on his style of combat too, the dodging and weaving he’d done being more focused and interspersed with sharp, decisively jabs towards Chaffinchpaw’s rib-cage.

Jackdawpaw lagged behind meeting with Cardinalpaw, he’d caught all three of the necessary prey but was still relying heavily on his strength and size in battles. This ultimately resulted in him losing his spar with Wrenpaw leaving him with 17 points.

“The passing score is ten,” Asterdawn had announced making all of them heave a sigh of relief. “So long as you caught at least two of your assigned prey and showed improvement in battle skills, you would be able to pass. As all of you have met these requirements, I am pleased to announce that all of you are now permitted to move onto rank specialty training.”

“I can’t believe we’re already working on elanki,” Jackdawpaw purred. “I don’t even care that we don’t get to do the cool stuff yet.”

“What do you mean?” Chaffinchpaw inquired.

“Lionbelly already told me we don’t get to use sun-blessed elanki until we have the basics of normal elanki,” the gray tom grumbled, the tip of his tail twitching. Their cohort all groaned in unison, some of the excited energy dying down a little. “At least the unaligned elanki are still cool.”

“And dangerous,” shuddered Cardinalpaw, his mind shooting back to the incident with Nettleflower. “Elanki can melt through wood.”

“Melted?” Ravenpaw squeaked, leaning back a little.

“She practically sliced it in-half.” Cardinalpaw insisted.

“Elanki is really scary.”

“Well you’re not supposed to use them lightly,” Chaffinchpaw said, flicking her tail dismissively. “Elanki can kill - so we only use them in real battles. And they make us wait so we’re responsible.”

“I say they should demonstrate by clawing a rock,” Cardinalpaw proclaimed with another - slightly exaggerated - shudder.

“If you think that’s scary, you should see star’s elanki - paam told me about the first time Our Storm used hers. He said it was like lightning had come to life and fought for us,” Chaffinchpaw insisted.

“Count me out - if I ever see lightning charging at me, I’m running away.”

“Good thing you’re on our side then - don’t betray us and it’ll never charge you,” snorted Wrenpaw resting his chin on his paws.

“What are the other star elanki light?” Cardinalpaw inquired, drawing his tongue between the toes of his front-paws.

“I’ve never seen them,” Chaffinchpaw admitted. “From what I understand, Our Storm went to war against the Fenns once and used her cloak - since then, we’ve not seen claw nor whisker of the other factions on our land.”

“We Storms haven’t had to worry about invasions since Our Storm became our star,” Ravenpaw agreed and Cardinalpaw felt himself puffing up with faction. That was his mentor they were talking about - his mentor who was so fierce, no legionaries from any territory would be brave enough to fight her. “Her strength intimidates them so we’ve been focusing on the famines.”

“And the stillborn,” Jackdawpaw murmured sadly.

The den fell silent, any lingering levity vanishing from the weight of his words.

“I still don’t understand,” Jackdawpaw said in a whisper. “What did we do wrong?”

“I don’t know, but someone must’ve done something,” said Ravenpaw, eyes dropping to his nesting material. “Slysoul is merciful and Moonsoul is kind - they wouldn’t take our cubs for no reason.”

“You think it’s because of the Fenns?” Wrenpaw suggested. “They chased out a whole faction.”

A pause as all sides considered this.

“... the famine does seem to be affecting everyone but the Shorerisen again,” Ravenpaw mused, stifling a yawn.

“So this could last until the Galespun come back.”

“Or until the Skua is deposed,” reasoned Chaffinchpaw. “It was his idea after all.”

“It’s late,” Jackdawpaw murmured, settling down in his nest. He swept his large tail around himself, settling into the high ends of his cozy nest. “Who knows if we’ll be dragged out on a dawn patrol tomorrow - let’s sleep.”

“It would be nice,” mumbled Quietpaw without bothering to open her eyes.

Cardinalpaw snickered with the rest of his cohort as they all got comfy. His exhaustion clutched onto him and he was swept away into the land of dreams quickly.

| | |

“Well done Cardinalpaw - now aim for the rock.”

He took in a deep breath, feeling the power thrumming through his veins. He’d been trained to observe the flow of his makai since he was only about 3 moons old but he was being taught to put it into action. He felt the energy flowing though himself and focused on the circuit centered in his paws, pressing lightly against his toes but flowing back into the wider circuit with no-where to go. He reached in himself and directed it outwards, pushing it to follow the new track created by unsheathing his claws.

He watched his claws take on a bright but focused glow, wrapping around each digit.

Cardinalpaw hobbled over to the rock he was focusing on careful to keep his balance before he surged forward with as much energy as she could spare with a, “ha!”

His claws caught slightly on the rock but rather than glancing off and leaving thin, white lines on the surface; his claws had sunk in, dredging relatively deep gouges.

“Well done,” praised Asterdawn making a purr rumble out of his chest. He was very proud of the markings that seemed more fitting for a slice of wood than a hard set stone. “Soon you’ll be on your way to using it in active battle.”

“Skeis,” muttered Cardinalpaw. That goal seemed further off than the second sky, he was already tired and that was just while using it standing still.

“Using elanki is very draining - your reserves will increase as you mature but you should always be very careful,” his mentor lectured him. “How much do you think is left in your well?”

Cardinalpaw gave himself a little shake and closed his eyes taking deep breaths to calm himself. His heart pounded in his chest loudly in a deafening sound but that just made it easier to find his flow - the well was centered in the chest, caught in a creature’s lungs and heart. It felt somewhat normal but seeing it wasn’t the way to tell anyway - he reached out and tugged gently on the well.

A painful burning sensation spread through his heart and lungs not unlike when he first started on the forest sprints making him tremble a little in response to the pain.

“None,” he reported to his mentor, wincing as the elanki pulsed through his lungs. “If I try anything but following the current, it starts burning.”

Asterdawn frowned a little but nodded.

“Then our next focus will be on moderation and controlling the flow of your elanki,” she informed him. “You used far too much for that one swipe - you should always have a bit left over in case of emergencies.”

“Like an ambush?” Cardinalpaw asked.

“An ambush,” she agreed. “Or an enraged boar interrupted by the battle or a fallen tree that you need to cut through to free yourself. There are many ways your elanki can be of use so you should always try to spare some for these situations.”

Cardinalpaw nodded obediently - it made sense enough to him. Besides, the pain that came with over-extending his elanki wasn’t worth it.

“Now take some time to rest Cardinlpaw - you will be attending today’s Peace-Gather alongside Ravenpaw and Jackdawpaw.”

“What about Chaffinchaw and Wrenpaw?”

“Chaffinchpaw is not allowed to attend this Peace-Gather for fighting with a cadet of the Shorerisen and Wrenpaw had volunteered to stay back with here.”

“Oh, alright,” Cardinalpaw agreed easily, taking the moment to stretch his legs forward.

He padded after his mentor from the clearing, shaking his paws out every few steps as his toes tingled from the strange sensation of using his makai. It was not unlike the feelings of nettles and needles felt when he laid strangely on his paw.

“You can get a draught from Spottedholly to handle the stinging sensation,” his mentor told him when she noticed him walking a bit stiffly. “It will be a long-term companion until you are used to using your elanki.”

He gives her a mew of thanks - the information would be useful but as it was, the second they were fully in the barracks he flopped down beside the cadet’s stump. He licked his paws, attempting to wash away the stinging by himself as he watched Lionbelly and Larkwing immediately sweep his mentor away into a meeting.

A pang of jealousy touched his heart.

He wished he could spend a bit more time with Asterdawn like the other cadets did with their own mentors. Jackdawpaw wasn’t to be envied as he was now adjusting to Lionbelly’s new status as lieutenant preventing the golden furred tom from spending as much time with his cadet as he used to but Callastorm went out hunting with Chaffinchpaw every day and Larkwing dedicated his non-dawn patrol mornings to lounging with Ravenpaw. Even Titfeather spent sunpeak wrestling with Wrenpaw in the clearing, laughing and pawing at each other.

He understands that his mentor is busy - that she’s always in meetings about soothing the relations between the factions, tending to their territory and ensuring the relationship between the Stormborn and the surrounding loner lands remained at the very least neutral. Her job was important - as important as the duties and responsibilities he had back in the Shining Sun but he wishes he could spend more time with her anyway.

He sighed mournfully, intending to move further up on his forelegs to continue his grooming when a sharp pain shot through his tail.

“Ouch!” he yelped, whirling around with half unsheathed claws.

He came nose to nose with a small cinnamon furred molly whose tail was raised proudly in the air.

“I did it!” she declared.

“Lynx?” Cardinalpaw blinked, thinking back to the bundles of energy that regularly darted throughout the clearing. Four moons old and she and her brother were already both complete menaces upon on the faction with their sneak attacks - Cardinalpaw was just the latest in a long line of victims. “Leave my poor tail alone!”

“Or what?” she challenged.

Cardinalpaw growled playfully, giving her a teasing snap of his teeth. The little molly squealed darting off towards her brother - Wolf - who watched with awe as Cardinalpaw came trotting up to them.

“You got a cadet,” Wolf said, tilting his head back to stare up at him.

“Yeah Cardinalpaw’s my friend now,” Lynx boasted. “And he’s showing me real cadet moves.”

At that, Wolf immediately began demanding that Cardinalpaw teach him ‘ the cool stuff’ too. The ruddy furred tom stifled his laughter merely offering to teach the two cubs a proper hunter’s crouch. He was bombarded with excited squealing as the two cubs dropped to their bellies beginning to squirm across the clearing as Cardinalpaw corrected their stances.

“Make sure your tail isn’t dragging, but don’t let it stand up like a tree,” he lectured, watching Wolf immediately slam his tail to the ground.

Cardinalpaw shook his head fondly - they would be four moons old soon, old enough to begin following his cohort to the Sandy Hollow to shadow their training sessions. It didn’t hurt to start them on their lessons early. His gaze drew up to Daisyflower, resting by the nursery with her paws crossed over each other while she watched her twins fondly.

“You’ll make a good mentor one day,” she tells him.

Cardinalpaw’s pinna twitched sheepishly, and turned away as his ears heated up. Seeing as the twins were thoroughly distracted with their hunting crouches, now playing a game of ‘hunters,’ he padded back over to his spot by the cadet’s stump and settled down again. His time, content to watch the cubs play.

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Kingdom Translations

Nipuyu | A common nickname for a runt (lit. little-little)

Yekiyai | Thank you (informal)

Anasiŕo | Older brother

Kingdom Notes

Moons and Migrations - A common phrase used to mean that someone is taking a long time to perform a task, often with the implication that a flock of birds could’ve migrated and returned in the time it took for a task to be completed

Taihakida - The Traitor and Turntail, a greedy weasel that’s said to have been the instigator for many of the world’s worst wars and chaos pre-connection era. It’s said that Taihakida may have lost his physical form but can now whisper in the areas of creatures when they are alone causing doubt, spreading gossip and implanting concern.

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Empire Translations

Elanki | The internal magic used by the creatures of the world, within the factions; it is a combative energy

Pride Notes

Ukennva | The collection of recently hunted food available to the faction (lit. fresh prey)

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#strelles au #strike the match chapters #strelles cardinalpaw #strelles jackdawpaw #strelles wrenpaw #strelles chaffinchpaw #strelles wolfkit #strelles lynxkit #strelles ahasra

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