Chapter Eleven
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Stone romped through the forest, chasing a butterfly. He knew he was acting like a kit, but who care's? How could he not? Dovepaw bounced around behind him, pouncing on anything that moved. The two giggled and laughed as they went about their play.
Suddenly, Dovepaw pounced on him. All laughter left her eyes as she stared down at him. Her expression was blank for a second, then she hissed, and her eyes filled with rage. She bent down and grabbed at his neck, biting painfully hard on his jugular. All this happen so fast, that Stone had no time to fight back. All he could do was screech in pain.A low laugh made Stone jump to his senses. He looked around himself quickly. "Wha?"
Savage stood across from him, chuckling softly. "Daydreaming during your lesson, Stone. If you were any other cat you'd have been..." He stopped himself, then continued. "Well, anyway..."
Stone put his ears back, ashamed. He couldn't help it. Every time he came near the border with the forest, he couldn't help but dream of being inside. He still considered it to be his home. It had been a couple days since he had first seen the forest, and ever since he'd been daydreaming and dreaming that he was in there. Though somehow they all ended badly, with him dying, or being seriously injured.
Today Savage had taken him to the border with the forest to show him all the guards there, and tell him all their jobs. The lesson was unbearably boring, which was probably why he had stopped paying attention so soon. He knew Savage was talking again, and that he should be paying attention, but he didn't really care. He just walked along, following him. He missed the fighting lessons he had had before. They interested him more.
Savage knew Stone didn't find these lesson interesting. Stone could tell he knew.
Maybe he only gives them to annoy me...or bore me. He thought, staring at his mentor with half-closed bored eyes. After only a moment he let his gaze stray back to the forest. There he spotted something that made him suddenly alert. A long black tail hung down from a branch. The cat who the tail belonged to was hiding among leave of that branch, but Stone though he could see two glowing green eyes.
The tail twitched, and then was pulled out of sight, but the eyes remained.
He knows I've seen him. Stone thought, trying not to smirk.
Stupid cat doesn't know to hide his tail, too.Stone kept walking, not watching Savage at all anymore. He didn't notice when Savage turned off the trail, and began to head back to his den. Stone walked on along the forest for a minute before even realizing he had left. For a single second he had a strong urge to dart into the forest, and never be seen by the savages again, but as fast as the thought came, he shot it down. He had almost died out there before, why risk it again.
Slowly, Stone turned away from the forest and walked after his mentor, refusing to let himself look back. After he had walked for a bit, he got the feeling that he had blown a chance for escape. He sighed, half-wishing he had taken off while he could.
When they got back to Savage's den, Savage flicked his tail towards it to show Stone that was where he was to stay, then left. Stone watched him go, wondering where he always went after lessons. He then went to the small fresh-kill pile that was kept constantly full enough for two to eat from. He didn't even glance at what he grabbed, he just took it inside the den and settled down on his nest to eat.
As he nibbled, he thought back to the cat he'd seen in the tree. Something about those eyes were familiar. He just couldn't place them. He struggled to remember. For some reason it was important. His eyes suddenly grew wide, and he started hyperventilating, but these were the least of his worries. It was suddenly to dark, the den to small. The walls were closing in. He was trapped. He need to get out. A wave of sheer panic rushed over him in seconds.
Stone jumped to his paws, preparing to run, but after a second the feeling left him. He gasped for breath, and looked around himself in confusion.
What just happened?! He thought as he slowly calm back down. He tried to think back to what had caused the panic attack. He couldn't remember what he'd been thinking about.
He felt kind of dizzy after such a rush of adrenaline. He sat down and put his paw to his head to try and stop everything from spinning. "Ugh." He muttered his disgust when he saw hi half-eaten meal. He was sure he was about the lose what he had eaten of it soon.
"Something wrong?" Savage's voice seemed to come out of nowhere, making Stone jump. He looked up dizzily to find Savage's glowing red eyes looking back at him. Though his voice had sounded concerned, his eyes were as emotionless as ever.
"Uh...yeah...I just...um..." Stone struggled to collect his thoughts. He couldn't seem to remember what had happened to make him dizzy.
Savage didn't seem surprised at all by his loss for words. In fact, he didn't even listen to him in the first place. "You look tired. You should sleep."
"Oh...yeah...sleep" Stone muttered back, laying down. He noticed as soon as he close his eyes that he felt less dizzy. He hardly noticed Savage's pawsteps as he came closer, stood over him for a second, then padded away. He quickly fell into a deep sleep.