Hello Feline Friends

Hazelpaw pinned her ears back. “But I hurt you,” she protested.

It took a moment for the world to stop spinning for Yellowfoot, the tom flopping down onto his side on purpose so he wouldn’t stumble around and potentially hurt himself more. Once he’d recovered enough to see straight, the tom glanced up at his worried apprentice and smiled. “That one was pretty good.”

Hazelpaw quickly turned around, eyes wide. “Yellowfoot!” She yelped.

This time, Hazelpaw’s successful kick caught Yellowfoot right on the jaw. In his excitement to help his apprentice get the move right he’d moved too close by accident, and the force of the kick sent the tom reeling.

Hazelpaw scowled but attempted it again with better results.

“One more shot!” Yellowfoot huffed encouragingly. “Faster! Protect your forepaws with the speed of your hindpaws!”

Hazelpaw did it again, but this time it would have been very easy to knock her off her paws.

(Brb)

“Do it again!” Yellowfoot Mewed from behind, smiling encouragingly at the She-cat.

Hazelpaw scowled in concentration and attempted the kick again. This one was better, but she would have hardly hurt someone with it.

“Try to get your paws back under you a little faster this time,” Mewed Yellowfoot. “Other than that it was great form.” The tom took his position behind The she-cat once more, watching intently to see if she needed further coaching or if she would nail the kick.

Hazelpaw shook off his offer of help, getting back up with a frown.

With her slip-up, Yellowfoot pulled his head back and padded over to Hazelpaw’s side. “Good first effort,” He mewed, offering the She-cat help in getting back up if she needed it.

Hazelpaw put her full weight on her forepaws and kicked out like told with a small huff of effort. While it was a passable kick, it wasn't fast enough and she wasn't able to get her hind paws back underneath her in time, causing her to land on her belly with a grunt.

Yellowfoot nodded, standing behind Hazelpaw to assess the effectiveness of her technique for himself.

Hazelpaw nodded thoughtfully. "May I try now?"

“You’ve gotta put your full weight on your forepaws, and then kick out behind you with your hindpaws.” Yellowfoot explained, demonstrating the move. “It’s a good way to catch predators, or even other cats, by surprise.”

Hazelpaw watched his movements closely with an intense frown. The faster she got this down, the sooner she'd be able to go hunting.

Treewhisker left the camp completely, going towards the twolegplace to tell Henry that the he-kit has made her decision. She wanted to stay with Violetwing, in the clans. That was clear.

In the territory, Yellowfoot was coaching Hazelpaw on a new battle move. The tom had figured out that the optimal way to get The she-cat to focus on her battle training and not simply dread it was to sprinkle the lessons in with long hunting trips that crisscrossed the territory.

With a grunt of effort, Violetwing pushed herself up into a sitting position and started to groom her fur.

Of course, Treewhisker wasn’t thinking in that exact moment about who the father of the incoming litter was. He might be slightly less enthusiastic if he was.

Eventually, Treewhisker stood up, stretching out. As much as he disliked leaving, he had to go see to it that the clan wasn’t falling apart outside. “I’ll be back,” promised the leader to his mate, kissing her quickly as he stood between her and the exit to the nursery.

Violetwing smirked back at her mate, already plotting to make him do a lot of the watching.

The She-kit let out a purr. “I can’t wait! We’re all going to have such pretty names I bet. You have the best names for cats in your stories.” The small girl glanced earnestly up at Violetwing, meaning every word of the compliment. In fact, she hoped she’d be named after a particular character in one of them, the one she made Violetwing tell her several times already. Flowerkit.

Treewhisker watched the little ball of energy between them, and cast an amused glance at Violetwing, one that seemed to say How on earth are we going to keep up with more of them?

“It will be any day now,” Violetwing mewed gently.

Treewhisker glanced toward Violetwing’s belly, and the She-kit did the same.

“How much longer until I have brothers and sisters?” Asked the kit, eyes wide.