Blood and Blossoms (Blossomstep)

Bloodstrike galloped full tilt at a tree, then leaped onto the trunk and scaled the bark as fast as he could. All of the trees near here had a plethora of claw marks on them from his own personal training. His patrol wasn't due until a little later in the day, so he decided the best thing he could do for himself was to train. His body and his mind were becoming very familiar with Skyclan's territory... all of it, but that didn't mean he wanted to stop improving. He whipped around a branch almost as fast a squirrel could and charged toward the end of it. He had to be very careful with this type of training, as he knew he was 10 pounds heavier than most cats on average. The branches had taught him that too as he grew older. A lot of them had broken unexpectedly under his weight, more and more often. A Skyclan cat shouldn't be falling from the sky unless he wanted to! So here he was, perfecting moving with swiftness through the trees and across limbs without falling.

Bloodstrike leaped of of one branch, quite far from the end of it where he knew it would bend or break under him, then landed precariously onto the limbs of the next tree. He scrabbled up despite the tree's best efforts of dropping him to the ground and continued to run. Without any real pattern or reason, Bloodstrike would change direction suddenly and leap to another branch rather than one that was ahead of him. This trick had been difficult the first few times that he tried it, but he was learning. The way he was moving through the trees now, he could almost run across limbs as fast as he could on the ground.

A sudden turn there, jump! Land on the next tree's branches, run carefully, use tail for balance, jump! Next big limb to the left. Jump! The next branch higher up... jump! Even higher now. Bloodstrike ran easily across a thicker tree limb and leaped across a gap between two other trees. Oh mousedung! He barely made the final leap and the tree branch bobbed him up and down as he struggled to swiftly regain his footing. After a few seconds, he managed it, then he was running down the tree branch again...

Blossomstep had come across this area several sunhighs earlier, and it had been empty the other times she had come. Her son's scent filled the area though, and she was certain she knew what this place was for, and today her theory was finally confirmed. She sat among the roots of one of the nearby trees, eyes tracing the tom's form as he leapt from one branch to the next, in a seemingly random pattern. His jumps were well-timed, his landing placed perfectly, and she purred as she watched him go about his own training recalling the way she herself had trained as an apprentice, and still did... Although not as often. Her stomach dropped though as a nearly misplaced jump almost cost Bloodstrike his height, and she gasped as she stood to run and place herself under him. As she moved, however, he was already steadied and continuing his motions, and she paused to catch her breath, feeling her heartbeat slow down at a slug's pace. "Great StarClan....," she whispered, eyes raising to look up at her son again. She thought to call out to him, but she didn't want to risk startling him and causing him to fall or get hurt.

He had been so busy that he never saw or heard Blossomstep approach. He jumped a few more limbs before he realized that she was at the bottom of the tree... and slid to a stop sideways along a perch. He nearly slid forward and off of it, but he had been practicing his need for sudden stops as well.

"Oh! Mom... hi!" He mewed with a bashful flattening of his ears. He plopped down to the next branch, then a few more down until he was on the ground. "I was just... training." It sounded dumb now. With a nervous laugh he approached his mom, whom he hadn't spoken to in... ages it seemed like. They had opposite schedules and they had both been so busy.

He approached the calico she-cat that had nursed him from a kit. A loud, low purr rumbled from his chest as he greeted his mom with a soft headbutt. The talon marks from the owl were gone, but the nasty head-on clash with the eagle had left him with slightly noticeable scars on his left shoulder and right side. There was no way he'd be able to hide those puncture scars, so he held his head high to try to keep her attention up on his face. He knew that she knew he was a warrior, but if there was a chance that this would cause any worry, he wanted to avoid that.

"How have you been? How is patrols? Fought any rowdy neighbors lately? BecauseIwillkillthem." He laughed, saying the last part through gritted teeth. He was joking of course.... mostly.

Blossomstep smiled as Bloodstrike noticed her, calling a greeting as he stopped suddenly. She noted the skill he used in not falling right off of the limb, and purred as she thought of how hard he must have been practicing. She stood and met him in the middle, pressing her nose to his cheek as a purr rumbled in her throat. "You're doing very well, Bloodstrike! That stop was very nicely done." She pulled away, gray eyes taking in her only son. They lingered over the recent wounds, and she winced internally. That had to hurt.... Chuckling as he threatened death on those that had crossed her, she shook her head in a wide sweeping motion. No, Bloodstrike, my patrols have all been fairly quiet. There was old scent of a badger a couple days ago, but after some more patrols I believe that it was merely passing through and left a while ago. How about your patrols? Has the prey been running well? It seems like you train here a lot, I used to do the same in a different spot. Perhaps I should get back into it."

The pregnancy and birth had been harder on her body than she had thought, and it had taken her longer to recover than she could have ever imagined. Rolling her shoulders, she noted their weakness compared to what she was used to.