It had been half a moon.

Pavlova hadn't had time to do much more digging-- she hadn't spoken much to anyone. Just whoever Wrenpaw was talking to.

She couldn't seem too anti-social.

"Hey, Pav!" Wrenpaw sidled up to her. "Lionsong wants you on a patrol!"

"Oh?" Pavlova got up and stretched, looking with interest over to the ginger she-cat. Her eyes lit up when she saw Fogtail sitting nearby, but quickly masked her reaction. "Who are we going with?"

Wrenpaw's whisker drooped. "I'm not going. But Fogtail and Whitepaw are going! And Lionsong and Mossclaw, obviously."

Yes!

Pavlova hadn't been able to get Fogtail alone for a long time-- he was always with that she-cat, Hollyfur. She'd have to amuse herself by just observing the pair.

Of course, her time spent watching them hadn't been pointless.

She didn't do anything pointless.

"Thanks, Wrenpaw," mewed Pavlova, already going over what she was going to say to Fogtail. And how she was going to say it.

That was very important.

Wrenpaw purred. "Anytime."

With one last glance toward Wrenpaw, the white she-cat bounded over to the small patrol, edging as close to Fogtail as she dared.

She took a deep breath. Okay. Control experiment. Variables unchanged.

"How's your day been going?" she asked.

He nodded briefly in her direction. "Great."

Hm. Not as much of a reaction as she'd hoped.

Not that she should really be surprised. After all, he'd had his whole life to establish a connection with Hollyfur, and she'd only been in the picture for less than two moons.

But now for her test...

But before she could even open her muzzle, Lionsong spoke up. "Let's go," she mewed.

Swallowing her disappointment, Pavlova followed the warrior, keeping pace with Fogtail. After they'd walked a bit, she felt the time was ripe.

Time to put her observations about Hollyfur to the test.

"So, Fogtail, do you have any hunting tips?" She purred slightly at the end or her sentence and made her eyes light up, imitating what she always saw Hollyfur doing.

Fogtail blinked three times, his own eyes lighting up. "Yeah, of course!" He bunched up his legs and leapt, far higher than Pavlova could have imagined. He managed to brush the bottom of one of the lower trees, and Pavlova didn't have to fake her gasp of awe.

"How did you do that?" she asked, eyes shining.

Fogtail licked his chest modestly. "It's nothing. Just a SkyClan thing."

"Can I try?" asked Pavlova curiously. She wondered if this was something passed down from mother to kit, or if it was a skill that could be learned. She was betting on the former-- strong, high leaps would be helpful in getting around the Gorge.

Fogtail nodded. "Sure, I'll show you--" he started, but was cut off by Lionsong's slightly impatient mew.

"Hey, Pavlova, Fogtail! Let's actually hunt, okay?"

"Right," mewed Fogtail, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. His tail drooped slightly, then he shook his head sharply and glanced at Pavlova, a bit of suspicion covering his features.

Pavlova had to conceal her reaction-- ordinary cats wouldn't have noticed the look-- and instead purred, meeting his amber eyes. He gazed back at her for a few heartbeats before tearing his eyes away and stepping toward Lionsong.

The pale ginger she-cat stayed in pace with the three other cats, close enough that Pavlova kept nearly stumbling over the warrior's paws. She masked the annoyance in her features by staring at the forest as she walked, observing the undersides of trees and various branches. She could see the scuffs and dents where cats' claws had dug into the bark.

She turned to Whitepaw, hoping the other apprentice might know some things about climbing. "Have you learned how to climb trees yet?" she asked mildly, hoping her question seemed innocent enough.

The tom paused, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, but I'm not very good at it. Can you?"

Pavlova shook her head. "No, I haven't learned or anything yet... it looks kind of scary to go that high up," she lied. 

Whitepaw nodded in agreement. "I don't really like it that much. Sometimes it feels like I wasn't born to be a SkyClan member."

Their conversation was interrupted by a harsh shush from Fogtail. Pavlova turned toward him to see Lionsong flying up through the air, her claws outstretched. She landed vertically on a tree trunk, paws splayed out and claws assumedly extended, digging into the bark. She slowly started to move upwards.

Pavlova followed Fogtail's glance to a small blackbird perched on one of the branches. Her breath caught in her throat as Lionsong maneuvered herself onto a long, slender limb and began to creep forward. The offshot bobbed under her weight, dangerously close to the bird. 

The blackbird cocked its head to the side, then glanced upwards toward the ginger she-cat. It spread out its wings and began into a sharp dive, but Lionsong threw herself off the branch and began to fall.

Pavlova's heart dropped as the she-cat snagged the bird with a claw and landed easily on four paws. The blackbird fell a second later, rolling a couple inches away.

"That was amazing," breathed Whitepaw from next to her, padding up to his mentor. 

Lionsong casually licked one paw, drawing it over her face. "We'll be working on how to fall properly tomorrow," she told him breezily. "Pavlova, perhaps you and Wrenpaw could bring your mentors and come too."

She nodded, but she let a hint of fear rise into her eyes. Unsteady breathing, dialated pupils, ears slightly turned back. She could tell that Whitepaw had noticed her discomfort.

Showing her weaknesses made her vulnerable, and what kind of cat with a plan to take over SkyClan would give another a chance to hurt her?

started by ember; finished by rio.
see if you can guess where i began ;P