No Time To Waste

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Doveclaw padded out of Ravenstar's den with a respectful nod towards the black tom; she and Thrushtail would make sure that ThunderClan was informed. They might not have been the largest cats in the Clan, but they were both as fast as any WindClan cat, and that was more than fast enough for the job at hand. "Let's go, then," she mewed to Thrushtail, trotting through camp and pushing through the gorse wall that surrounded it. Once she was out into the open, the slender she-cat increased her pace, breaking into a loping run, and then increasing her speed to a downright sprint. She wouldn't be able to keep up this pace the entire way there, but if they hurried they might catch up with Heathertail and Firepool. Perhaps they would be able to travel together to the RiverClan border.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

It still wasn't yet dawn, but they had to get moving as quickly as possible or else their mission would fail. She was going to take something like this seriously, despite any personal opinions on the matter. Heathertail glanced behind her as she left camp. If the two cats were to go to RiverClan, she might as well make sure Firepool was keeping up instead of falling behind. As soon as the brown tabby was out on the open moor, she followed Doveclaw's lead and broke into a sprint. Doing what she did best as a WindClan cat- running- she raced toward RiverClan's border at lightning speed.

[Ki]

Thrushtail was a bit more alert now. Perhaps the full magnitude of her mission was finally hitting her. Or maybe it was because she was excited to see ThunderClan's territory. Dawn was just breaking, but it was already humid. Typical greenleaf weather. She nodded to her friend and began to pad after her. Even though this probably wasn't the best time, she wondered if Doveclaw had anyone in mind for her own mate? What if she already had one picked out? Thrushtail shied away from the thoughts of loneliness that this subject brought up. So she simply followed silently and vowed to focus on the rhythmic beat of her paws against the ground. She followed Doveclaw through the wall and then paused. While her friend eased into her sprint, Thrushtail always did it differently. She paused, bunched up her muscles, and then shot after her friend in a full-throttle sprint.

It wasn't hard to drown out anything when she was running. When she was running, Thrushtail's mind was cleared and her thoughts soothed. When she was running, she was truly free. All sound but her paws against the earth went silent. She could fly with the eagle when she was running. At the moment all her body was focused on was staying beside Doveclaw and keeping alert.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Firepool slid out of the leader's den and followed Heathertail out of camp, allowing her to take the lead on the way to RiverClan. Of course he knew the way there as well as any cat, but it was only polite, seeing as she was a year his senior. Loping up the slope and pushing through the gorse that surrounded their camp, the lanky tom picked up his pace and ran easily behind the other warrior, his long legs easily covering the ground. Wind whipped by them as they sped across the moors, quickly narrowing the distance between them and the river, where they would have to cross into RiverClan's territory. On any other mission they might have waited at the border for a patrol to escort them in, but every moment was essential. Firepool doubted that Ravenstar would appreciate them waiting for a patrol before they headed to RiverClan's camp.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

The sky was starting to become lighter as the minutes ticked by. Heathertail raced with the group over the flat moors of WindClan, using large strides to push her body further. They had to hurry or it would be too late and the plan would fail. She and Firepool needed to get to RiverClan and convince Willowstar to take up Ravenstar on his deal, and then get to Fourtrees as fast as they could. And the success or failure of this mission was dependent on her. She tried not to think about what would happen if things didn't go well, she just focused on running.

Finally she could see that they were nearing the edge of the moors. Ahead she recognized the RiverClan border and beyond that, the short strip of land led to ThunderClan's border. This was where they had to split up. "There's the RiverClan border," Heathertail said in between breaths, "We better hurry and find their camp." she glanced at Firepool to see if he agreed.