Jayhaven Chronicles

The next two days dragged on terribly. Hawk had detention every day for a week at second period, and every time Rapid glanced over at Sedge she seemed to be crying. Get over it! Rapid couldn’t force himself to say the words out loud. He didn’t have any words to say to a cat so sad.

But at least there were battle moves to brighten up this period. They spent both days practicing every jab, swipe, and block in the book.

“Now pay attention!” Crisp hissed. “If you ever find yourself in a combat situation don’t expect it to be a kitten fight! You will need to know what your enemy is doing and prevent it, as well as making sure they can’t prevent your attack.”

Rapid was paired off with a smoky gray tom almost twice his size. But since he was smaller, Rapid could easily dodge his opponent’s hefty blows. They sparred for five minutes, and Rapid spent most of that time dodging and keeping the gray tom worn out. But in the last thirty seconds, Rapid went all out, swiping and kicking until his partner was backed against a corner.

At the end of the match, Crisp yowled for quiet. “Now, you all did great. But you also all need improvement. Learning is all about trial and error, and I’m glad that even now, you all still seem ready for your next challenge.”

As Rapid walked back to his nest, the big smoky tom gave him a friendly nudge. “You did well, little blue.”

Rapid laughed. He was used to remarks about his unusual fur color, which seemed a dark blue in certain lights. “You did good too.” Rapid responded.

But on the last day of the week, there was no play. No time to talk, or even give a compliment. It was their guild test.

It seemed all the cats in the class had gone mute. When Crisp got up to take attendance, not even the noisiest she-cat made a peep.

“Alright. If anyone is absent today, we cannot take the test, since I have to review everyone’s scores in a certain time period. Leaves don’t stay fresh forever, you know. So it is extremely important I know you’re here.

“Peak?”

“Here.”

“Cedar?”

“Here.”

“Robin? Hawk? Birch?”

“Here, here, here.”

“Sedge?”

Not a single voice rang out. Crisp narrowed her eyes. “Sedge? Sedge, are you here?”

Rapid felt his stomach churn. Please just be in the bathroom. Please just be in the bathroom!

Crisp continued to take attendance. Everyone else was there, but after twenty minutes, Sedge still hadn’t shown up.

Crisp started to pace anxiously. “Storm, you’re her brother, right? Is she sick?”

The huge smoky tom who had been Rapid’s partner shook his head. “She walked to school with me until she saw Lily and Birch, and went with them.”

Rapid felt all his pity for Sedge melt away, to be replaced once again by a burning hatred. This might be the biggest moment of our lives, and she’s ruined it!

Crisp used her tail to point at students. “Hawk. Storm. Lily. Birch. Petal. Wind-”

Crisp took five other students before turning to Rapid. Oh, no.

“Rapid. All of you stay with me. Everyone else, go alert the other teachers that I’m contacting the parents and sending cats to search for her.”

As the other students rushed off, the search party started murmuring amongst themselves. Rapid was too angry to engage. I can’t believe this. Makeup tests are usually the next month!

“Quiet, Everyone!” Crisp snapped. “I’ll try and find her parents. In the meantime, Rapid, Birch, Lily, you search the marsh forest. It’s northwest from here.”

Rapid dug his claws deeper into the ground. Great. Going into the worst area in the city with two of the most annoying cats in my moon to look for a cat who is the most annoying. Could things get any worse?

Birch and Lily nodded to Crisp as they took off. Rapid followed, his paws skimming the ground as he ran.