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TURTLE'S CLAWS BECOMES A HEALER
The sound of the water from the gigantic waterfall made Turtle's ears hurt, but she shook it off, took a deep breath and focused on trying not to slip on the wet rocks. Her pelt felt a little wet from the damp air, and her eyes were constantly being splashed with water.
Her mentor, Snow Stripes was not far ahead, and it looked like she had her eyes half closed to avoid having water splashed in them.
Through all the exhaustion, Turtle was actually excited. She was finally two years old, and ready to become a healer! Though it was a long way to the waterfall, and very hard to find the cave behind it, the thought of getting a blessing from the gods was almost too good to be true. The medicine training had been challenging, Snow Stripe was a harsh teacher. But since Turtle was so clever, she hardly had anything to complain about nowadays.
"Hey! Turtie! Snap out of it, we're here!" Snow's roar was louder than the waterfall.
A cave entrance became visible, higher up above them. Turtle suddenly got a very special feeling. Now, there was no going back. The life she'd had as a cub was over. Now, she was a grown lioness. She wanted to stop and enjoy it, this moment between being a cub and having responsibilities. But there was no time.
"The cave is a little high up. How do we get there, Snow?" Turtle wondered.
"Well, we climb, of course. Being a healer doesn't mean you can sit around and be fat and lazy, featherbrain. You've at least gotta be able to climb."
Turtle purred. Snow might sound harsh, but inside, she was a big softie willing to help in any way she could to keep everyone safe.
"I love you too, mentor. There are some parts sticking out of the mountain, we can climb on them."
"Good job, genius. Let's do it."
Snow put her paw on the (small part of the mountain that sticks out, don't know what it's called. There is a word for it in climbing as a sport, right? I need to knooow) and tried putting some weight on it by pressing with her paw to see if it could hold her weight.
"Have barely done this since cub training. These old bones will probably break the second I put weight on them."
Turtle flicked her tail and purred, yet again. Snow was hilarious. "Oh, no problem, Snow, I can help you."
"Oh thank you, I could really use some- What is it you're smirking at, young lady? I'm fully capable of doing this myself!"
Snow Stripes firmly gripped the (word I don't know) and flung herself up to the next one with surprising speed. Turtle widened her eyes, impressed. Those 'old bones' weren't so bad after all.
Snow continued and was finally at the top, just outside the cave. Breathing heavily, she looked down and called to her apprentice. Turtle nodded and jumped up on one platform after another. Carefully, she jumped up to the old lion.
"Not bad, kid. But I... still... *huff* did it faster." Snow Stripes said, still catching her breath. "Now come on in, my paws are aching from all that walking"
"Good job to you too, Snow Stripes. But I still wasn't about to fall at least seven times. Neither was I shaking life a leaf when I got here" Turtle said to Snow while holding her gaze.
Snow Stripes curled her lips ansd looked like she was about to do a snarky comeback, but instead just rolled her eyes and headed into the cave. Turtle smiled out of satisfaction and followed her.
The cave was much, much bigger than Turtle's Claws had expected. The air was fresh in here, and it was quiet. The cave walls were covered in paw prints, made by lions! Turtle's gaze turned to a black, quite natural-looking pillar in the middle of the cave. Actually, maybe not so natural. Some weird glow was surrounding it. It had some weird shade of.... purple? Turtle took a few steps ahead, and stretched out her paw to touch the pillar...
"No, Turtle! Not yet!" Snow roared suddenly. "That's for the end of the ceremony, you can't touch it yet."
"Sorry!" Turtle said. "It- it just looks so-"
"It does look... unlike anything else. But you'll need to wait. Now, collect some sand from the ground." Snow said in a much more friendly tone.
Turtle's Claws scooped up some sand with her paw and brung it to Snow Stripes. Snow nodded gratefully, picked up the sand in some leaves she'd brought and walked to the cave's entrance.
"Thank you. Now, lay down in front of the pillar." Snow said. Turtle suddenly noticed Snow's eyes looked a bit... sad? Worried? Nervous? Or happy? Maybe all of it.
"All right." Turtle replied and trotted over to the glowing pillar. She laid down in front of it, just like Snow had said.
Turtle heard Snow Stripes take a deep breath. She turned her head a little and saw her mentor walking backwards around the pillar while spreading the sand around. Her eyes were completely closed, and she was making a very low sound, almost like a growl.
Turtle continued watching Snow and saw her walking around the pillar five times. After taking the last step, Snow turned to Turtle and opened her big, blue eyes. She nodded and took a step back.
"Touch the pillar." Snow Stripes said calmly, but in an odd voice. Was she also nervous?
Turtle stood up and touched her paw to the pillar. The whole cave was suddenly filled with a blinding, white light. Turtle whimpered and quickly shut her eyes.
- NOT FINISHED -
TURTLE BECOMES A GHOST
Numb paws, blurred sight, difficulty breathing. Turtle was laying on the hard, earthy ground and slowly opened her eyes as she gasped for air. But it was like the air wasn't there. She tried standing up, but failed. Her legs weren't moving, and it felt like she'd forgotten how to move them. Turtle was starting to get really anxious and tried moving her head. That worked, even though it felt like trying to lift a boulder the size of an elephant with her head. She lifted her head up and looked at her surroundings. This place was dark, which was good since she could see quite well in the dark. Judging by her surroundings, this was probably a cave.
She took a step forward and felt a shiver go through her paw from the floor, it felt like stepping on ice. Turtle shook it off, and started walking further into the cave, that turned out to lead to a narrow tunnel a few tail-lengths away. The sounds of water dripping from the cave's roof along with her padding gave a sort of soothing effect. A water droplet landed on her nose, and she let it be there as she continued padding along.
At the end of the tunnel was another cave, even bigger than the first one.
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