Warriors: In The Cold of Night [1]

Chapter 13

Featherheart followed Sharpleaf, Sandydusk, and Flamepelt as they headed out of the gorse tunnel, and out of camp. Featherheart's paws were submerged in the snow for just about every step she took. As Featherheart sighed, her warm breath became visible and cooler. Sharpleaf took the lead. He padded through the gorse tunnel and up through the bright, glittering snow.

The patrol began to head out into the snowy, bright forest. All four cats began to pad towards the tallpines. 

Featherheart and Sandydusk stalked a group of rabbits near a burrow. There were five decently sized rabbits outside the burrow. Two of them looked like adults, and the other three were juveniles. Both she-cats unsheathed their claws. One of the juveniles looked up and sniffed the air. Featherheart looked over to Sandydusk; She had a look of pity on her face. Sandydusk shook her head and  got ready to pounce.

As soon as Sandydusk pounced, Featherheart pounced too. Sandydusk went for one of the adults, and Featherheart went for the other. Featherheart swiftly killed the adult and sank her claws into one of the juveniles. Sandydusk did the same. The remaining rabbit looked petrified. It then bounded off into the undergrowth.

There was barely anywhere to hide in the tallpines, so the prey would usually be out in the open and seen from afar.

Featherheart dug a large enough hole for all four rabbits to be hidden until the hunting patrol returned to retrieve the prey. Featherheart placed two rabbits into the hole and Sandydusk placed the other two.

"What a catch." Featherheart meowed triumphantly. Sandydusk nodded. "But. . . I am feeling a slight twinge of pity. . . are you?" Sandydusk meowed. Featherheart nodded, she knew killing the juveniles was a bit excessive, but it was leaf-bare and prey is hard to come across in the snow.

Featherheart scooped the dirt back on top of the hole. Featherheart and Sandydusk began to pad out to look for the rest of the patrol.

Sharpleaf and Flamepelt barely had any prey. Flamepelt only had a skinny mouse, and Sharpleaf looked like he'd been mauled by a few squirrels. He had minor scratches all over him. Sharpleaf looked tired. He spat out some brown fur that looked like it belonged to a squirrel. 

Ah, so he was mauled. . . Featherheart thought to herself. Sharpleaf shook himself to get most of the fur from the squirrels off of him. "Let's just go back to camp." Sharpleaf spat impatiently. Flamepelt sighed. "I told you not to reach your paw into that squirrel nest." 

Sharpleaf rolled his eyes. Sandydusk stepped in. "Me and Featherheart caught quite the catch, so let's go and get our prey." She meowed. Sharpleaf sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Let's go then. These scratches are really starting to sting. . ."

The patrol began to head back to the burrow where the prey was buried beneath the snow, and dirt. Featherheart stopped walking. She perked her ears and looked around. I swear I just heard something strange. . . She thought to herself. Sandydusk came back and wondered why Featherheart stopped.

"Sandydusk. I swear I just heard something strange. It sounded a bit like barking. . ." Featherheart mewed. Flamepelt was walking back to the two she-cats. Featherheart heard it again. Sandydusk looked like she heard it too, so did Flamepelt. 

"So I'm not delusional. Good. But still, we have to check and see if the barking is attached to a two-leg, just in case." Featherheart sighed. Sandydusk hesitated for a moment, then she agreed. Flamepelt nodded too. Sharpleaf was limping his way back to the group, he'd heard their plan already.

"No." He meowed sternly. "It will only cause more trouble." He hissed. The trio of cats ignored him and followed the strange barking sound. The barks sounded like the dog (or dogs) were in distress. Sharpleaf groaned and trudged after the curious cats. "You all know the saying, 'curiosity killed the cat', right?" He meowed.

"Well obviously. We just want to make sure it isn't a treat and that the poor thing is okay." Sandydusk meowed in return. Sharpleaf sighed and continued to follow the cats.

The cats reached a dirt path that had a gate that led to the Twolegplace. The gate was wide open and there seemed to be some kind of mini forest enclosed around another gate inside the Twolegplace. There was a twoleg and three unleashed, huge dogs, taking a stroll. The two of the dogs were dark brown with light brown as their underbelly, and the last dog looked like a huge, but stubby, pale brown and mostly white dog.

Featherheart stumbled and took a step back into the pines, but there was no cover in the tallpines. The huge, stubby, brown-and-white dog snapped his gaze to the sound of a twig snapping. The dog growled and barked loudly. The other two dogs looked at the cats, and then began to bark too.

The stubby dog began to chase after the group of cats, followed by what seemed to be his followers. Sharpleaf yowled and made a run for it. Sandydusk squeaked out of surprise and followed right behind Sharpleaf. Featherheart unsheathed her claws to grip on the snow to not slip. She bounded through the tallpines with loud, obnoxious, and aggressive barking following her. Flamepelt dashed ahead and took the lead.

"Hurry!!" He yowled. "Follow me, I know the way back to camp and how to lose them." The group of cats bounded through the tallpines, and soon, they were back in the snow-coated undergrowth. The huge dogs looked bloodthirsty. They kept barking so loud that it was hard for Featherheart to hear what Flamepelt was saying.

"Quickly!!" He yowled. "Follow me! Dodge and weave!" Flamepelt ducked into a bush. Sharpleaf quickly followed him. Sandydusk wove into another bush. When Featherheart checked the bush Flamepelt and Sharpleaf were in, they were gone, or very well hidden. Featherheart leaped into the bush that Sandydusk was hiding in. It was a thick bush, with lots of room to hide.

"Get down!" Sandydusk hissed as she dragged Featherheart to the bottom of the bush. Sandydusk made a small enough hole in the bush to see the outside, but not be seen from the outside. Sandydusk made a head signal to come look. Featherheart came and looked out of the hole.

The dogs were in the spot where the patrol had "disappeared". The dogs looked confused and sniffed the scents of the cats. The twoleg looked out of breath. The twoleg spat at the dogs and all three dogs whimpered and followed the twoleg as they left.

"Phew," Sandydusk sighed. "Let's just hurry up and return to camp, I'm sure Flamepelt and Sharpleaf wouldn't mind collecting our catch back in tallpines." Sandydusk stretched and hopped out of the bush and hurried back to camp. Featherheart sat up and followed her.

****

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting." Redstar meowed. Slowly, the ThunderClan cats began to gather beneath the Highrock. Sharpleaf hopped onto the side of the Highrock. Flamepelt had just returned with the prey. He placed it on the fresh-kill pile. Featherheart nodded a "thank you". Flamepelt dipped his head and came to sit down near the Highrock.

"There has been a group of dogs chasing cats near the tallpines. I suggest staying away from there until we can get this situation solved." Redstar meowed. Sharpleaf budded in. "We should at least try to send out a patrol to see if the dogs are there. We will soon be able to get rid of the dogs if it goes well." Sharpleaf added.

Redstar reluctantly nodded. "If you see the dogs on the patrol, run away from camp. Do not let the dogs reach camp." Redstar meowed. "Clan dismissed."