Journey of a flame (Book 1 of A step in the wild direction AU series)

Chapter 3

Firepaw approached the river, leaning his nose down to the grass. The scents of the forest travelled to his nose as he checked for any foreign scents. An unfamiliar scent hit him. He lifted his head up, taking a deep breath. He smelled Pine trees and another sour scent. He crouched down. It was a similar scent to what travelled across the Thunderpath from Shadowclan territory. Firepaw stalked forward towards the brush nearby. The leaves rustled. He stared at the leaves where a pair of orange eyes stared at him. The fur along his spine prickled seconds before the owner of the eyes leaped at him. They barrelled into him, both tumbling across the ground in a tangle of limps and fur. His attacker kicked him off, sending him tumbling through the grass. He scrambled to his paws, staring over at the other cat. A black she-cat was staring at him, fur ragged in appearance with leaves clinging to the matted strands. Firepaw leapt at her again, this time knocking the surprised she-cat to the ground. Her head hit the ground with a thud but she didn't make any attempt to escape Firepaw's grasp. 
"Who are you?" The young apprentice demanded, leaning more weight onto his front paws so that she couldn't move her shoulders and escape. She flicked one ear. 
"Who are you?" he repeated, lashing his tail once. The she-cat looked at him.
"If your going to kill me can you hurry it up. Not got all day."Firepaw pricked his ears.
"I'm not going to kill you. I just want to know who you are" he objected.
"Names Yellowfang." she grumbled but still made no attempt to move.
"You smell weird. Why?" Yellowfang didn't answer, only stared up at him with glassy eyes. The apprentice looked over the she-at beneath him. He moved one paw further down to her ribs. Under her mass of fur he could feel her bones.
"Have you not eaten?" he asked. Yellowfang huffed.
"You get chased out by a bunch of clan cats sometime and ask me that question again kit." Firepaw lifted his head and looked around. He didn't catch any fresh Thunderclan scents.
"Stay here" he ordered, leaping off Yellowfang and rushing into the surrounding brush. Eyes and ears alert for both a patrol and prey, he lifted his head. The scent of a squirrel drifted along the wind. Firepaw crouched down on the ground, approaching the animal. It was tucked against a tree root, nibbling at a nut it had dug up. The tom circled around to where it couldn't see him but his scent was still hidden. Once he was sure he could get a could shot, he leapt. The squirrel noticed him too late, body slamming into the ground under the weight of his paws. Its shrill squeal was cut off when he sunk his teeth into his neck, killing it. He dropped the squirrel's body and looked around. A bird fluttered to the ground not far off, shaking its feathers and looking around. He crouched, stepping closer with his weight spread out evenly. The bird hopped around a bit more, tilting its head and looking for any danger. Firepaw leapt, pushing the bird to the ground. It flapped its wings and cried out, trying to escape his grip. He sunk his teeth into its neck before it got the chance to escape. He sat up. Looking at his kill, he was satisfied. He picked up the two animals and carried them back to where he'd found Yellowfang. She wasn't in sight. He dropped the prey and looked around.
"Yellowfang?" he called, pricking his ears. The she-cat slunk out of the bushes, shaking her fur to get some leaves out of it. Firepaw pushed the prey towards her.
"Here. You pick what you want" he offered, sitting down in front of her. She looked at him cautiously but took the squirrel anyway. She sunk her teeth into it, her hunger setting in. Firepaw pulled the bird towards himself, plucking some feathers before sinking his teeth into it. Yellowfang sat up, licking the scraps off her jaws.
"Doesn't Thunder Clan teach their apprentices not to share?" she asked, swishing her tail.
"You were hungry. I couldn't leave you to starve. And its not very honourable to kill a cat that can't or won't fight back either" Yellowfang lifted one paw, running her tongue across it. She didn't comment on his words. The bushes from where Firepaw came from rustled. The tom turned to look and out shot a black blur. The cat came to a skidding halt in front of him.
"Oh Firepaw. Thank Starclan you're alright. I was really worried" Ravenpaw pressed close to him, his muzzle burried into his fur.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. What are you doing here?" Ravenpaw pulled his head back, ears pinned down.
"Tigerclaw is leading a patrol to find you after you didn't come back but Greypaw did. I was worried he might try to hurt you so I ran out ahead of him" the apprentice shuffled his paws, looking in the direction he came briefly before turning back to Firepaw. The fur along his nek bristled when he saw Yellowfang.
"Who are you" he hissed, trying to sound threatening but only coming off as scared instead.
"That's Yellowfang. I found her" Firepaw gestured to the she-cat with his tail.
"Yellowfang. Wait. You're the Shadowclan medicine cat. I've heard about you from Spottedleaf" Her ears pricked at the mention of the medicine cat.
"Did you hunt this prey?" Ravenpaw was looking down at the remains of the prey.
"I did but I couldn't just leave her to starve" a twig cracking brought the attention of the two apprentices towards the patrol. Both of them shifted in hopes of hiding the evidence of the prey and Yellowfang. Tigerclaw stepped forward, closely followed by Bluestar.
"Ravenpaw. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in camp" Tigerclaw growled, his tail lashing. Bluestar lifted her tail to silence Tigerclaw.
"Is there something the two of you would like to share" she asked, looking between the two. Tigerclaw snarled.
"I smell Shadowclan" his claws slid out. Ravenpaw's neck fur bristled.
"N-no. There's no Shadowclan cats here" Ravenpaw objected, legs shaking slightly. Firepaw looked between Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw. He stepped closer to the other apprentice, brushing his tail against the other tom's flank in comfort. Tigerclaw stepped forward, pushing the two toms aside. He faced Yellowfang who's fur was bristling as she took a defensive pose.
"I was right. She reeks of Shadowclan" Tigerclaw hissed. Bluestar examined the scene.
"Did one of you bring prey to a rogue?" Bluestar turned on the two apprentices. Firepaw opened his mouth, ready to speak but Ravenpaw jumped in.
"We both did. Greypaw told me what happened with the fox and I got worried about Firepaw so I came to find him. I found him just after he'd found Yellowfang" Ravenpaw stepped closer to Firepaw. Yellowfang dipped her head.
"Its true, shared the bird with each other. Would of eaten it anyway in camp." Yellowfang looked towards the Thunderclan leader.
"Let's get back to camp. And bring Yellowfang with us" Bluestar ordered, giving the two apprentices an icy stare. The two took up the rear of the group. Firepaw leaned in close to Ravenpaw.
"Thanks for that. You didn't have to" Ravenpaw turned to look at him.
"Its what friends do" he purred, bumping into Firepaw. He returned the gesture, leaning closer so that they're pelts brushed.

All Yellowfang dialogue was done by my friend who desperately wanted to be the one to write it.