Warrior Cats SERIES 1: North and South (Book 1)

Chapter 8

A leaf fell onto Cottonpaw's nose, waking her up. She sneezed and slammed it down with her right paw. She paused when she noticed it was a hazel colour with small holes in it. Leaf-fall seemed to be coming quicker every second of every day. Next moon it'd be the beginning of leafbare. Rain pattered down onto the bracken and brambles, the roof of the apprentice den. She sighed and curled back up. A second later, a paw jabbed into her side.
          "Are you gonna sleep all day or what? Come on, Cottonpaw, you're due for a hunting patrol." Cottonpaw recognised Cloudchasm's voice. She was still there when Cottonpaw lifted her head, glaring at the white molly with grey-blue markings. "Hey, I don't make the rules around here! Verastep asked us to do it. Coralclaw will be coming back soon, and we were asked to impress her. I think Verastep wants to be deputy, don't you?" She giggled and slipped out of the den. Cottonpaw smiled and rolled her eyes, climbing to her paws and following after the warrior.
          "Who are we going with?" She flexed her claws and shook her light-grey fur, which was getting soaked in the rain, her light blue eyes glancing at Cloudchasm.
          "Well, there's me, you, Waterwave and Stonepatch. Starlingwing said you'd have to go instead of him, because he's checking on Eagle-eye. Apparently she's had a lot of pain of recent." Cloudchasm replied, then flicking her tail over to Waterwave and Stonepatch, trotting toward them. Cottonpaw padded over to the patrol, slightly happier than she had been a moment before. Why was she always set to hunting patrols? She knew that border patrols usually consisted with fighting, but she was good at that. Or was it Brokenbranch telling Verastep how bad she was fighting against Northpaw? Her best friend was much better, after all. She then growled under her breath. Even Northpaw was allowed on border patrols to collect herbs with warriors. He wasn't even training to become a warrior!
          "You alright, Cottonpaw? You seem a little annoyed." Waterwave's meow brought Cottonpaw back to real life. "What's on your mind?"
          "Don't worry about it. Are we going?" She shook her head and changed the subject swiftly. Waterwave acknowledged her and kept his eye on her vaguely before turning to look at Cloudchasm, the leader of the patrol.
          "I suppose. Let's go, then." The warrior meowed, her purple and ice blue eye looking over to the river protecting camp.

***

          "What's that smell, Cottonpaw?" Stonepatch prompted.
          "WindClan border, and Twolegs." Cottonpaw answered with a proud smile. She knew she was right, and Stonepatch seemed glad too.
          "Good. Can you tell me if the Twoleg scent is fresh?" She pressed on, hoping to find Cottonpaw's weakness in her training. Cottonpaw tasted the air.
          "No, it's stale. They must've been here around two days ago." She presumed.
          "One and a half, to be exact." Waterwave chipped in.
          "Thank you, Cottonpaw." Stonepatch chided, her glare practically peircing Waterwave's heart. He looked away and turned over to Cloudchasm again. "Now, what prey can you smell, since we are on a hunting patrol?"
          Cottonpaw sniffed the air, nose high, and caught a small trail of shrew.
          "Shrew." She whispered, dropping down into a hunting crouch. She sensed movement of the three warriors, copying her position as to not scare away her prey. Cottonpaw spotted a cylindrical creature with slim legs. Shrew! She was right! She kept her pawsteps light and was sure that she was downwind of the animal. When she grew close enough, she shifted all her weight to her hind legs and pounced. The shrew called out for mercy but was quickly silenced by Cottonpaw's fangs. She felt the prey's body go limp and she dropped it on the ground, burying it in dry ground for later.
          "Well done! That was a nice catch." Cloudchasm praised her. Cottonpaw beamed with pride and satisfaction at the warrior's compliment.
          "Yes, it was. I bet Brokenbranch is proud." Stonepatch smiled. "Shall we practise fishing? It's our easiest source of prey here."
          "I suppose we could. What do you think, Cottonpaw?" Waterwave retorted. Cottonpaw frowned - the two clearly didn't get along, just like how Meltedfur and Shredspot didn't get along.
          "I say yes. I haven't been fishing before." She replied with a small mrrow of amusement at the two warriors. Cloudchasm shoved herself through them and meowed with a giggle.
          "Stop being gloomy, both of you. You're not being good rolemodels for our apprentice here, are you?"
          Waterwave and Stonepatch glared at each other before following Cloudchasm on. Cottonpaw purred for a brief moment and cantered over to the patrol to catch up.
          When they reached the Lake Shore, Cloudchasm glanced at Cottonpaw and sat infront of the lake edge.
          "Cottonpaw, come here." She beckoned and began explaining. "So, when you're fishing, you never want your shadow or reflection to be on the water, because it'll scare the fish away. When the fish does come, you need to quickly hook it up with your paw and scoop it out of the water onto the ground. From there, you can kill it with a bite." Cottonpaw stared at her blankly, confused. Cloudchasm quickly spoke. "Watch."
          She watched the rippling water and shifted so that her shadow and reflection wasn't on the water. A fish hopped out of the water and Cloudchasm swiftly batted it out of the water, hooking it up with her claw. She dropped it on the ground and leant down, nipping it so harshly that blood spurted from the wound. It fell limp.
          "That's how, okay? You try." She prompted. Cottonpaw gingerly looked down at the lake, imitating Cloudchasm's shift to remove her shadow and reflection from the water. She spotted a fish and batted it, hooking it out of the water. It flipped about and she dropped it too early, it falling back into the water. Cottonpaw bit it and held it in her maw, losing her balance and falling into the water with a squeak.
          Fangs sank into her scruff and pulled her out of the water. She shook the water from her fur and glanced at the warrior who had saved her. Stonepatch. She'd expected to see Cloudchasm, but the shecat had apparently been too slow. Cottonpaw dipped her head in thanks and the black shecat walked away.
          "What's up with her?" She dropped her fish by her paws.
          "Not sure. Let's go back to camp - I think that's enough for today. Maybe you should get Northpaw to check you over. You're shivering. Oh, and don't forget your shrew." Cloudchasm nudged her and trotted away in the direction of camp.