Warriors: Hidden Secrets - Blood Moon

Chapter 11

Dewpaw sat in front of the apprentices' den as small flakes of snow fell from the sky. Leafbare had come a little earlier than expected. Berrystripe had promised her that they would go hunting, but first, he had to assign the patrols for the day.

So, as she waited for her mentor, Dewpaw watched her sister Tinypaw as she trained outside the medicine cat den.

Herbs were laid out in front of her, and Seedpelt sat across from Tinypaw. Moving a little closer, Dewpaw was able to hear what the two cats were saying.

"Ok, what is this herb?" Seedpelt asked kindly, pointing to a leaf with her paw.

Tinypaw stared at the leaf as if she was thinking hard, but she also seemed distracted. Her thoughts didn't seem to be focused on the herbs.

"Uh.. well it's a leaf, and it's used to... Um.." Tinypaw mumbled, barely audible.

"It's dock," Seedpelt explained. "It's used for sore pads. I think we need a little break. Why don't you check on the elders?"

Tinypaw nodded and silently padded over to the elders den, her tail dragging in the newly fallen snow. Dewpaw's gaze followed Tinypaw until she disappeared into the bramble den.

Dewpaw wondered if Seedpelt was frustrated. If she was, she did a good job at hiding it. She watched as the medicine cat cleaned up the herbs and prepared to return them to where all the herbs were stored.

"Do you need any help?" Dewpaw approached Seedpelt.

"No, thank you though." The medicine cat replied. She turned to enter her den. Then, stopping, she sets the herbs down at the entrance of the den.

"I do need your help with something else though." Seedpelt meowed, her eyes glazed with concern. "I don't know if you have noticed already, but Tinypaw has been...struggling."

Dewpaw nodded.

"She had been doing so well, learning about all the herbs, but for the last half-moon she has been very distracted." Seedpelt continued, "I have tried talking to her, but she says nothing is wrong. I am hoping that you will be able to figure out what is bothering her."

"Of course. I will go talk to her." Then she heard Berrystripe calling her name. "After my training."

Seedpelt dipped her head. "Thank you Dewpaw." She turned back to the medicine cat den and went back to her herbs.

Dewpaw padded over to her mentor and looked up at him.

"Are you ready to go practice leaf-bare hunting?" He meowed.

"Yes, but, there isn't very much snow yet." She responded.

"For now, yes, but now that leaf-bare has started, soon enough the whole forest will be covered in snow. So you need to be prepared to look for prey in the snow." Berrystripe replied.

"Oh, okay!" Dewpaw mewed, excitement tingling in her paws.

So, Berrystripe led Dewpaw out of the clearing and into the forest. Snowflakes fell swiftly all around them. The forest looked so different, covered in the cold white powder.

As Dewpaw padded through the forest, the snow beneath her made satisfying crushing noises.

Then, suddenly, a tree shook and a pile of snow fell down beside the two cats. Unable to resist, Dewpaw leaped into the pile of snow.

"Dewpaw, get back here, don't act like a kit. You're going to scare all of the prey away." Berrystripe snapped, turning to watch and Dewpaw clambered out of the snow pile and returned to his side.