Warriors: Hidden Secrets - Blood Moon

Chapter 14

Dawn had passed, as Dewpaw padded over to the group of warriors, where Berrystripe was organizing patrols. Standing beside Rainpaw, she watched the deputy as he began to talk.

"Echostar warned us of rogues last night at the gathering." Berrystripe meowed. "We need to keep an eye out for them."

"There are loners passing through all the time. Echostar is old, there probably isn't anything to worry about." Spottedstrike muttered.

"We don't want a group of rogues settling down and stealing our prey, so we need to take precautions, whether you think it's necessary or not." The deputy replied coldly, daring the warrior to continue opposing him.

"I think it is good to stay alert," Cloudstone commented. "That way we are always ready, even if it is nothing to worry about."

"Thank you, Cloudstone," Berrystribe said with a head nod. "Now, for assignments."

As Berrystripe began to talk about patrols and such, Dewpaw's mind wandered. She thought about the rouges scented in Pineclan territory. What if it was her mom or dad? Even though that would be amazing, Dewpaw had a small feeling deep inside her that these rouges may not be a good thing.

Dewpaw pulled herself out of her thoughts in time to hear Berrystripe give out the last assignment for the day.

"Finally," The tabby tom meowed, "I would like Redwhisker, Grassflank, and Rainpaw to work on reinforcing the elder's den, there have been complaints of melting snow leaking in."

Dewpaw turned to her littermate and noticed he didn't look very happy about working on the dens. Not that she thought differently. Staying in camp to change bedding or pick ticks from the elders was also so boring. Every cat knew that apprentices preferred to be out training in the forest.

"Why do I have to stay in camp!?" The grey tabby apprentice complained.

"Because that is what I have decided we will do today," Redwhisker replied. "If we finish early enough, maybe we can go do some battle training."

Rainpaw sighed but didn't continue arguing with his mentor. Dewpaw put her tail around her brother comfortingly.

"I'm sure it won't be so bad." She mewed gently. "Wait, did I get assigned to do anything?" She looked around, wondering if someone was going to answer her question. She didn't feel like telling Berrystripe that she didn't hear the assignments.

"Yeah, you get to go with Berrystripe, Cloudstone, and Flintdust to patrol the Pineclan border." Rainpaw meowed. "Lucky."

"Come on Rainpaw, the den won't fix itself!" Redwhisker called.

"I wish it would," Rainpaw mumbled as he padded off to join his mentor.

Dewpaw turned to the entrance of the camp to see Berrystripe, Cloudstone, and Flintdust waiting for her at the entrance of the camp.

Berrystripe nodded to her as she approached, and the group turned to exit into the forest. The ground was covered in snow. Thankfully, the snow was stiff and packed together, so Dewpaw didn't sink in. When she did sink into the snow though, it went up to her belly fur, and Berrystripe usually had to help pull her out.

Dewpaw followed the three warriors until they finally reached the border about sunhigh. Following the border along the edge of the forest where the trees began to clear, the patrol remarked their scent. They were careful not to get too close to the thunderpath.

"If you smell anything out of the ordinary, let me know." Berrystripe meowed, marking his scent onto a tree.

Dewpaw heard the distant roar of a monster and looked down the thunderpath. She backed up a few mouse lengths and watched as the monster sped by, splashing the dirty, slushy snow that covered the thunderpath. Once the monster was gone and the noise was fading away, Dewpaw continued to search for scents of rouges.

"I think I smell something, though it doesn't smell fresh," Flintdust announced. "Though, it's hard to tell with the monster's stench."

"You may be right," Cloudstone replied. "I don't think it is anything to worry about though. If there was a cat here, they're gone now."

Berrystripe nodded. "I agree. Now, let's return to camp and report to Honeystar."

Dewpaw, lost in thought as she stared across the thunderpath, barely heard her mentor. She shook her head and was about to follow the rest of the patrol when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and turned back around, narrowing her eyes. Something was moving in the undergrowth on Pineclan's side of the border.

She would have blamed it on the wind, but at the moment there was no breeze to shake the branches. Dewpaw was about to turn and call out to her mentor, but he had already noticed she hadn't turned to leave and was standing beside her.

"What is it, Dewpaw?" Berrystripe asked, staring across the thunderpath as well.

"I thought I saw some movement across the border." She mewed, leaning closer to get a better look, but it seemed the movement had stopped. Dewpaw was determined to figure out what it was though.

She padded closer to the thunderpath, her eyes fixed on the spot where the movement had occurred. The apprentice didn't even notice that a monster was approaching and Berrystripe dragged her back into the trees.

"Dewpaw, you need to pay attention!" The deputy scolded. "Just because you think you saw something on the other side of the border doesn't mean you should investigate right away. You were almost fresh kill!"

"Sorry," Dewpaw murmured, lowering her head. "I thought it might have been one of the rogues."

"Well, even if it was, they are on Pineclan territory, so it's not our problem at the moment," Berrystripe replied sternly. "Come on, I already sent Cloudstone and Flintdust back to camp, and now we need to head back too."

Dewpaw nodded and followed her mentor back to camp, dusk falling upon the snowy forest. By the time they returned, Dewpaw realized her pads were freezing. Cloudstone and Flintdust had already reported to Honeystar.

"Why don't you see if Rainpaw is finished fixing up the dens." Berrystripe meowed, turning his gaze to Dewpaw. "If not, you can help him, and if he is, you two can get some fresh kill and rest."

Dewpaw nodded and went off to find her littermate. It didn't take very long, as she noticed Rainpaw padded out from behind the elders' den. She waved her tail in greeting and Rainpaw raced over to her.

"Hey Dewpaw, how was the patrol?" He asked. There were pieces of bramble stuck in his fur, and Dewpaw struggled to hold in a purr of amusement.

"It was good, but I feel like my pads are going to fall off, walking through the snow all day is really cold!" She replied. "How was fixing the elders' den?"

"It was okay." Rainpaw mewed. "It was hard at first, with Cherrymist's kits running around our paws. Thankfully, the elders offered to tell them stories, and they calmed down."

"That's good. Do you want to get some fresh kill?" Dewpaw offered.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Rainpaw purred.

So the two apprentices headed over to the freshkill pile, which was freshly stocked from a hunting patrol Berrystripe had sent out earlier. Dewpaw noticed Tinypaw grabbing a mouse and Seedpelt eating a squirrel nearby.

"Hi, Tinypaw, can we join you?" Rainpaw asked.

Tinypaw turned her head and her eyes lit up at the sight of her littermates.

"Yes, of course you can." She replied, waiting as they each grabbed a piece of prey. Dewpaw chose a thrush, and Rainpaw chose a squirrel.

The three apprentices sat together, eating their prey, and chatting about what they had been doing and learning. Dewpaw was so glad she was able to spend time with her littermates. After they had finished eating, Dewpaw and Tinypaw helped Rainpaw remove all the brambles from his grey tabby fur.