Warriors: Hidden Secrets - Blood Moon

Chapter 18

Rainpaw paced the clearing where he was meeting Patch. He growled in frustration as the moon started to fall. Patch hadn't come to their planned meetings for the past half-moon. Deciding he wasn't coming this time, he headed back to the camp.

Sneaking around to his hidden passageway back into camp he was quiet as he entered the apprentices' den and layed down. Only a moment later he felt a paw shake his side roughly. Rainpaw looked up and was met with the glare of his sister.

"Where have you been?" she demanded. Her voice was low so as not to wake up the camp, but there was still anger in her words. Rainpaw hated getting on Dewpaw's bad side.

"Well, I- uh," he hated being on the ground while she was standing over him so he gave himself time to respond by standing up. "Out in the forest."

"Doing what?" she hissed, still glaring at him. Rainpaw was slightly bigger than she was, but with how tired he was she would definitely win in a fight. He took a small step back and tried not to look into her eyes.

"I'm tired, can we do this in the morning?" Rainpaw asked in an unsure voice. Her continued glare told him the answer. "Ok, I was waiting for someone, but can we really talk about it later? Like not in camp?"

Dewpaw looked like she wanted to argue, but closed her mouth before yelling, giving her brother one last glare before settling roughly in her nest. Rainpaw was glad he had got her off of him for the rest of the night.
He slowly settled down in his nest, his mind buzzing. What would he tell Dewpaw in the morning? Should he tell the truth? There was a chance she would tell someone about it, but what if she promised not to? He fell into an uneasy sleep for the rest of the night.

Rainpaw was awoken to the sound of Redwhisker calling his name. He wearily got up and shook out his pelt, noticing that Dewpaw was not in her nest. Quickly giving himself a quick wash he made his way out into the clearing where his mentor was waiting for him.

"Where's Dewpaw?" He asked Redwhisker as his mentor turned towards him.

"She already went out with Berrystripe," Redwhisker replied. Rainpaw let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to deal with her right away. "You seem relieved, and you're up late. Any explanation?"

"I didn't sleep much last night," Rainpaw said truthfully, then tried to create a lie that would sound believable. "And, Uh, Dewpaw wasn't happy with the mouse we ate last night."

"Right," Redwhisker said, not sounding convinced. "We will be doing some battle training. Come on."

"I don't even get to eat?" Rainpaw said, already knowing the answer. In the past when he woke up late he didn't get to eat till he caught fresh kill for the clan.

"Nope," Redwhisker replied, heading out of camp. Rainpaw followed him with his tail down and paws heavy. Trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes they reached the training clearing. Rainpaw watched his mentor position himself on the other side of the clearing and his mind wandered.

What was he going to tell Dewpaw? How would he explain meeting Patch? She would probably think he was training with an enemy cat who wanted to kill him. Suddenly Ranpaw was knocked to the ground, sharp claws touching his pelt as he was pushed to the ground.

"Pay attention," Redwhisker growled. "I expect your sister to daydream but when I say your name five times I expect you to respond." Rainpaw put his ears back in shame as his mentor got off of him.

"Sorry," Rainpaw mumbled. Redwhisker made his way back to the other side of the clearing. Rainpaw put himself in a ready position and watched his mentor, trying his best to focus.