A New Form || A Warrior Cat Fanfiction Series \\

+\Chapter 20/+

"What?"

Hickorypaw froze, Northpaw becoming aware and suspicious of her. "What do you mean 'behind the scenes,' Hickory?..." She asked.

"Forget the last part of what I said!" The apprentice panicked, "I can't forget things I just heard or witnessed easily, you know?" Northpaw replied, keeping her distance as her fur stood on edge. "I got you good! That was a joke! You should've seen your reaction-"

"Hickorypaw!" A voice rang, cutting them off, the one and only Echopaw. "We have to get moving! The higher ranks are high on weed and catnip! They're too- oh hey sis, you're in group two with Blizzardpaw and Whistlepaw." He smiles, waving his tail to Hickorypaw.

Hickorypaw turned to her, grinning, "You're too naive I'll tell ya." She said as she followed behind Echopaw. Oddpaw was waiting for them near the entrance.

"Wha- Hey! I'm not naive!" She shouted although the three had already left. Sighing, Northpaw looked around for her two group mates; Blizzardpaw and Whistlepaw. 

After a while, the three met up and left camp. There have been moments of awkward silence as they left. "So uh," Blizzardpaw spoke, "Where to go now?" He asked.

"..."

An awkward silence filled the air, after a while of silence, Northpaw spoke up. "Maybe we could hunt near Boulder Hill?" She asked. 

"We can't see anything there, plus, even a full-grown and experienced warrior can't see clearly. Even when we use our smell, the atmosphere hardens the chance of us finding nocturnal animals. Trust me," Whistlepaw inhaled before continuing, "I've tried that before."

The two apprentices blinked in confusion, "I did not get a word of what you said," Blizzardpaw commented, "You should probably slow down your talking," Northpaw suggested. The dark-coloured tom winced, "Not my problem you two catch on so slow." 

"That was rude," Blizzardpaw remarked. "Oh really?" Whistlepaw challenged.

The two toms bickered against each other, Northpaw silently being the witness as she didn't know what to do at this rate. Suddenly a tinge of scent flowed through her wet nose, forgetting about the two, she followed the savoury odour of a black-backed woodpecker.

The dim lighting made it almost impossible for Northpaw to see, she could only rely on her other senses under the stars. A small shadowed moving figure up ahead, the woodpecker landed on the ground, feeding on a cloudberry that had fallen from its plant. Perfect.

Northpaw crouched down, hind and front legs coiled on the ground. Diverting silently for the ideal transition leap, she unsheathed her claws. With a jump, she aimed for the woodpecker. 

Landing with a thud, the woodpecker's right wing and tail feathers were in between her left claws. She plucked out the bird's flight feathers with her free right paw. Northpaw threw the woodpecker into the air, opening her jaw, as the black-backed woodpecker fell into her jaw Northpaw immediately crunched the life out of the avian. Drops of blood gushed out of her mouth. The bird's body was limp, and Northpaw was satisfied with her catch.

Northpaw dug a hollow pit and then dropped her catch down to collect later. Suddenly, a light emerged from the side, seemingly near QuetzalClan's border with Rumbletracks.

Curiosity washed over her, she followed the source of the light through the night sky. The light led her to Reed Hollow, confused, Northpaw stood at the centre of Reed Hollow. Outlying memories flashed back into her, that one dream she had moons ago, Two-legs. 

The wind blew towards her, carrying the two-leg fume and... something else. Her concept became real. The sounds of the familiar fire cackling flowed through her ears, fear seared right through her soul.

A new form of smell she can't remember but is sure it is with the two legs. Northpaw made sure not to make the same mistake as she did in her dream. She turned around in the opposite direction, walking away blindly with no sense of direction, all she wanted to do was to get as far from those two legs.

Northpaw walked without a single glance back, dragging her paws throughout the Clan's domain.  She looked around, opening her mouth for any nearby prey. She needed to take her mind off of her dream moons ago or in case, a nightmare.