WARRIORS: THE STORM AHEAD

Chapter 3

"Mousepaw! Mousepaw!"
A voice was calling Mousepaw in. She thrashed her paws, expecting to feel a pelt, but nothing touched her.
"Mousepaw!"

Mousepaw suddenly opened her eyes to see Cloudpaw looming over her in the light of sunrise.

"Mousepaw! What are you doing? You look like a pinned bird!" Cloudpaw mewed.
Mousepaw got to her feet, embarrassed. "Sorry. Are we going on the border patrol?"

"Yep." Cloudpaw said, and then nodded to their mentors. Two other warriors, Crowgale and Crimsonclaw, were with them.

Rockfoot led the way through the forest, where robins were chirping all around.
"They're probably taunting us from their stupid big trees." Cloudpaw muttered.

Soon the cats were at the ThunderClan border. Crowgale stepped forward and made the first scent mark. The other warriors stayed back when she was finished.
"What are you waiting for? Let's cover this place!" The black warrior bounced like a kit.

Mousepaw mrrow'd with laughter. Crowgale had been made a warrior just a moon ago, by the old ShadowClan leader, Branchstar.

Rockfoot, Leafwhisker, and Crimsonclaw started setting scent marks on every pine near the border, and Mousepaw and Cloudpaw joined in.

Just then, Mousepaw catched a scent. She was about to say it, but Cloudpaw beat her.
"ThunderClan patrol!"

The warriors started to back away from the border and motioned the apprentices to do so. Mousepaw and Cloudpaw came to sit beside their mentors. She realized that Cloudpaw's fur was brushing hers, and that made her face go pink.

Mousepaw was quickly snapped out of her trance by three ThunderClan warriors and one apprentice.
The she-cat had recognized Lionpaw and his mentor, Orchidnose, from Gatherings, but she hadn't seen the other two warriors.

"Hello, Juniperpelt, Cedarblaze, and Orchidnose. We were just setting markers." Rockfoot said politely.

"Yeah! You better be! Because if you do ThunderClan's gonna-"
Orchidnose shushed Lionpaw. Her apprentices reply was a grunt.

"I apologize." the golden she-cat meowed. "We will continue to hunt on ThunderClan territory."
The patrol left into the dense woodland, and Leafwhisker flicked his tail for them to go back.

...

Mousepaw gnawed on a plump shrew that the hunting patrol had brought back. The other apprentice, Featherpaw, came to sit with her near the fresh-kill pile.

"Hi Featherpaw." Mousepaw murmured over her mouthful of shrew.
"Hi Mousepaw." Featherpaw said back, grabbing a frog.

Featherpaw began eating her frog. Mousepaw's shrew was almost done; she ate it in one bite and started to leave the fresh-kill pile.

"So, how was the border patrol?"

Featherpaw's sudden voice caught Mousepaw off guard, and she staggered, turning around. The light gray apprentice must've seen the look on her face, so she said, "Sorry if I scared you there. I just wanna know."

Mousepaw quickly told Featherpaw all about Crowgales kit attitude, the ThunderClan patrol, Lionpaw, and last of all, her fur brushing Cloudpaw's.

Featherpaw giggled when she heard the news. "It seems like you've already picked your mate." The she-cat looked around to make sure none of the warriors heard that.

Mousepaw smiled. "Well, I'm a bit tired now. I'm gonna take a nap at the front of the den."
The sun was shining very brightly today, and Mousepaw couldn't get enough of it.

"Okay." Featherpaw shrugged and padded to where her mentor, Mothheart, was.
Mousepaw trotted to the apprentice den, found a comfortable place where the sun shone most, and closed her eyes.

After a while, she felt a pelt brushing hers. Mousepaw painfully opened her eyes back up and saw completely white fur.
Cloudpaw.

Mousepaw felt awkward having Cloudpaw so close to her, so she scooted away a bit. She closed her eyes again, this time she realized she couldn't sleep anymore.

Annoyed, Mousepaw trudged back to the fresh-kill pile, where a water vole lay. She shared it with her mentor as the sun continued to shine.