Warriors AU: Sandstar's Quest

Chapter 22

"Sandstar! Sandstar!"

Sandstar opened his eyes to see the dark shapes of two cats outlined against the light in the cave entrance. "For Starclan's sake, what's the matter?" he grumbled, scrambling to his paws.

As the two cats bounced into the cave he could make them out more clearly: Scratch and Tiny, their ears pricked and their eyes bright.

"We want another hunting lesson!" Scratch announced.

"Please," her brother added, giving her a nudge.

Fireheart was stirring too, her green eyes no more than slits. She stretched her jaws in a huge yawn. "I thought all kittypets slept until sunhigh," she grunted, crawling out of her nest and giving herself a shake.

"Sometimes we do," meowed Tiny. "But it was so exciting yesterday, and—"

"We had such fun!" Scratch interrupted. "You will take us with you today, won't you?"

Their enthusiasm surprised Sandstar, but it pleased him too. A sudden pang of homesickness struck him: these two young cats could easily have been Thunderclan apprentices, begging to be taken out on a hunting patrol.

"We can take one each," Fireheart suggested with another yawn. "We'll split up; too many cats together will scare off all the prey."

"True," Sandstar agreed. "Especially here, where there's so little cover. You take Tiny, and I'll have Scratch."

The young dark ginger tabby gave an excited little bounce. "I bet we can catch more prey than you!" she boasted to her brother.

With Tiny following her, Fireheart left the cave and took the trail that led to the thickets at the top of the cliff. Sandstar led Scratch in the other direction, down to the river. The sun had risen into a blue sky dotted with white clouds. Sunlight sparkled on the surface of the water, but the day was still cool. A fresh breeze rippled Sandstar's fur.

"Are we going back to where we hunted yesterday?" Scratch asked excitedly.

Sandstar paused halfway down the trail. They would find plenty of prey downstream, but he couldn't forget the sense of cold malice that he had felt there the day before. Even though he knew they couldn't afford to abandon a good hunting ground, he wasn't in any hurry to meet what lay behind those invisible watching eyes.

"No," he decided. "We'll go upstream instead today."

For a heartbeat Scratch looked as if she might argue, then obviously thought better of it. Sandstar picked his way down to the tumbled rocks where the river welled out into the light. As he leaped the last tail-length to the grounds, he set one paw on a sharp chip of rock; pain stabbed through his pad like a claw. Letting out a hiss of anger, he paused to give the injured pad a quick lick. It wasn't bleeding, but it was sore enough to make him limp.

Scratch had bounded ahead, but when she realized Sandstar wasn't with her, she came running back. "What's the matter?"

Sandstar looked at her. "Aren't your pads sore?"

Scratch shook her head, and lifted one paw to show him. Her pads were tougher than his, with hard gray skin good for walking on rocks. Ruefully Sandstar showed Scratch his own pads, the soft black skin scarred and rubbed raw from the rough ground.

Scratch blinked in surprise. "I never thought a cat's pads could get like that!"

"Remember, I don't come from around here," Sandstar explained. "I'm more used to walking on soft forest ground." He wondered if this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Should he tell Scratch about her ancestry? She would need to know if she as ever to become a Skyclan warrior.