Lightfoot's Heart

Chapter 5

Dawn light was seeping onto the camp. They had decided to leave before anyone was awake, so that they could sneak out. But Creekfur was guarding the entrance so they would have to climb out of the hollow from the gap behind the apprentices' den.

"Psst! Lightpaw!" Oakpaw was standing behind the apprentice's den, signaling for him to come.

He got up and stretched luxuriously. Then he slid out to where she was. "Where are the others?" He asked

"They went on ahead," she replied "I thought maybe I would let you sleep a bit, and then we could run to catch them,"

"You could have woken me up," he said, giving her a friendly nudge. "Okay, let's go."

They started climbing out, until they reached the top. "Now we run," said Oakpaw.

She started running, and Lightpaw yelped "Wait up!" and charged after her. It felt good, running with his sister, with the breeze ruffling his fur, and knowing that an adventure awaits. They were heading in the direction of the rising sun. Oakpaw halted. Lightpaw halted beside her. There they were! Brownpaw, Cloudpaw, and Pouncepaw were ahead of them, but Oakpaw and Lightpaw dashed onwards, until they were close. "Pouncepaw!" yelled Oakpaw "Over here!"

The three of them looked backwards, and let out purrs of welcome. "Hi guys! Welcome," said Pouncepaw. "Hi!" said Oakpaw, and Lightpaw gasped a greeting "So tired..." he gasped

"We ran all the way here," Oakpaw explained "He was falling behind a bit. Guess I'm a faster runner," She nudged Lightpaw playfully.

"We're also pretty tired," meowed Poucepaw. "Let's rest and hunt a bit. I'll hunt." He dashed into the bushes and came out with two mice in his mouth.

"Wow! How did you do that?" meowed Lightpaw.

"If you roll around in plants and turn invisible, you can practically do anything," Pouncepaw laughed. "Brownpaw can also just about catch anything, with his speed,"

"Good idea," said Brownpaw. "Oh look, a squirrel!" Brownpaw dashed after the squirrel, and in a few heartbeats, caught it. "Cloudpaw's also mastered his power now," said Pouncepaw. "He can make it very gray and foggy, and his pelt blends right in, so he can also hunt very easily."

"And, if any herbs need to be washed, I can control the water from the stream and splash them!" Cloudpaw added. "Two mice and a squirrel should be enough for today, and the rest of us can hunt later or tomorrow. All our powers can come in handy for hunting, Lightpaw, you can make them surrender, and Oakpaw can do the two cats hunting strategy alone!"

"Yeah, but it's more fun to hunt with a friend," Oakpaw said. "Alright, let's eat. Lightpaw, do you want to share?"

"Sure!" said Lightpaw. "How about a mouse?"

"Okay," said Oakpaw. She picked up a mouse and dropped it in front of Lightpaw "You get first bite," He bit into the mouse, relishing its warmth, and let Oakpaw take a bite. "Mmm. Delicious blood," she joked. Lightpaw laughed

I think I'm going to enjoy this journey, he thought Nothing but friends for an entire moon!

Sometime after, they went to sleep. This time, Lightpaw slept well.