Midnight

Chapter 10

Squirrelpaw scarcely slept that night, and when she did, her dreams were filled with her parents' angry faces, and images of being driven out of the Clan. When the first light of dawn peeked into the den, she felt more exhausted than she ever had before.

A gray dawn light was filtering through the camp as she pushed out of her den, and the wind was chilly. Tasting the air, Squirrelpaw was sure she was tasting the first scent of the approaching leaf-fall. Change was on the way, she realized, whatever she and the other chosen cats tried to do.

Dustpelt and Frostfur were sitting side by side, speaking quietly to each other. At her appearance, Dustpelt stood and padded toward her, looking slightly concerned and trying to appear gentle.

"We'll be hunting with Graystripe and Swiftpaw today," he explained. "We'll wait until we're done with that before we think about training more or going on a patrol."

Squirrelpaw didn't reply, and only nodded her head. Her tail dragged behind her through the dust as she followed him out of camp, not lifting her eyes from the ground until she had to climb the boulders. She knew Dustpelt was trying to figure out what was wrong, as he kept glancing back at her. He didn't even say anything when she scared a shrew off by stepping on a twig.

Graystripe and Swiftpaw were already at the training hollow when they arrived, and Swiftpaw padded forward to greet his sister as soon as she pushed through the bushes.

"One last hunt, yeah?" he murmured so only she could hear him. "We'll leave the Clan with enough prey so they won't miss us."

Squirrelpaw sat up taller, nodding her head determinedly. Whatever her parents thought, a bad hunter was far from what she was. She'd bring the Clan back so much prey that they'd have to give her the day off to rest for her journey the next day. Dustpelt and Graystripe didn't say anything about their exchange before releasing them to hunt, the mentors going off in another direction. Swiftpaw turned back to Squirrelpaw, his blue eyes gentle as he licked his sister over the ear then took off in another direction.

Squirrelpaw padded off not long after, following a small trail that led through the middle of the forest. Dappletail had told her the day prior that she fancied having a vole so Squirrelpaw figured that would be her first hunt. She followed the trail slowly, mouth open, as she searched for the desired prey. It didn't take long to hear the slight scuffling among the leaves a bit off the trail, and the delicious smell of fresh prey came with it.

The vole was nibbling on a nut when she caught sight of it, and Squirrelpaw immediately dropped into a crouch. She moved slowly, careful of where she placed her paws but thankful for the extra fur she got from her mother. Squirrelpaw waited until she was hardly two tail-lengths away from the vole before pouncing. Unfortunately, this vole was more aware than she thought and it took off before she reached it. Hissing, Squirrelpaw gave chase and followed the vole between trees and around bushes. The vole slipped under a gorse bush, thinking it could outrun her but Squirrelpaw was small and flexible. She followed it under but she didn't quite get the amount of room right and she quickly got stuck as the vole fled from sight.

Releasing a loud hiss in her frustration Squirrelpaw wriggled furiously to get free, only to get her fur even more tangled in the sharp thorns. She struggled for what felt like forever, even getting stuck with her front paws off the ground, before she finally heard pawsteps rushing closer.

A mrrow of laughter met her ears as a familiar voice spoke up. "Having fun?" Brambletuft asked.

Instantly Squirrelpaw whipped around and glared at the warrior. "That's right, have a good laugh, you stupid furball!" she snapped. "Then maybe you'll have time to get me out of here!"