Warriors - Burnt Skies

Chapter 22

Nightstorm watched Tiger as the other she cat trotted into camp, a small mouse dangling from her jaws. She appeared to be settling in well, and knew a few things about hunting, but Nightstorm still didn't trust her.

Blizzardfrost appeared by her side, following her gaze. "You have no right to tell me off for not trusting Snow when you clearly don't trust Tiger," the tabby pointed out.

"I actually have a reason to not trust Tiger, though," Nightstorm meowed, not taking her gaze off the tortoiseshell she cat.

"I also have a reason to not trust Snow."

"Really?" Nightstorm dragged her gaze away from Tiger and settled it on Blizzardfrost instead. "What is it?"

"My gut." Blizzardfrost shrugged.

Nightstorm opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as an unfamiliar smell reached her nose. She pricked her ears.

"Who's that?" she asked as the source of the scent trotted into camp.

Emberheart ducked through the entrance first, and following him were two cats, who looked to be kittypets. In fact, Nightstorm knew one of them was a kittypet because she had seen the cream tabby tom before. Dune. Next to him padded a young brown spotted she cat with sharp green eyes. She walked with a sense of confidence in herself, with her tail raised high in the air.

Nightstorm stood up, walking over to the two kittypets as they stood gazing around the camp in wonder. Blizzardfrost followed, his eyes bright with interest, and Dawnbreeze quickly bounded over to join them.

"Hello," Emberheart greeted them with a wave of his tail. "We have some new recruits."

Blizzardfrost narrowed his eyes before jerking his head at coloured bands around the 'recruits' necks. "What are they?"

The spotted she cat gazed at the warrior before looking down at the coloured band as if she had only just realised it was there. "Oh, that's my collar."

"Collar?" Blizzardfrost curled his lip in disgust.

"Yes, it's something that the housefolk put on us to show that we belong to them, I guess," the she cat shrugged.

Before Blizzardfrost could say anything else, Nightstorm pointed out, "If you want to join us, you have to get rid of any marks of Twolegs."

The she cat glanced down at the coloured band. "Gladly." With one swipe of her claws, she tore the collar in two with more aggression than Nightstorm had expected, throwing it down on the ground. She looked at Nightstorm. "Happy now?"

The black she cat gave a firm nod, looking towards Dune to see if he would do the same. His blue eyes widened slightly when he saw that her gaze was resting on him, and he nervously reached a paw towards his neck. He swallowed and tugged at it slightly, and then tugged a bit harder, until it eventually broke and landed on the ground.

Dawnbreeze was the first to speak. "So, what are your names?"

The brown she cat was the one who responded. "I'm Hazel, and this is Dune." She flicked a tail towards the tom in question. "He looks like a bit of a scaredy mouse, but he's great at tracking."

Dune ducked his head sheepishly. "And you're great at hunting. You're the only housefolk cat in town that can hunt, and I've never seen you miss a catch!"

"We'll see about that," Blizzardfrost grunted.

"As long as you prove your worth, you can stay with us. We'll test you tomorrow, and then we will officially welcome you!" Emberheart mewed brightly.

"...Test?" Dune mewed.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, we just want to see your weaknesses and strengths. Shadow, Tiger and Snow have all done theirs," Dawnbreeze reassured.

Nightstorm thought back to Tiger's test, which had only happened a few days ago. The she cat had done exceptionally well in the forest, but had lots of difficulty navigating the swamp.

"Nightstorm, do you want to show them where to make their nests?" Emberheart asked, his amber gaze boring into hers.

"Sure." Nightstorm nodded, signalling the two cats to follow her with a sweep of her tail.

She headed towards the empty apprentices' den, as they were both young enough to be apprentices anyway. She ducked inside, her eyes adjusting to the dimmer light.

"You can use this den. Nobody else sleeps in here, so you have a den all to yourselves," Nightstorm told them as they both filed in. She pointed her tail to a couple of mossy nests that she had made when building the den. "You can sleep in any of the nests in here."

Hazel's green eyes sparkles in the shade of the den. "Great! I claim this one!" She mewed, jumping into a nest near the back of the den, scattering some of the moss in it.

Dune padded over to her, quietly helping her put the moss back together.

"I'll be outside," Nightstorm told the two young cats. "When you're ready, you can come outside and we'll introduce you to everyone."

Nightstorm padded into the clearing, heading over to where Blizzardfrost, Dawnbreeze and Emberheart were talking together quietly. Dawnbreeze pricked her ears at the sound of her pawsteps approaching.

"Nightstorm! We need to talk to you!" the medicine cat meowed.