Dawnstar's Decision

Chapter 29

The bright rays of the morning sun woke Dawnsky, and she stretched out her aching legs. Two moons had passed since she and Willowfur had gotten into a fight, and they still had barely spoken. She narrowed her eyes to clear her vision, and she could see her sister sleeping in the far corner of the warriors den, away from her.

Whitestar's wounds had completely healed, but Lakeheart still seemed constantly stressed. Lilysong had died of a strange sickness earlier that Lakeheart had never seen or heard of before. Dawnsky could still see the grief in both Nightpelt and Firefur's eyes, though Firefur made it less obvious how distraught he was than Nightpelt. Firefur seemed more silent than usual, but other than that he was usually his normal self.

Dawnsky and Willowfur had been very upset when they had found out that she had died. Lilysong was like a mother to both of them, since Dappledtree had left so early in their lives. Willowfur had mostly kept to herself like Firefur, and Dawnsky could tell that she was still seeing that rogue, whoever he was. It made her fur bristle every time she thought about it. There was something about that rogue scent that was very familiar, but she couldn't tell who he was.

"Hey Dawnsky! Want to go hunting with us?" Firefur asked. He, Pebblefur, and Orangetail were gathered near the tunnel leading out of camp.

"Sure!" She mewed after a yawn. She quickly licked her pelt that was ruffled from last night's troubled sleep.

Almost every night for the past week she had the same, disturbing dream. It was always the same scene: ice stretched out as far as she could see, strange cats surrounded her. She would take a step and the ice would crack and melt before her paws. Every night she would try something different in an attempt to escape the melting ice, but wherever she stepped or ran or jumped, she would crash and fall through into darkness. Before she woke up, a booming voice would state, "Through great difficulty you shall rise like the break of dawn, but beware for the ice is thin."

She shook her head to clear the memory, and rushed up to join Firefur's hunting patrol. She had finally began to settle in again, but she still felt that she hadn't really proved herself loyal yet. She had tried to join any patrol she could to make up for the three moons she had missed when she was away. Whitestar had even told her one day to not leave camp since she looked so tired. Lakeheart had ordered her to stay in her den and rest.

Now Dawnsky was back to her normal routine, and she sleepily followed Firefur through the undergrowth. She spotted a mouse that was nibbling on a berry, and totally unaware of her presence. She stalked towards it and pounced. The mouse let out a squeak before Dawnsky bit into its neck, instantly killing it. She said a silent prayer of thanks to Star Clan and moved on after burying the mouse.

Pebblefur was in front of her, stalking a thrush. He stepped on a twig and the bird started to fly away. He leapt into the air and extended his forepaws. He hooked his claws into the bird and brought it down. He bit its spine and put it down by his pile of fresh kill.

"Great catch!" Dawnsky purred.

"Thanks!" He mewed, flicking his ears.

She continued to hunt, and after a while she had caught three more mice and a vole.

Stormfeather and Firefur came back with their jaws full of prey. Firefur had caught two huge squirrels and Stormfeather carried a sparrow and two mice. The patrol carried their bounty back to camp and placed the prey in the fresh kill pile. I'm so glad it's new leaf... Dawnsky thought happily to herself, at one point it seemed like leaf bare would never end!

She padded into her den to take a nap, when suddenly she noticed that Willowfur wasn't in the warriors den. She sighed in annoyance and walked outside to see if she was somewhere around the camp. She couldn't see her anywhere, and so she quickly headed towards the dirtplace tunnel where she could sneak out unnoticed. She growled, knowing that Nightpelt was the only cat who still didn't trust her.