Strength Of A Leopard (BOOK THREE) [ON HOLD]

Chapter One

Leopardpaw was a helpless kit in the nursery. Two strangers wriggled beside him, their scents unfamiliar. He was filled with fear, but he couldn't move.

Two adult cats were beside him. They were talking casually, as if they weren't about to die. But that was wrong. Because above them the roof was cracking, tearing from the top of the cave with a dreaded craaaackk.

There was no time to run. Leopardpaw and the strangers were trapped. The last thing he saw was the rock falling between the branches of the nursery, then silence. Sweet, sweet silence.

"Wake up, furball!" A cat was shaking Leopardpaw's shoulders. He jumped up, fully awake the second his eyes opened.

"W-What is it?" He stammered, shaken by his dream. That wasn't the first night he had dreamt it; nearly every night was spent in that dreaded nursery, crushed by fallen rocks.

Frostpaw, Leopardpaw's sister, was staring at him. "Are you okay?" She asked, tipping her head to one side.

"Fine. Why did you wake me?" He shook himself. He shouldn't let that dream ruffle his fur anymore, but he couldn't help it. Every night he was filled with fear and loneliness that he couldn't describe.

"We're going on patrol with Coldwind, Cloudpool, and Flamefur. Come on!" She spun around, dashing towards the three warriors, who were already preparing to leave. Leopardpaw followed, though his paws felt like stones, a pain to drag all the way out of their new camp.

"We're going to patrol the outer edges of the territory, where the land turns to sand." Flamefur explained. "We have never been there before."

Leopardpaw nodded, staying close to his sister as the patrol left camp. Frostpaw and Leopardpaw were further behind, out of earshot of the others. "I think Flamefur will become deputy when Owlflight is leader." Frostpaw whispered. "Do you?"

"He would make a good deputy." Leopardpaw nodded. He wished that the flame colored tom was his mentor, rather than Coldwind, who constantly neglected his training. Leopardpaw's older brother absolutely hated him and Frostpaw, for reasons that Leopardpaw didn't know.

The cats came to a clearing where the trees ended and the floor was sandy beaches, the waves lapping endlessly at the island. "Stay out of the water." Flamefur suggested, "It looks like it's quite wavy today."

"Okay." Cloudpool said quietly. "Look, up here." She flicked her tail towards a small circle encased in bushes, high up enough that the water would never reach it. "This would make a great training hollow."

"Excellent. We should report back to Stripedstar." Flamefur said. "Why don't you and Frostpaw try it out? She should work on her fighting moves."

"Sure," Cloudpool nodded. "You guys go on ahead."

They walked down the beach, careful to avoid the waves. Soon, Flamefur stopped to sniff the air, his ears flat. "Smells like trouble." He growled, "Rogue."

Coldwind snarled and spun around, "There!"

The three bounded towards the cat that was sitting at the edge of the beach, fishing in the waves. Coldwind, being faster than the others, reached him first. They collided in a screeching fit of claws and teeth, but the rogue had him pinned down before Flamefur and Leopardpaw could even reach him.

Panting, Leopardpaw flung himself at Coldwind's attacker. This is my chance, He thought. To prove myself to Coldwind. How could he hate me if I saved his life?

"Fool!" Coldwind spat as the rogue turned and pinned Leopardpaw to the ground with one blow. He stood up, shaking himself. "What kind of battle tactic was that? Just throw yourself at him? Just barrel into him? Why not just run into him and hope for the best!" The cold tone in his voice made Leopardpaw feel like a kit that had lost it's favorite ball of moss.

The rogue released Leopardpaw. "You are very strange cats. Why would you turn an attack into a lesson?" He turned to Coldwind. "Why are you so harsh on this young cat?"

"Any cat could see that you didn't mean to fight from a hundred tree-lengths away. You didn't show a single sign that you wanted to fight." Coldwind spat back. His fur was still standing on end, making him look even more threatening than usual.

The rogue blinked. "Strange cats, indeed. My name is Thorn." He dipped his head.

"Coldwind." The warrior replied, his ears still flat.

Thorn laughed. "If I'm no threat, why are you threatened?"

"You're on our territory."

"Who's territory? I've lived here my whole life, Coldwind, and never before have I met a cat as strange as you." Thorn shook his head.

"Take him to Stripedstar." Coldwind commanded.

"I'm the leader of this patrol. I will decide whether he goes to Stripedstar." Flamefur spat back.

"Do you all have odd names?" Thorn asked. "I'd like to meet this 'Stripedstar.' Is he your leader?"

"She is our leader, yes." Coldwind confirmed. "We will take you to her. Leopardpaw, go fetch Cloudpool and Frostpaw and tell them to return to camp immediately."