Warriors: Shadows Incoming ~Series 2 Book 5~

Chapter 1

Flamefur's POV:

Flamefur bared her teeth at the four young kits. They giggled and dared to creep a step closer to her. She grinned and snapped her jaws threateningly and the litter of kits let out squeals of joy and excitement.

"The fox is trying to kill us! Leafkit, what do we do?" Goldkit yowled, darting out of the way of Flamefur's glinting fangs.

Leafkit grinned. "We have to rip her eyes out!"

Flowerstream popped her head in the nursery and flashed her kits a stern look. "Stop bugging Flamefur, she needs rest!"

Flamefur chuckled at the fellow queen. "I'm fine, trust me. My kits aren't due for another quarter moon. It's boring in here anyway, my nieces and nephews are now my only source of entertainment."

"Exactly!" Smokekit twirled around his mother's forelegs, his short tail sticking up in the air. "Plus, Auntie Flamefur plays the best games with us!"

"I can see." Flowerstream gave Flamefur a look that clearly said for her to stop teaching the kits such violent games.

"They're already a moon old," Flamefur murmured softly so that only Flowerstream heard, "it's about time they played something other than Catch the Tail."

The light grey queen's lips formed a straight line and she shook her head slightly before turning to her kits. "Come on, let's go outside. Your father should be back from his hunt by now." The four kits let out squeals of delight and pranced up the tunnel out of the nursery, a heavy silence quickly falling upon the cave.

Flamefur let out a faint sigh and glanced at her swollen belly. Her kits were definitely taking their time. She wondered when she'd be able to go back to her warrior duties. Would she have to stay in the nursery for another six moons after her kits were born? She didn't know if she could survive that long.

For a second, Flamefur pictured Metalclaw being there to see their kits born. She wished he could leave the Dark Forest to be with her. She missed him so much. Since disappearing nearly three moons ago, Metalclaw hadn't contacted her at all. She tried to picture his face and found that she was beginning to forget what he looked like. Small details like his smile and his shining eyes still stayed strong in her memory but the rest seemed to be a distorted blur.

It had been two long and boring moons since the wave. The nursery was the only den still fully standing, thank Starclan, so nothing much had changed in there. But outside the nursery cave, the camp looked so different. It was still the same clearing, but the warriors had to rebuild all the dens and clear away all the dead leaves and branches strewn about.

Flamefur yawned and rested her head on her paws. Perhaps another nap would help waste the day away.

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Silvershy's POV:

The rabbit was oblivious to the predator stalking up on it. Silvershy was nearly about to pounce- just one more step and she'd bring back a warm, juicy rabbit for her clan.

Her hind leg edged forwards, skimming the ground silently. She placed her paw down and a twig suddenly snapped. She didn't dare move. Her gaze was glued to the rabbit incase it began running. The rabbit looked up, but didn't run. Silvershy breathed a sigh of relief.

Then curiousity overtook her. The twig had snapped to her left, not under her paw. The twig hadn't been her clumsy stalking. There was something else around.

Silvershy let out a slow, silent breath of air and bunched her muscles, launching herself at her prey. The rabbit had no time to react and her claws sank joyfully into its flesh. The creature writhed and squealed as Silvershy stooped her head down to give it the killing bite.

Once the rabbit was dead beneath her paws, Silvershy scanned the surrounding area for any signs of more movement. Was someone watching her?

Suddenly, there was a purring voice directly behind her but when she spun around to look, she saw nothing. "Hello Silvershy."

"Who's there?" She demanded, baring her teeth. She crept closer to the clump of bushes and peered behind them to see nothing. She saw some pawsteps in the ground and bent down to sniff them. They were fresh, left only a few moments ago. The scent of a rogue tom came from the pawsteps and she stiffened. "Show yourself!"

But there was no reply. The cat had disappeared.

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