Blighting Flame

Chapter Eleven

Warriors Series:Fanfiction

Book One: Blighting Flame

Chapter Eleven

A mouse sat in the grass, nibbling feebly at a seed. It sat crouched, unaware of the danger it was in. Firepaw stalked, slowly and carefully to keep herself low and quiet. Patchfoot's teachings came back to her. Keep yourself low and stay quiet..., the ginger she-cat thought nervously. She knew it was just a dream, but still it was something to relish in the moment.

     The mouse quietly bit and bit at the seed, it's eyes focused. Firepaw narrowed hers, and put her tail down. Almost there! She unsheathed her claws and was preparing to leap. The mouse had no idea! Though she knew she was already a good hunter, it was always exciting when you were at this point. Leaping forward, she lunged for the small creature. The mouse let out a shrill squeak of terror, as she came down on it, but as soon as she clamped its jaws on its neck, it fell limp.

     Yes! I did it!

     Purring, she was about to bite into it, when a sudden paw poked her side.

     She let out a shriek of surprise, and within a moment, she was out of the meadow and back in the stone den. Wha..? Annoyance pricked her. She had been awaken out of her dream. Growling, she whipped around and blinked away her sleep, to get a good look at who had dared woken her up from her precious dream. But as soon as she saw it, she instantly recognized him.

     "Patchfoot!"

     Her black-and-white mentor was gazing at her, through wide, green eyes. "Firepaw," he whispered. Firepaw lifted her head at him. "What's going on?", she asked, alarmed.

     "The gathering's about to start, soon. Everyone's getting ready. I needed to wake you up, so you can get ready," the warrior explained. Firepaw felt a stab of relief and excitement.

     Ever since Tangle's death, she'd been wary of cats and though she tried to get over it, her old friend's bloody fur image didn't leave her head. It was stuck. She shuddered. What was even more disturbing, had been that Tangle had been killed by the rogues.

     Even though she always believed and wanted to help Starlight when she arrived at SkyClan, she always found her story of Flame, far fetched. But now that they evidence, she couldn't deny that Starlight was telling the grim truth.

     I believed Dapple, yes? Petalnose could vouch for her sister's past and Firepaw knew the pale gray queen was a trusted clan member.

     By the time she was done being distracted from her thoughts, she had padded out of the den from her nap and was eagerly awaiting I the clearing, beside her litter mates. Stormpaw flicked her tail, while Harrypaw was chatting with Berrypaw. Finchpaw and Rainpaw were talking too, as well as Smokepaw and Shadowpaw. Firepaw padded towards the two black apprentices, paws tingling with excitement.
   
     "Hi," she mewed cheerfully to them. Smokepaw turned to glance at her and returned the gesture. "Hey Firepaw. Can I ask you a question?"

     Firepaw winced. "Sure."

     "What are the gatherings like? This is my first, you know." Firepaw twitched an ear. "I don't know, Smokepaw. This is my first, as well." She felt slightly irritated that the black she-cat wouldn't realize that she had still been in the nursery a moon ago.

     Creekfeather, Smokepaw's mentor, was walking up to them. Firepaw glanced at him, and for a moment noticed his features. He was a gray tabby, with dark gray stripes and a silver pelt. He had sharp, leaf-green eyes and pointed ears. Firepaw was almost in awe, until the warrior began to speak. Or at least, she started to pay attention to him speak.