Warriors: Rising Storm #1: Robin's Call

Chapter 15

"Who are you?" An unfamiliar voice asked, prodding Shadepaw with a paw. She let out a grumbled and slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was a plump grey tabby tom, his yellow eyes glowing with curiosity.

Shadepaw sat up, gaping her jaws in an enormous yawn, revealing yellow teeth. She looked over to where Dustbreeze had fallen asleep, shocked to see he was not there. Panic flared inside of the young she-cat. "Have you seen a brown tabby?" she asked quickly, "A nick in his left ear, strong body?"

The grey tabby sat back on his haunches. "You haven't answered my question."

Shadepaw let out a threatening growl. "My name's Shadepaw," she hissed in annoyance.

The tom let out a soft chuckle. "What kind of name is that?" He cocked his head. "Have you lost your housefolk?"

Shadepaw glared at the tom. "Excuse me, I am not a kittypet!" She spat, pelt bristling.

The tom just stared at her, his eyes lit with amusement. "Feisty." He then looked at her, puzzled. "Kittypet?"

Rage filled her voice as she hissed, "You're a stupid kittypet, okay? Just tell me where my friend went before I claw your eyes out!" As she opened her mouth to catch a whiff of Dustbreeze all she could smell was the horrible stench of twolegs.

Horror lit the kittypet's expression. "Are you one of those rogues?" His fur began to fluff.

"No, no!" She mewed, forcing her fur to go flat. "I'm just trying to find my friend. Have you seen him?"

The tom shook his tabby head. "Nope," he answered. "Anyway, my name's Stripes, yours is...?"

Shadepaw stared blankly at him. He has a terrible memory... With an irritated snort, Shadepaw began to walk away before she heard a familiar voice. "Where are you going?" Shadepaw whipped around and saw Dustbreeze carrying a fat pigeon.

Anger filled Shadepaw as she faced him. "Where were you?" she hissed. "You had me worried sick!" She raced over to him, brushing against him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he mumbled, dropping the pigeon. "I caught this for us."

She looked over at Stripes who was looking at the two with amusement. "I'll leave you cats alone." He then disappeared in a flap in the twoleg nest wall.

When they finished the pigeon, they began to head back to camp. When they were in the tunnels, Dustbreeze asked, "What will you do when Robinheart's kits are born?"

The question took Shadepaw by surprise. "I don't know," she whispered.

"They'll be born soon, what if she acts the same to them?" he asked, turning down a different path in the tunnel.

Shadepaw flicked an ear. "I think she wanted kits to torture me, to tell them I'm a monster and to kill me." She shivered at the thought.

They finally got back into the forest, in their territory. "Finally, trees above my head!" he exclaimed. 

Shadepaw chuckled. "Well, before we get back we should hunt, we've been gone for a day now."

Dustbreeze nodded. "I can't wait till newleaf is here," he muttered, sniffing the air for prey.

"You won't have to wait long, the snow just needs to thaw," she pointed out. "There should be a mouse over there," she added, pointing her tail the direction of a tree. "Probably under the roots."

The tabby warriors eyes shone with admiration. "Well spotted," he purred, crouching. Shadepaw watched as he silently slid through the snow, heading for the tree. When he reached the tree he waited, and just as the mouse appeared he leaped, landing squarely on the mouse, giving it a swift bite to the neck.