Warriors the Clans Reborn: Enemies Within

Chapter 14

Wolfpaw opened her eyes to see the black of Thunderpath right in front of her and wrinkled her nose. They had stopped for the night once they traveled as far as they could go and slept under Twoleg stuff. Stretching her jaws into a massive yawn, Wolfpaw stretched and licked her lips. She could smell prey. Nudging Angelkit, she roused the tired kit.
"Huh? Wha?" She said groggily, blinking the sleep from her eyes.
"It's time for your first hunting lesson." Wolfpaw mewed into her ear. She suddenly jumped up, excitement in her eyes.
"The lets get started." She meowed triumphantly.
"Remember what I taught you?" Wolfpaw asked her.
She nodded. "Scent the prey." Angelkit said knowingly. Wolfpaw nodded her success. Padding away with light steps, the kit paraded to the middle of the area they were in gave a big sniff. Stepping to her right, she continued. Wolfpaw watched, pleased as Angelkit stiffened in recognition.
"I got the scent!" She said proudly.
Wolfpaw smiled and closed her eyes. "Can you identify the prey?"
Angelkit licked her lips. "Is it, mouse?"
Wolfpaw gave a cheering yowl. "Yes! It's mouse! Let's go catch it!" She began bounding ahead but was slow because of her cast. Angelkit immediately caught up and passed her by, her ears bobbing behind her. Wolfpaw limped further until she met Angelkit at a crossroads; there was a fork in the small Thunderpath they were following. Wolfpaw waited for Angelkit to go before she moved. The young cat had to rely on her ears and nose for this particular hunt. Angelkit's ear swiveled as she listened for the tiniest sound. At last she chose the left path and Wolfpaw followed after her approvingly. Angelkit angled her ears toward a pile of twoleg rubbish and Wolfpaw nodded. Angelkit's tail flicked excitedly and she crouched down. Steadily moving forward, the apprentice noticed Angelkit's tail was too close to the ground and was swishing around incoherently. Wolfpaw grit her teeth as Angelkit stopped, seeing as the mouse showed itself and sat upright with its paws hanging in front of it while it's nose twitched. It spotted Angelkit from a mile away and quickly darted off behind the piles of rubbish, out of reach. Angelkit hissed grumpily and turned to Wolfpaw.
"I missed it." She sniffed angrily.
Wolfpaw chuckled. "That's okay Angelkit, it saw you before you could do anything, that's not your fault." She assured her. Angelkit's shoulders slumped but she smiled nonetheless.
"Okay, lets try again then." She said cheerfully. Her eyes sparkled. "Wait, did he say anything?" She asked, curiousity coming off her in waves.
Wolfpaw's thoughts collected and she immediately realized that she hadn't even paid attention to what the mouse said.
She bit her lip. "I didn't hear if it said anything, sorry Angelkit." Wolfpaw said apologetically. At least I know I can block it out now.
Angelkit suddenly flicked her ears. "Did you hear that?" She whispered, her eyes wide. Wolfpaw nodded. There was the sound of a mouse scrabbling among some bushes somewhere Wolfpaw nor Angelkit could see. Sniffing, Wolfpaw picked up its scent. Following the trail, she gestured for Angelkit to follow. They crossed over a Twolegden and started when a small, black dog came hurtling towards them, yapping excitedly.
"Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat!" It howled happily, bounding closer.
Wolfpaws fur rose along her back as it came closer, barking hysterically. Still running, it's yip was cut off as it lurched, falling to the ground stiffly. Wolfpaw let out a heavy sigh and relaxed, seeing a tendril of metal coming from its neck. It stood up and shook out it's fur, it's eyes still wild. "Cat ..." it croaked then groaned then turned its tail on the two cats and stalked off.
Angelkit padded up to Wolfpaws side and heaved a heavy sigh, grateful the dog had gone.
"Did you have to say anything to it?" She asked intently, her light blues eyes wide in wonder as she wrapped her tail around her paws.
Wolfpaw flicked her ears. "It just kept saying 'cat'," she sighed. "I didn't say a word to it, I didn't need to, it just stalked off." She explained. Angelkit nodded and stood up once again.
"Well, lets continue after that mouse!" She declared and bounded to get ahead of the Twolegden once and for all. Wolfpaw hobbled after her, grumbling at the fact that Angelkit could so easily weave ber way through rubbish and Twoleg junk as they went toward the scent. Wolfpaws jealousy only grew when a fence came in sight and Angelkit could make it over and she couldn't with her injured leg. Angelkits cheeky smile made Wolfpaws ears press flat against her head.
She suddenly got an idea. Placing her paws against the red wood of the fence to talk to Angelkit better, she cleared her throat. "Angelkit, I've had an idea just now." Wolfpaw said. Angelkit looked down at her curiously.
"You go try to catch the mouse and I'll go for some more prey over here-" Wolfpaw thrust her tail out behind her, showing where she meant. "-then we'll meet back up here once we've both caught something, sound good?" She suggested. Angelkit nodded and with a sweep of her tail, she was gone. Wolfpaw nodded to herself and turned around. Padding back the way the way they had come, Wolfpaw began sniffing with her nose to the ground, scenting for a peice of prey. Raising her muzzle to the sky, she parted her jaws to get a better scent, her pupils dilating as she caught the scent of bird. Sniffing carefully, she didn't recognize the bird scent, but shrugged nonetheless. Prey was prey, and she was determined to get it. Training her eyes forward, Wolfpaw saw that she was at the foot of the yard with the dog. Taking a deep breath, she streaked across the yard with bounding leaps, sliding to a stop. Strangely enough, the dog hadn't chased after her. Looking back, Wolfpaw saw that the dog wasn't out. Heaving a relaxed sigh, she hared on through the Twolegden, following the scent carefully and surely. Soon enough, she spotted the bird ahead of her and crouched down. Careful not to drag her cast along the ground too noisily, Wolfpaw slowly moved forward to the best of her abilities. Finally close enough, she leaped. Immediately flying off balance, Wolfpaw let out a yowl as her wounded leg interfered with her aim, sending her sprawling to the ground with an 'oof'. Shaking grit from her ears, she looked up in dismay as the bird tool flight, flying away out of reach so she couldn't reach it, cast or not. Grumbling to herself, she sniffed for more prey and was faced again with the same problem. Sitting on her rump, she hissed angrily and flicked away a pebble with claws unsheathed. Suddenly, a thud sounded in front of her. Looking up from the pebble she was beating, she saw the body of the bird she tried to catch, freshly killed, it's delicious scent bathing over her tongue. Looking around suspiciously, she saw the silhouette of a cats ears on top of a nearby Twolegden. As quickly as she saw them, they were gone. Wolfpaw titled her head wearily, sniffing. Shrugging when nothing happened, she picked up the bird and padded away, back the way she had came, towards Angelkit.