Warriors: Black Dawn

Chapter 2

Dawnpaw's POV:

Dawnpaw felt like she had enough energy to run through the whole forest! She probably could too with her lithe, slim body.

I can't believe I'm an apprentice! she thought to herself as she looked at her mentor with wide eyes. He was a good-looking white tom with a black stripe going from the bridge of his nose to the tip of his tail, black ears and paws, and round, golden eyes. He still looked pretty young, probably twenty-six moons max.

"Do you want to go hunting?" Blackstreak asked her. "I can teach you and maybe we'll see some of the territory!"

"Yes, yes, YES!" Dawnpaw squealed. "I can't wait!"

"Ha ah, you got stuck with the kittypet," Otterfog laughed. Brackenberry hit the tom with her paw and padded over to Blackstreak.

"I'm happy for you," she meowed, her gray eyes full of happiness.

"Hi, Brackenberry!" Dawnpaw greeted.

"Hello, Dawnpaw," Brackenberry meowed in her sweet voice, "Good luck with training."

"Thank you! I'll be a good warrior, just like you and Blackstreak!" Dawnpaw exclaimed.

"What about me?" Otterfog asked.

"Of course, you silly furball! She'll get some traits from you, like having a big mouth and sleeping until sunhigh!" Blackstreak joked, swiping his brother's ear playfully. Dawnpaw giggled while Otterfog just grumbled and walked away.

"See you later," Brambleberry meowed before padding after her brother.

"Let's go hunting," Blackstreak meowed as he looked at his apprentice.

"Yay!" Dawnpaw exclaimed before running off.

"Wait for me!" her new mentor yowled. The she-cat barely listened to him as she entered a world full of tall pine trees and small, shallow creeks and streams. She leaped over the water and weaved through the trees easily. Dawnpaw stopped in a small, sandy clearing full of pine needles and turned to see a panting Blackstreak standing there. The cream-furred kit just chuckled as he padded toward her.

"Now we need to teach you how to hunt," he meowed. He grabbed a leaf and put it in the center of the clearing. "Try and stalk it."

"No problem, some of the other cats taught me how to stalk when I was a kit!" Dawnpaw chirped. She crouched down and began to get closer to the leaf. Suddenly, the she-cat pounded and landed right on top of the leaf!

"Good job!" Blackstreak exclaimed, "Why don't you try it on real prey?"

"Okay!" Dawnpaw exclaimed. The two padded into the forest and looked around. Dawnpaw scented something and crouched immediately. It was a mouse, and it was totally unaware of the two cats. Dawnpaw began to stalk it and then she pounced. The cream she-cat grabbed the mouse and snapped its neck in a single bite!

"Wow, you're a natural!" Blackstreak exclaimed. Dawnpaw fluffed out her chest in pride.

I am pretty good, Dawnpaw thought to herself.

"Why don't we thank StarClan for letting us catch this fresh-kill?" Blackstreak suggested.

"Sure!" Dawnpaw meowed as she kneeled down and touched her nose to the cold mouse. "Thank you, StarClan, for this catch and I hope it will feed our clan."

"Come on, we'll bring it back to camp," Blackstreak meowed.

"But we just got here!" Dawnpaw meowed as she leaped to her paws. The she-cat wanted to stay and hunt.

Hunting is my skill, she thought to herself, but she didn't want to sound rude.

"Okay, we'll stay out a little longer," Blackstreak half-sighed, half-chuckled. Dawnpaw cheered and ran off to hunt. The she-cat managed to catch a vole and two more mice! She was going to catch a cardinal, but she messed up. However, Blackstreak rushed over and pounced, snagging his claws into the bird's wings. He brought it to the ground and bit into it, its crimson blood barely noticeable on its red feathers. The two prayed to StarClan for the fresh-kill.

"It's getting dark," Blackstreak meowed as he looked at the setting sun.

Huh, it is, Dawnpaw thought to herself. She was having so much fun hunting prey that she lost track of time!

"Come on, let's go home," her mentor meowed as he began to pad away, carrying her catches in his muzzle and his back.

"Okay!" Dawnpaw exclaimed as she bounced beside her mentor. The two went back to camp and put the fresh-kill on the fresh-kill pile.

"Wow, you caught all of that?" Cirruspaw said in awe as he and Tulippaw padded over to Dawnpaw.

"Yep! Well, everything but the cardinal," Dawnpaw said, glancing at her mentor. She saw a smile spread across his face. She then looked back at her friends.

"Well, that's nothing! I got to learn about swimming. Frozenstorm says I'm a natural," Tulippaw bragged, trying to be the center of attention. Dawnpaw and Cirruspaw just rolled their eyes.

"What did you do?" Dawnpaw asked Cirruspaw.

"Oh, me? Well, I just saw the borders and learned the crouch. I almost caught a shrew!" the tom meowed happily.

"Almost?" Tulippaw asked her brother.

"Yeah, so?" Cirruspaw replied.

"Well, look at the time! I better go to sleep!" Dawnpaw quickly caught off, not wanting to watch her friends fight. The cream-furred she-cat began to pad away.

"Dawnpaw!"

"Yes, Cirruspaw?" Dawnpaw turned her head and asked.

"The apprentice den is that way," Cirruspaw pointed with his tail.

"Right, I meant to go that way," Dawnpaw meowed as she changed direction. She then padded in briskly and flopped in a nest made just for her. She closed her green eyes and fell asleep instantly. Dawnpaw's dreams were full of her chasing prey and catching them all. She was Dawnheart, the savior of the clans.

"Thank you so very much for bringing us all this prey!" some random warrior exclaimed.

"Yeah, we would have starved if it wasn't for you!" another cat said.

"No need to thank me, it's just what I do," Dawnheart replied cooly.

"Dawnheart! Dawnheart! Dawnheart!" The chanting of the cats began to disappear and the once bright, joyful world twisted into a dark, colorless forest. Dawnpaw looked around, a bit confused, and tried to move, but her paws were stuck to the ground. It was like they were rooted in there! Fog began to roll in, making it almost impossible to see. Dawnpaw tried to call out, but no sound came out of her mouth.

Dawnpaw heard a rustle. She saw a dark figure move around in the fog, whose figure was hard to recognize due to the fog. It looked like an older cat by how it moved. Dawnpaw saw a younger, smaller figure behind the first one, who was kind of stalking. Dawnpaw wanted to say something, but no words could be formed. The apprentice strained to hear what they were saying, but it was all muffled.

Suddenly, the younger figure attacked! Dawnpaw tried to rush over and scream, but her paws wouldn't budge and no sound came out. The two began to wrestle, but the younger one was winning. A snap was heard and the older figure fell to the ground. It was dead! Crimson blood began to spill out of it and it began to wash at Dawnpaw's paws. Soon, her once cream paws, excluding her one white one, were stained red. Dawnpaw was screaming her lungs out, but nobody, not even she, could hear it.

"Danger is coming. The black dawn must come and wash away the war of the night." The words suddenly filled her mind before everything went dark. Dawnpaw woke up in the middle of the night, panting. She looked around. The den was dark and Cirruspaw and Tulippaw were fast asleep.

Why did I have that dream? Dawnpaw thought to herself, And what did those words mean?