Warriors: Black Dawn

Chapter 3

Blackstreak's POV:

Blackstreak woke to the sounds of coughing. He looked around and saw Sorrelowl coughing loudly! The white tom got to his paws and padded over.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"I'm fine," Sorrelowl meowed before being cut off by her own coughing!

"Come on, you need to go to the medicine cat den," Blackstreak ordered.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. If you think I should see Flamedrop, I'll go see him," Sorrelowl reluctantly rasped before breaking into a bout of coughing. The tortie tried to get to her paws, but she began to fall down. Luckily, Blackstreak rushed to the rescue and caught the she-cat!

"Thanks," Sorrelowl rasped as she got to her paws.

"Don't mention it," Blackstreak sighed in relief. The two began to pad out of the warrior den and went over toward the medicine cat den. Suddenly, they were greeted by a red tabby with aqua eyes.

"Hello, Sorrelowl, Blackstreak," Flamedrop greeted while the two dipped their heads in greeting, "What do you need?"

"Sorrelowl has a bit of a cough," Blackstreak meowed. Sorrelowl nodded her head and let out a cough.

"Come, me and Softpaw will give you herbs for that," Flamedrop meowed as the three padded into the den. It was a dark cave formed inside a rock with shelves for herbs, a pool of water, and a hole near the top of the den.

"Lie down," Flamedrop instructed and Sorrelowl followed. "Softpaw, get some tansy and Blackstreak, grab a bit of wet moss. Tansy has a very strong aftertaste."

"Okay," Blackstreak meowed as he padded over toward the pool of water. He grabbed some moss and dipped it in. He padded over toward Sorrelowl, who was just swallowing the tansy. Blackstreak put the moss right in front of the she-cat and she began to lap the liquid.

"That should help your cough," Flamedrop meowed, "You should stay a little longer so-"

"I'm fine!" Sorrelowl interrupted, "It's just a cough!"

"Sorrelowl, please stay and rest. Your cough can get worse," Blackstreak persuaded.

"I don't need rest, I need to go on dawn patrol!" the tortie leaped to her paws and padded out.

"Should we get her?" Softpaw asked.

"She's probably right," Flamedrop meowed, "It's just a cough. Besides, she is needed for dawn patrol." Blackstreak began to think as the medicine cats talked.

'Dawn...Dawnpaw...Oh no! I need to take Dawnpaw out training!' The white tom rose to his paws as he thought.

"Sorry, guys, but I gotta go!" he yowled quickly as he burst out of the entrance of the den. The morning sun shined on his fur, making it shimmer in the light. The tom was panting by the time he reached the apprentice den. He saw Dawnpaw, Cirruspaw, and Tulippaw talking to each other. They stopped when Blackstreak approached them.

"Dawnpaw, I want to show you some battle moves today," Blackstreak meowed.

"Okay!" Dawnpaw squeaked as she leaped to her paws. She looked at her friends and exclaimed, "Bye, guys!"

"Bye!" Cirruspaw and Tulippaw chorused as the mentor and apprentice padded off into the forest once more. Blackstreak walked there, placing each of his black paws carefully in front of the other, his tail swishing as he padded along. He put his left paw down, then his right one, and continued to repeat this pattern. He then looked down to see Dawnpaw, skipping along, looking around as if she was in her own little world.

'She's full of imagination,' Blackstreak thought to himself with a smile on his face. Dawnpaw glanced up for a moment, her green eyes meeting the Blackstreak's own golden ones, before looking away at a butterfly flying by.

The two reached a sandy clearing and faced each other.

"I want to teach you about dodging," Blackstreak meowed, beginning the lesson, "And I'm sure you'll be good at it."

"Really?" Dawnpaw asked, her eyes full of happiness.

"Yes," Blackstreak meowed, "Dodging is important, especially in battle. All you have to do is move out of the way when I leap at you, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Dawnpaw said.

"Good," Blackstreak meowed. He then suddenly leaped and tackled Dawnpaw, who was squirming under his black paws.

"What?! How?!" were all that could come out of the apprentice's mouth.

"I'm not going to warn you when I'm going to attack," Blackstreak commented as he got off the she-cat, "You have to know when I'm gonna strike, otherwise you might be dead right now."

"Okay," Dawnpaw panted, "I'm ready!"

Blackstreak pounced again, but this time, Dawnpaw sidestepped out of the way! Blackstreak crashed into a bush.

"Good job!" Blackstreak exclaimed. The two practiced dodging a little more. A lot of times, Dawnpaw managed to get out of the way, but sometimes, Blackstreak tackled her. After a while of tackling, Blackstreak pounced one last time. He landed right on top of Dawnpaw.

"Alright, I think we're getting tired," Blackstreak panted as he stared at the cream she-cat, whose eyes were closed. "Come on, Dawnpaw." Blackstreak began to get worried when Dawnpaw didn't move.

"Dawnpaw? Dawnpaw!"

'Oh StarClan, did I hurt her?' he thought to himself. He got off of her limp body, fear prickling his pelt. Suddenly, the cream she-cat shot up and began scratching her paws, making sure not to take her claws out, on Blackstreak's chest.

"Ha, I got you!" she cheered. Blackstreak was a bit mad and confused at first, but he began to smile at his apprentice's smart thinking.

"Yeah, you got me," he sighed with a smile on his face. "Let's go back to camp." The duo began to pad beside each other, both worn out from training. Suddenly, a wail hit their ears, causing them to freeze in their tracks.

"That's Sorrelowl!" Blackstreak yowled. He turned to Dawnpaw. "Go back to and get Flamedrop, she might be hurt!"

"Okay!" Dawnpaw yelled before dashing off. Blackstreak began to race through the trees and leap over creeks, trying to find the source of the shriek. He saw Sorrelowl, Indigoear, and Rabbitspring face to face with a big, drooling fox!

The white tom rushed over and latched himself to the fox's side. He began to swipe his claws into its flesh until blood began to gush out. The fox didn't like it though, so it shook itself and flung Blackstreak right off! It was about to bite the warrior's throat open, when suddenly, Sorrelowl leaped in front of the tom and got bitten on the shoulder blade! It gave Indigoear and Rabbitspring enough time to leap onto the fox and attack. Blackstreak dashed over and scratched the fox's face! The creature yelped and dashed off. The cats had won!

The patrol made it back to camp, where they were greeted by a crowd of cats.

"What happened to you guys?" Smallscar asked.

"Are you guys okay?" Orangemoon, one of the queens, asked.

"We ran into a fox, but Blackstreak came and we managed to chase it off!" Indigoear announced.

"Daddy!" Raccoonkit, one of Indigoear's kits, exclaimed as he ran over. "You chased away a big, mean fox?"

"Yep," he replied to his son.

"I'll treat any of your wounds," Flamedrop meowed as he carried some herbs over, "Dawnpaw told me you guys were under attack." The cream-colored she-cat puffed her chest out in pride. Sorrelowl, having been the only one with a wound, stepped over to Flamedrop and padded with him to the medicine cat den.

"Good job," Blackstreak said to Dawnpaw, who looked like she was about to burst from pride.

'Thank you, StarClan, for keeping me and my apprentice safe,' Blackstreak prayed in his head as he stared at the sky, his golden eyes full of thanks.