Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 3

     Spottedpaw wove through the underbrush delicately; her mouth was parted as she searched for a trace of prey. Though it had been several sunrises since she'd overheard the conversation between Deadeye and Frozenleaf, the words nagged at the back of her mind. Something about the exchange felt off and Spottedpaw felt deep in her gut that she should be suspicious of it. With a flick of her ears, the apprentice brought her attention back to the task at hand. She knew she couldn't afford to worry about such things when the Gorge needed food.

     The fresh scent of squirrel caught the entirety of her attention. She froze, scanning the forest around her for any sign of the prey. A snap of a twig, a twitch of a leaf—she knew she'd find what she was after quickly enough. Just like that there was a squirrel in her sights. It was rather skinny and Spottedpaw almost considered leaving it for another, plumper catch, but for a split second she remembered just how empty the fresh-kill pile had been recently and decided against it. The squirrel froze where it was rummaging among the leaves and in its moment of hesitation, Spottedpaw pounced. She delivered a quick blow to its neck and ended it swiftly. After giving it a quick sniff, she buried it by a nearby tree and continued on her hunt. The apprentice turned around and stalked back into the undergrowth—almost immediately picking up the scent of vole. Her mouth watered as soon as she spotted it. The prey was especially plump for a vole and she was sure it would make a nice addition to her scrawny squirrel. She dropped into a crouch, creeping forward silently. Right as she was about to leap, the bushes nearby rustled and a flash of brown fur emerged, scaring away her catch. 

     "Mouse-dung!" Spottedpaw cursed softly and teared at the grass with her claws. She spun angrily on the culprit of all the noise and was startled when she saw her brother's amber eyes glistening in amusement. "Dustpaw? Couldn't you see I was about to catch that?" The golden molly couldn't stop her tail from twitching in agitation. 

     "It's just a stupid vole," her littermate muttered with a roll of his eyes. "You can always catch another one."

     Spottedpaw let out an annoyed growl. "What are you doing, anyways? You know Rocksplash will be furious if she sees us sitting around like lazy kittypets." She remembered the first day that they had gone hunting and how harshly Rocksplash had scolded Dustpaw—from the brief flash of anger in her brother's eyes, she knew he remembered as well.

     "Relax, scaredy-mouse." Despite the anger she had seen so clearly, Dustpaw maintained his composure. "I just had an honest question. That's all. Besides, Rocksplash is all the way in the middle of the forest. She won't pay attention to me the same way Hawkscar pays attention to you." Spottedpaw bristled in protest as Dustpaw expressed his jealousy. It's not my fault his mentor is a fox-heart, she thought sourly. She was far beyond annoyed at this point—the tip of her tail was twitching in irritation. Realizing it was pointless to argue with her brother, she gave her pelt a shake and gave a sigh.

     "Fine. What question could be so important that you had to scare away all of the mice in the forest?"

     "Oh, it's nothing, really." Dustpaw ran a paw over his whiskers coolly and kept his gaze locked on Spottedpaw. The she-cat was immediately suspicious, realizing the game he was trying to play. "I saw you, though. I saw you eavesdropping on Deadeye and Frozenleaf."

     Shock coursed through Spottedpaw. How could he have seen her? She had been so certain that she was hiding her intentions. Dustpaw watched her expectantly, and in return she eyed him warily. "I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered after a quiet pause.

     "Yeah, right," the brown tom scoffed, "and hedgehogs can fly. You're a terrible liar, you know. Even if I had been bluffing, you would have given it away just now." His whiskers twitched in amusement and he leaned closer to his sister. "So? Spill the details. Whatever you heard, I know it must have been pretty serious."