Warriors: The Storm

Chapter 16

FlameClan: Nightstorm crunched her way through a piece of fresh-kill she was sharing with Sunfire. She swiped her tongue around her jaws.

"I'm full," she said, pushing the remnants of the water vole over to Sunfire. "You can have the rest."

"Thanks." Sunfire leaned over, gulping down the rest of the vole.

Nightstorm twitched her ears. "I think I'll take Foxpaw out for an assessment today."

Sunfire nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Want to go hunting when you get back?"

"Sure," Nightstorm purred. She padded toward the apprentice's den. "Foxpaw!"

The orange apprentice lifted his head from washing. "Yes?"

"Come on, I'm taking you out for an assessment. It's about time I tested how your training is going."

"An assessment? Now?"

"Sure." Nightstorm flicked her tail. "Just because there's a threat from StormClan doesn't mean Clan life shouldn't go on."

Foxpaw nodded and padded out of the den. "So what do I do?"

"During the assessment, you'll be hunting alone. Catch as much fresh-kill as you can," Nightstorm told him as they padded through the camp entrance. "You won't really be alone, though, because I'll be watching you, hidden. You won't see me until I decide you've caught enough prey to pass your assessment."

"Okay!"

Nightstorm tasted the air as they padded into the forest, and glanced up at the clouds. "Rain's coming. We'd better hurry up with this. Good hunting!" With a friendly flick of her ears, Nightstorm turned swiftly and padded into the undergrowth beside her. She bounded forward silently, and after a few moments, climbed an oak and surveyed the forest below her. She spotted an orange blur at the side of her vision and turned, being careful not to rustle any leaves, to see Foxpaw sneaking up on a finch that was cracking a snail against a rock. He crept forward, pawsteps light, and at just the right moment, he leaped. He landed squarely on the bird, and before it could sound an alarm, he bit its neck.

Nightstorm wanted to congratulate her apprentice on his clean catch, but she knew she had to stay silent. After Foxpaw scraped earth over his first catch, he padded away, and Nightstorm climbed down from the tree. She ran forward like she had done before until she met the stream that marked the boundary between FlameClan territory and CloudClan territory. She paused to lap some water from the stream, and as she was drinking, she noticed several tiny ripples in the water. It was starting to drizzle. She lifted her head, shook water droplets from her whiskers, and padded along the stream until she detected Foxpaw's scent. As she followed his trail, she saw several mounds of upturned earth where he had buried his prey. He's doing well. As Nightstorm sniffed at a strange-smelling fern, she picked up sounds of a scuffle not too far away- fur brushing noisily against undergrowth. She pricked her ears. A yowl, suddenly muffled.

Foxpaw!

Nightstorm broke into a run, following Foxpaw's scent trail. As she ran, she noticed that his scent started to mingle with StormClan scents. Of course! They took Foxpaw!

Knowing there wasn't time to get help, Nightstorm followed the scent trail until she reached the boundary marker- an old fallen oak covered with moss- between FlameClan territory and no Clan's territory. Blinking rainwater out of her eyes, she leaped over the fallen tree without hesitation and continued, running like a pack of wolves were on her tail. Then she stopped suddenly- she recognized this place.

Seeing the sparse birch and pine trees around her, she realized that this was where she had first discovered the StormClan camp. She shook rainwater from her pelt and sniffed around the undergrowth until she found the gap that she had peered through before. She looked down at the enemy camp, and glanced wildly around until she spotted Foxpaw's orange pelt, flanked by a dark gray tabby tom with black-and-silver stripes and a black tom with a gray tail-tip and muzzle, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Nightstorm noticed that the scent trail she had been following had veered away a few tree-lengths before; the camp entrance must not be far.