Dawnstar's Trouble {COMPLETE}

Chapter 5

"Great catch, Dawnpaw!" Sunstream praised, her voice filled with pride. Dawnpaw looked down at her squirrel, pride swelling up inside her. She turned over to her mentor who gave her an approving nod. It had been a little less than a moon since Dawnpaw's first gathering and her shoulder was essentially healed. Poppyfur cleared her to return to her normal apprentice duties and as soon as she did, Sunstream worked with her hard to catch up with Turtlepaw.

Dawnpaw worked endlessly to learn both hunting and battle skills, and it had paid off. A few days after she started training Dawnpaw caught her first piece of prey and now she made sure to catch as much prey as she could every day to make up for the moons when went without. Dawnpaw buried her squirrel and continued her hunt.

She breathed in the air around her, ignoring the scent of trees and flora around her attempting to single out the scent of prey. Closing her eyes until she caught of scent of mouse lingering on the air. Dawnpaw followed her nose, stepping gingerly on the forest floor careful not to step on any of the brittle leaves that had fallen. It was early leaf-fall and it was starting to get colder. All the more reason for Dawnpaw to work on catching as much prey as possible.

As the mouse scent grew stronger, Dawnpaw dropped lower to the ground. Grateful her golden brown pelt would melt in with the forest scenery. She crept forward, eventually spotting the mouse scurrying among leaves looking for some seeds to nibble on. Dawnpaw narrowed her eyes and jumped forward, her paws landing on the mouse and snapping it's neck quickly. Dawnpaw once more buried her fresh-kill and looked to see if Sunstream had followed her.

She had been grateful to have a mentor like Sunstream, she was encouraging and patient with her, everytime she made a mistake Sunstream helped her to improve. Dawnpaw was starting to regain some of her confidence, knowing that she was actually contributing more to SunClan than just moss. She even knew some battle moves, another thing Dawnpaw was improving on lately.

"Did you catch another piece of prey?" Sunstream questioned. "You snuck off on me I didn't know where you went." Her green eyes sparkled.

Dawnpaw nodded. "I caught a mouse." She replied, feeling comforted by Sunstream's approving gaze. "Should be keep hunting?" She questioned.

"I don't see why not." Sunstream glanced up towards the sky, the sun was still high in the sky, just slightly fallen past sunhigh. "The day is still early, and we don't have much else to do today." She replied. Dawnpaw nodded and continued tracking down some prey. She padded through the undergrowth of SunClan's territory. She could smell the AshClan border in the distance, and made sure not to venture too close.

Dawnpaw caught a trace of another squirrel, and dropped into a crouch. She kept on the scent trail, determined to catch her third piece of prey. Her paws moved silently across the forest floor and she kept her breath quietly. As Dawnpaw neared the squirrel, which was contently nibbling on some beech nuts. However, as Dawnpaw stepped closer another scent grew closer.

It was a cat, a SunClan cat. Mixed with blood and fear, her fur rose up along her spine and she could hear paws running against the forest. Her squirrel dashed away into the forest and Dawnpaw stood up straight. Redclaw burst through the forest, his green eyes were wide with fear. Blood welled from a wound on his shoulder, trailing down his leg.

"Redclaw!" Sunstream exclaimed, bursting out beside Dawnpaw. "What happened to you?" She demanded.

"AshClan attacked our patrol," He explained, panting heavily. "They're heading towards the SunClan camp!" Dawnpaw flattened her ears. AshClan was invading?

"Where's the rest of the patrol?" Sunstream questioned.

"They couldn't hold off AshClan so they fled back to camp for help, I ran off earlier because I got injured pretty badly." He glanced at his wounded shoulder which was still bleeding steadily. Sunstream turned to Dawnpaw, her green eyes serious.