Warriors:Dawn of the Clans:The Dawn Trail

Chapter One

Dawn Sky toiled up the snow-covered slope toward a ridge that bit into the sky like a row of snaggly teeth. She set each paw down carefully, to avoid breaking through the frozen surface and sinking into the powdery drifts underneath. Light flakes were falling, dappling her dark ginger tabby pelt. She was so cold that she couldn't feel her pads anymore, and her belly yowled with hunger.
I can't remember the last time I felt warm or full-fed.
In the last sunny season she had still been a kit, playing with her littermates,a speckled light gray tom with dark blue eyes and black ears, known as Clear Moon, and a sleek dark gray she-cat with bits of black around her ears,paws, and has amber eyes,also known as Fallow Song, around the edge of the pool outside the cave, with their proud mother, Wind Rider and, gentle father, Sky Hunter, watching them. Now that seemed like a lifetime ago. Dawn Sky only had the vaguest memories of green leaves on the stubby mountain trees and pine trees, and the sunshine bathing the sky, the ground, the trees, and the rocks.
Pausing to sniff for any tracks of prey, she gazed across the snow-bound mountains,peak after peak stretching away into the distance. The heavy gray-blue sky overhead promised yet more snow to come.
But the air carried no scent of her quarry, and Dawn Sky plodded on. Clear Moon appeared from behind an outcrop of rock, his pale gray fur barely visible against the snow. Fallow Song also appeared from a top of a leafless-snow covered tree, her sleek dark gray pelt with black around her ears and paws is visible against the snow and tree branches. Clear Moon's jaws were empty, but Fallow Song's jaws were also empty. When they spotted Dawn Sky she shook her head.
Then a raucous cry from the sky. A shadow flashed over Dawn Sky. Looking up, she saw a hawk swooping low low across the slope,its talons hooked and cruel.
As the hawk passed, Clear Moon leaped high into the air, his forepaws outstretched. His claws snagged the bird's feathers and he fell back, dragging it from the sky. It let out another harsh cry as it landed on the snow in a flurry of beating wings. Fallow Song jumped high in the sky and landed gracefully under the bird's breast with unsheathed claws, while her back paws and her tail kicked wildly.
Dawn Sky charged up the slope, her paws throwing up a fine spray of snow. Reaching her brother and sister, she planted both forepaws on one thrashing wing. The hawk glared at her with hatred in its yellow eyes, and Dawn Sky had to dogde to avoid its slashing talons.
Clear Moon thrust forward and sank his head into into the hawk's neck. It jerked once and went limp, it's gaze growing instantly dull as blood seeped from its wound and stained the snow.
Panting,Dawn Sky looked at her littermates. "That was a great catch!"she exclaimed,warm triumph flooding through her.
"That was awesome!"meowed Fallow Song.
Clear Moon shook his head. "But check it out, it is a young hawk. There's nothing in these mountains fit to eat, and won't be until the snow clears."
He sniffed the huge hawk he crouched besides his prey,ready to take the first bite. Dawn Sky and Fallow Song settled down next to him,her jaws flooding as she thought of sinking her teeth into the hawk. But with a pang,Dawn Sky remembered the starving cats in the hollow, squabbling over scraps. "We should take this prey back to the others,"she meowed. "They need it to give them strength for their hunting."
"We need strength too,"Clear Moon mumbled, tearing away a mouthful of the hawk's flesh.
"Dawn Sky's right, we'll be fine." Fallow Song gave him a prod in the side. "We're the best hunters in the Tribe. Nothing escapes us when we hunt together. We can catch something else easier than the others can."
Clear Moon rolled his dark blue eyes as he swallowed the prey. "Why do you two must always have to be so unselfish?"he grumbled. "Okay, let's go."
Together the three cats dragged the hawk down the slope and over the boulders at the bottom of a narrow gully until they reached the pool where the waterfall roared. Though it wasn't really heavy, the bird was awkward to manage. Its flopping wings and claws caught on every hidden rock and buried thornbush.
"We wouldn't have to do this if you'd let us eat it,"Clear Moon muttered as he struggled to maneuver the hawk along the path that led behind the waterfall. "I hope the others appreciate this."
Dawn Sky whisked her tail in a agreement, but she knew this is the right thing to do.
Yowls of surprise greeted eldest Wind Rider's kits when they returned to the cave. Several cats to meet them, gathering around to gaze at the prey.
"It's huge!" Hail Storm exclaimed, his dark blue eyes shining as he bounded up to Dawn Sky. His eyes shone which clearly shows.
'I can't believe you brought it back for us.'
Dawn Sky dipped her head, feeling hot embarrassment pricking through her pelt, because of his enthusiasm.
Storm Tail, a dark gray tom with amber eyes and with a white tail-tip, shouldered his way to the front of the crowd.
"Let Stoneteller eat her fill first."he said.
All the tribe cats crowded beside the body of the hawk. By the time they finished,Dawn Sky heard pattering of paws sounded behind her;she glanced around to see Bright Pool trotting over to Clear Moon.
Clear Moon hesitated, basking in the pretty brown and white she-cat's with green eyes admiration. Dawn Sky gave a amused purr, she felt her eyes went bright with humor.
"No,"Clear Moon admitted, embarrassment pricked through his thick-furred light gray fur. "Dawn Sky and Fallow Song helped."
Bright Pool gave a nod, but her gaze immediately returned to Clear Moon. Dawn Sky took a couple of paces back and sat down by the elders' rock,that sat by the waterfall and left them alone.
"They look good together." Purred a voice besides her;Dawn Sky turned to see a old light brown tabby she-cat with white paws and green eyes, also known as the elder and mate of Oak Fur, Sweet Briar. "There'll be come at the warmest season."
Dawn Sky nodded. Any cat with half an eye could see how friendly her brother and Bright Pool had become as they stood with their heads together murmuring to each other.
"More than one litter, maybe,"Sweet Briar went on, giving Dawn Sky a nudge, with green eyes bright with humor. "That Hail Storm is certainly a handsome tom."
Hot embarrassment pricked through Dawn Sky's fur from ears to tail-tip.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here for a meeting!"roared Stoneteller from Highledge.
(It's a huge ledge rock that stands on top of Stoneteller's den, and has a few small pools of water.)
In the gray snow light, Stoneteller looked a little leaner, next to him was Crag Nest,a black and white tom who was one of the strongest and most respected cats of the Tribe. He stood on a boulder at the far end of the carven, with Stoneteller and Silver Dove beside him.
As she jumped and lay down on top of a boulder, that sat behind of the fresh-kill pile, but there's hardly anything there except for a few prey bones,that has prey-skin,fur,feathers, and strips of meat.
She watched as the Tribe gathered around the boulder,Dawn Sky can hear murmurs of curiosity from the others.
Stoneteller rose to his paws and let his gaze travel over his Tribe until the murmuring died away into silence.
"I am grateful to all of you for working so hard to survive here,"he began,"he began, his voice so calm and clear like the waterfall. "I am proud to be your Healer, but I have to accept that there are things even I cannot put right. Lack of space and lack of food are beyond my control."
Stoneteller dipped his head. "Our home cannot support us all,"he continued. "But there is another place for some of us, there is a far away land that is full of sunlight, warmth, and prey for all seasons. I have seen it. . .in my dreams of our ancestors."
Utter silence greeted his announcement. Dawn Sky tipped her head to the side, thinking about what the Healer had just said.
She noticed that Silver Dove perked up her ears,tail twitched a bit, and her eyes were wide with astonishment.
"I believe in my heart that the other place is waiting for those of you who are brave enough to make the journey,"Stoneteller went on. "Storm Tail will lead you there, with my blessing."
Dawn Sky barely heard them, maybe it's time to go and make new beginnings of their new way of life.