A New Horizon Book 3: A Frozen Heart {COMPLETED}

Chapter 2

"Great catch!" Falconpaw praised Sedgepaw as she managed to catch a decently sized squirrel. "That's the biggest prey I've seen in a moon." Sedgepaw's ears went back a little and she looked at her paws bashfully.

"Thanks, Falconpaw." She mewed softly, setting down her squirrel. The only other prey that had caught was a small mouse that Falconpaw had caught himself. He didn't know where Cherryleaf, Fawnheart or Cloudspots had gone, but he hoped that they had caught more prey.

It had been over a moon since Falconpaw's last session with Falconclaw and he had used the time to dedicate himself to becoming the best hunter he could be to provide for his Clan. He thought they would be gone by now, but the Clans remaind in their dying home.

In the meantime, Falconpaw had become close friends with Sedgepaw. She was a skilled, brave and talented apprentice. She was bold and challenged herself. Falconpaw knew that Falconclaw didn't like Sedgepaw or her sisters, but Falconpaw couldn't see why. Sedgepaw is far from a kittypet, she's a SunClan cat through and through!

"I guess we should try and find our mentors." Falconpaw suggested, sniffing the air and trying to pick out the other cats scent through the burning scent of frost. He quickly discovered that he hated the snow. It got clumped in his fur, made hunting hard and it was always cold.

"Cherryleaf said she was going near the MoonClan border, right?" Sedgepaw reminded him.

"Yeah." Falconpaw nodded and they headed towards the MoonClan border, the snow and freezing breeze nipping at their ear tips. Falconpaw ducked his head, reminding himself once more how much he hated this season.

As they neared the border, Falconpaw heard the voices of Cherryleaf and Cloudspots. They grew closer until the two cats appeared from the leafless trees. Falconpaw noticed how close the two of them were walking. Their pelts brushed and they talked with their heads close. Falconpaw eyed them suspiciously. I guess there's nothing wrong with them being mates, but now is far from a good time to have kits. He twitched his tail.

"Hi you two." Cherryleaf mewed once she spotted Falconpaw and Sedgepaw. "Did you catch anything."

"Sedgepaw caught a decently sized squirrel." Falconpaw explained. "And I caught a mouse, what about you?"

"I caught a squirrel as well." Cloudspots responded, looking around. "It's buried over by that tree." He motioned to a thin, dead-looking tree. He padded over to it and dug up the squirrel, it was smaller than Sedgepaw's, but looked big enough.

As they moved through the forest the scent of prey filled Falconpaw's nose, he could tell that his Clanmates could scent it as well. Sedgepaw was the first to drop to a crouch, and without speaking began tracking it down. The others stood by as Sedgepaw tracked down the fresh-kill.

Against the white snow, Falconpaw could make out the red fur of a squirrel. Sedgepaw had seen it too and the she-cat was stalking it with ease. The others waited, hoping for an easy kill while she sought out her prey.

Falconpaw's ears twitched as he heard a splintering sound, the sound was all too familiar. His mind traveled back to Pikepaw, an apprentice who was killed by a falling branch. On alert now, Falconpaw searched for the tree that was about to break. He continued hearing the sound until he followed it to a tree towering over Sedgepaw. His heart jumped as he noticed that the entire tree was starting to give way.

"Sedgepaw!" Falconpaw cried out to his denmate, she whipped her head around and the squirrel ran away. There was a look of annoyance on Sedgepaw's face, and she clearly hadn't noticed the falling tree.

There was a loud snap as the tree's roots broke away and the tree began falling. Gathering up all of his energy and strength, Falconpaw ran to Sedgepaw. He made it to her in three bounds and jumped on her, biting into her scruff and throwing the two of them out of the path of the tree.

Falconpaw and Sedgepaw hit the ground the same time the tree did, tossing up a large flurry of snow. Falconpaw felt a rock digging into his ribs, but he ignored the pain. "Are you two okay?" He heard Cherryleaf call from the other side of the fallen tree.

"Yeah!" Falconpaw called back, standing up and making sure Sedgepaw was okay. Her thick fur was clumped with snow but other than she looked okay. The apprentice sat up and looked at Falconpaw in shock.

"You saved me." She said in awe, her green eyes wide and her mouth agape.

Falconpaw's pelt burned slightly. "I did what any Clanmate would." He brushed some snow off of her pelt with his tail. "We look out for each other."

Cherryleaf and Cloudspots jumped over the tree and headed over to inspect the two apprentices. "Falconpaw that was incredible." Cloudspots mewed with wonder. "I didn't even hear that tree falling until it was too late."

"It was truly amazing." Cherryleaf purred, her eyes filled with pride. Falconpaw felt a sensation of joy and relief washing over him. He turned and helped Sedgepaw to her paws, she looked at him gratefully.

"Is everything okay?" All cats turned their head as they heard Fawnheart's voice in the distant. The pale brown she-cat ran up, her pale eyes going wide at the sight of the fallen tree. "What happened?"

"A tree was almost fell on me but Falconpaw pushed me out of the way." Sedgepaw explained eagerly, Falconpaw's pelt continued to burn. Why is this the thing that makes me feel this way?

"Are you alright?" Fawnheart looked over Sedgepaw's fur, searching for injuries. Falconpaw always knew Fawnheart to be a sharp and ill-tempered she-cat but there was genuine concern in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sedgepaw assured her mentor. "Just a little bit upset about the lost prey, but I guess me being alive is better than one skinny squirrel."

"You've got that right." Cloudspots touched his tail to Sedgepaw's shoulder. "We should head back to camp, gather all of the prey that you've caught.

In the end, they managed to bring back a decent amount of prey. It wouldn't last long but it was enough for today. As they stepped back into camp, Falconpaw spotted Honeypaw talking to Petalpaw.

"I'm going to tell Petalpaw what happened." Sedgepaw mewed, but turned to Falconpaw before she left. "Thank you again for saving my life, I'll have to make it up to sometime."

Falconpaw shuffled his paws, feeling a little awkward. "Don't worry about it, you're my Clanmate. I did what I needed to do." I didn't want to watch another one of my Clanmates be crushed by a tree. Sedgepaw let out a soft purr and padded over to Petalpaw and Honeypaw.

Falconpaw turned to where Sorrelpaw was talking with Flamepetal, they looked like they were preparing to leave. After the death of Pikepaw, it took nearly a moon for the two sisters to get back on duties after watching their brother die. Both Flamepetal and Yarrowtail had been working hard to help their apprentices catch up on lost training.

Falconpaw was glad that he didn't have to see that again, the death of Pikepaw had dug into his skin like a tick. He never wanted to watch a Clanmate die like that again, which is why he was so driven to save Sedgepaw. With a sigh, Falconpaw started heading for the apprentice den feeling exhausted all of the sudden.

I was able to push Sedgepaw out of the way but trees will keep falling. Prey will get lower and herbs won't grow back. I can't defend the entire Clan from that. Falconpaw dug his claws into the snow. But I will certainly try.