Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 11

About four sunrises had passed since the day Ravenpaw had eavesdropped on Silverflight and Shallowstar. She had been wanting to talk to Shadepelt about it but he had been too busy with his warrior duties.

Ravenpaw was lying in the apprentice's den with her head on her paws. She let out a long sigh and stood up, feeling extremely bored. And lonely, since barely anyone had come to visit her.

Although she had to admit that she'd hated sharing a den with Sandpaw, she didn't mind Graypaw too much. Graypaw was always asking her if she felt better, and had even kept her company for a bit. Ravenpaw felt less lonely with him around, but he was also quite busy being a new apprentice.

Ravenpaw stretched and padded out of the den. Her shoulder felt completely better, although it had become a scar now, and her scratches from the thorns and Wolfpaw were all gone. Ravenpaw sat down in front of the den and looked around the camp.

Berryflower, Birdflight, Mouseclaw, and Longfur were talking to each other near the center of camp. Shallowstar was grooming herself in front of her den. Silverflight, Palefoot, and Thornwhisker were sharing tongues beside the Leader's Rock.

After a few moments Silverflight spotted Ravenpaw sitting there and called her over. Ravenpaw quickly hurried over to where Silverflight was sitting with Palefoot and Thornwhisker.

"What is it?" Ravenpaw asked, crouching down in front of Silverflight. The medicine cat's blue eyes were full of warmth and joy.

"You're completely ready to go back to your normal life," Silverflight announced, her voice a cheerful purr. Ravenpaw's eyes widened, and she jumped up.

"That's great!" She cried, waving her tail happily. "Thank you Silverflight!"

"Would you like to go hunting now?" Thornwhisker asked. Ravenpaw nodded enthusiastically.

"Great," Thornwhisker meowed, standing up. "Birdflight said that he found lots of squirrel scents in the pines near the edge of our territory."

Palefoot stood up and stretched. "Do you mind if I come? I feel like a good hunt would be nice."

Thornwhisker nodded. "Of course!"

Palefoot hurried to the camp entrance. Thornwhisker and Ravenpaw quickly followed. Ravenpaw purred, ecstatic about going back to hunting again. I'll be a warrior soon! Hopefully later today, if Shallowstar knows I'm fully healed.

She leaped over large branches and swerved around trees as she followed Palefoot and Thornwhisker through the forest. They raced through the forest, heading toward the edge of their territory, where the dense woodlands slowly gave way to pines. There were no Clans beyond this border, though. The only thing that was beyond this was Twolegplace.

Palefoot signaled with her tail for the others to be quiet and opened her jaws to taste the air. Ravenpaw sniffed the air, then leaned down to sniff the grass. She could already smell prey; a mixture of squirrels and rabbits.

Palefoot suddenly dropped into a crouch and began creeping toward a small bush that was growing beside a tall pine tree. Ravenpaw looked carefully and saw that a mouse was washing its whiskers with its back turned to the cats, unaware of the approaching danger. Palefoot pounced forward and landed squarely on the mouse, killing it with a quick bite to the spine.

"Great catch!" Ravenpaw purred, padding over to admire the mouse the deputy had caught. It was quite plump, enough to make a single cat full.

"Thank you," Palefoot meowed, looking at the dead mouse that was lying between her gray front paws.

Ravenpaw began sniffing around for something to catch. After a few moments she heard the sound of a squirrel chattering. She looked up to see a large gray squirrel scrambling down a small nearby pine tree. Ravenpaw quickly crept into the shade of another pine and crouched low, not daring to make a sound.