SHADECLOUD
Shadecloud stood on the Highledge next to Bramblestar. It was time to announce her decision to the Clan. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!” Bramblestar yowled.
As the cats of ThunderClan slowly made their way out of their dens, Shadecloud thought about her decision again. She was abandoning her calling as a medicine cat to become a warrior. A loud meow interrupted her thoughts. “What is Shadecloud doing up there?” Bumblestripe asked.
“She is no longer going to be…” Bramblestar began, but Shadecloud interrupted him.
“I am not going to be a medicine cat anymore! I want to be a warrior!” Shadecloud said.
Shocked whispering came from her Clanmates. Only Groundsquirrel didn’t look surprised. “I knew you would make the right choice,” he said as she walked towards the warriors den.
“Is it the right choice?” Shadecloud asked.
“Yes. Come on, I’ll teach you how to hunt,” Groundsquirrel said.
Shadecloud followed him through the forest. They stopped near the abandoned Twoleg nest, where Jayfeather gathered catmint and tansy. The minty scent of the precious herbs filled her nostrils. “There's a mouse,” Groundsquirrel whispered to her, pointing with his tail. “Try and get it.”
Shadecloud crouched down and slowly stepped forward, placing each paw down heavily. Her tail stood straight up as she crept forward. A twig snapped beneath her paws and the mouse scurried away. “Mouse-dung!” she spat.
“It’s okay,” Groundsquirrel said. “You need to place your paws down lightly, and your tail should be down, not up.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Relax,” Groundsquirrel said. “It was your first try. And your crouch was perfect. Look, there’s another mouse over there. Why don’t you try and catch that one?”
“Okay,” Shadecloud said, before dropping into a hunting crouch.
She placed her paws down softly, sliding over the leafy floor. Soon, she was only a tail-length away from it. She pounced and dispatched it with a sharp nip to its spine. “Good!” Groundsquirrel praised her. “Let’s go back to camp now.”
As they entered the camp, Shadecloud saw a brown cat standing up on the Highledge. It was Woodpelt! And Bramblestar was nowhere in sight! What was going on?
“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!” Woodpelt yowled.
Shadecloud saw Bramblestar’s head peer out from inside his den. “Woodpelt, what exactly is going on?” the ThunderClan leader asked.
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Warriors: The Unknown Threat Series Book #5: Mysterious Newcomers
Teen FictionThunderClan's medicine cat apprentice, Shadecloud, is now a warrior. She is on a border patrol one day when four strange cats appear on the WindClan border, claiming to be from SkyClan. When asked why they have come, they said they were sent by Sta...
