Warriors! Moonstars journey.

Chapter 6

"You will have to do better than that moonpaw!" Dawnspirit snarled, flashing his Fanges at her, as moonpaw tried to copy his movements.

"Im doing the best i can, you old badger!" Moonpaw snapped back.

Sense the two moons sense moonpaw had been made an apprentice, dawnspirit had been drilling her with fighting moves.

Suddenly, dawnspirit threw himself at her. Yowling in shock, moonpaw went down, but thinking quickly, she hooked her paws around the larger warrior as he landed above her. Using her own momentum, and his, moonpaw kept rolling, and brought him with her. Suddenly moonpaw was over him, looking into his shocked green eyes.

"That- that was great! Where in starclan did you learn that?" Dawnspirit stared at her, his mouth gaping open.

"I dont know. i just did it." Moonpaw backed up, letting her ruffled mentor up. Her tall body matching many of the warriors in the clan.

Dawnspirit pushed himself to his paws and grunted. "Another moon and you'll be ready moonpaw. But you have to learn as much as you can. Training again at sun down. Go hunting for the elders. I expect you back at camp by sunhigh." Dawnspirit turned and padded into the bushes, leaving moonpaw to lick the dust from her ruffled pelt.

The bushes suddenly shake, and cloudspot pads out, willowpaw and snowberry just behind him. spotting moonpaw, cloudspot raises his dark gray tail and pads over.

"Brackenstar said to go to camp. You and willowpaw will e going to the gathering tonight. You need your rest." Cloudspot meowed, his amber eyes on her.

"But dawnspirit said for me to hunt for the elders!" Moonpaw protested, her ears flattening in confusion.

"Brackenstar is leader. Not dawnspirit. Now do as your father said and go to camp. My hunting patrol will take care of the hunting." Cloudspot licked moonpaws ears, and pads off after his patrol, leaving moonpaw alone.

Sighing, moonpaw got up and pads to camp, wishing she could hunt. Suddenly, a mouse darted under her paw, and she sprang on it, killing it swiftly.

There is no reason i cant hunt on the way back to camp! Moonpaw thought excitedly, sniffing the air. Spotting a squirrel up a tree, she climbed stealthily up the tree opposite of the squirrel, and stalked around to where she was a branch or two above it.

Leaping down, she snaps the squirrels neck swiftly, then carries it back to the mouse. Sniffing she catches the scent of vole. Stalking around a clump of thistles, she spots it nibbling a seed.

Pawstep by pawstep, moonpaw stalked up on the vole, leaping on it and killing it, she turns and makes her way back to her mouse and squirrel, then carries her freshkill back to camp.

Taking her catch across camp to the elders den, she heard a yowl from the nursery. turning, she sees mousefeather dash across camp to the nursery, a bundle of herbs in his jaws. Curious, moonpaw dashes to the elders den, putting the freshkill next to their nests, and running back to the nursery.

"Whats going on?" Moonpaw asked excitedly, eyes wide. "Is mothflight having her kits?"

Pain in her tail made her yelp, spinning around, moonpaw saw shrewkit gripping her tail with his tiny teeth. His sister leafkit was just behind him, lashing her little black tail.

"Lilyfall said to stay out of the nursery moonpaw!" Leafkit meowed, her pink nose wiggling.

Moonpaw rolled her eyes. at three moons, they were the only kits left in camp, and they were spoiled.

Lashing her tail, moonpaw got shrewkit to let go, and she stepped away from the nursery. Squealing happily, the kits chased eachother away, moonpaw watching them retreat, slightly disappointed.

Mousefeather came out of the nursery, a tiny black kit hanging limply in his jaws. Sorrow flowed through moonpaw, realizing that the kit must be dead. A mournful yowl echoed through the branches of the nursery, and moonpaw pushes her way in, her blue eyes wide as she looked at the new mother, curled around her three surviving kits.

Mothflight looked up at moonpaw with sad gray eyes, her pale brown fur looking dull.

Moonpaw looked down at the tiny kits, one black and gray, its tail long and winding, another was dark ginger, and the other was a light brown like its mother.

"They are beautiful kits mothflight." Moonpaw spoke gently, her eyes on the grieving queens face.

"Yes. So was the one that didnt make it. She just couldn't catch her breath..." Mothflight whispered, laying her head down.

"Just think of it this way mothflight. Your other kits need you. Dont give up on them." Moonpaw licked the queens ears gently, then backed out of the nursery, giving her some room.

A shocked yowl echoed through the camp, and nightsky came charging from the camp entrance, his ice blue eyes wide with shock and his black fur bristling. He pushed his way into the nursery, obviously the father if the new arrivals. Moonpaw pitied his loss.

Suddenly exhausted, moonpaw padded to the elderberry bush where the apprentices slept, curling up in her nest, she tried to forget about the dead kit, and focus on the living ones instead.

Moonpaw dreamed of kits with stary pelts and mothers crying out for their little ones. Finally, a memory came, fuzzy and indistinct. A silver queen she didnt recognize lay beside her, yet she knew the queen. Beside her lay two kits. Moonpaw recognized the shape of her sister, willowpaw. But he didnt remember the ginger tom laying beside them. Suddenly a strong harsh scent swirled around them, and she meowed in fear, edging closer to the silver queen, and leaving the ginger tom out in the open.

Suddenly a large animal sprang out of nowhere, snapping its jaws around the little ginger kit. The queen shot up, her ice blue eyes shocked, and filled with horror.

The kits cry was cut off with a snap and a crunch. And the large animal ran away, leaving the queen to cuddle with the two remaining kits.

What just happened? Moonpaw wondered. But the answer never came.