The Falling Sky

Chapter 5

"Strike, Ebony put you on dawn patrol," mewed Blossom, a dark tabby she cat, sticking her head into his den. "Hurry, she's in a bad mood today!"

Strike yawned, and sleepily clambered out of his nest.

Quickly giving his fur a few rough licks, he hurried outside, where the other members of the dawn patrol were already waiting, amongst them, Ebony.

"What took you so long," she snapped, "You've kept us all waiting!"

Without waiting for an answer, she spun around and marched out of camp, signaling with an impatient flick of her tail for the other cats to follow her.

Strike followed them at the back, his tail drooping. This was their usual formation, Ebony leading, and Strike trailing behind.

Although BloodClan despised the forest cats, the idea of regular patrolling had just been too useful to ignore. There were many nasty kittypets in the area who seemed to think they owned the place, and it was up to BloodClan to keep a close eye on them and keep them in check.

Worst of all were the new ones, or the visiting ones. They seemed to think that BloodClan was a bunch of bullies who were only trying to appear strong.

Strike felt sorry for those cats, they didn't deserve to have to feel the full wrath of Ebony. He shuddered, when Ebony got angry, she didn't think things through as well as she should, and well... Strike didn't really want to think about it, so he focused his attention on his paws, a sight he saw very often.

Blossom slowed down, matching his step. "Hey, Strike."

Strike looked up sharply, slightly surprised, but relaxed when he saw Blossom. She was one of the few BloodClan cats who were kind to him. "Oh. Hi Blossom." Strike said, awkwardly.

"What happened?" Asked Blossom curiously. "There's a nasty scrape on your side."

Strike tried to see, craning his neck. "Is there?"

There was. A sharp, neat cut down his side. He sniffed it cautiously, and it started to sting. He sighed, and turned away. Pain? At least that he could deal with.

There was a pause as BloodClan entered an old twoleg house, and hurried up the stairs. They came out on the open roof, and Strike felt wind on his fur.

There was a sudden growl up ahead. But we're still in BloodClan territory! Strike thought, confused.

Ebony hissed. "Who are you?"

There were three of them, large and muscular. They were thin, but not starving. And they had no collars, and were definitely not from nearby.

The front one raised his head proudly. "I am Aldertail. This," he gestured beside him with his tail. "Is Yellowclaw and Ravenflap."