Leafpool's Choice

Bonus 1

Berry flopped on the ground, her siblings talking nearby. Her belly rumbled loudly, but she ignored it. Her and her siblings were trying their best to hunt, but Pebble was too loud and Mint was too cautious. 

"We need to go hunting," Mint mewed, her quiet voice barely a whisper.

Pebble and Berry swiftly agreed. 

Berry slunk through the forest, her belly down, her tail still, just like mother had taught her. She opened her mouth and tasted the air. 

"I smell mouse," Mint hissed. She slipped away in pursuit of her prey. 

What mouse? Berry wondered. I don't smell a thing.

Berry continued through the forest, ears pricked. Finally, she heard a rustling noise to her left, and she prowled towards it. 

It was a bird, absorbed in its task of pulling a worm out of the ground. The bird sat up straight, revealing its red-feathered chest. The worm clamped in its beak, it stretched its wings, preparing for flight.

Berry leaped, flying straight at the bird. The bird lifted off, soaring towards the nearest tree. Berry hit the ground with a thump, before scrambling to jump at the bird again. 

She stretched out her paws in front of her. It was like she could almost taste the bird in her mouth. Berry could feel her sharp claws sink into the bird's feathered wings, and blood dripped onto the ground below. 

Twisting in the air, Berry landed on her paws, swiftly biting the bird's neck. It let out a loud squawk, then lay on the ground, motionless.

Berry picked up her limp, bloodstained bird and carried it back to her den proudly, leaving a trail of blood and feathers behind her. 

Berry's mouth watered, but she knew she had to wait for her siblings to return. 

Pebble padded happily into the den, his thick gray fur splattered with mud. 

"What happened to you?" Berry asked.

Pebble tried to shake the mud out of his fur. "I slipped in the mud getting this." He gestured to the muddied vole at his feet proudly. 

"Good job," Berry meowed. 

Mint padded into the den just seconds later, dropping two mice beside her brother's vole. She was silent as she grabbed a mouse and bit into it, enjoying the taste. 

Then, she stood up, drawing one soft, gray paw over her ear. 

Mint looked a bit nervous, her tail low, but she still began to speak. "We need to find our mother. ever since she went to drive the fox away, we haven't seen her at all."

"So, what do you propose we do?" Berry looked at her sister curiously.

"We can't stay here," Mint began, "for all we know, the fox is still nearby. One of us goes to find a suitable home for us, and the other two go to find our mother."

"Pebble can't go alone. He needs someone to keep him company," Berry pondered.

"I can go with him, if that's okay with you," Mint decided.

"That's fine," Berry agreed. 

A cold breeze ruffled through the cats' fur, and Berry looked up at the sky. It was almost dark, and Berry could just barely see the first few stars winking into existence. She shivered, fluffing up her white, tan-and-red spotted fur. Mint crouched down, trying to keep warm. Pebble was bouncing up and down on his paws.

"Maybe we sleep first," Mint meowed.

"Maybe," Berry purred.

Berry slipped into the patch of ferns where they slept, curling up on the soft moss hidden inside the fern ring.  

Berry rolled on her back, staring at the cloudless sky between the fern fronds, until eventually, she fell into a restless sleep. 

A/N:

You may be wondering, "Who are these cats? Are they important?" This chapter may seem a bit confusing. 

Good.

That's what I was going for.

Also, someone asked about Hollyleaf having powers. She is one of my favorite characters (her, Mapleshade, and Ivypool), and she deserves it. Yes, in the sequel she probably will have powers. I'm pondering between shapeshifting, being able to see the truth (like if someone tells a lie she knows what really happened), mind reading, or seeing the Codes that cats broke (if an apprentice eats a piece of prey on patrol instead of bringing it back to camp, if a cat watched kits drown without intervening, etc.). Vote for your favorite. Death and flight, the powers suggested in the comment, are both really cool. Death, however, could be too powerful and screw up the plot. I like flight though, so vote for that if you want as well. Just answer in the comments if you want.

Thanks for reading!