Silverwing's Story: Unraveled

Chapter Four

Silverwing struggled to keep her tail from lashing as she stalked the squirrel sitting on a tree root. It hadn't sat still long enough for her to pounce on it. She couldn't afford to let it escape.

Leafbare was coming in fast. The trees were stripped of their leaves, and prey was disappearing by the minute. This squirrel would be joining them if Silverwing wasn't able to get her claws on it. Slowly, she crept forward, rotating her ears to listen for anything that could break her cover. Everything seemed to be fine, but she couldn't take her chances. Swallowing, she gathered her haunches and sprang forward. This was it! She had this catch! Or so she thought before someone slammed into her. They tumbled to the ground in a blur of fur, rolling into the trunk of a tree. Silverwing stopped on her back, dazed. "What the..." when she opened her eyes, they widened, "Skipfoot!"

The ginger tom looked extremely apologetic. He had her pinned to the forest floor, his fur sticking up in all directions. "I'm so sorry! I scented you nearby, but I didn't even think to check. I am such a mouse--"

Silverwing broke her gaze away to look for the squirrel. As expected, it was no longer trying to hide an acorn. That was left discarded on the ground. She looked up in time to see a bushy tail scurrying behind a tree branch, far out of reach. Heaving a sigh, she muttered, "It's okay, we'll find another one."

Skipfoot began to push himself up, but he paused, studying her. "Are you sure you want to stay out any longer? The rest of the patrol went back to camp a while ago."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Silverwing asked, tilting her head.

"Don't answer my question with another question."

"My question was better."

Skipfoot suppressed a smile. "Come on, it's cold. We're probably missing one of Sharptail's attempts to impress Crescentmoon right now."

"You know, you're allowed to go back to camp without me," Silverwing replied, starting to get up. However, to her confusion, Skipfoot didn't move. "Don't tell me your paws are frozen in place. It's not that cold yet!"

"I'm also allowed to keep a crazy she-cat from catching a cold," he replied, ignoring her last complaint. "Why do you want to stay out here so badly?"

"I promised to get Thistlekit and Bramblekit a squirrel," Silverwing finally admitted. "Happy? It's your own fault that I have to stay out here longer."

"They told you to get them a squirrel?" he asked, bewildered. All of a sudden, he began to laugh. "They told me to catch them a vole. Those two are turning into gluttons. They already get first pick in leafbare!"

Silverwing connected the dots and, watching Skipfoot laugh above her, couldn't help but release a mrrow of laughter. "They've played us like fools. They are not going to get away with this. Did you catch them a vole?"

"It was the first thing I caught."

"Then let's take it back to camp and eat it in front of them. They can have the sparrow that Mapleseed killed."

Skipfoot finally released her, a wide grin forming on his face. "I like the way you think." He waited for Silverwing to get to her paws before joining her side, nudging her in the direction of camp. "Come on, we have to make sure they aren't asleep before they see this."

The last few moons had been filled with their normal routine. Hunting patrols, border patrols, the occasional Gathering, and it was great. Silverwing couldn't think of a better way to spend her time. Hunting with Skipfoot had become a usual, and Sharptail finally had enough time to work on his flirting skills. Maybe Crescentmoon would even start sticking around for the second sentence out of his mouth! They could hope, couldn't they?