A New Horizon Book 5: Darkest Dawn {COMPLETE}

Chapter 4

Nightheart kept her body low, the squirrel in front of her was completely oblivious to her prescanse. It dug at the muddy ground, searching for pine nuts that littered the ground. Nightheart kept her breath silent and made sure her dark pelt was completely out of its sight. With a silent, steady breath, Nightheart pounced. Her white paws landed squarely on the squirrel, pinning it to the ground while she killed it with a swift bite to the neck.

Thank you, StarClan. Nightheart thought to herself. She sat up and heard gentle pawsteps approaching her through the mucky forest floor. "Great catch!" Nightheart's heart softened at the tone of Rabbitspring's purr. Nightheart looked over her shoulder and met her gentle green eyes.

"Thank you." Nightheart stood up, her paws feeling lighter than air at Rabbitspring's praise. "I think Silvermoon will appreciate it."

"Of course she will." Rabbitspring brushed her tail across Nightheart's flank sending sparks along her pelt. "We should gather what we've caught and take it back." Rabbitspring suggested mewed, casting her eyes up towards the sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, filled with rain. "We don't want to be caught in a storm, those clouds look nasty."

"Yeah," Nightheart agreed, picking up her squirrel and the two began tracking down the rest of their catch. Luckily, the constant downpour hadn't halted prey too terribly. They had much more than they did during leaf-bare and AshClan wasn't very big anyway, so it wasn't hard to keep the whole Clan fed. The worst part was the constant muddy paws and damp pelts. Nightheart was just glad she had Rabbitspring to keep her warm.

The two she-cats walked side by side, their tails intertwined. Neither of them said anything, but they didn't need to. Ever since the two of them had shared their feelings, Nightheart had known nothing but happiness. Even the threat of Echoheart couldn't compete with the pure joy she felt when she was at Rabbitspring's side. Hunting and patrolling with her had become the best parts of Nightheart's day, and they shared each night curled up right beside each other. Some cats in AshClan gave them questioning glances, but they never complained. Nightheart didn't let it bother her at all, though. She was happy, and that's all that mattered.

"There you two are!" Nightheart heard a familiar voice through the pine trees and Dustfall and Leafdawn stepped into view after a few moments. Nightheart gave them a curious look. "You guys take forever to hunt." Leafdawn complained.

"Yeah," Dustfall nodded along with his sister. "Riverstar wants to talk to us, Nightheart." He explained.

Nightheart exchanged a curious glance with Rabbitspring before setting down the prey she carried in her mouth. "What about?" She questioned with a flick of her tail.

"Dunno." Dustfall shrugged. "But we shouldn't keep her waiting, she said it was important."

"Rabbitspring and I can take your prey back, Nightheart." Leafdawn suggested, stepping over to Nightheart's catch.

"You better not take credit for it!" Nightheart teased as she stood by Dustfall's side. "I'll see you back in camp." Nightheart told Rabbitspring, the small she-cat gave a gentle nod and Nightheart and Dustfall began running back to AshClan camp. "What do you think this about?" Nightheart questioned the tom.

"Not sure," Dustfall replied. "I hope it's something cool! I don't think we're in trouble, I can't speak for you but,"

"Oh hush," Nightheart hissed playfully. "I never get in trouble!"

"Yeah, okay." Dustfall snorted. Ever since becoming mates with Rabbitspring, Nightheart had also found herself becoming close friends with Leafdawn and Dustfall. They had almost become like family to her. It hurt Nightheart to think about her own family, Echoheart was terrorizing the Clans and Blackstorm didn't want anything to do with her. Their fight had stuck in her mind like a tick, she wanted so badly to have him in her life again but she was convinced that Blackstorm hated her.