"That's it, make sure the pulp contains as much juice as possible," Thorn Flower instructed. "Then lick it onto her wound and cover it with some cobwebs."
Feather slash watched as Ink Smudge licked the chewed dock leaf pulp into the scratch down her neck. She'd gotten it chasing a rabbit through a thorn bush. It had been worth it, she'd caught the rabbit.
"You really must be more careful when hunting Feather Slash," Thorn Flower sighed. "This is the third time this week."
"I have to catch prey for the Tribe," she insisted, twitching her tail impatiently. "I have to go out again this afternoon, I smelt a mouse nest near the roadside."
"And you need to get better at hunting. You're used to chasing scrawny rats and mice down bare stretches of road with only a few large boxes and bags to move around. Out in the forest there's more to avoid. More things to give you away to your prey, more things for the prey to hide in. And more things to hurt you while hunting."
Thanking the Healer and her spirit mentor, she left.
Out in the clearing Hay Stalk, Fish Bone and Muddy Whiskers were discussing sending out hunting parties.
They had drawn a detailed map in the dirt and added little crosses and circles in certain areas.
Feather Slash joined them and studied the map.
There were the two cliffs on either side of the beach, the thin forest stretch separating it from the town. The denser forest around their cliff. Only their cliff had been detailed with trees on top of it, the other one was unexplored.
"Skid Road said that there was a nice large patch of foliage up near the very top," Muddy Whiskers pointed out. "There's bound to be prey in there. And herbs too. We should take Ink Smudge up there with us."
"Feather Slash would you mind accompanying Ink Smudge up the cliff with us?" Hay Stalk asked her. "If she finds plenty of herbs she may need help carrying them back."
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll go hunting later then."
"Go fetch our Healer then," he ordered. "We leave immediately."
YOU ARE READING
Cats of The Cliffs
AdventureInspired by the Warriors Series by Erin Hunter. The Tribe of Crashing Waves, named for the sound that they could hear from the town they lived in, have been driven from their home in the old church. Their frail leader, Frosted Eyes, used the last of...
