Warriors: Skytail's Reckoning (COMPLETED)

Chapter 6

Skypaw crouched down as she narrowed her eyes at the rabbit, her claws unsheathing slowly to not alert her bounty. Be calm. She thought as she fought to stay still. Make Darkfeather proud. She let out a soft sigh and crept forward as the rabbit's big ears flicked back and forth. With a mighty heave, she launched herself forward and showered sand behind her. Stretching out her front paws, she sank her claws into the rabbit's hind legs and drew it towards her chest, killing it with a single bite to the neck. The rabbit fell limp at her paws.

"Good catch, Skypaw!" Cheered Wisppaw as her and Bluepaw trotted up to her, their eyes shining with excitement and pride. "That rabbit didn't see you coming!"

"Yeah!" Bluepaw sniffed at the prey and looked up at Skypaw. "You nearly showered me with sand."

Skypaw licked her chest fur, embarrassed. "Sorry, I just wanted to get the rabbit as quick as possible." She meowed and looked at her friends. She'd been with the Clan for nearly a moon and she'd already mastered hunting but struggled to adapt to how the WindClan cats fought. It was strange having rules to let your opponent have a chance to flee when you could deal more damage. Skypaw wondered if it was a good idea to join the Clan when she had to obey more and more rules.

"What are you guys doing for the rest of the day?" Skypaw asked, looking between her friends.

Wisppaw answered before Bluepaw. "Quailfeather wants to see how fast I can run to the ThunderClan border," she mewed with an excited flick of her ears.

Bluepaw twitched her whiskers. "Brackenmist wants to take me hunting then patrolling the SkyClan border." She looked at Skypaw. "What about you?"

Skypaw shrugged. "I don't know," she meowed earnestly. "Darkfeather hasn't told me what we're going to do for the rest of the day."

"From what I heard," Wisppaw licked a paw and started to wash her ears. "Greenpaw is fit to start training again. There are three scars across his face, but he'll live."

"That's horrible," Bluepaw joked and nudged Skypaw. "Get your prey and let's head back to camp. We should check with our mentors." She meowed and rose to her paws.

***

"Softear!" Skypaw's ears pricked as she and her friends slipped inside the camp. The cry came from Finchsong as she burst into the camp, dripping wet with mud and water. She reeked of dung and Skypaw screwed up her nose.

The cats who were in the camp had heard the commotion and pricked their ears, murmuring amongst themselves.

"Finchsong?" Thrushleaf hurried to the tunneler's side, eyes worried and concerned. "What's the matter? Where are Driftbird and Wollyfire?"

Skypaw felt her fur bristle and she shared a worried look with Bluepaw before padding forward. The rabbit felt heavy in her jaws and she dropped it, panting. "What's going on?" She asked, striding to the tunneler's muddy side. "What happened?"

Finchsong turned to look at Skypaw and her horrified look made her blood run cold. "Th-there was a cave-in," she spluttered and coughed. "I-I was the first one out but I don't know if Wollyfire and Driftbird made it out."

Skypaw felt her tail bush out behind her and she looked over her shoulder at Bluepaw and Wisppaw. Bluepaw looked as shocked and horrified as Finchsong. Wisppaw's eyes were so wide, Skypaw feared they'd pop out of her head.

"What's going on?" The mew of Sloestrike startled Skypaw as the deputy strode up to them, his eyes concerned and serious. "Finchsong? Where's the rest of your patrol?"

As Finchsong tumbled out words that meant nothing to Skypaw, Sloestrike's eyes grew wide and he blinked. He mewed something quietly to the clearly shocked she-cat and she heads off, being followed by Thrushleaf.