WARRIORS The Moons of the New Great Battles

Chapter 10

Six days past. Moonpaw had learned how to hunt, a few fighting moves, how to collect moss, and how to pick ticks off the elders. She saw Dreamcloud creeping around the ferns, out of camp. Moonpaw bounded toward her.

"Dreamcloud!" Moonpaw called, "Where are you going?

Dreamcloud whirled around to see Moonpaw, her startled expression fading, "Moonpaw, I'm going to try to find Flamestar and Morningpaw. It's better to lose one warrior than a bunch."

"That is the most mouse-brained thing I have ever heard!" Moonpaw protested, "I'm coming with you."

"No," Dreamcloud insisted, "Stay here." And with that, Dreamcloud padded out of camp.

Moonpaw gaped at her, and sighed. She did as her mentor wanted.

"Would you like to go on hunting patrol with me?" asked a familiar voice. Moonpaw looked up to see Birchbranch. 

"I'm just going to hunt really quickly," Birchbranch explained. 

Moonpaw nodded, following Birchbranch out of camp.

Moonpaw scented the air. Mouse! She dropped into the hunter's crouch, her tail waving lowly. Then she pounced. The mouse's paws scrabbled helplessly, and it fell dead as she bit it's spine. 

"Thank you, StarClan, for this mouse!" Moonpaw murmured. She buried the mouse. Then she scented something else. A thrush! A big one too! Again, dropping into the hunter's crouch, she crept toward it, and leapt. The bird squawked and fluttered it's wings, but it was all in vain. Moonpaw bit the thrush's neck, and it stopped moving. "Thank you, StarClan, for this thrush!" She scraped earth over it.

Birchbranch padded toward her, holding a plump squirrel and a young mouse in his jaws. He set down the prey. "What did you catch?" he asked.

Moonpaw dug the mouse and the big thrush out, presenting them to Birchbranch and puffing out her chest.

"Well done!" Birchbranch praised, "Let's take this fresh-kill back to camp!"

The cats padded back to camp. Moonpaw dropped her prey immediately, forcing Birchbranch to groan and pick up her catches. She raced toward a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes and a younger tortoiseshell with amber eyes.

"Dreamcloud!" Moonpaw exclaimed, "Morningpaw!"

"I found Morningpaw in a cave," Dreamcloud told her, "She was starving!" 

"Can I eat something?" Morningpaw asked to a still panic-stricken Dreamcloud.

"Of course, dear."

Dreamcloud's voice cracked as she spoke, "Why didn't I find Flamestar?"

"You found Morningpaw," Moonpaw mewed, "You did a great job. It's normal that you can't find your mate. I'm sure only few cats have really good luck to find both cats that are missing."

Dreamcloud's legs still trembled as she hid her miserable face.

Moonpaw felt a pang of pity for her mentor.

"Okay," Dreamcloud whispered, leaning onto her apprentice.

"I'm here for you, Dreamcloud," Moonpaw promised softly.

"Thank you," Dreamcloud breathed.

Morningpaw gulped down the mouse and thrush that Moonpaw had caught, pushing her way into the apprentices'den.

Dreamcloud heard a gasp of pain. She whirled around and pushed her way through a patch of fronds. Birchbranch!