Fawnstar's Return

Chapter 7

Fawnstar leaped into the air in surprise. She turned her head to stare at the two figures. What are they doing here? They had strict orders to stay in the forest! I'm a mouse-brain! Can't even scent my own clanmates following me! Forcing herself to be calm, she sat down and curled her tail over her paws.

"What are you two doing here?" she hissed. Patchpaw blinked.

"Going on an adventure, of course. I thought we'd come with. There's not really any reason for Blossompaw to come," he meowed. Fawnstar glared at him.

"No reason huh?" she growled. She waited for him to explain.

"Well I've been having dreams like you have Fawnstar!" Patchpaw meowed excitedly. "I thought I'd come along to find out what they mean but you seem unhappy..." his voice trailed off. Fawnstar's eyes widened.

"Maybe you should have talked to me about this before I left," Fawnstar remarked. "Well, I can't send you back to the forest. You might as well follow me." Patchpaw grinned and

Blossompaw did a little jump. Fawnstar led them out onto a small ridge, and smelled the stink of Sunclan scent markers.

"Watch out," she meowed. "We don't want to stray across the border." Blossompaw and Patchpaw nodded, their eyes curious. Fawnstar continued along the ridge, pausing to taste the air and see which way to go next. She glanced in front of them at the mountains. They seemed so far away, even though Fawnstar could put a paw in front of her face and they would disappear completely. Patchpaw padded up behind her.

"C'mon! Let's keep going!" he squealed and raced ahead of her. Fawnstar sniffed and followed with Blossompaw racing to catch up.

It was later in the day, the sun had just gotten to its highest point when the three cats reached a huge field bordered with a tall fence.

"Hmm," Fawnstar meowed. "It seems too big to go around. We'll have to go through it." She slipped under one of the long sturdy boards and out the other side. Suddenly, a stomp sounded in front of her. Fawnstar jumped and looked up to see a huge fluffy white face staring down at her.

"Aaah!" Blossompaw screamed behind her. "They're gonna attack us!" Fawnstar snorted.

"They will if you don't keep quiet!" she hissed. "Those are sheep. They won't hurt you unless you make noise. Then they

all run in a big herd and you'll get trampled if you're not careful. Follow me quietly," she whispered. Fawnstar led the way carefully around the first sheep, and weaved through two that were standing next to each other. Thankfully they reached the other side of the field without getting stepped on.

"Where to next?" Patchpaw asked once they had left the sheep field.

"We'll head to that swath of trees right next to the twolegplace," Fawnstar meowed, pointing her tail at a small group of trees bordering the twoleg nests. They climbed down a steep hill, and out onto waving grasses of a wide field. It reminded Fawnstar of SunClan territory. As the three cats padded up to the swath of trees, Fawnstar pricked her ears and heard something up ahead. The vicious bark of a dog.

"Get down!" she hissed. Patchpaw and Blossompaw obeyed silently. "I can see it," Fawnstar meowed. She pointed at the twoleg nests. A small white dog was fastened to a long tendril, secured on one of the twoleg fence posts. The dog was not inside one of the gardens, but outside, and close to the trees.

"What should we do?" Blossompaw whispered.

"I'm scared!" Patchpaw squealed. Fawnstar silenced them with a flick of her tail.

"When I say go," she meowed, "climb the nearest tree you can find. The two apprentices nodded. The dog was now

yapping loudly at them, its small black snout wiggling about on its face. Suddenly, the force of the dog pulling on the tendril broke it. The dog, realizing it was free, raced towards Fawnstar. "Now!" she yowled.