Warriors: Finding Home

Chapter Two

"Blind? Have you told Greeneyes or Oatwhisker?"

Sootpaw began to turn around and alert the medicine cat about Hazekit's disability, but Featherfoot stopped him.

"Don't you dare!" She hissed at him. She had her tail wrapped around Hazekit, as if shielding her from any danger. Sootpaw didn't understand why she wanted to keep Hazekit's problem a secret. Surely the medicine cat would be able to fix her. Obeying the queen, he sat back down and watched Hazekit move around so energetically. She didn't seem affected by her lack of sight, so maybe no cat had to know.

"She doesn't mind it. Not really. But if you tell anyone, she will never get to become a warrior."

Now Sootpaw understood. Hazekit wouldn't be able to fight or hunt without her sight. She would be destined to be a medicine cat. Or just be nothing, stay a kit forever. It didn't sound very pleasurable.

"I understand."

He backed out of the warm den and into the cold. Mintkit and Pebblekit were rolling the mossball back and forth, while their striped brother watched. His tail flicked back and forth, as if waiting for the right moment to strike. He did, and the ball came hurdling towards the black apprentice. The three kits followed, and knocked Sootpaw off his paws. Hazekit was out of the nursery, and didn't join in on the game. She watched with sightless eyes as her friends played without her.

Thornpaw, Cheetahclaw and Darkfur padded through the entrance at that moment and Sootpaw ran to meet them. Thornpaw and Darkfur both carried mice and Cheetahclaw dragged a skinny squirrel by it's tail. They placed their catch on the freshkill pile, and Sootpaw saw his mentor eyeing the two fish he had caught. He saw something flash in his eyes. Was that disappointment?

Sootpaw couldn't stand the thought of someone close to him being disappointed in his hunt. He would do better next time. Cheetahclaw cast him a side glance before slipping into the leader's den. Was he going to tell Clawstar about his fishing? Would that prevent him from becoming a warrior?

He raced out of camp, past Berryheart who was guarding the entrance and into the forest. His paws were trying to take him to the river, but he forced them to go towards the gathering hollow. He stopped when he reached the tip of the gorge, and stared down at the flat rock that lay elevated at the bottom. He tore his gaze away from the rocks and tried to picture a map of the clans. From what he knew, SunClan, CloudClan, RainClan and DropClan were the clans that ate prey from the river. Their clan cats were called water cats. He knew you could get to DropClan territory if you followed the setting sun, along with RainClan. SunClan and CloudClan were towards the mountains.

Sootpaw looked up at the stars, searching for a sign of some sort, but found only the stars.