Warrior Cats: Fate of the Clans-Shattered Borders

Chapter Two

Shadepaw's POV

The mouse was unaware of me creeping up behind them. I bunched up my muscles preparing to pounce. As I was about to land on it, the mouse took off, sheltering under a tree. Growling with frustration I headed off in search of more prey. Prey had turned scarse over the past five and a half moons. The Clan was becoming tense. Juniperpetal made frequent visits to the Moonpool hoping for guidance, but came back empty. The prey better come back soon, I thought grimly. The Clans couldn't take much more of this.

I sniffed the air searching for possible prey. The sound of leaves crackling caught my attention. I swivelled my ears toward the noise. A robin was shoving its beak into the dirt searching for worms. I crouched on the ground, the ferns brushing my pelt. The bird took off, and I leaped into to air. My claws sunk into it's left wing, and I dragged it to the ground. I gave it a nip to the spine and gave thanks to StarClan. I was trying to get as much practice as I could before my warrior assessment next sunrise. I picked up the robin and doubled back for the vole.

It was past sunhigh, and I ran into the patrol. We had doubled patrols since the Clans became edgy. The patrol was led by Bramblenose, who was accompanied by Leafheart with her new apprentice Hawkpaw, and Briarfur. "Hey Shadepaw," greeted Leafheart. Leafheart and I had become good friends especially since she had a thing for my littermate, Blazepaw. "Ready for your assessment tomorrow?" I nodded. "I've been trying not to worry about it to much," I replied lying through my teeth. I had spent the past few sunrises running through every battle move and hunting technigue I could remember. Blazepaw had been avoiding me because I had asked him if he was sure he wasn't forgetting anything every five minutes. But hey, there was no need to be worried. Just our future in the Clan at stake. Not to mention if I failed Snakesong would never let me hear the end of it ever since I had teased him when he fell into a pile of fox dung. The cat who was worrying the least about our assessments was Snowpaw. This was surprising, since she panicked whenever there was a sniff of other cats on our border. Unless she was really good at hiding it, like me.

I headed off to meet up with Stormclaw. We were going to practice battle moves with Thrushtail, Lilyfur, and Snowpaw. I stopped by the camp to set my prey in the fresh-kill pile. I cringed inwardly at our pitiful pile. There was only a shrew and a small squirrel. I sighed and headed for the clearing. Thrushtail and Lilyfur were already sparing. She swept her paw under Thrushtail's legs sending him to the forest floor. He got up shaking off his pelt. I mewed a greeting to Stormclaw. "Good,your here," he replied. Snowpaw padded up to me keeping her tail low. "Okay, then. Shadepaw you can train with Thrushtail first," Stormclaw stated.

Thrushtail stepped forward, his tail lashing in anticipation. I stepped forward hesitantly. He was one of the best fighters in ThunderClan. I was growing more wary every second, so I lunged at Thrushtail. He side stepped, and struck me in the shoulder. I hit the ground, and glanced towards Stormclaw. He nodded encouragingly. I got up and raked my paw across Thrushtail's muzzle. Snarling, he knocked me over, my back against the ground. His teeth were inches from my face, and his paw at my throat. "Had enough," he growled. I kicked my hind legs upward, throwing Thrushtail into a tree. I pushed him to the ground, panting. He glared at me his eyes glimmering mutinously. "Fine, you win," he spat. I got off of him feeling triumphant. "Good job," purred Stormclaw. I felt a spark of pride at his words. Next up was Snowpaw with her mentor. Snowpaw was struggling, but holding her ground. I shouted some encouraging words which seemed to make some improvement. She eventually managed to flip Lilyfur over, however Snowpaw looked exhausted. Our mentors began pointing out ways we could improve and giving advice. "Shadepaw, you need to balance your weight so it is not as easy for an opponent to unsteady you," advised Stormclaw. Lilyfur was advising her apprentice on how to improve her battle skills. "You should use your size to your advantage, Thrushtail can you assist me?" Thrushtail came over, preparing to spar with Lilyfur. I noticed proudly that he wad still battered from our session. Thrushtail tried to lunge for Lilyfur, but she dodged. While he tried to regain his balance, Lilyfur darted in and flipped him over. Lilyfur helped him back up, shaking the dust off her pelt.