Warriors AU: Into the Wild

Chapter 11

Sandpaw returned with a chaffinch gripped firmly between his teeth. He dropped it in front of Goldenflower, who stood waiting in the hollow.

"You're the first one back," meowed the warrior.

"Yeah, but I've got loads more prey to fetch," Sandpaw mewed quickly. "I buried it back—"

"I know exactly what you did," Goldenflower growled. "I've been watching you."

A swish of bushes announced Silverpaw's return. He was carrying a small squirrel in his mouth, which he dropped beside Sandpaw's chaffinch. "Yuck!" he spat. "Squirrels are too furry. I'll be picking hairs out of my teeth all evening."

Goldenflower paid no attention to Silverpaw's grumbling. "Patchpaw's late," he observed. "We'll give her a bit longer and then return to camp."

"But what if she's been bitten by an adder?" Sandpaw protested.

"Then it's her own fault," Goldenflower replied coldly. "There's no room for fools in Thunderclan."

They waited in silence. Silverpaw and Sandpaw exchanged glances, worried about Patchpaw. Goldenflower sat motionless, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

Sandpaw was the first to scent Patchpaw's arrival. He jumped to his paws as the black-and-white cat leaped into the clearing, looking unusually pleased with herself. Dangling from her mouth was the long, diamond-patterned body of an adder.

"Patchpaw! Are you okay?" Sandpaw called.

"Hey!" meowed Silverpaw, rushing forward to admire Patchpaw's catch. "Did that bite you?"

"I was too quick for it!" Patchpaw purred loudly. Then she caught Goldenflower's eye and fell silent.

Goldenflower fixed all three excited apprentices with a cold stare. "Come on," he said shortly. "Let's collect the rest of your prey and get back to camp."

Sandpaw, Silverpaw, and Patchpaw entered the camp, strolling behind Goldenflower. Their impressive day's catch hung from their mouths, although Patchpaw kept tripping over her dead snake. As they emerged from the gorse into the camp, a group of young kits scrambled out of the nursery to watch them pass.

"Look!" Sandpaw heard one of them say. "Apprentices, just back from hunting!" He recognized the little tabby Raggedpelt had hissed at the day before. Sitting next to her was a fluffy gray kit, no more than two moons old. A tiny black kit and a small tortoiseshell stood beside them.

"Isn't that the kittypet, Sandpaw?" squeaked the gray kit.

"Yeah! Look at his sandy fur!" mewed the black one.

"They say he's a good hunter," the tortoiseshell added. "He looks a bit like Frostfur. Do you suppose he's as good as him?"

"I can't wait to start my training," mewed the tabby. "I'm going to be the best warrior Thunderclan has ever seen!"

Sandpaw lifted his chin, feeling proud at the kits' admiring comments. He followed his two friends into the center of the clearing.

"An adder!" Silverpaw mewed again, as the apprentices dropped their catch for the other cats to share.

"What should I do with it?" asked Patchpaw, sniffing the snake's long body as it lay beside the heap.

"Can you eat adders?" asked Silverpaw.

"Trust you to think of your stomach!" Sandpaw joked, butting Silverpaw with his head.

"Well, I wouldn't want to eat it," murmured Patchpaw. "I mean, my mouth tastes pretty foul after carrying it back."