The Beginning Prophecy: Firestarter

Chapter Six

"Spottedleaf! Hey, wake up!" Spottedleaf's eyes fluttered open to see the small and ginger shape of her apprentice standing over her. Had she fallen asleep in the wrong den?

"You promised you'd show me the territory today! Graypaw and Lionheart already went out." Firepaw added with another stab of his paw to the tortoiseshell warrior's flank.

Spottedleaf stretched as her jaws parted in a wide yawn. A purr of amusement rumbled in her throat while she heaved herself up. "I'm awake. We'll leave soon." She reassured Firepaw, beginning to give her coat a quick wash.

Spottedleaf then led Firepaw through the gorse tunnel of the camp's entrance and up the side of a rock-littered valley. A cool breeze ruffled their fur and pushed fat, white clouds across the blue sky above as they climbed over the crest of the ravine, heading down a shaded slope into a sandy hollow.

Graypaw and Lionheart were waiting, sitting side-by-side on the sun-warmed sand.

"Firepaw! You made it!" Graypaw cheered while bounding up to his friend and tackling him to the ground where the two began to scuffle.

Lionheart's greeting was much more formal and he dipped his head to Spottedleaf. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Lionheart." Spottedleaf echoed.

The two young toms broke apart, panting and purring with dusty pelts.

Spottedleaf flicked her tail at the pair. "Come on, Firepaw. Get up. I am going to show you where our borders lie, so you know where you are allowed to hunt and what boundaries you must defend."

"It won't do any harm to remind you of ThunderClan's outer limits, Graypaw." Added Lionheart. Without another word, he nodded to his apprentice and leapt up before taking off out the sandy hollow with Graypaw hot on his heels.

Spottedleaf charged after them, glancing over her shoulder to see Firepaw scramble as his paws slipped on the soft sand.

They headed into a thicker part of the forest where ash and birch trees were overshadowed by grand oaks. Crisp dead leaves blanketed the ground, crunching underpaw.

Lionheart paused and sprayed a clump of ferns with his scent, the other cats halting beside him.

"A Twoleg path is here," Spottedleaf murmured. "Firepaw, use your nose. Can you scent anything?"

The tabby sniffed. "A Twoleg walked their dog here, but they're gone." Meowed Firepaw.

"Good job." Spottedleaf praised. "Is it safe for us to cross?"

Firepaw gave another sniff. "Yes." Replied the tom.

Lionheart nodded, and the patrol stalked from beneath the ferns and crossed the stones of the narrow twoleg path.

Beyond were pine trees, tall and straight in seemingly endless rows. The ground was thickly layered with dead needles that pricked the cat's pads, but allowed them to walk silently. The trail lacked undergrowth to hide in, and, as they carried on unprotected through tree trunks, Spottedleaf could feel the tension in the air like a heavy fog.

"These trees were put here by Twolegs," Lionheart meowed. "They use foul-smelling creatures to cut them down. The trees are then taken to the Treecut place near here."