Waging War Book 4: Empty Peace {COMPLETE}

Chapter 11

Brokenclaw still looked uncertain but silenced himself and gave a nod. "Let's get to work right away." Violetstar mewed. "But before this all starts I'm going to LichenClan territory."

"Why's that?" Ebonywing tilted her head.

"To discuss this war with him, I want to do it now before the situation escalates, or before Riverstar does." She flicks her tail. "Swiftheart, Peachblossom and Shellstorm will be coming with me. We won't be gone long. The rest of you focus on the tasks assigned."

Leopardpaw watched as that patrol gathered, she couldn't help but feel like the war was the least of thei concerns, but she put her trust in Violetstar to do what was right.

"Leopardpaw!" She heard the voice of Breezetail calling her name. She quickly ran over to her father and the rest of the cats assigned to hunting, excluding Peachblossom. "We should get hunting right away, I imagine the weather is going to get worse and worse over time, so let's get started. This isn't an ordinary hunting patrol, we'll be working as hard as we can."

"Understood." Tallsong nodded. "Let's get going."

The hunting patrol quickly ran out of camp, using their speed to cover as much ground as possible. "I know you're still an apprentice, but I trust you to hunt on your own." Breezetail looked at Leopardpaw. "Think you can handle it?" She nodded, feeling confident in herself. "Good." He touched his muzzle to her forehead. "Let's get to hunting."

Leopardpaw broke off from the group as instructed and started tracking through the snow. It was difficult to find prey in this snow, the frost nipped at her nose and ear tips, but she was getting better at it with practice. Instead of scent, she caught traces of a rabbit by the tiny paw prints left in the fresh snow. Leopardpaw tracked the rabbit down, catching a faint scent of it through the cold air.

She tracked her prey down and spotted the rabbit near a cluster of dead heather. Leopardpaw readied herself to race and chase down her prey. She flexed her claws and shot forward, her legs kicking up flurries of snow as she charged forward. The rabbit caught on to her attack and started running, but Leopardpaw was faster. Her claws hooked into the rabbit's pelt and she skidded to a stop along with her prey, leaning her head down to kill it with a swift bite to the neck.

It was a decently plump rabbit, she was quite glad to have caught such a nice piece of prey in the midst of leaf-bare. She quietly gave thanks to StarClan for giving her this prey before she buried it and continued.

The rest of her hunt wasn't so easy, it was getting harder and harder to track as the wind picked up, but she pressed forward. She caught two scrawny mice and another small rabbit but the harsh weather was starting to take its toll on her body. Her nose was running and her ears were aching, her paws were starting to become numb and she could feel her body shivering.

Nevertheless, she pressed forward. She managed to catch another small rabbit before she heard Breezetail calling for her. Leopardpaw followed the sound of her father's voice until their paths crossed. "Are you doing alright?" He questioned, seeing how cold she looked upon first glance.

Leopardpaw nodded. "Yeah, just a little cold." She replied with a sniff.

"Gather your prey and head back, it's becoming too cold right now. We have a decent amount of prey and we still have six days." He stepped forward and touched his muzzle to Leopardpaw's forehead. "Get warm, and talk to Oneflight if you start feeling sick.

"Alright." She dipped her head and started retracing her steps, gathering the rest of her prey until she returned to MoonClan camp. She spotted Brokenclaw who was digging a hole in the ground. She padded up to the warrior, assuming this hole would be used to store most of the prey until the storm came.