WARRIORS-Fate of the Clans-Book One-The Beginning

• Chapter Ten •

Leaves shifted under pale paws as Lichennose crept across the leaf litter, stalking a mouse.

   The sky was milky with early dawn above the orange and red treetops, the clouds sparse. Lichennose wriggled his haunches, narrowing his eyes as he prepared to pounce, taking one more step toward the mouse.

   Snap!

   He stepped on a twig hidden under the layer of dead leaves, breaking it in two. The mouse's head shot up from nibbling on a seed, and upon spotting him, darted for its hole between two tree roots. Lichennose gasped, chasing after it and sending leaves fluttering in the air behind him.

   Unfortunately, right as he slammed his paws down less than a whisker-length from the hole, his prey disappeared. "Fox-dung!" he spat under his breath.

   "Bad catch?" a lean silver head poked out of some old brambles a few tail-lengths behind him. Lichennose turned, recognizing her as Webtail. They'd set out to hunt together soon before dawn, Asterfoot seeming upset he couldn't join, instead being put on a patrol to see how WindClan was doing.

   "Mhm. Dumb twig..." he muttered the last part, the fur along his spine twitching as he padded over to Webtail. Noticing the dryness of his tongue, he added, "Can we go get something to drink?"

   Webtail nodded, "Sure. I caught an old blackbird, and buried it under the big ash tree. It was a lucky catch, I guess, it must've been just waking up." Lichennose recalled seeing the tree shortly after they'd left camp.

   "Let's drink from the stream at the WindClan border, I don't want to be attacked by ShadowClan." Webtail twitched her long, slender tail, and started through the orange-leaved trees. The thought of Mudfoot's violent acts made Lichennose shiver, and he hurried to catch up.

   The two padded side-by-side. "Do you think WindClan will steal prey?" Webtail suddenly asked, catching Lichennose off guard. He shook his head after a moment, "I doubt it. They can't hunt in a forest."

   They arrived shortly after, pausing at the edge of the forest. Over a rise, three WindClan cats were chasing a skinny rabbit. "They'll have to start catching field mice," Lichennose thought aloud, "There aren't as many rabbits on this side, and their thinner than the ones on the moor." Webtail twitched her ear and added, "If there's any left on the moor after the fire."

   Lichennose nodded quickly and slid past her, padding to the quick-moving stream that fed into the lake. Webtail quickly caught up. Both cats crouched down to lap at its clear surface. Lichennose almost recoiled, shocked at the coldness of the water, but was happy that it quenched his thirst.

   He stood, shaking water from his whiskers, "We should start heading back to camp, before any WindClan cats find us. They might not want us taking water that's in their portion of the territory."

   Webtail nodded, "And maybe you can catch something on our way back." Lichennose blinked, Is she mocking me for missing the mouse earlier? He pushed the thought away, and instead padded back toward the forest.

   After a few minutes of walking, Lichennose paused, hearing a low rustle in the foliage. He perked his ears, spotting light brown feathers through a thicket. He flicked his tail for Webtail to go on, as she'd stopped as well. The silver tabby nodded and slipped away past some ferns.

   Lichennose dropped into a hunting crouch, keeping his tail still, to not stir up the dead leaves underpaw. He stalked forward, carefully sliding under a thorn bush and clamping his jaws shut to avoid whimpering as the spiky branches raked his back. The robin was pecking at the ground, hopping closer to an elm tree's roots, and momentarily glancing his way.