Warriors: The Chosen Warrior: Out of the Dark (Book 1)

Chapter 8

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~*~*~*~*~*

Leafsong woke to early birdsong.  Her nest was wet from the pouring rain late last night.  Leafsong got up and shook out her soaked pelt, giving herself a quick grooming.

Leafsong headed out to the clearing toward Brambleclaw, where he was giving out the daily patrols.

“Sandstorm,” the deputy was saying.  “Take Rainwhisker and Spiderleg on a hunting patrol, please.  “Leafsong,” he turned to her.  “Lead the sunhigh patrol by the ShadowClan border with Squirrelflight and Thornclaw—”

Brambleclaw got caught off by loud squealing coming from the nursery.  Berrykit, Hazelkit, and Mousekit came charging toward the ThunderClan deputy.

“Can we go on the border patrol, Brambleclaw?” Mousekit asked.

“Please?” Hazelkit begged.

“We’ll chase off any intruder!” Berrykit added, flexing his tiny claws.

“No, you’re too young.  Wait until you are apprenticed.” Brambleclaw growled.

“But that will take forever!” Berrykit complained.

“That’s what every kit says,” Spiderleg meowed impatiently. “You’ll be apprentices eventually.”

“Kits!” A yowl came from the nursery.  It was Daisy.  She came over to her kits.  “I told you three to stop asking to go on patrols.”  The three kits started to complained, but stopped with a flick of their mother’s tail.  “Go back to the nursery.  Now.”

They padded to the nursery, with Daisy following, their heads and tails down.

By the time that was done, it was almost sunhigh.  Leafsong headed to the fresh-kill pile and ate a vole in a few famished gulps.  After that, she gathered Squirrelflight and Thornclaw for the sunhigh patrol.

~*~*~*~*~*

Leafsong let the sunlight soak her pelt as she patrolled the ShadowClan border.  She was halfway through when she heard something in the trees.  Leafsong flicked her tail for silence.

She crept forward slowly, sniffing the air.  It smelled of rain and mud only.  It was hard to tell what it was.

Without warning, a large tree branch above Leafsong cracked and fell.  Leafsong, who was focused on the intruder, leapt away from the falling branch a heartbeat before it hit her.

Leafsong gasped.  She stared at the branch.  She noticed something on the tree branch: claw marks.  Someone did this—on purpose.  It must be a WindClan cat!  But this close to the ShadowClan border?

Leafsong shivered as she stared at the claw marks, deep in thought.

“Leafsong?  Are you alright?” Squirrelflight snapped her back to the present.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Leafsong replied warily.  “Let’s finish the patrol.”

For the rest of the patrol, Leafsong was thinking about all that happened—the fox in the old Twoleg nest, Goldenfur and Whitefang’s deaths, and now the tree branch.  Does anyone else know that Leafsong’s the chosen warrior?  Do they want to kill her, too?