Ravenpaw looked around the camp, glad she didn't have to train today. It was Night's turn to train her, but the she-cat was still in her nest, claiming she didn't feel well. Ravenpaw wasn't sure, knowing that ever since their talk about Starclan, Night had been acting strangely. She suspected that the she-cat was just trying to avoid her although she couldn't understand why.
Icebreath padded over from where Ivystorm and Tigerface stood at the edge of camp, "We were just about to go hunting. Since you're not training today, why not join us?"
Ravenpaw nodded, following the white she-cat to the others before that set out. They divided into two groups, hunting close by in case one of the groups ran into trouble, but far enough to keep from scaring each other's prey. She and Icebreath managed to catch three mice and two birds between them, deciding that was plenty of prey to bring back to the Thunderclan camp.
When they met up with Ivystorm and Tigerface, the four headed back to the camp. Ravenpaw took two of the mice she and Icebreath had caught, taking one to Grayspot and the other to Night. She hoped that this would help keep the older cat from being angry with her.
When she put the mouse in front of Night, her ears flicked and she lifted her head up as if she was trying to look in Ravenpaw's direction. The apprentice didn't move, waiting for her to say something.
"Thank you." She meowed and Ravenpaw felt relieved that she wasn't mad.
"You're welcome. Are you feeling better?" She asked.
Night nodded, taking a bite of the mouse. Ravenpaw left her alone, leaving the den to go pick out a piece of prey for herself. As she neared the fresh-kill pile, Fangpaw charged into camp, followed by Thistlestar and Birdsong. He had taken the two out to stretch their legs. She was surprised to see their pelts bristled in alarm.
Icebreath was the one to ask, "What's wrong?"
Thistlestar spoke, his eyes traveling across the cats who were gathering around him, "There's a group of wolves headed this way. We need to get everyone into a tree now."
Ravenpaw's pelt bristled in fear and she looked towards Night, wondering if she thought Ravenpaw was ready for this. Icebreath picked up Thornkit by the scruff of his neck, heading for a tree while Thistlestar, Ivystorm, and Night guided the others up the trees that surrounded the clearing.
Before Night began climbing up a tree herself, she turned towards Ravenpaw, placing the tip of her tail on the apprentice's shoulder. "You know where the hollow is from here?"
"Yes." She responded, her heart pounding in her chest.
Night seemed to know because she tried offering the young cat some comforting words, "You can do this."
Ravenpaw nodded, watching as the blind cat turned away and climbed up the tree. She waited in the clearing, her paws itching to start running even before the wolves arrived. Her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest.
When the first wolf walked into the clearing, it didn't seem to notice her at first, its nose to the ground as it picked up the scent of where cats had entered the camp. It was one of the other wolves who saw her, bearing its teeth at her as it began growling. This made the others aware and their attention focused on her before the first wolf lunged forward, darting straight towards her.
Ravenpaw immediately spun around, darting out of the camp towards the river. She could hear the pounding footsteps of the wolves behind her, but she didn't look back, not allowing herself to take her eyes off the forest floor. When she got to the river, she hurled herself in, her body not able to process how cold the water was as she forced her paws to slice through the water.
She could hear splashing behind her as she crawled out of the river on the other side and she glanced behind her, seeing the wolves were all crossing the river. She ran off again, hearing precisely when the first wolf came out of the water behind her, its footsteps pounding after her, not long followed by others. Ravenpaw felt relieved for a brief second when she saw the clearing up ahead, the bushes blocking the view of the hollow.
She lowered her head, slowing her pace just enough for the first wolf to breath down her spine, knowing they had to be close enough to her for them to tumble over the side as she crashed through the bushes. Ravenpaw could feel the bushes slice through her fur, leaving wounds that would later sting, but she only cared about reaching the tree, her eyes focusing on the line of bushes that hid the ground's edge from view.
She darted through it, her muscles tensing right before she lept, suspended in the air for a second before her extended claws caught on the tree branch. Behind her, she could hear the first wolf fall, what Ravenpaw could only describe as a yowl escaping from it. The others, not far behind the first tried stopping, but they were traveling too fast to stop suddenly.
Ravenpaw could hear each one land with a sickening thud at the bottom as she scrambled to climb her way onto the branch as it swayed under her weight. Her heart still pounded and she thought she would meet the same fate as the wolves below her until she was finally able to get a good enough grip to pull herself up. For a moment, she clutched to the branch, her stomach pressed against the bark as she calmed down.
Her heartbeat didn't even slow when her paws were on the ground and she slowly made her way to camp. Her body realized how cold the water was when she crossed the river again, and she briefly worried about getting sick, stopping to shake out her fur and dry it a little before continuing on. When she neared the camp, she was greeted by Night who had sat waiting for the young cat's return.
YOU ARE READING
Warriors: Descending Darkness
Fanfiction(I recommend reading the actual Warriors series by Erin Hunter before reading this. This is just fan-fiction, however all of the characters are mine. Any resemblance in names to Erin's already existing characters is not intentional.) When twolegs...
