Skypaw and Greypaw

Chapter 11

Chapter #11

“Kinkpelt! Kinkpelt, where are we hunting?” Skypaw raced over to the Bramble tunnel. She did not have time to groom, so her fur was ruffled from sleep and night of training. She had overslept, due to the work in her dreams. “Sorry that I overslept!” She blinked apologetically. Flowerpelt flicked her tail to accept her apology. Redshadow didn't seem to hear, but he was looking anxious to leave.

“Try not to in the future, but at least you caught us in time. I'll tell you where we're hunting out of camp,” Kinkpelt meowed sternly. Redshadow was the patrol leader, so he started out of camp with the three she- cats behind him. Skypaw walked at the back, with her head lowered and tail drooping with tiredness. With Shadowstrike she had kept her promise and they had repeated the same move in the forest. She practised until it was perfect, or until Shadowstrike told her to stop. Skypaw had been lucky that her wounds had not been reopened from fighting.

“Skypaw, we're going to hunt near the Shadeclan border. No patrol had tried there for the past few sunrises,” Kinkpelt meowed over her shoulder. “You look exhausted,” she commented, falling back to travel beside her apprentice.

“I didn't sleep very much last night,” she meowed. It was the truth; she wasn't sleeping, but training. Kinkpelt twitched her whiskers in response. “Kinkpelt, I don''t smell any prey out here,” Skypaw opened her jaws to taste the air. She wanted to change the subject desperately.

Kinkpelt stopped in her tracks and smelled the air as well, “You're right Skypaw. All the prey seems to have disappeared!” Redshadow and Flowerpelt turned and walked back to their patrol members.

“It may be different by the border,” Flowerpelt reminded quietly. “The prey has been plentiful so far this season, but what happened?” She looked around, as if she could locate prey by seeing.

“Flowerpelt is right; we should continue to the border to see. To be honest, I don't know what we'll do if there is no prey there either,” Redshadow conceded. He looked worried though, which sent a spark of uncertainty crawl into Skypaw.

“We'll deal with that if it happens, but for now we don't know,” Kinkpelt meowed strongly. “We should keep going.” Redshadow nodded, appreciating his clanmate's help. He took the lead again, with Flowerpelt trotting behind. Skypaw scanned the trees in front of her, searching for even a tiny flicker of movement which might indicate prey. The breeze was carried towards them, so if there was prey, they would scent it. Skypaw grew even more anxious as they neared the Shadeclan border. She could tell by the wide eyes of the warriors around her that they had the same misgivings about the lack of prey all of a sudden. Skypaw could soon smell the stench of the rival clan, but with a flicker of hope she smelt stale mouse. It must have been a ways away, but it was still there.

Just as she perked up, Redshadow meowed, “There's a mouse around here.”

“That's all the prey I smell,” Kinkpelt muttered darkly. “I think we should head in different directions.” She gazed pointedly at Redshadow to ontinue, since she didn't want to take control.

“Good idea. Skypaw head back down the border that way,” Redshadow started. That was the opposite direction of the mouse, but Skypaw didn't flinch. She stayed where he was until he finished, “Kinkpelt, see if you can track the mouse and Flowerpelt just try the way we came.” Skypaw bounded away, her paws skimming quietly over the frosty ground. She stopped every few seconds to scent the air, but came up with nothing.

“What are you doing?” a harsh voice demanded from nearby. She looked across the border a couple fox-lengths away. Three Shadeclan cats stood at the edge, glaring at her suspiciously. Oh, no! She thought fearfully.