The Crows Come at Night: A Warrior Cats Story

Chapter 1

The sky was tinted a smoky red, as it has been for the past seven moons now, when Sorrelpaw appeared from the apprentice den after another night of restless sleep. Before she even got a chance to at least attempt at fixing her matted fur, she saw Houndtail, a brunet striped cat with a long tail, bounding toward her from the darkened mist.

"Sorrelpaw, there you are. Come on, you'll be on the dawn patrol." He meowed. She grumbled, but couldn't argue with her mentor.

Sorrelpaw stood and padded over to the small group stationed at the base of the willow tree that marked the entrance to camp. It had once been so vibrant and green, now most of it was just dead branches and dried leaves sprinkled at its roots. She looked to her mentor and a shiver went down her spine at his striking resemblance to the tree. He looked as if he was noting but bone and skin in some places and his fur was patchy, coming off in clumps. This once fearsome warrior, now hollowed out and weak.

The warriors of Mist Clan had barely eaten. Most of the prey the did manage to catch went to Treeflight and her two still surviving kits. They tried to split the remaining rations between Crowsbeak the medicine cat, Fawnstar and the rest of the remaining clan. It wasn't an easy task though, the prey looked like Houndtail with barely any meat on its bones.

Sorrelpaw turned her head away from camp, not being able to bare looking at how little cats there were left in Mist Clan, she could only imagine how the other four clans were baring. 

Ravenglide, the deputy, a lean black and white spotted cat, flicked his tail to signal that the patrol would be leaving now. She followed after them, taking short breaths, just as she was taught to, as to not breathe in the toxic air that now surrounded them. 

They started at the Alder Clan boarder. Sorrelpaw always hated coming here since there was such a high chance of Alder Clan cats attacking. It wouldn't be the first time. However, she was surprised to find out that there were no cats waiting for them when they reached the edge of the swamp territory, in fact, their border mark had grown stale and weak. 

She peered into the mess of bog trees and swamp lands curiously as a tinge of worry spiked her heart. What if Alder Clan had fallen? Who would be next? These questions spun around in her head, seemingly no answer in sight.

Part of her wanted to find out if they were still alive, and part of her knew she should just stay with the patrol and not worry about the affairs of other clans. She looked over her shoulder at the patrol now moving on, then back again at the swamp. What was she going to do?

***Alright, I know this is a weird ending point but its because I'm doing a readers choice story over on the Warriors Amino, if you would like to check it out my username is ~•Crescent•~***