Chapter 10

Chapter TenWildpaw woke just as the birds started their morning songs. As cheeps and tweets sounded all around her, Wildpaw stretched until her belly touched the ground of the apprentice's den. Then she padded outside, careful not to step on any cats' tails or paw. She passed by Cloudpaw's sleeping form as she did so, and she shivered. After Wildpaw had seen the...love in Cloudpaw's eyes, she gulped her bird down so quickly she almost choked on it. Then she had told Creampaw, who was still pushing around his fresh-kill, she was tired and quickly rushed to the apprentices' den. There she had lain down and pretended to sleep while Cloudpaw curled up in his nest. Wildpaw headed over to the fresh-kill pile, her stomach rumbling. She picked a mouse and brought it near to the apprentices' den. The sun was almost fully in the sky now, its pale dawn rays quickly consuming the shadows of the night. The rays touched her pelt, warming it. Wildpaw sighed contentedly and finished her mouse. Then she began grooming herself.As she licked her paw and drew it over an ear, Stargaze appeared at the entrance of the warriors' den with Blackwhisker and Hazelstar. Her mentor spotted her, and beckoned over to her with her tail. Wildpaw approached them."Wildpaw, wake Creampaw and Cloudpaw and tell them they're on dawn patrol with you, Icestorm." Fireblaze ordered. "And wake Redpaw and Sapphirepaw too. They're on the hunting patrol with me, Mousetail, and Silvermoon. We need to start stocking up fresh-kill."Wildpaw nodded and bounded off to the apprentices' den. She quickly woke up the chosen apprentices and they followed her outside to the middle of the stone hollow, where the warriors her father had chosen had gathered.The sun was higher up in the sky as Wildpaw pounded out of the stone hollow alongside Creampaw, Icestorm, and Cloudpaw in front of them. They ran through ThunderClan's territory, swerving around bushes, past trees, the grass flattening under their paws. Soon the roar of the rushing stream that separated WindClan's territory from ThunderClan's forest could be heard. The patrol slowed down to a stop as they rounded some bushes and came into sight of the stream.Creampaw sniffed the air. "WindClan's been here already," he meowed.
“Very good,” praised Icestorm, looking at the creamy tom. He ducked his head in embarrassment when Wildpaw purred in agreement.Wildpaw breathed in the air. He was right. The smell of the moor and rabbits filled her nose and she twitched her nose distastefully. She didn't like the smell or the open ground. How could any cat hunt at the bare moor, without any bushes or tall grass, much less live in there? Wildpaw was glad she was a ThunderClan cat."Come on. Let's start marking the border," Icestorm meowed briskly. The border patrol got to work. Wildpaw followed Creampaw and Cloudpaw upstream, while Icestorm went downstream, towards the lake. "Is ShadowClan still stealing our prey?" asked Wildpaw as Creampaw marked a bush nearby the stream. Cloudpaw marked a birch tree a few fox-lengths away, ears pricked Wildpaw noticed. She had completely forgotten about ShadowClan in the last few days, but seeing WindClan made her think of ShadowClan and the prey Fawnpaw, Foxheart, Cherrypaw, and Icestorm had found with ShadowClan scent.Creampaw paused. "Yes," he answered. "Mangy prey-stealers." He shook his head."At least WindClan's not stealing from us," Wildpaw meowed, marking a tuft of tall grasses, the tips turning brown with the coming weather."Well, not yet," mewed Creampaw. "Mark that young tree over there. I can smell mouse over there so I’m going to try and catch it" He flicked his tail to a small tree that stuck out from tangle of undergrowth and where he smelled the mouse and bounded off, his scent disappearing. Wildpaw bounded over to it and marked it; after that, she trotted back to her friend and they started padding along the border, intending to meet up with Icestorm and have a small hunt after reporting to Fireblaze.
“I would never let the other clans steal prey from ThunderClan,” Cloudpaw bragged, looking shyly at Wildpaw. “I-I-I w-wouldneverletthemstealfoodfromyouWildpaw.” Cloudpaw meowed this really fast and Wildpaw went, “Huh? Slow down, Crea-Cloudpaw!”
The handsome white tom looked at her with love in his green eyes. “I w-would never let any Clan steal food from you, Wildpaw.” He stopped and so did Wildpaw, her green eyes huge. Wildpaw was speechless, so she played it safe and tried to ignore the terror coursing through her. “Let’s go meet up with the patrol,” Wildpaw suggested slowly, trying to ignore the hurt in Cloudpaw’s eyes. I’m too young!!! she thought in agony. And I like Creampaw! Seeing the disappointment in his eyes was enough to kill her, so she butted him in the flank and purred. “Come on, they’re looking for us,” and they walked back to camp, fear and happiness spilling from her pawprints behind. As they did, Wildpaw thought she saw a flash of creamy fur to her left, but when she looked over hopefully for Creampaw, there was nothing.
"What do you mean, not yet?" asked Wildpaw, worry clouding her face.Hazelstar sighed again. "One day, Wildpaw, they'll be stealing our prey. And then we'd have to battle them, just like we're going to with ShadowClan."A small shiver ran down her spine when her mentor meowed that. Wildpaw could not forget about the upcoming battle; nor could her Clanmates. Especially her denmates. This would be the first battle they'd have in moons; everything had been so peaceful before. Her thoughts were interrupted by a bout of coughs from Hazelstar. I wish everything would stay peaceful, thought Wildpaw. What if a Clanmate dies?
“Are you okay?” she asked, worried about her mentor and leader."Excellent catch, Creampaw," Fireblaze praised his apprentice. "That's big enough to feed the elders tonight!"Wildpaw gazed at the large bird Creampaw had in his jaws, her green eyes stretched wide with pride and awe. How did he catch that? she thought enviously. She wanted to catch something, too!"Yes, very good," agreed Icestorm. Hazelstar wasn’t feeling well so the warriors were taking turns with Wildpaw’s training.Creampaw’s amber eyes shone with happiness, but he was careful to avoid Wildpaw’s gaze."I think we should go back now," announced Fireblaze. "Come on. We'll pick up our prey on the way back home." He padded away, with Creampaw right behind her. Icestorm turned to go too, a mouse in her white jaws, but Wildpaw stopped her."Icestorm, may I please hunt by myself?" pleaded Wildpaw.Her blue eyes widened in surprise. She placed the mouse on the ground before speaking. "But you don't know the hunting moves!" she exclaimed. "I've been watching you all," meowed Wildpaw, "and I think I know the moves. So may I hunt by myself?"The white warrior hesitated, her eyes thoughtful. "Alright," she mewed at last. "But return to the camp before nightfall, okay?"Wildpaw nodded eagerly, and bounded away. Stopping between some trees, she opened her mouth and inhaled the air. Forest smells flooded her mouth at once; she picked a bird-scent from among them. Locating the bird behind a bush in front of her, she dropped into a hunting crouch and stalked forward a few paces, her pawsteps light and soundless, her tail barely brushing the ground. She could smell the bird on the other side of the bush, and her mouth watered. Excitement coursed through her. If she caught this bird, it would be her first fresh-kill!Wild bunched up her muscles, preparing to leap, and then she leaped into the air. But she missed the bird, landing right next to it. The blackbird swiveled its head round, and then, seeing it was a cat, it shot up straight into the air with a loud cry of warning. Wildpaw watched it fly off, her claws tearing up the grass.Fox-dung! she cursed. Now they'll be no more prey over here, after that stupid bird's call!Suddenly a squirrel nearly as big as her shot out from the undergrowth straight towards her. On instinct, Wildpaw lashed a sheathed paw at the squirrel, knocking it out. Then, on instinct again, she killed it with a swift bite to the neck. Shock fizzed through her as she watched the dead squirrel that lay at her paws. I killed a squirrel. Then realization hit her. I've made my first catch! she thought gleefully, all signs of shock gone. She picked up the large squirrel and started off towards camp, happiness flooding her. Wildpaw couldn't believe her luck. She lost a small blackbird but gained a huge squirrel!As she neared the bramble tunnel, she looked up at the sky. The sun had started to set, and the first few stars had appeared in the darkening sky. There was a pale moon in the sky, too. A pale moon shining brighter than the excitement in Wildpaw’s and her littermates’ eyes.A full moon! The Gathering's tonight! Wildpaw realized this with a jolt. I hope, with this fresh-kill, I'll be able to go to it!With high hopes she entered the camp and strode to the fresh-kill pile, where her mentor, coughing, was just picking out a mouse. Her blue eyes widened when she saw her carrying the squirrel."Wildpaw! Did you catch that?" Hazelstar sounded disbelieving, hacking up sticky mucus. She wasn’t feeling any better that Wildpaw could see. Cloudpaw raced over and twined his tail with Wildpaw’s. “Great catch!” he purred, licking her on the ear. Wildpaw thought she’d die of embarrassment. Cherrypaw, who was a couple of tail-lengths away, glared at Wildpaw. Confused, Wildpaw turned toward her mentor, who also had a questioning look. Wildpaw was as surprised as they were.Wildpaw nodded proudly, her jaws full of the squirrel's fur.Pride flooded Hazelstar glazed over eyes. "Bring that to the nursery," she ordered. "I will allow you, Lilypaw, Cloudpaw, and Creampaw to go to the Gathering tonight,” and turned to pad to the medicine-cat den.