Lucid Tides book 1 - Flowering Hearts

Chapter 12 - What next?

Lilypaw stalked through the forest, it had been several days since his last meal. He had grown used to the sharp pine needles and cold air, his ears pricked as he smelt a mouse somewhere nearby. He crouched down and sniffed the air, scenting the mouse at the base of a thick pine tree. He watched the roots of the tree as a plump-looking mouse scurried out from underneath, making loud rustles as it did.
Lilypaw pounced and felt the mouse's neck snap under his paws.
"Thank you StarClan for this meal, wherever you may be"
Lilypaw picked the mouse up and took it back to his den, which was an old twoleg monster that was long dead. The monster's once shiny pelt was a dark red-brown and there were ferns and moss growing all over it.
He sat inside the monster and started to eat his meal, eating until there was nothing but blood and bones left on the den floor. Feeling satisfied, Lilypaw climbed to the top of his den and laid down, feeling the soft, chilly wind on his fur.
He thought about Cedarleap, and about Thrushpaw. Had the twolegs imprisoned Thrushpaw too? How was Cedarleap doing, did he miss Lilypaw?
Then he thought about Snakestorm, and how she'd be dealing with it all. Lilypaw was Snakestorm's second apprentice, after the first had gone missing during a harsh winter. He wondered how Sparrow's kits were doing, and how Blizzardkit's visions were manifesting, if they were at all.
Finally, he thought about Sagestar. Nobody ever gave the tom credit for all he did for the clan, he was much younger than Archstar and Badgerstar, but older than Sheepstar by a few moons. Sagestar had gone through arguably more than any cat Lilypaw knew. Before Hareleap's death, she told stories of Sagestar's upbringing. He was orphaned by 3 moons old and originally named Patchpaw or Patchkit, but according to Hareleap he was renamed after he found a cure for a strange disease ChervilClan was facing that took the lives of Sagestar's parents. Lilypaw remembered how Sagestar was a warrior by the name of Sagesniffle when Lilypaw was born, and became leader after Lilypaw's father disappeared. Sagestar had no idea what he was doing at first, but with the help of Lilypaw's mother he got through it. Sagestar says that if Lilypaw's mother had lived she'd have become his deputy after Meadowstep.
Lilypaw tried not to think about home so much and stretched out, letting the soft afternoon sun warm him. He yawned and watched the horizon, wondering what direction home was.