Waging War Book 3: Blood Red Moon {COMPLETE}

Chapter 7

"Good morning, Mountainstar." A friendly voice filled Mountainstar's head and she slowly opened her eyes to see Nettleheart standing in the entrance to her den. Mountainstar let out a heavy yawn as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes.

"Good morning." She purred, feeling happy that Nettleheart's face was the first she saw in the morning.

"It's nearly sunhigh so I wanted to make sure that everything was okay." Nettleheart explained.

"Yeah," Mountainstar sat up, stretching out her limbs as she did so. "I was up late last night with my kits. I haven't got to spend much time with them since they became apprentices." She recalled the night before fondly as she had listened to Wrenpaw, Finchpaw and Sparrowpaw talk about how much they were loving their new lives and telling stories of their training. Mountainstar felt so happy knowing that her kits were thriving in their new home.

"That's adorable." Nettleheart purred. "Well the sunhigh patrol is about to leave, would you like to join me for the hunting patrol?"

"Sure." Mountainstar nodded. "It's been a while since I've been hunting. I feel so busy being a Clan leader and yet I feel like I don't do much at all at the same time."

"You're doing more than you know." Nettleheart mewed, stepping further into the dimly lit den. "You keep us all united, without you none of us would even be here."

Mountainstar felt her heart get warm at Nettleheart's words. "Thank you, and I sure am happy to have everyone here."

"Let's get something to eat before we go out hunting ourselves." Nettleheart suggested and Mountainstar agreed, feeling her stomach growl at them mention of prey. Mountainstar followed her deputy out into the Clan, jumping down from her den and into the main camp.

She took a look around her camp and noticed that several cats were missing, including the apprentices. Mountainstar assumed that they were on patrol or training. She had to admit she missed spending time with her kits, but she also knew that they were out there living their best lives. They loved being warrior apprentices and Mountainstar loved watching them grow. Even their physical bodies had changed so much. They no longer looked like fluffy kits, they were getting bigger and their pelts were becoming more sleek and their bodies becoming more defined with muscle. Mountainstar felt pride everytime she saw them and was counting down the days when she could make them warriors, though she knew Petalpaw and Mossypaw would be earning their warrior names earlier as they were about two moons older.

However, Mountainstar was equally excited to make the two of them warriors as well, they would be the first warriors to be named in MountainClan and she was incredibly excited. Without thinking much more about it, Mountainstar followed Nettleheart as the two she-cats made their way to the fresh-kill pile. Even though the weather was getting colder, the MountainClan fresh-kill pile was still well stocked. They kept their prey tucked neatly into a crevice in the mountain wall where it was protected from the elements.

Mountainstar grabbed a mouse and Nettleheart grabbed a shrew and the two of them sat near the fresh-kill pile to enjoy their breakfast. "So who else is joining us for this patrol?" She questioned her deputy.

"Gingersky, Poppysong, Flintfoot and Sorrelfern." Nettleheart replied after swallowing a bite of her prey. "It's kind of a big patrol, but I want to make sure that we have enough prey for leaf-bare."

"You're sounding like a natural born Clan cat." Mountainstar purred with amusement.

Nettleheart chuckled. "Well I did this when I was a rouge too. I wandered a lot but during the cold seasons I would find one den to stay in until the weather got warmer and kept a stash of prey as much I could to avoid going out during the cold. I'm sure you know how rough the leaf-bares where we used to live."