Waging War Book 3: Blood Red Moon {COMPLETE}

Chapter 20

The moorland passed by as nothing but a white blur as the paws of Leopardpaw hit the ground at high speeds. Her legs carried her limb body across the moorland with ease, kicking up flurries of snow as she moved with ease. She couldn't feel the harsh cold air as her pumping blood kept her body warm. Her target came into view, the small rock pile near the back end MoonClan's territory. Beside it stood Berryheart, Tallsong and Ripplepaw.

Almost there. Leopardpaw told herself, pushing herself to run even faster. She made it to the rockpile very quickly after it came into view. She gradually slowed herself down until she came to a graceful stop beside the rockpile and her Clanmates. "Very good." Berryheart purred. "You were even quicker than your brother."

Leopardpaw looked at her brother, he didn't look upset by the comment, he looked proud of his sister. "Yeah," Leopardpaw mewed as she took a few seconds to catch her breath. "But he's always been better at catching fish than me, and he's stronger."

Ripplepaw let out a purr. "You are great at catching rabbits with your speed." Leopardpaw gently touched her tail to her brother's flank, she treasured the relationship they had. There was never any arguing or showing off between each other. Peachblossom had raised them to respect each other and encourage one another. Breezetail also encouraged the same, making sure that on the off chance they did have an argument or disagreement, they could overcome it.

Leopardpaw was certain the only times they had argued was when they were very young and it was over who got the first bite of prey that Breezetail brought them. "You both did incredibly well." Tallsong chimed, happily waving her tail. "You both are natural born runners, a true mark of a MoonClan warrior. Now let's head back to camp and you two can get some prey."

Leopardpaw felt warmed by the praise of both mentors as they ventured through the snow back to MoonClan camp. Now that she was no longer running, she could feel the cold a lot more but it still didn't bother her that much. She knew that the other Clans struggled a lot to stay warm but MoonClan cats didn't seem to struggle as much. She wasn't sure if they had thicker coats or what, but she loved the snow. She found it beautiful and serene, she loved watching the unique flakes fall and make a shimmering coat of snow on the moorland. Though she did avoid swimming.

They reached the MoonClan camp after a short walk and Tallsong and Berryheart dismissed the two apprentices to get some prey. Leopardpaw followed her brother towards the fresh kill pile. During the cold seasons, MoonClan kept their fresh-kill in a small buried hollow covered by lose moss and heather.

"What do you want?" Ripplepaw asked as he looked through the fresh-kill pile.

"Is there any rabbits?" Leopardpaw tilted her head.

"Yeah, I'll leave the big one for the elders." Ripplepaw stuck his head into the hollow and grabbed a medium sized rabbit. The two of them walked a nearby clump of dead brush and sat beside it to begin sharing the prey.

Leopardpaw bit into the rabbit, the food making her feel a lot comfier after her long sprint from one end of the territory to the other. "How's the rest of your training been going?" Ripplepaw asked, they trained quite a bit together but not always. Leoparpdaw had mostly been focused on her hunting and running skills.

"It's been good." Leopardpaw purred, waving her tail. "I love running, and I can almost keep up with our father."

"That's good." Ripplepaw meowed softly. "I want the weather to get warmer so I can get back to swimming. I was doing really good with it but I haven't been able to swim since it started snowing." Her brother had always loved swimming, when they had just started their swimming lessons, he was instantly into the water while she had to take her time.