Warriors: A New Life ~Series 2 Book 1~

Chapter 2

Silverpaw's POV:

"Hey look at that!" Eaglepaw pointed his muzzle toward a small red animal crawling across the ground. Silverpaw pricked her ears and drank in the air. The scent was strange, it smelled like damp sand and salt.

"What is it?" Silverpaw wondered as she crept forwards, nearing the animal. It was small, maybe the size of a mouse. She watched as it quickened its pace once it saw her, it's ten legs flicking quickly to get away from her.

Eaglepaw lunged for the animal from beside Silverpaw and his paws scrabbled to catch the fast moving animal. His claws scrapped the hard, red armour on it but the strange animal slipped out of his grip and dived into a small hole.

Silverpaw trotted over and peeked down the hole. She couldn't see anything except for darkness. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her head to allow her paw to go into the hole and try to dig the animal up.

Just as her paw brushed against the hard animal, something clamped down on her paw and she yelped, flashing her paw back out. The red animal followed, one of its front claws snapped painfully around her paw. "Ah!" Silverpaw shook her paw to try and dislodge the animal.

Eaglepaw quickly came to her rescue and dug his teeth into the animal, pulling it off her paw. He dropped it and immediately hit it with his paw in hope of breaking its armour. Instead, the animal tried to latch onto his paw but the brown tom quickly darted away with a small hiss.

Silverpaw watched with curiosity shining in her green eyes as the red animal crawled back into its hole. "Whoa, that thing is amazing. It's so small yet so dangerous. If one of those claws got you in the eye, you'd be blinded!"

Eaglepaw shook out his brown fur, spraying sand in all directions. Silverpaw mewed in protest and darted away to avoid sand going into her silver tabby fur. "Eaglepaw!" She scolded with a small smile.

Eaglepaw winked at Silverpaw and turned his gaze to the ocean. The waves gently lapped at the sand just three fox-lengths away. He tilted his head slightly, "Have you ever tried to swim before, Silverpaw?"

"No..." Silverpaw shook her head and followed as Eaglepaw headed closer to the water's edge.

Just as Eaglepaw dipped his paw into the water, Nebulafang's sharp voice sounded behind them, "Eaglepaw if you go even closer to that water I will have to get Stormstar to cancel your warrior ceremony! You too Silverpaw!"

Silverpaw flinched at the thought of not becoming a warrior and swiftly backed away from the water. Eaglepaw was slower, but he eventually listened to his mentor and went to join Silverpaw as she padded back to Nebulafang.

His soft brown pelt brushed with hers as he reached her side and Silverpaw forced down a small purr rising in her throat.

Eaglepaw knew how Silverpaw felt about him. Silverpaw wondered whether he liked her back. And if he did, when would he ask to be mates with her?

They reached Nebulafang, who stood at the edge of the treeline. "Come on, we're going hunting in the woods." Eaglepaw grumbled and Nebulafang snapped back at her apprentice, "Just because the woodland area has suddenly decreased since the move, doesn't mean we have to neglect our hunting practice in there."

"Ugh. But I want to hunt by the beach." Eaglepaw grumbled under his breath, but agreed with his mentor and trotted ahead with Silverpaw following.

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Flamefur's POV:

Claws gently grazed Flamefur's tail as she landed after performing a battle move on her brother, Tigerstripe. "Hey!" She mewed with a playful glare at Tigerstripe. "No claws!"

The sound of a bird tweeting above them brought back memories of Lightclan's old home and Flamefur sighed inwardly. She missed the whole territory being forest, now there was barely any room for one hunting patrol.

Tigerstripe laughed humorously and rolled his eyes at his sister, his green eyes shining, "Like you haven't accidentally used your claws on me before!"

Flamefur couldn't deny his statement; she had accidentally let her claws slide out of their sheaths during battle training. She simply blamed it on her extra training. It wasn't her fault her Dark Forest mentor always told her to unsheath her claws!

Tigerstripe's yowl tugged Flamefur out of her thoughts, "Think fast!" She blinked in surprise to see him launching himself straight at her, a playful grin on his lips. Flamefur pinned her ears back and ducked, making Tigerstripe sail high over her head. With a small yelp, he quickly twisted in the air so that he landed safely on his feet. "Hey!" He snapped from behind Flamefur.

"You shouldn't warn your enemy that you're about to attack unless you are positive they won't be able to dodge!" Flamefur scolded her brother teasingly and flicked her long ginger tail. "Let's try a new move."

"New move? I've learnt everything." Tigerstripe replied with a confused flick of his tail. "I'm a warrior." He puffed out his chest and stuck his muzzle in the air.

"Well, I bet you I know moves that you don't!" Flamefur announced boldly, her orange eyes glowing with confidence. She knew Tigerstripe didn't know any of the moves she'd learnt in the Dark Forest, so she would definitely win the bet.

Tigerstripe eyed Flamefur, and she saw his green eyes flicker with wariness. Was he going to accept the bet?

At last, he shrugged, "Fine. What do you bet?"

"I bet the pigeon feathers on my nest." Flamefur grinned at her dark furred brother challengingly.

"Then I bet the best piece of prey on the pile." Tigerstripe meowed, his voice held a faint bit of uncertainty and Flamefur gave him a reassuring smile. She didn't want her brother to be afraid of the bet.

"So, have you heard of the Branch Swing move?" Flamefur mewed with a twitch of her whiskers.

"No..." Tigerstripe sighed in defeat but then pricked his ears in interest, "What is it? Can you show me?"

"Sure." Flamefur glanced up at the nearest tree, the light of the midday sun glared down at her and she narrowed her eyes to shield herself from the strong rays. She bunched her hindquarters and pushed of from the ground, latching onto the soft bark of the cedar tree. She climbed to the nearest branch and sat, gazing down at Tigerstripe. "Watch this."

Flamefur dug her front claws deep into the branch. She wriggled them a bit to make sure her claws were securely fastened onto the branch. Then she let go with her hind legs and swung down. Her legs flew at Tigerstripe and he scrambled out of the way in order not be kicked. Flamefur laughed as she swung back and let go with her front claws, landing gracefully on the leafy ground.

"How was that?" She asked with a sly smirk at her brother.

"Awesome." He breathed, causing a shiver of pride run down Flamfur's spine.

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