Venom Within - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"This is where you'll be sleeping."

I blinked uneasily up at Dingofoot as he waved his tail at a deeply slanting burrow. It seemed to be almost engulfed in shadows, except for a very faint light. Two other Scouts trailed behind us.

"This isn't the apprentice's den, is it?"

Dingofoot tipped his head to one side. "No," he replied, voice gravelly. "Scouts don't sleep with the rest of the clan. This is our den."

I'm not a Scout! I gritted my teeth, partially from my pain, as I watched my new mentor slide down the hold into the den. It had been several days since the ceremony, and only now was I healed enough to leave the medicine den, and start my duties.

In that time, I hadn't seen Flamepaw, or Foxshadow, or Dingofoot.

My mentor had merely swooped in today as I was eating a scrawny lizard, and told me he had heard I was healed, and that it was time to start training.

He never even met my eyes.

Now, I was following him around DuneClan's maze of tunnels. I glanced over my shoulder at the two cats behind me. One was an older looking she-cat. The other, I knew as Diurnalstorm. He had spent a lot of time watching over us as kits when Foxshadow had one of her bad days.

"I'm not going in there," I said to them.

"It's not so bad," Diurnalstorm offered.

Dingofoot poked his head out of the den, and scrambled back out. He flicked sand off of his pelt, and turned to me. Again, his uncanny dark brown eyes seemed to pass right above my own head.

"You want to train more?" he asked. "I would have thought you would be wanting to rest."

"I'm fine," I muttered. This cat obviously has not prepared for being a mentor.

My limbs did feel sore, but I needed to prove that I was strong enough to be a normal warrior. Dingofoot exchanged a glance with the other two Scouts, and then shrugged his brown shoulders up and down. The dim light of the lichen cast long shadows across his pelt as he narrowed his cold eyes slightly.

"The mission I'm going on today will be hard," he warned. "I'm giving you a way out."

I lifted my chin. "I'm not a weakling, Scout. I've prepared all my life to be a DuneClan warrior."

"Okay then."

Dingofoot turned, and flicked his tail for me to follow. I trailed after him. I noticed Diurnalstorm and the other she-cat exchange nervous glances, before turning and entering another tunnel.

The Scout led me through DuneClan's maze of tunnels. We came across two warriors, Spidercloud and Flickerheart, who were in an intense discussion. Both of them seemed to turn away from me as I passed.

We soon entered the same larger tunnel that Burrowpaw and I had used when we escaped. I could practically see the ghostly sillouhette of my brown and black tabby brother as he strode towards our territory.

"I'll find you," I whispered quietly.

Dingofoot's ears twitched, but he said nothing. I scampered past him as soon as I saw the dusky blue-purple sky ahead. He leapt out of my way as I pushed myself out of the burrow and into the open world.

It took several moments for my eyes to adjust to the outside light. Endless sand dunes stretched off into the horizon. Even at twilight, my fur prickled at the sudden warmth. I noticed that there was a shadow across my pelt. Whirling around, I saw two cats climbing down the ridge.