𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 || 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

It was three days after they arrived at the new camp. Frost glittered on the tops of dens and the clearing. The leaves that covered the ground were crippling and withering, but the frost was just as beautiful as them. Dovepaw was giving herself a thorough wash. Mousepaw trotted over and nudged her shoulder. "I want to explore the camp! Everyone else is playing warriors, but I don't want to."

Dovepaw nodded. "They're playing warriors again? Honestly, they have bees in their brains! We're not kits anymore! And I think you have bees in your brain, too." She followed Mousepaw from the apprentices' den and into the camp's clearing. Warriors were returning from patrols and talking as they dropped their prey off or gathered around Lynxstar to report. "I can't wait until that's me," she breathed wistfully.

Mousepaw gazed at her littermate sympathetically. "But that'll never happen, Dovepaw."

Dovepaw glanced at her sister. She didn't want to talk about this. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go." She led Mousepaw away. "Where should we go first?"

"Oh, what about over those stacked rocks? The Snowrock!" Mousepaw raced away, Dovepaw limping quickly after her. She bounced halfway up the rock and looked down at Dovepaw.

Dovepaw spotted a den behind the cascading waterfall, behind the Snowrock. It must have been Lynxstar's den. She often saw Lynxstar going in there to rest or to speak to her warriors. "Come back down! Look at this. Should we explore?"

Mousepaw nudged her sister gently in the side. "I like this cat. What did you do with Dovepaw?" she joked. "Come on, let's go."

Dovepaw purred and followed Mousepaw into the dark chamber. She flattened her ears at the loud noise the waterfall made and the cold water droplets that landed on her fur. She drank in the air. "This is Lynxstar's den. I thought she would sleep in the warriors' den," Mousepaw mewed.

"I heard that the leaders always get a special den to themselves," Dovepaw answered. "And I never see Lynxstar there, in the warriors' den."

"That doesn't mean she can't be sleeping in there!" Mousepaw sniffed the air. "Someone's coming! Hide!" She dove behind the nest, and Dovepaw hid in the dark shadows of the den. Dovepaw crouched as low as she could and listened. Paw steps were approaching slowly. Dovepaw had to take slow breaths; her breathing quickened into panicked gasps.

"I smell cats . . ." It was Lynxstar. She was slowly walking into the den, her eyes narrowed playfully. She clearly knew it was her kits. "Plump, juicy ones. I do fancy one for a meal." She passed her tongue over her lips. She paused, staring at the shadows where Dovepaw hid, and leaped at her.

Dovepaw yelped happily. She darted away from Lynxstar and to Mousepaw. "She's a fox! Get her!"

Dovepaw's heart skipped a beat. This was her only chance to be a warrior before she became a medicine cat apprentice! She jumped on her mother, claws unsheathed so she could hang onto her mother's long fur. Mousepaw landed on Lynxstar's head and batted at it viciously with her forepaws. Lynxstar collapsed on the ground dramatically. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was half-open.