Warriors: The Power of Four-Call my Name

Chapter 12

Moonpaw woke as the dawn light seeped through the den walls. She stood up and stretched, then walked out of the den.

The cool breeze ruffled her fur as she ran through the forest. I may as well do some hunting. She told herself. The clan needs it. Leaf-bare is not far off. She glided through the forest in search of prey when she came across a rabbit. She dropped into a hunters crouch and crept forwards. Just as she leaped she heard a voice. She instinctively seathed her claws.

"Please don't hurt me!" The voice pleaded. It was the rabbit. Moonpaw quickly turned away and landed beside the small furry animal. She sighed, sorrow in her voice.

"How am I supposed to feed my clan if I can't ever catch prey again?" She cried. "I want to serve my clan as a warrior!"

"You live with others?" The small brown animal asked. "My mother got killed by foxes. Your lucky you have a family." The bunny's voice was filled with saddness.

"What's your name?" Moonpaw asked.

"I... I don't have one." She squeaked. "Can you give me an name, and we can be friends?" The orange tabby couldn't resist the cute bunch of fluff, looking up at her with hopeful eyes.

"Fine," Moonpaw started, "can I call you by a warrior name? Like in my clan. Why don't we call you... Brownpaw?"

"Yes!" The bunny squeaked with delight.

"Wait!" Moonpaw said. "We must hide you, or my clan will hunt you." Brownpaw shook in fear. "What about under this willow root? We can make a burrow for you, and you can come out at dawn and twilight to feed?"

"Okay!" Brownpaw agreed.

"But you must be careful at dawn. The dawn patrol can't find you, okay?" Brownpaw nodded in agreement. Moonpaw turned to continue her hunt, and flicked her tail at her new friend. She would not fail as a warrior. She would catch food for her clan, no matter what.

Moonpaw returned to the camp her jaws filled with a large white rabbit. She would have to return for the rest of her catch, but the dawn patrol was ready to leave, and she was asked to go.

"Can I get the rest of my catch on the way back?" She asked Icecloud politely. There were five cats on the dawn patrol. Icecloud, Thornclaw, Moleclaw, Lilycloud, and herself.

"Of course!" The white tabby she-cat replied. "Although I didn't expect you to be hunting this early." She turned with a flick of her tail and they walked out of camp. They checked the Shadowclan and Windclan borders, but there were no signs of intruders.

"All clear! Thornclaw yowled from where he was standing.

"Then let's return to camp." Icecloud said. "We can go get your catch now Moonpaw." Moonpaw nodded and raced off into the trees to fetch her fresh-kill.

Once they got back to camp, Moonpaw started towards the fresh-kill pile once more. Blossompaw, Skypaw, and Rockpaw were there waiting for her.

"You were up early." Skypaw said suspiciously. "Where were you?"

"I went hunting." Moonpaw gestured to the rabbit and the two squirrels. "Did you expect something else?" She finished with an edge in her voice. She stared at her fellow apprentices for awhile, then turned away and called to her mentor, "Squirrelflight, can I continue hunting?"

"Of course you can, but personally I think you should take a short break and have something to eat. You've caught enough to feed all of the apprentices!" She answered with a purr of amusement in her voice. "But when you do go, bring Blossompaw with you!" Icecloud called.

"And Skypaw, you go too. The clan needs as much food as possible." Thornclaw added.

"We'll catch as much as we can!" Blossompaw called to her mentor.

"That is if Moonpaw hasn't caught it all already!" Skypaw continued. Moonpaw stifled a purr.

"Ok fine, but I am going to eat first." Moonpaw purred. "Do you think I should bring the elders that rabbit?" Her friends nodded in agreement. She picked up the rabbit and staggered towards the elders den. She pushed through the bushes to find Sandstorm cleaning her pelt.

"Hello Moonpaw," she rasped. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine, how about you? Do you need clean bedding? I've brought a rabbit for you to share. I'll try bring a few squirrels back as well, I'm going hunting soon." The sandy orange she-cat purred as she remembered when she was an apprentice.

"I used to be called one of the best hunters in Thunderclan." She mentioned.

"Really?" Moonpaw said in awe. She had heard stories about the days when Sandstorm was called Sandpaw and Firestar had just joined the clan, back in the old forest. She had also heard the devastating story about when twolegs tore down the forest, and the clans had to leave. Those days were good and bad, but we live by the warrior code, and that's all that matters.