(Outdated) Warriors: Clouded Skies #1 - The First Storm

Chapter Three

"Ow!"

Rowanpaw was awoken by a sharp pain in his leg, and he shot his head up to see Carppaw tugging past him. "Sorry," the tom muttered, flicking his tail, then he continued over Rowanpaw's brother, Blazepaw, who slept like a badger.

"Do you know how far the sun is up?" Rowanpaw asked, stretching his jaws open in a yawn. Carppaw rolled his head, snorting.

"I just woke up, too, you know. If you wanna find out, just get up," he grumbled, then struggled to escape through the small den entrance, grunting while he did. Licking his lips, Rowanpaw grumbled his annoyance, then followed the other BatClan apprentice out of the small hollow log they called a den. And not only did he step on Blazepaw, he accidentally set his paw down on Frondpaw's tail, though the she-cat mewled but didn't wake up, luckily. 

He also struggled to go through the den entrance, and his belly had to scrape against the wood ground of the apprentices' log to allow him to get out. Once he stood on his strong legs, he shook dust from his thin coat, then looked around, blinking his eyes constantly to make sure they didn't dry. The air in their camp was thick and hurt his eyes, but he disliked the territory even more, so he couldn't complain.

"Ratpaw!" 

He recognized the voice of his mentor before he even turned around, but his heart still soared when he saw her light ginger coat. "Hey, Emberheart," he mewed, tail flicking happily. He always got happy when he saw her and was usually pretty down away from her. He enjoyed being by her side.

"Are you ready to head out hunting?" she asked, stopping beside him with her yellow eyes still shaking sleep away.

"Hunting again?" he asked, his tail drooping. He had been an apprentice for just about a moon, and he has only one battle practice session. His mentor looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, but we have to. With Ashbreeze's new litter born, we'll need as much prey as we can find. Dawnstar told all of the mentors to hold off on battle training until after leaf-bare, so the kits can grow up strong. She really doesn't want to lose another litter to hunger." The she-cat flicked her tail, though her eyes showed she was hiding something.

"I don't want that either," he muttered softly, casting a quick glance at his mentor's flank. He could see every one of her ribs, and the bones on her hindquarters were beginning to show. She always ate less than the rest of the Clan; she wanted to make sure everybody was full first. But the Clan hasn't been full for moons, he thought to himself, then forced the dark thoughts away. It did seem like she was beginning to get rounder, so perhaps she was eating a bit more.

"Are you ready?" she asked again, shaking out her coat. He nodded, and she blinked kindly at him, then led him across the small camp and towards the entrance. The sunlight that was trying to shine through the thick canopy of trees was dull and almost gray, telling him that it would be another stuffy day in the pine woods.

She led him up the rocky path that allowed them to the open air, and even though Rowanpaw was happy to get fresh air flowing into his lungs, he was grumpy because of the thick, sappy taste in the wind. His nose started to curl in disgust as he watched Emberheart open her jaws and take in a huge breath, letting it out slowly.

"Doesn't it smell wonderful?" she whispered, looking down at him, and she chuckled at the look on his face. "Oh, Rowanpaw, stop it!" She shoved his shoulder then leaped from the camp entrance, her claws scraping against the hard rock surface. He flicked his tail, watching her as she landed. 

Because of her large, muscular frame and short legs, her body thumped loudly on the mushy ground, and he could hear the mushing sound as she adjusted her paws on the soft, wet soil. A shiver went through his body, but he forced himself to leap from the rock and drop down next to her.