The Rise of BloodClan

Chapter 20

    Ice stretched in the bright sunlight streaming into her den. It had been a week since the battle with the rogues and she was feeling much better. She padded out into the camp and looked around for her cats. She spotted her kits by the entrance to the nursery, wrestling and playing with each other. She watched as Fang padded up to them with a small mouse in his jaws. The kits squealed with excitement when they saw him and they pounced on him playfully. She bounded over to her mate and foster kits, nuzzling all of them gently. Moss bounced up and down joyfully. "Hi!" He squeaked. Ice leaned down and touched her nose to his and all her kits. Fang rubbed his cheek against hers and dropped the mouse at the kits' paws. "I brought this for you. It's all I could find." He told the kits. They nodded and gulped the prey down hungrily. Ice sighed. They needed to find more prey! The cat's would starve soon with so little prey. This winter was going to be a tough one. Ice led Fang away from the kits. She sat down and curled her tail over her paws, fluffing out her fur against the cold. Fang licked her nose. "I've missed you on patrols." He whispered. Ice nodded in reply. "What's wrong?" He asked gently. Ice sighed. "We need more prey. I think those rogues have been stealing our prey." She hissed. Fang nodded, his tail tip flicking. "We should attack them. But not too soon. Maybe when all the apprentices are made warriors." He suggested. Ice nodded. "Good idea. Thanks, Fang." She purred, dipping her head to him. They stood up and padded towards the prey pile together. Fang chose the best piece of prey, a thin rabbit, and led Ice toward a sheltered dip under a gorse bush. They shared the rabbit and finished it in quick, famished bites. Ice licked her whiskers to clean them and sat up to groom her pelt. Fang padded out from under the bush into the middle of the clearing. "I'm gonna send out today's patrols." He called to her. She nodded and watched her warriors gather around the Clan deputy. He lifted his head and began to call out names. "Raven, lead a hunting patrol. Take Thistle, Maple, and Ginger. I'll take a patrol to check the Clan borders. Tiger, Bramble, Beetle, and Dew will come with me." He yowled across the camp. The Clan dispersed, gathering into their patrol groups or padding off to their dens to shelter from the cold. Ice watched Fang lead his patrol out of camp. Once he had gone, she trotted toward the nursery. She stepped into the gloominess of the den, glancing around for her three kits. She spotted their small bodies heaped on each other in one corner of the den, a mixture of black, gray, and white. Snores echoed throughout the whole nursery, and not just from them. Storm was sleeping, her belly rounded but not yet plump. Her tail was swishing around, as if she was dreaming about running through the forest. Ice purred happily and backed out of the den. A cold wind blustered her fur against her sides and she darted towards the safety of her own den. She curled up in her dry nest and drifted off into sleep.