Leafpool's Choice

Chapter 5

Leafpool woke up the next morning, trying to remember where she was. Then, the events of the day before came flooding back.

She was in their new camp. She had thought about creating a clan, and accidentally blurted her thoughts out to Crowfeather, who clearly didn't feel the same. Leafpool missed her clan, sure, but did she actually want to create a new one? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. 

Leafpool stood up and stretched. Crowfeather was still in his nest beside her, sleeping. His paws twitched. Leafpool wondered if he was dreaming of running across the moors with his clanmates.

Leafpool shook the thought away, not wanting believe that her suspicions were probably true. 

Slipping out of the shallow dip in the earth, Leafpool wandered away, searching for something to hunt for Crowfeather. However, her mind was elsewhere.

She spied a mouse running through the tall grasses, nibbling on some berries from a nearby raspberry bush. She crouched, slowly stalking the tiny creature. 

A loud crack sounded through the air. Leafpool looked down and saw two pieces of a broken twig beneath her paw. When she looked up, the mouse was gone.

Focus, Leafpool, she said to herself. 

She sniffed the air, picking up the fresh scent of rabbit in the breeze. Thinking that Crowfeather would appreciate something that he was used to eating, she followed the scent.

Knowing that she could not outrun the rabbit, she got downwind of her prey and stalked it. The rabbit's ears perked up, it could hear her. She swiftly pounced, killing the rabbit with a bite to the neck.

Carrying it back to camp, she thought she caught a whiff of ThunderClan cat scent, but it disappeared. Thinking that she had imagined it, she padded onwards.

When Crowfeather woke up, he was pleased to find that there was a rabbit waiting for him. He meowed his thanks, but Leafpool was distracted by the fact that she had smelled a ThunderClan cat while she was hunting.

"What's wrong?" Crowfeather asked, his eyes conveying worry and fear.

Leafpool stood up from where she was sitting. "It's nothing," she meowed. "I was just thinking about how I should go out herb gathering this morning. We really need some medicine in case we get attacked."

"By what?" Crowfeather looked at Leafpool quizzically. 

Leafpool sighed. "Foxes, badgers, rouges, who knows what. You're the warrior. You should know this!" Leafpool's words were harsh, but her expression playful. 

Much to Crowfeather's surprise, Leafpool turned away, bounding out of the clearing and into the grasses beyond. "I'm going herb gathering. You should take the day off. After all of the stress of being a warrior and defending your clan, you need it."

Leafpool's tail disappeared into the tall grasses. Herbs were at the back of her mind. Really, she was just thinking about how she needed to find her sister.