Dark Echoes - The New Dawn - Book one

Chapter 1

Minnowpaw opened her eyes. The sun has not yet shone, and she wanted to get back to sleep. Next to her, Sagepaw and Frogpaw were sleeping. She remembered she had to do something... The dawn patrol! She jumped to her paws, and rushed outside the apprentices den, and almost crashed into her mentor, Ratpelt. Next to her stood Milkwhisker, Frostsong, and Batwing. "Sorry I'm late," She said quietly.

"Come on," mewed Frostsong. "We need to go."

"Yes," admitted Batwing, lashing his tail.

"Well, why are we still here? Let's go!" mewed Minnowpaw, excited.

"Don't order me around!" hissed Batwing.

Ratpelt said nothing, just flicked her tail and went through the thorn tunnel. Minnowpaw rushed after her, enjoying the wind in her fur. "Wow!" she called.

It was her first time out of the camp, and the world looked huge!

"Minnowpaw," said Ratpelt, "tell me what you can smell."

Minnowpaw opened her mouth and smelled the breeze. "Rabbit, pigeon... and a fox!"

"Good." Said Ratpelt. "The fox's scent is old, so don't worry. This way," she flicked her tail, "is leading to the lake. But now, we're going the other way." she flicked her tail the other direction. "That leads to the SnowClan border."

They was heading toward the Greatpine. Minnowpaw couldn't stop purring out loud her excitement, but three mice had ran away from her voice.

"Never mind," Milkwhisker mewed. "On my first patrol, I scared away the whole forest!"

Minnowpaw purred with amusement, feeling a bit better. So she wasn't the only cat who scared away three fat mice!

They kept going, and suddenly, Frostsong, who was leading, stopped.

"What happened?" Whispered Minnowpaw, and tasted the air. "There's a smell of cats, but they don't smell like TreeClan cats."

"That's right," Said Ratpelt, impressed. "These are SnowClan cats."

Minnowpaw could see a couple of cats, heading toward them; one was white and the other one was ginger.

"The white one is Iceclaw, their deputy, and the ginger one is Oakbranch, their medicine cat," Milkwhisker explained.

"What are they doing here?" hissed Frostsong and bared her teeth. "This is TreeClan's territory!"

"Can we chase them?" asked Minnowpaw, her eyes gleaming. If she'll be in a fight, she'll have something to tell her denmates for moons!

"No," said Ratpelt to her disappointment. "Let's hear what they have to say."

"Greetings, TreeClan cats," Said the white cat named Iceclaw.

"What are you doing here? This is TreeClan's territory!" Hissed Batwing. "And don't tell me you chased a vole or something!"

"No," Said Iceclaw in his deep voice. "We won't tell you lies. I'll tell you that straight. Amberstar and Seedtail are dead."

"What? No!" Said Ratpelt in a voice full of sorrow.

Batwing, Milkwhisker and Frostsong bowed their heads.

Minnowpaw had never heard those names before, but she guessed they were important cats. She wondered if they're with Lavenderkit and Stripekit, her dead siblings. Oh, Lavenderkit... I miss you so much. The memory of her gentle sister almost made her wail out loud, but she stopped herself. Lavenderkit and Stripekit... are you watching other me now? Suddenly, she felt cold like it was the middle of leaf-bare, and there was no sun to warm her pelt.