Falling Moon- A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

Chapter 39

It was peaceful in the ThunderClan camp.

Dozens of different birds chirped in the treetops, creating a melodical wake-up call to the camp that prepared for the crisp day ahead. One particular blackbird decided to circle the camp, singing a harmonious series of notes that sounded sweet on the ear.

Like all the days before this one, the sun perched on the horizon of bare trees, clouds nowhere near it. In fact, if it weren't for heavy clouds looming in the distance, it would have promised another day of warmth.

The warriors below murmured to one another, organising themselves into the patrols they had been assigned to. They created the bass notes for the birds' melody, entwining all the noises of the forest and gently tugging them into one set piece.

Of course, Palepaw snored through all of that.

It was only when her mentor gently shook her that she cracked open her eyes and muttered, "I'm up, I'm up."

With a groan, she heaved herself to her paws, ears flattening against the racket that the birds were making. It's too early for that, she thought grouchily. She climbed off of the nest-pile that she'd created a few days before and followed her mentor's pretty tortoiseshell pelt out of the den.

Her paw had been improving quickly, and it hardly hurt when she walked. It had been a week since it had been injured, and just the day before she'd been told that she was okay to hunt again. She couldn't wait to get out.

Sorrelspots went straight to business. "We're going hunting along the WindClan border, with Owlpounce and Wolfwhisker." At the mention of the grey tom's name, she seemed to bristle for a moment. I swear she hates him or something, Palepaw thought in her drowsy state as she stumbled along, cursing the fact that she wasn't the ThunderClan leader and therefore couldn't tell her entire Clan to shut up.

"Hurry up, slowshrew! By the time you reach us, we'll have already finished hunting at this rate!" Sorrelspots had reached where the other two cats on their patrol waited and had turned back to her. Her pelt, a mixture of large patches of white, ginger and black, rippled in the sunlight that filtered through the blambles that reinforced the camp. Her white muzzle shone in a large patch of sunlight, making it gleam like fresh snow. As Palepaw not-so-gracefully staggered to her side, the tortoiseshell's eyes seemed to laugh, their dark blue depths reminding Palepaw of the night sky, cool and refreshing and beautiful.

She seems awfully cheerful for someone who recently escaped from the clutches of an evil Clan that she seemed petrified of, she mused to herself. Ignoring the protests of her mentor, she sat down and began grooming her clumped fur, allowing the bitter cold in the air to wake her. Once she could keep her eyes open for longer than a few seconds - and didn't look like she'd slept with hedgehogs - she stood up once more, turning her eyes to the others. "I'm ready," she declared, not an ounce of sheepishness that she'd made them all wait in her body.

Wolfwhisker, who seemed to be leading the patrol, looked ready to scold her, but eventually decided that she wasn't worth it and turned around silently, beckoning for the others to follow. It's unlike him to be so curt, she thought, swallowing back the sleepy taste in her jaws, but I suppose that's what happens when you lose someone dear to you, especially an older brother that you looked up to.

She found herself feeling a lot more awake as they made their way through the undergrowth, and she could barely resist the temptation to jump in the gathered dead leaves that crinkled in the icy breezes that ruffled the cats' pelts.

The scent of WindClan soon became noticeable, their clean yet bitter tang teasing Palepaw's nose. I wonder if they're as cruel as the ShadowClan cats, she wondered, but as she pictured Poppypaw and Lightpaw, the two shy yet friendly apprentices, she found it difficult to believe.