|| The Prophecies Begin || Book 1 Of 6 || Warriors fanfic

~~Chapter 5~~

"Hey, Firepaw, wake up!" I meow to Firepaw. He must have been dreaming since he seemed almost disoriented in a way.

"Training begins at sunrise so you two need to hurry. Dustpaw and Sandpaw are already up," Graypaw added urgently.

Firepaw stretched slowly, then he seemed to have a look of realization before jumping to his paws.

Graypaw and I started to hastily wash ourselves. Between licks, Graypaw meowed, "I've just spoken to Lionheart. Ravenpaw won't be training with us until he gets better. He'll probably stay in Spottedleaf's den for another day or two. Dustpaw and Sandpaw are on hunting duty. So Lionheart thought the three of us could train with him and Tigerclaw this morning. We'd better get going, though," he added. "They'll be waiting!"

Graypaw led Firepaw and I quickly through the gorse entrance of the camp and up the side of the rock-strewn valley. As we climbed over the Crest of the ravine, a cool breeze ruffled our fur. Fat, fluffy, white clouds danced across the blue sky. I felt a sense of overwhelming joy from being outside of the twoleg den. I followed Graypaw and Firepaw down a tree-shaded slope and into a sandy hollow.

Tigerclaw and Lionheart were indeed waiting, sitting a few tail-lengths apart on the sun-warmed sand.

"In the future, I expect the three of you to be punctual," growled Tigerclaw.

"Don't be too severe, Tigerclaw. It was a busy night so I expect they were tired." Lionheart meowed gently. "You two have not been assigned a mentor so Tigerclaw and I will share your training."

Firepaw and I nodded enthusiastically, our tails held high.

"Come," meowed Tigerclaw impatiently. "Today we are going to show you two the edges of our territory, so that you know where you will be hunting and what boundaries you need to protect. Graypaw, it won't do you any harm to remind yourself of the Clan's outer limits."

Without another word, Tigerclaw leaped up and bounded out of the sandy hollow. Lionheart nodded to Graypaw and they took off with equal speed. Firepaw and I scrambled after them, our paws slipping on the soft sand.

The trees were thick in this part of the forest, birch and ash trees overshadowed by mighty oaks. The ground was carpeted with crisp dead leaves that rustled beneath their paws. Tigerclaw paused to spray his scent on a thick clump of ferns. The other cats stopped beside him.

"There is a Twoleg path here," murmured Lionheart. "Use your nose, you two. Can you smell anything?"

Firepaw and I sniffed. There was the faint scent of a Twoleg, and the stronger smell of a dog, familiar to me from my old home. "A Twoleg has walked his dog along here, but they are gone now," Firepaw mewed.

"Good," meowed Lionheart. "Do you think it is safe to cross?"

I sniffed again. The odors were weak and seemed overlaid with fresher forest smells. "Yes," I replied.

Tigerclaw nodded, and we stalked out from beneath the ferns and crossed the sharp stones of the narrow Twoleg path.

The trees beyond were pine. They grew tall and straight, row after row. 'It's easy to walk silently here' I thought. The ground was thick with layers of dead needles, which prickled against my pads but felt spongy underneath. There was no undergrowth here to hide in, and I sensed tension in the other cats as they stalked unprotected between the tree trunks.

"Twolegs put these trees here," meowed Tigerclaw. "They cut them down with foul-smelling creatures, which spew enough fumes to make a kit go blind. Then they take the fallen trees to the Treecut place that lies near here."