Warriors #5: Heart of Fire

Chapter 27

Swiftflight's POV

"StarClan has certainly blessed us today!"

I simply grunted in agreement at Foxleap's comment, my mouth being too full of fresh-caught prey to reply. I then quickly shifted my gaze from the dark ginger warrior as Ivypool trotted up to flank him.

"Luckily this thaw has brought the prey back with it," the silver-and-white tabby she-cat meowed through the mouse in her jaws.

I then flicked my ears as Foxleap snorted and nodded his head towards me. "I think Swiftflight caught half of the forest!" my former mentor joked as he lashed his tail. "Having a phenomenal mentor sure pays off, doesn't it?"

I then nervously flicked my gaze over to Ivypool as I heard her sniff. "Oh, yeah," she murmured, her dark blue eyes narrowing down into slits as she slowly turned her head to look at me. "You definitely deserve to take all of the credit, Foxleap."

I wonder if anyone else could sense that menacing sarcasm in her voice... I thought nervously. I quickly turned away from the warrior to look back at the forest as a rustle came from some bushes. Just a heartbeat later, Snowstorm appeared into sight, who all of us had been waiting for as she went to retrieve her catches. She didn't look at me even once as she padded past me to stand next to Foxleap.

I let out an almost inaudible sigh as my claws sank into the ground. Foxleap had to pick the two she-cats in this Clan that happen to hate my guts for this hunting patrol... I thought angrily. Ivypool still hadn't seemed to get over the fact that I wouldn't spy in the Dark Forest with her. With each day I was coming to live with that more and more, despite my feelings for the she-cat.

But with Snowstorm, what was incredibly frustrating was the fact that she didn't seem to have much of a reason to be angry with me, yet she was. She can't still be bitter over me hurting her in training, right? I asked myself as I stared off at the white she-cat. Well, something's wrong. She's been on my tail for moons now, for StarClan's sake!

"Sorry for the wait," Snowstorm then meowed, interrupting my confused thoughts. "Let's go."

"Let's go, indeed," Foxleap agreed, his mouth opening into a yawn as he stretched out. "It's nearly moonhigh. We need to get some sleep."

I nodded eagerly in agreement, still not being able to speak with my full jaws. Ashfur is surely already waiting for me, I realized. Our small hunting patrol had gone out just as the sun was setting, and to tell the truth, it had only felt as if we'd been out for a couple of heartbeats before I could barely tell where I was placing each paw.

And soon enough, dawn would be upon us, surely. I'm not letting myself stay awake until then! I told myself. My Dark Forest training has been incredibly discombobulated lately as it is. I had to miss a night because of my vigil!

Pushing down my rising irritation, I trotted past Ivypool, Snowstorm, and Foxleap and crawled through the gorse tunnel and into camp, quickly placing my mouse, chaffinch, and shrew on top of the fresh-kill pile. I then rushed over to the warriors den and quietly made my way inside, picking one of the empty nests furthest from the center. One of the drawbacks to being a new warrior... I thought bitterly as I settled down.

Just a few heartbeats later, the rest of the hunting patrol arrived in the den, Snowstorm being the first one to appear into sight. We locked gazes for just a moment before the both of us almost simultaneously whipped our heads away. But I still watched out of my peripheral vision as Snowstorm padded deeper into the den, then lying down in a nest beside her former mentor, Icecloud - fairly far away from where I was.

I couldn't help but feel a small twinge of sadness. There was once a time when Snowstorm would make sure to get the nest closest to mine so that we could whisper and gossip until one of us began to nod off, I thought longingly for a moment before hissing and shaking my head as I lowered it. Those days are over, and it's for the best.