A small gray she-cat walked through a forest, following the scent of a cat. The scent was leading her closer and closer to a thunderpath. She thought of stopping and heading back to camp but remembered that her mentor, Fireheart, had sent her on this mission. She really liked Fireheart and wanted to impress him. She took a deep breath and walked closer to the thunderpath.
"Tigerclaw?" she mewed as she walked to the edge of the thunderpath. She sniffed the ground. The deputy's scent was strong.
All of a sudden the she-cat heard a noise and jumped forward in surprise. Then she saw a bright light and screamed as a monster stood before her. She felt a sharp pain on her left side and her fur went sticky and red with blood. She prayed to Starclan that she would be okay, before everything went black.
***
Cinderheart gasped and opened her eyes. She was lying in the warriors den beside poppyfrost and Lionblaze. Her heart was pounding.
She sighed, stood up and walked out of the den. It was early in the morning and the dawn patrol had just left. She sat down and stared up into the sky. This was the third time this moon she had dreamt about that apprentice.
Everytime that she had dreamt about the young she-cat apprentice it had always been the same dream. Usually Cinderheart was looking at the apprentice from a distance but this time it was like she was watching the event out of the apprentice's eyes. She had heard what the apprentice was thinking and felt her pain. It felt too real. It couldn't have been just a regular dream.
Cinderheart was brought out of her thoughts when she heard someone calling her name. She turned to see her father Brakenfur staring at her. "Are you busy Cinderheart?" He asked. "I was wondering if you would like to come on a hunting patrol with Foxpaw and me."
Cinderheart managed to nod her head. A hunting trip would help clear her mind. She followed Brakenfur and Foxpaw into the forest.
***
Cinderheart was pleased with her catch. She had already caught three mice, two voles, one bird and was about to catch a squirrel. She silently crept up on it, making sure to keep her scent downwind. She crept towards her prey in a low crouch and was just about to leap when she heard a yowl of pain. The squirrel, hearing the yowl, ran swiftly up the nearest tree. Cinderheart hissed in frustration but turned around, heading in the direction the yowl had come from.
As Cinderheart pushes through a bush she saw Brackenfur sitting beside Foxpaw. Foxpaw had a pained look on his face. He must be the one who yowled, Cinderheart thought.
"What happened?" she asked, running over. "It hurts. My paw hurts!" Foxpaw mewed, showing Cinderheart his paw. Cinderheart saw there was a thorn buried deep into his pad.
"Relax. It's just a thorn." She mewed soothingly. "Brackenfur, go fetch me some cobwebs. There's a lot on the walls of the old twoleg nest. "She mewed as she licked Foxpaws pad, trying to get a firm hold on the thorn. Brackenfur looked at her for a moment but soon hurried off towards the old twoleg den.
Cinderheart gently pulled out the thorn and buried it deep into the ground. "Lick your pad where the thorn was." She instructed Foxpaw as Brackenfur came back with the cob webs.
"Thank-you Brackenfur." Cinderheart mewed taking it from him. She waited until Foxpaw had licked his wound clean before applying the cobwebs.
"You should be fine." She mewed soothingly to Foxpaw. "But there's still a chance it could get infected. Go back to the camp and rest. Come to my den if the pain gets any worse." She mewed before she noticed Brackenfur and Foxpaw were staring at her.
"Your den?" Foxpaw said in confusion. "You mean the warriors den? Why? What's in there?"
Cinderheart shook her head. "I meant the medicine cats den. Now get to it! We don't want you loosing a foot do we?" she mewed, her eyes sparkling mysteriously.
When he saw this Brackenfurs pelt began to prickle. He had seen that familiar glint many times before. But from a different she cat. He brushed the thought away and mewed, "Yes Foxpaw. Go get some rest. You are excused from your duties."
Foxpaw nodded his head and started off towards camp.
Brackenfur stared at Cinderheart for a few minutes for a few minutes before shaking his head and mewing "good job" before heading off into the bushes.
Cinderheart stood there for a few minutes thinking about what had just happened. She didn't know what had happened to her. It was like when she saw Foxpaw hurt another part of her had taken over. She had suddenly known what to do and did it without thinking. It was like for a few minutes she was a whole different cat.
She shook her head. It was bad to think like that. She reminded herself that she was out in the forest hunting prey for her clan. She turned around and went to the place where she had buried her fresh kill. She carried it back to the camp and put it on the fresh kill pile. She had hunted for most of the day and most cats were settling down for the night. She quickly ate a mouse before heading for the warriors den. She saw Lionblaze lying in the nest beside hers, and sighed happily. She walked over to her nest and curled up close to him feeling his warm fur against hers.
He reminded her of another cat. With an orange pelt the looked like fire in the sunlight. Who was that cat? When ever she thought about him her thought were murky. Like trying to see your reflection in a mud puddle. She shook her head. No use thinking about it now. Maybe if she ignored these thought they would go away. She sighed before falling into a deep sleep.
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Did you like it? This is only my first chapter and I plan for the next chapter to be like a few chapters in long shadows when Jaypaw goes back into the past. But that may only happen if some people like the story. I wouldn't want to write a story that no one likes…. Ok well I hope you liked it! :)