The dark brown tom ran through the forest, leaves and twigs crunching beneath his feet. He would bring back a catch worthy of her, he promised himself. Paws thudding on the ground, he rushed ahead of his mentor, a grin on his maw. His whole pelt felt alive, as if a colony of ants were swarming through his fur. Shrewpaw's amber eyes were wide and aware as he came crashing down and halted, careful not to make any more noise. He could scent pheasant!
Daring to step forward slowly, he realized it was farther out in their diminishing territory, just past the Thunderpath. Surely ShadowClan wouldn't mind…
He crept forward, careful to keep himself still and contain his excitement. He was quievering from nose to tail tip. The stench of the Thunderpath flooded his nostrils; staring down, he realized he was right on its edge. But there was the pheasant, still unaware of his presence, a juicy, fat one too. Its tempting smells, plus the image in his head as he carried the pheasant back like a trophy and dropped it at her paws, made him force himself to step forward.
A deep growling in the far distance told him a monster was approaching. But really, it was so far away, and he was so close to the pheasant…he could make it. It was already startled by the noise and looked ready to fly off.
He bunched his muscles, whiskers twitching. The growling grew louder. Just wait, will you? Then Shrewpaw leapt forward on paws that seemed lifted by StarClan themselves. He plummeted down onto the pheasant, jaws closing around its neck. As he turned triumphantly to carry his catch back to Thornclaw, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A flash, a glimpse, just a glimmer of something. Something huge.
Then he was hit. Down he fell, to the ground, flashes of red appearing before him. Later they said his death had been quick, painless.
They had been wrong.
He lost control of his limbs as the blood flowed into his eyes, blotting out his vision. And the pain…the pain was so immense. His whole body coursed with the pure agony of it all and his jaws were still stretched in a soundless scream. The pheasant lay discarded and forgotten beside him.
Then he could hear Thornclaw jump out of the undergrowth and land softly at his side. "Oh, StarClan…not Shrewpaw!" Shrewpaw longed to reach up to comfort his mentor, and tell him everything was going to be alright.
But he couldn't. And it wasn't.
Thornclaw gave him up for dead and grasped him by the scruff. Of course, this meant he didn't carry him as carefully as he would have had he thought his apprentice was still alive.
Shrewpaw didn't blame him. He knew he should be dead. But he had to wait. Had to hold on until…until she…
Even his thoughts were abandoning him now. But he had to cling to life, until she saw him.
The pain made him want to thrash about agonizingly. But he found once again he no longer had control over his body. His brain was shutting down.
And then he heard her. A gasp. But it was all he needed – all he needed to know, to be assured that she did care for him as he cared for her.
I love you, Squirrelpaw.
As he sucked in one last, shuddering breath – no doubt startling Thornclaw – Shrewpaw smiled.