Chapter 1
Slypaw lurched. Her mossy bed was rather uncomfortable in the hot summer days. Ever since she left her twoleg owners she hardly could sleep. Unable to rest, Slypaw dragged herself sleepily towards the fresh-kill pile. It was mostly empty but she was too hungry to fall asleep. She searched through the pile for a small mouse and after finding one; she slowly took bites out of it and swallowed them. She felt drowsy and tired. Being a medicine cat apprentice was hard. She had to remember all the herbs, their smells, their names. She had to know which ones were good for different injuries and infections. She had to quickly recognise the diseases and infections. But worst of all, she had to stay in the camp when other cats went out hunting.
Slypaw began daydreaming about her and her brother and sister hunting in the woods. Not a care in the world. As the 3 apprentices raced each other down a rocky slope, the sky grew darker, the winds grew colder and she sensed something wrong. "Come on Slypaw!" called her brother Slashpaw. He had obviously not noticed, neither had her sister, Crystalpaw. Slypaw had slowed down to a halt. The others stopped too and look back at her, confused. Slypaw twitched her whiskers and sniffed the air, it smelled like Shadowclan. "I smell Shadowclan" hissed Slypaw. She crouched low and the others sniffed the air too. They trotted back to her side and crouched too, their warm bellies touching the cold earth. "What should we do?" whispered Crystalpaw next to her. "Slashpaw! Get back here!" Hissed Crystalpaw. Slypaw turned her head to her other side and saw Slashpaw duck under a branch "I'm going to fight Shadowclan." and he slipped out of sight.
The two sisters exchanged nervous glanced and began to tip toe towards the spot Slashpaw had disappeared from. "Slashpaw? Slashpaw, where are you? We have to get out of here and warn Firestar!" Crystalpaw mewed loud enough so that Slashpaw could hear. As the sisters nervously called to their brother, they padded along following his scent. Suddenly they heard a deafening wail. The sisters recognised their brother scream and charged towards it. Slypaw smelled Shadowclan stronger than ever now. Crystalpaw speeded ahead and Slypaw struggled to keep up. Crystalpaw crashed through a bramble bush but landed safely on the other side. Slypaw went around it and looked up at Crystalpaw, then back ahead. Slypaw gasped. There in front of them, was a huge black Shadowclan cat wrestling with Slashpaw, who had slices and bites all over his body. His coat glistened with blood. The huge warrior pounced on Slashpaw and he was knocked to the ground, unconscious. Slypaw awoke with a start. She had dozed off whilst eating her mouse. She gobbled up the rest and ran towards the Thunderclan leader. This is scary. It could have been a prophecy. I can't let this happen to Slashpaw.
