Fox attack
Birchpaw saw Branchleap leave the apprentices den with a flick of her tail.
Wow!
Birchpaw thought.
My very own, first patrol!
Turning his head, disappointment took over his body,as he saw the empty nest, the nest that belonged to his sister, Larkpaw, who had died, killed by a fox on her first outing as an apprentice.
Padding over to the empty nest, Birchpaw bowed his head.
"You never slept in this nest sister." He mewed, "But you deserve it, your spirit will live in me as I do all the things you never got to do."
Birchpaw padded out of the den, whispering a goodbye to his sister, and turned to meet Branchleap, his mentor, along with Leafsteam, Lightningwind, Fallingwater and the clan deputy, Duskwater.
Branchleap, noticing her apprentices worry, touched her tail to his shoulder, and lead him out of camp with the other cats.
An awkward silence stung the patrol, as Duskwater lead the group of cats through the thick forest, until they reached a rocky terrain.
"Where is this Birchpaw?" Branchleap asked.
Giving the ground a good sniff, Birchpaw recognised the scent that Smoothstone, the clan medicine cat, smelled of when she went to pick herbs along the Rockclan boarder.
"Rockclan!" The apprentice looked up, and gave a satisfied swish of his tail.
Branchleap's purr was cut off by Duskwater's brusque movement towards the boarder.
"Come on," The dark deputy growled, "Let's teach this apprentice to mark territory."
Not wanting to look up, Birchpaw was confused when another scent meet his nose.
"One second," Birchpaw mewed, "I think I smell something."
"Don't be ridiculous," Leafsteam's tabby pelt brushed past the young tom, "It's just the putrid smell of Rockclan."
Birchpaw lowered his head, and drank in the scent once more. "It's not a cat." This time, it was Branchleap who beaconed Birchpaw away.
Suddenly, Birchpaw recognised the scent, it was the scent that drowned his sisters body, and letting out a low growl, Birchpaw stepped back.
"What is it, kit!" Duskwater's low patience had run out, "How dare you disturb my patrol!"
Turning his head to meet the vast deputy, Birchpaw glared as the tom disrespected his sister. "It's a fox," He replied coldly, "It's fairly fresh, and if you hadn't spent so much time on 'you patrol', you could have missed it, and sent another cat like Larkpaw to her death."
It was Lightningwind who broke the tension, "We must find it," Sniffing the ground, Lightningwind bowed his head, "Them, there are at least three, heading straight to camp!"
Hisses of worry arose between the cat's as they headed to camp, the swift pacing, soon became a sprint.
"Fallingwater," Duskwater called to the new warrior, "You head back to camp and get another patrol!"
With a nod, the grey she-cat veered away from the cats, and disappeared from sight.
"What about Birchpaw?" Lightningwind asked.
Duskwater simply gave the apprentice a sly nod, "I don't think this is a fight he would want to miss out on."
Suddenly, the patrol was still, face to face with four foxes, all claws unsheathed.
In the chaos of hisses and yowls, Birchpaw knew this wasn't a fight he could win, and in a second, he was pinned.
Terror pulsed through Birchpaw, and he suddenly recognised a familiar scent,
Fallingwater!
Noticing a tuft of the she-cat's fur stuck to the fox's tooth, Birchpaw knew he his clanmate was in danger.
The fox was pulled of him, and recognising the scent of Duskwater, Birchpaw ran into the bracken, determined to find Fallingwater.
"Mouse heart!" The apprentice heard the angry growl of his deputy, yet he didn't look back, and soon enough, he found a still shape, sprawled out on the ground.
"Fallingwater!" Relived to see that he was still breathing, Birchpaw decided to drag the small cat back to camp.
"Snowstar!" he called, "Smoothstone!"
Breaking through the walls of camp, Birchpaw was meet by a wave of cat's, surging towards him.
"Fox attack!" He yowled, "Four of them, this way!" Before he could run off, Smoothstone stopped him.
"Stay here, small one." She mewed, "You must rest now."
Seeing the new patrol leave camp, Birchpaw nodded, he padded to his nest and lay down.
Glancing at the empty nest next to him, Birchpaw smiled, he would make sure, no matter what happens, that he would survive to be the warrior that his sister never could be.
Soon, the apprentice was drawn into the soothing blackness of sleep.