Chapter 1
The lush green leaves of the mighty trees swiveled in the new-leaf breeze. Slim dapples of light flooded the forest floor, putting a juicy vole in the spotlight.
Shimmerbreeze crept forward, her hunter's crouch perfect. Her hindlegs tingled. She was going to leap. The vole stared up from its food, glaring off into the direction of Shimmerbreeze. But I haven't made a sound! she thought angrily. The prey turned its attention back down toward its meal again, nibbling around the leaf. Now's my chance! She sprang forward.
"SHIMMERBREEZE!" meowed a black tom.
The vole scurried away into the undergrowth. He had startled it with his scent and by yowling her name.
"What now, Smokefeather? Can I not feed the Clan like every other she-cat in this forest?" Shimmerbreeze snapped furiously. A hint of a growl began in her throat.
"Oh, sorry, Shimmerbreeze. I was just wondering if you wanted me to show you how to swim and catch fish."
Mouse-brain! "I am not a RiverClan fish-face, and neither are you. If cats these days let me hunt in the forest, we wouldn't need fish."
Smokefeather recoiled, and looked genuinely hurt. Shimmerbreeze sighed. "Fine," she muttered. "We'll go fishing by the river."
Smokefeather was light on his paws the whole trek to the flowing river. Since the thaw, the river had grown inches in depth and rich in prey.
"First," Smokefeather meowed enthusiastically. "You have to wade into the shallow section of the river."
Of course! What foolish cat didn't know that? Shimmerbreeze kept a friendly sparkle in her eye. She didn't want everyone to know EVERYTHING that she thought.
She dipped into the chilly water and shivered a little. Smokefeather instantly sprang into the river and nuzzled against her pelt. Toms!
"Now what?" Shimmerbreeze mewed.
"Start to go out deeper slowly. Then start padding your hindlegs and forepaws. It's like running. Remember that the current is stronger than it looks." At his final instruction, she gradually waded into the chilling river. Then she began to move her legs back and forth, visualizing herself striding in the forest, many trees a streak of brown and green.
When she snapped back into reality, she saw that she was swimming faster than the opposing current! "Excellent!" Smokefeather praised. "A natural. Look out, RiverClan!"
A mrrow of satisfaction escaped her mouth. Yet another skill she had mastered! "Okay, now you can start fishing. You see that salmon over there?" Smokefeather flicked his tail to a gray fish swimming upstream. "Stretch out your foreclaws and knock it out of the water. It will die on its own by not being in the water."
Shimmerbreeze nodded, and commenced stroking faster. Almost there!
She swiped her paw, missing the salmon by a whisker. The fish's pace quickened, and so did Shimmerbreeze's. She attempted to fly it out of the water, and the second time she managed to with one blow of her drenched paw. "I did it!" she yowled in triumph.
Smokefeather looked happy, but then his expression quickly faded. "What is it?" she questioned.
"Yeah, what is it? Cat's got your tongue, warrior? What are you doing in our territory? Didn't your brute of a leader tell his cats to stay on their territory?" came a voice from behind Shimmerbreeze. She leaped out of the raging river and turned her head towards the sound. A RiverClan patrol!
The patrol consisted of four warriors. Shimmerbreeze's gaze flickered to a stocky young apprentice, who, although small, seemed dangerous. This confrontation would clearly end in a battle, so she strategized in her head quickly which cats she would take on. She would leave the two easier opponents for Smokefeather. Her eyes sparkled with mischief at the thought.
Her muscles tensed waiting for a move being made by the opposite sides' warriors, and, when she received none, she made her own.
She yowled in defiance, and charged through the current of the river towards RiverClan territory.