One Moon Later:
A cold wind ruffled through WindClan camp, Chilling the bones of a dusty gray she-cat.
"SparrowStar?" A cat mewed.
SparrowStar turned around to face her deputy, a golden tabby.
"LeafHeart?" She mewed in reply. "What is is?"
LeafHeart looked at her warmly.
"I thought I ought to tell you that BlackClaw and QuickWind and PantherStorm have gone off gathering herbs." She mewed.
SparrowStar nodded.
"Thank you, " She said.
LeafHeart smiled and padded away to her apprentice, PigeonPaw.
SparrowStar blinked at LeafHearts apprentice, a small grey she-cat. She hoped Leafy didn't teach her to be too insane.
She padded over to the fresh kill pile, and saw that it was low.
"GoldenPaw?" She mewed, trying to get the attention of her own aprentice.
GoldenPaw looked up and padded warmly over to SparrowStar.
"Want to go hunting?" SparrowStar asked the golden tabby.
GoldenPaw blinked her large blue eyes.
"Sure!" She meowed.
The two made their way out to the wide open space of WindClan territory. GoldenPaw lifted her muzzle to the air, seeking a prey-scent.
"Gotcha!" She whispered.
A rabbit was peeking out from under a shrub some 7 fox-lengths away.
SparrowStar watched proudly as GoldenPaw ran up to the place where the rabbit was snuffling. Normally, such a gesture would have only scared the rabbit off. But GoldenPaw was too fast - and caught it before it had a chance to get more than a tail-length away.
"Good job, GoldenPaw: SparrowStar purred.
GoldenPaw smiled happily, holding the rabbit in her jaws.
As they returned to camp, SparrowStar was thinking of how the apprentices ought to be made warriors in the next moon or so.
They had managed to catch two rabbits, a mouse and a starling.
It seems they weren't the only ones who had been hunting, as the fresh kill pile was already fuller than it had been.
They dropped the fresh-kill into the pile, and GoldenPaw Mewed a goodbye to SparrowStar as she joined her friends, MoonPaw PigeonPaw and SilverPaw.
SparrowStar sighed happily and was about to settle down with some fresh kill when SilverRain and FrozenFire ran into camp, eyes both blazing.
"SparrowStar!" SilverRain yowled.
SparrowStar padded swiftly over to the two cats.
"What is the matter?" She asked.
FrozenFire answered for her.
"We were on border patrol with ThronTooth when we saw BlackClaw, QuickWind and PantherStorm - and a bunch of wild. . . Dog things!" He panted. He looked injured.
"I think they got BlackClaw, because PantherStorm was treating him. . . From the looks of it, QuickWind is. . . Dead." SilverRain mewed hurridly.
"ThornTooth told us to get help, because we tried to fight them but they got ThornTooth slightly, and me - so me and SilverRain ran to get help."
SparrowStar's eyes widened.
"LeafHeart - You're in charge of camp. StarMist, come with me - Some of our cats are injured!" SparrowStar yowled.
LeafHeart nodded and StarMist ran up to the camp exit, just behind the patrol and SparrowStar.
A thought kept on popping up in SparrowStar's mind.
What if they were too late?
