Disclaimer: I don't own warriors.
Author' s note: I didn't fall off the face of the earth, either. - -' Sorry, though.
Rainfire glanced over his shoulder at the forest as he padded up the slope. This was probably the last time he would ever get to see it again, he reflected sadly.
They were on the meadow now and were padding steadily towards the forest in the distance.
"This feels good!" Dewpaw said, bouncing over the grass. Rainfire had to admit the apprentice was right. The grass was much more light and springy than the forest floor, although the dry stalks made his paws tingle. He felt a little bouncy himself, but his joy was dulled when he remembered that Hawkpath wouldn't be coming with him.
"I love this grass, don't you?" Rainfire turned to see Squirrelheart, her pretty eyes gleaming in the morning sun.
"Do you think it tastes good?" Brightkit wondered sniffing it curiously.
"Are you mouse-brained? Of course not!" Hazelkit squeaked indignantly.
"Well, I'm going to try it anyway." Brightkit announced to her sister. She nibbled at a stalk of grass.
"Eeew! You were right! It's gross!" She squealed, spitting it out in disgust. Then she turned to Cloverleaf's three younger kits.
"You heard me. Don't eat the grass." She mewed, pushing their noses gently away from the grass with her paw.
Rainfire let out a mroww of laughter at the kit's antics.
"They're almost six moons old; they'll be apprentices soon." Squirrelheart said with a smile, her whiskers twitching in amusment.
"Yeah." Rainfire agreed, "Oh, Ravenpaw?"
"Yes, Rainfire?" Ravenpaw asked, bounding over to his mentor.
" Do you see those rabbits?"
"The two nibbling on the clover?"
"Yes, those. Do you remember how to catch a rabbit?"
"Yup." Ravenpaw nodded, "Can I catch one?"
"Go ahead." Rainfire mewed. He stopped walking to watch. To Squirrelheart he said, "You can keep going. I'll catch up." She nodded and padded on behind Brambletail.
Ravenpaw was slowly creeping up on the rabbits. Oblivious, they kept nibbling, alternating between the green grass and the white clover. Suddenly, Ravenpaw leapt, stunning one rabbit and startling the other. The rabbit dashed away, but Rainfire was waiting. He swept it up in his jaws just as Ravenpaw finished the other one off.
"Nice catch." Complimented Ripplegaze, "The rabbits are still plump."
"Thanks." Rainfire dipped his head, "Do you want some?"
"Yes, thanks! All I got was a bit of that thrush."
"Mmm, rabbit? Can I have some?" Dapplepaw appeared beside Ravenpaw, "Nice catch by the way, Ravenpaw. That was an amazing leap!" Ravenpaw stammered a "thank you" and then muttered something about taking the other rabbit to the elders. Dapplepaw looked nervously at Rainfire. "Was it something I said?"
"No, you're fine. Ravenpaw didn't run away because of something bad," Ripplegaze meowed, whiskers twitching with amusement.
They divided the rabbit into four, but Ravenpaw didn't come back, so they invited Leafwhisker to have some instead. After their meal, they continued walking. Hours passed, and Rainfire realized that the meadow was bigger than they'd thought. Paws began to feel sore, heads drooped, tails dragged. The kits were staggering, wailing with exhaustion. Bark-kit finally collapsed. Rainfire looked at his tiny brother in alarm, then at Cloverleaf's drawn, worried face and picked Bark-kit gently up by the scruff of his neck. Cloverleaf picked up Berrykit and Birchclaw carried Rock-kit. Another queen, Willowface, was gently nudging her kits forward with her nose.
The cats trudged on through the chilly afternoon.
Leafwhisker padded over to Rainfire. "I'm worried about Ripplegaze," She murmured. "Her wound's become infected and I don't have any herbs. What I need is marigold and some clean cobwebs, but that's exactly what I don't have. I don't want to sound like I'm whining, but..." She gave her head a frustrated shake, nuzzled Bark-kit, and stalked off.
Mile after mile the cats of Darkclan walked. Beside Rainfire, Ripplegaze was going slower and slower, and he noticed with concern that Bark-kit wasn't any better. The queens were worried for their kits; Willowface was carrying Hazelkit now, and Squirrelheart had Brightkit.
The elders were wheezing; the apprentices were exhausted. Finally Shinestar called for them to stop.
Rainfire flopped on the grass after setting Bark-kit by Cloverleaf. His paws ached and his belly rumbled. The rabbit he'd eaten seemed ages ago. The sun was just starting to set into the early treebare night.
However, there was something good about the day's labors. The forest in the distance was much closer; they would probably reach it tomorrow. It would probably have more prey in it than this Ghostclan-forsaken meadow. Rainfire was happy about this; he didn't want to stay in the open any longer than necessary. He preferred the cool shadow of the forest.
His sister was in a better mood, too. She had found a small clump of marigold and was applying it to Ripplegaze's paw this very second. Rainfire wondered with a pang if Hawkpath was watching her help her mother from the stars.
Tanglefur was leading a hunting patrol consisting of Squirrelheart and Swiftstep.
The apprentices huddled up together and fell asleep quickly. The elders were tired, too. They made a little nest for themselves out of some dead grass and fell asleep as well. The queens soothed their tired kits and lay down, keeping their kits warm and snug.
Rainfire was tired, too. He curled up in a ball next to the other warriors; Birchclaw, Brambletail, and soon, Ripplegaze. He rested his drooping eyes and soon fell into a deep, exhausted, dreamless sleep.