Chapter 25
The days began to get colder as leafbare arrived. Ravenflight found herself shivering as a cool breeze swept through the forest. The brisk nights had been even colder when there was no cat to sleep with in the warriors' den. Cinderheart had been moved to Jayfeather's den after coughing a bit. He'd said she caught whitecough, which could eventually turn into greencough. Ravenflight's worry over her mother did not help matters. She felt responsible for Cinderheart when Stripecloud was in the nursery caring for her kits. Ashpaw had reassured her by saying that Cinderheart was in good paws. Jayfeather was a good medicine cat, no warrior would deny it. His skills had been passed down by Leafpool, who vanished from the Clans seasons ago.
"With this cold weather prey will likely be hiding in their burrows," Hazeltail muttered with a shake of her head. She looked at the fresh-kill pile as if to prove her point. Sure enough the fresh-kill pile had gone down in size over the past few days. Ravenflight's ears flattened as she imagined what it would be like when leafbare was in full swing. Right now it was only beginning, and already cats were getting sick. "If you're so concerned about hunting why don't you get some fresh-kill yourself?" Brambleclaw challenged as he approached the small warrior. Hazeltail's ears flattened at his words. "The Clan needs to be fed, so off you go," he added with a purr.
"Right, anyone want to come?" Hazeltail rose to her paws and glared at Brambleclaw before calling out any cats who were willing to go with her. Cloudtail looked at her as if she'd grown wings, while Icecloud and Lionblaze merely shrugged. "More hunters will mean more chances of getting prey," Hazeltail pointed out. Ravenflight shook her head in amusement when Lionblaze eventually agreed to come. Slowly she followed after her former mentor. "We'll go," she meowed. Hazeltail blinked at her thankfully before leading the way out of the hollow. The three of them made their way through the thorn tunnel, eager to warm their fur as they emerged into the forest.
"Shall we head over to the sky oak?" Hazeltail looked over her shoulder cautiously. She looked relieved when Lionblaze nodded in agreement. The Sky Oak was a great place to look for squirrels or mice that might be hiding underneath the roots. Ravenflight flicked her tail in anticipation as she caught the scent of squirrels in the air already. She bounded ahead and saw a squirrel standing at the edge of a branch nibbling on a note. "I can climb up to that," Hazeltail whispered when she noticed the squirrel too. "Something like that will help restock the fresh-kill pile."
Lionblaze stood beside Ravenflight as Hazeltail began to climb the tree. Ravenflight was afraid the squirrel would notice the sound of claws scraping against the bark, but it seemed oblivious to the noise. Soon Hazeltail reached the branch and began to approach the squirrel cautiously. Hazeltail reached out cautiously with her claws extended until they brushed against the fur of the squirrel. It froze at her sudden touch and dropped the nut. Ravenflight watched as the squirrel leaped from the branch, landing on the ground with a sickening thud. Hazeltail dropped into a crouch when the branch suddenly began to wobble. "I can't get down!" she screeched. "It's too high!"
"Why did you climb up it in the first place?" Lionblaze called up while Ravenflight sniffed the dead squirrel. Hazeltail's only reply was a whimper as she clutched to the branch with her life. Ravenflight sighed in annoyance and shook her head. "Hazeltail, you're gonna have to jump," Lionblaze meowed. "I'll catch you if you're careful enough." That only made Hazeltail worse. The small cat whimpered once more and buried her nose into her front legs. "Hazeltail, jump down now!" Lionblaze's shout made Hazeltail flinch, and suddenly she released her grip. A screech of shock and fear sounded from her lungs as she fell. Lionblaze hissed and lunged forward until he grabbed her by the scruff. "You're alright," Lionblaze muttered when Hazeltail struggled from his grip.
"StarClan, I'll never do that again!" Hazeltail gasped when she realized he was right. "You're lucky to be alive," Ravenflight muttered. She remembered what Cinderheart had told her about the Sky Oak. Mousewhisker had tried to catch a squirrel when he was an apprentice, and he was too afraid to climb down. Cinderheart had climbed up the tree and shoved the gray and white warrior down, but in the end she had fallen and broke her leg. Jayfeather had managed to save Cinderheart's leg by making her swim until it felt better. "Are you sure it's okay?" Ravenflight demanded when Hazeltail recoiled after stepping on her front paws. "It must be sprained," Ravenflight added after giving her shoulder a sniff.
Ravenfeather, what's good with mending bones? Ravenflight asked silently.
One of your Clanmates is injured, Ravenfeather sniffed arrogantly. I'd say she needs to see your medicine cat. You are a warrior not a medicine cat. Ravenflight flinched at Ravenfeather's tone, but she knew the starry figure was right. She shook her head and looked back at Hazeltail. "You should go and see Jayfeather about that," she murmured calmly. Hazeltail opened her mouth as if she was about to protest, than thought better of it when Ravenflight glared at her. The small gray and white cat limped away with the squirrel clamped between her jaws.
"Alright, let's check the WindClan border," Lionblaze growled when the she-cat was away from them. When Ravenflight tilted her head in confusion, Lionblaze blinked and explained, "Brambleclaw wanted someone to keep an eye on WindClan since we've been spending so much time around the ShadowClan border." Ravenflight nodded in understanding and let him take the lead. The forest was still icy cold and she knew that it wouldn't get any better. Leafbare had fully arrived, and it was not about to end any time soon. Lionblaze stiffened beside Ravenflight, and she looked at him in concern. She wondered what could have made him stop dead in his tracks until she saw what he was staring at. A small group of WindClan cats were standing side-by-side, looking at the pair of them warily.