Chapter Four

The next day dawned with a bout of chilly mist. Snowpaw was awake before the other apprentices, and she practiced her hunting crouch in the cold morning light. Rubyheart padded out of the warrior's den not long after, and he instructed her to wake up Moonpaw and Oakpaw to take on the hunting patrol.

"What do you want, kittypet?" Spat Oakpaw as Snowpaw prodded her awake.

"Hunting patrol with Rubyheart. Come on." She mewed.

Waking Moonpaw was not as hard. When Snowpaw mewed her name quietly into the white apprentice's ear, she awoke with a squeak of fear.

"W-w-what d-d-did I d-d-do?" She stammered, trembling in fright.

"Nothing. Rubyheart wants you to come on the hunting patrol with us." Mewed Snowpaw, following Oakpaw's tail out of the den. Once they were all assembled by the entrance to camp, Rubyheart told them to follow him.

"Which border are we patrolling today, Rubyheart?" Oakpaw mewed, bounding alongside the scarlet warrior.

"WindClan's." the massive tabby looked at Snowpaw. "I asked Flamestar about the Gathering, but he said you were too young."

Snowpaw nodded, noticing Oakpaw's triumphant smirk as she did so. A hard rock formed in her stomach as she paused to sniff the air. Well, Stormpaw did say there wasn't much chance. She thought bitterly. Maybe next time.

"Who's WindClan's leader?" she meowed to Rubyheart. The scarlet warrior gazed down at a rock that, by the scent, concealed a mouse. She dropped into a hunting crouch and after pinpointing the small brown creature, leapt.

A heartbeat later, the mouse's limp body dangled from her jaws.

"N-n-nice c-catch S-Snowpaw!" Mewed Moonpaw, the she-cat's eyes gazed enviously at her.

Oakpaw looked stunned, but forced a sneer. "Sure, any kit can catch a mouse, but only real clan cats can hunt rabbits!"

"Quiet, Oakpaw. Very nicely done, Snowpaw." Rubyheart padded over to her. "In answer to your question, Breezestar is the leader of WindClan."

"What does he look like?" Snowpaw mewed, scuffing some dirt over the body of the mouse.

"She is a thin brown and white tabby. Like most WindClan cats, Breezestar is a very swift cat. Not many cats can outrun her, and even less rabbits." Rubyheart started to pad toward the scent border where the forest stopped and wild moors began.

Snowpaw followed him, and gazed out over the vast plains. Suddenly, she spotted a group of cats racing toward them. "WindClan warriors!"

There were three of them, one of them a thin brown and white tabby she-cat. "Greetings, Rubyheart. How is ThunderClan?" Breezestar meowed, gazing at the scarlet tabby.

"Very well, Breezestar." Rubyheart meowed, his amber eyes meeting Breezestar's yellow ones.

One of the warriors behind Breezestar gave a loud yowl of laughter. "Look at this! ThunderClan must be desperate if they're recruiting kittypets!"

Snowpaw felt a plume of rage coiling up in her mind. Rubyheart let out a low snarl.

"Wildlegs, if you want my apprentice to claw your eyes out, by all means continue speaking. After all, a mere WindClan warrior would look like an apprentice to a cat who defeated Flamestar himself!" Snowpaw felt a flow of pride at these words, and she glared at Wildlegs, who looked rather surprised.

"My warrior meant no offense to you, apprentice of ThunderClan." Breezestar meowed to Snowpaw, bowing her head respectfully. "You will make a fine warrior one day, and I am sure your name shall be remembered in the tales of all the clans."

"T-thank you, Breezestar!" Snowpaw stammered, sounding just like Moonpaw.

Breezestar nodded once more, and with a flick of her tail, she and her patrol were racing off across the moors again.

"Wow..." mewed Snowpaw, barely noticing Oakpaw's disgusted looks.

"Come. We must be going." Meowed Rubyheart, turning away from the moors. The three apprentices turned to follow him. "We are going hunting, might as well build up the fresh-kill pile while we're out."

After each of them had caught a sizeable amount of prey (Snowpaw, much to Oakpaw's horror and indignation, caught a rabbit more than half her size.), they returned to the camp.

"Snowpaw!" Stormpaw bounded across the clearing to meet her. "Back from hunting?"

"Dawn patrol, actually." Mewed Snowpaw, wincing at the nasty smell that emanated from Stormpaw's front paws. "Why are your paws so horrid smelling?"

"Mouse bile. Pinepelt had me searching the elders pelt's for ticks. I need to head to the nearest stream to wash my feet. I'll see you later, or do you want to come?" He grimaced.

"Sure, I'll come. Hang on, I'll tell Rubyheart where we are so he doesn't freak out." Snowpaw mewed. She looked around for the scarlet tabby and saw him sharing tongues with a gold tom on the other side of the camp. "Who's that with him?"

"That is Lionmane. He's a senior warrior, and he was going to be deputy before Pinepelt got the top job. Bit of a letdown for him, but it wasn't the only thing he missed out on." Stormpaw meowed, nodding toward Bluetip, who was crunching on a mouse with a brown and blue tabby queen.

"Your mother?" Snowpaw mewed, looking surprised.

"Oh yeah. He loved her. He's really angry at Pinepelt for stealing her, as he puts it. But he's nice to Drizzlepaw and me, even acts like a father of sorts at times. He is really sympathetic whenever Pinepelt's being harsh to me. Sometimes I think my mother loves him too, but…" Stormpaw trailed off, and Snowpaw knew who he would have liked to have been fathered by.

A short while later, the pair of them had been cleared to go and find a stream to wash Stormpaw's paws off. The two apprentices bounded through the trees toward the ShadowClan border, and it's stream.

"Why do you need mouse bile for ticks?" Snowpaw meowed, wincing at the horrible smell.

"Ticks hate the stuff as much as we do. When you press some moss with it on a tick, it drops right off." Stormpaw meowed,

They had reached the stream. Stormpaw stuck his front paws into the water and began splashing and washing the scent off.

"Hey, look at this. Stormpaw, quit splashing me and look!" Snowpaw had walked further along the riverbank and found a place where the two opposite banks came very close. A cat could leap across without a lot of difficulty.

"Oh. Right, that. Bit narrow isn't it? Should we tell Flamestar?" Stormpaw asked, flicking his paw at her and spraying a few droplets of water at her.

Snowpaw hissed playfully, but a familiar scent hit her nose. It was very faint, but still distinct. She padded over to the small bank, sniffing. It was recent, but slightly stale. A few days old, perhaps? A cat had crossed this river twice, coming from ThunderClan territory. But as for who the cat was…

Snowpaw gazed across the water, thinking. What had Rainpaw doing on ShadowClan territory?