Okay, I realise I haven't updated for ages AGAIN! So I'm hoping to make it up to my loyal readers by posting 2 chapters today:)
Shadefrost stalked the mouse, her paws making no noise on the hard ground. She silently flexed her claws, inching forward a few more tail-lengths.
She had it.
Bunching her leg muscles, she sprang. The mouse slipped quickly out of her way. Hissing, she gave chase, pelting through the undergrowth at great speed. She flipped the mouse in the air just before it reached its burrow. The helpless creature flew up, its tiny legs flailing in panic. Shadefrost caught it in her mouth and killed it.
She carried her victim back to where she had buried the rest of her prey, her tail swinging happily from side to side. It was nearing the end of the day and she still was buzzing about her time with Foxwhisker that morning. She knew that she ought to be worrying about the ginger tom's ominous dream but right now she was finding it hard to. How could she be anxious when she was so in love?
She dropped the mouse on top of the rest of her catch. It was pretty measly, consisting of only a raven, two rabbits, a vole and the mouse, but then it always was in leafbare. Not for the first time Shadefrost couldn't remember the last time she had eaten.
She picked up the fresh-kill in her jaws and headed to where she was supposed to be meeting the rest of the hunting patrol. Lynxpaw was already there, holding a huge rabbit proudly in his jaws. Shadefrost gasped and dropped her prey at his paws. "Wow, Lynxpaw," she meowed. "That's massive! I've never caught anything as big as that. And in leafbare too! How did you do it?"
Lynxpaw purred and dropped the rabbit so he could speak. "I was just stalking a mouse when it leapt out the undergrowth. Just like that! I leapt forward and caught it." He scraped his paws on the ground shyly. "It was luck really."
Shadefrost poked the rabbit. "Well whether it was luck or not, that'll feed the whole nursery and the elders."
Lynxpaw's eyes lit up. "I can take it to the nursery and give it to Emberkit," he mewed excitedly.
Shadefrost's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Just Emberkit?"
Lynxpaw frowned and coughed. "No, of course Lilyface and Breezewing as well," he muttered.
Shadefrost laughed. Lynxpaw was not very open about his liking for Emberkit but it was obvious that he had interest in her.
Just then Icestorm and Shrewfur, the other members of the patrol, emerged from some bushes, prey dangling from their mouths. They both gasped when they saw Lynxpaw's rabbit. "Oh StarClan," Shrewfur exclaimed while Icestorm rushed forward to congratulate her apprentice. "How is that rabbit so fat? It must be eating extra-grow grass or something!"
Shadefrost dropped two mice, a vole and a rabbit on the fresh-kill pile. Behind her, Lynxpaw held his mega-rabbit proudly as he strolled over to the nursery. She purred, amused, and picked a small sparrow off the pile.
She carried it over to where Foxwhisker was devouring a mouse. He purred when she approached and slapped the ground next to him with his tail. Shadefrost smiled and settled down beside him, letting her pelt touch his. "So what did you do today?" she asked him, picking feathers off the sparrow and spitting them on the floor.
Foxwhisker swallowed a bite of mouse. "Oh I just went on patrol with Ratclaw. He says that Venompaw will be back in training in a few sunrises."
"That's good," Shadefrost mewed, imagining how restless the grey apprentice would be cooped up in Swallowfeather's den.
"How about you?" Foxwhisker nudged her ear.
"I went hunting with Lynxpaw. Did you see the size of the rabbit he caught?"
Foxwhisker shook his head. "No."
Shadefrost took a bite of sparrow. "It was absolutely huge."
Foxwhisker finished his mouse. "Good on him."
He turned to face her. "I was planning on leaving tomorrow," he mewed.
Shadefrost gaped at him. "What?"
"I-I want to go to the mountains," Foxwhisker told her. "I want to find out why I was sent this dream because you're right. If I just ignore it something bad might happen."He laid his tail on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Shadefrost shook it off. "Ok," she meowed. "Ok. If you're going then I'm coming with you."
Foxwhisker's eyes widened in alarm. "Shadefrost, you can't come. The journey might be dangerous and I'll never forgive myself if you get hurt."
Shadefrost looked into his eyes. "I'm not a little kit Foxwhisker," she mewed gently. "I'm not even an apprentice anymore. I can look after myself."
"But Shadefrost, what if..."
Shadefrost scuttled closer to him, so that their noses where only a beetlelength apart. "You promised me, at sunrise, that you would never leave me again. If you go on this journey alone, you leave me behind in WoodClan. You're breaking your promise. It's safer anyway if you let me go with you..."
She was cut off when Foxwhisker hissed, "How is it safer? You come on a potentially dangerous journey with me instead of staying here. Sure that's safe, that's..."
Shadefrost slapped her tail over his mouth. "It is safer because if we don't go together then I will follow you. I'll be alone. Is that safer?"
Foxwhisker sighed. "Alright you can come. But I will kill myself if you die because I let you..."
Shadefrost pressed her forehead to his, silencing him. "I don't ever want to be away from you," she murmured, looking deep into his eyes.
Foxwhisker's eyes were pools of love. "We'll always be together," he breathed. "I love you."
They stayed like that for a few moments and then Shadefrost drew back, yawning. "I'm going to get some sleep," she mewed.
Foxwhisker nodded. "Me too."
They padded over to the warriors den, their pelts brushing. Inside, it was warm as the heat radiated off the pelts of many different cats. Shadefrost spotted Sootwhisker and Shadowheart sharing tongues where she had slept last night. Finchwing and Creekfall were also grooming each other. Shadefrost was reminded that she had not yet spoken to her sister about what had occurred at the gathering. To be honest, she couldn't care less. Scorchstorm and Bloodspill were at the back of her mind, overwhelmed by thoughts of the mountains and the journey that she and Foxwhisker were about to embark on. As she gazed round at her fellow warriors, Shadefrost realised that she could not just leave without giving them notice. The clan would think that she had run away which would prove her disloyal.
As she and Foxwhisker settled down beside each other, she meowed, "We need to tell Fallenstar about this."
Foxwhisker frowned. "Why?"
"We can't just leave the clan. We'd never be able to return!"
Foxwhisker looked thoughtful. "I suppose you're right," he mewed. "How about we tell Fallenstar at dawn?"
"That sounds good." Shadefrost sighed and lay down, exhausted. She found herself staring into Foxwhisker's light blue eyes. She purred and shuffled closer to the ginger tom. They fell asleep with their pelts touching for the first time in moons.
I know - awww!
Right, don't stop reading there - there's another chapter. Read it!