Chapter 4

"Swallowflight! Beastfur! Badgerfang! Swallowflight! Beastfur! Badgerfang!"

Moonpaw listened along with her littermates, slightly glum.

"Mama! Mama!" Volekit and Shiftkit cried. "We wanna be warriors too!"

Fallowgrass smiled. "No, my kits. Not yet. You are only 2 moons old!"

2 moons had passed since the Gathering at Fourtrees. It was the dead of leaf-bare, and prey was scarce. No one was surprised when Fallowgrass announced she was pregnant with Overstep's kits, but everyone worried for her tiny kits.

Amberstar herself had taken over Archpaw's training, and with only 1 moon left of their apprenticeship, Moonpaw and her littermates were being worked hard.

"Moonpaw! Stop daydreaming! Hunting patrol." Shadeclaw growled.

Moonpaw winced as she stepped on her front foreleg. In a hunting session yesterday, she had twisted it in a muddy patch.

"Be careful in the next couple days," Nosewhisker had announced. "No more hunting or battle training!"

Shadeclaw hadn't blinked an eye when she had told him that. "So what? Don't be a weakling."

Moonpaw shook her head and concentrated.

"Want to hunt together?" Badgerfang asked.

Moonpaw looked up at her handsome former denmate and nodded. "Sure."

Badgerfang instantly brightened.

"Congratulations on becoming a warrior," she remarked.

The black-and-white tom smiled. "It'll be your turn soon," he said, touching his muzzle to her ear.

Soon the pair had caught a starling, two frogs and a lizard.

As they proudly carried the catch back to the ShadowClan camp, Shadeclaw met Moonpaw at the entrance.

He nodded with approval as he saw the catch, then announced to Moonpaw "Training hollow, hurry."

"But what about the prey?" she said, confused. "And the elders need fresh bedding, and Hollowfoot has a couple of ticks, and Tinyfeather needs someone to collect coltsfoot with because Nosewhisker needs to rest after her cough-"

Shadeclaw hissed. "Moonpaw! You are my apprentice, not Tinyfeather's, and Badgerfang can carry the prey back."

He glared at the tom before Badgerfang, with a worried glance at Moonpaw, left.

"The elders-"

Shadeclaw growled and took a step forwards. "The elders are useless! They should fetch their own bedding, deal with their own ticks. Thornpaw and Archpaw are hardly the warrior you are, Moonpaw, they should do those duties."

With a snort he padded towards the training hollow, saying "ThunderClan would never allow such things to be in their Clan."

Moonpaw gasped and Shadeclaw spun around, and knocked her to the ground. "If you dare tell any cat I said that, you will pay. Understand?"

With Shadeclaw's claws at her throat Moonpaw couldn't speak so she just nodded.

Shadeclaw leapt off of her, quickly grooming himself. "Now, there was this battle move I wanted to show you that Stormcloud told me about, which works especially well against RiverClan warriors."

Moonpaw was amazed at the transition her mentor had just gone through- mad and angry to calm and composed.

SOOOOO! What did Shadeclaw mean when he praised ThunderClan? What is he plotting? Only the next chapter will tell, dear readers- everything shall be revealed! (well, maybe not

everything…..)

-Thia