Chapter Two
Ivypool crept up on the mouse she'd spotted among the roots of the sky oak. Her paws slid across the leaves, she was determined not to let this one get away.
She'd been to busy thinking about the dark forest to hunt properly. Dovewing kept insisting that the battle was over and she didn't need to go there anymore, but she just had a feeling that their mischief wasn't over.
"Yes!" she yowled as she landed squarely on her prey. Thornclaw strode into the clearing, followed by Blossomfall and Toadstep.
"Nice catch." He meowed, "but I think you just scared off every piece of prey from here to fourtrees.
"Sorry," she mewed, ashamed. "I'll try not to be as loud next time."
"It's okay, we're going back to camp anyway, come on." She followed at the rear of the patrol. Her mouse was plump, but all the other members of the patrol had caught more than one piece of fresh-kill each.
She tried to place her mouse on the pile as discreetly as possible, hoping no one would notice. No such luck.
"Good catch Ivypool," It was Squirrelflight, the deputy, "Could you bring it to the nursery please?"
"Sure." Ivypool padded into the nursery.
Cinderheart was trying to convince Daisy that she didn't need to be in the nursery yet.
"I'm still moons away from kitting!" she complained. It was true, her soft underbelly had just begun to round, and it would be a while yet until she had to worry about kitting. Ivypool purred and set down her mouse.
"Did you catch it yourself?" mewed Cinderheart, when Ivypool nodded; she flicked her tail across her flank in appreciation. "I'm sure Millie will really appreciate it. I'll wake her." Cinderheart prodded Millie's swollen belly.
The striped gray she-cat raised her head sleepily and tried to sit up. Cinderheart let out a mrrow of laughter and pushed Millie up gently. For a second, Ivypool couldn't help feeling jealous of these she-cats who never had to worry about stuff like training in the dark forest. For once, she just wanted to be a normal cat.
Jayfeather gathered a mouthful of borage leaves and started towards the nursery. Millie was so close to kitting, he needed to make sure she would have enough milk. He stalked across the clearing, and pushed through the brambles and into the nursery. Millie was gulping down a mouse from an awkward position on the floor. He pushed over half the leaves. She glanced up in surprise.
"These will help your milk come." He explained, feeling a little uncomfortable after their run-in that morning. Millie simply nodded in thanks, and licked them up.
"Brightheart, is your milk coming okay?"
"Yes, thank you. Could you check my kits quickly? I think Dewkit has a cold." Jayfeather nodded brusquely and pressed his nose to Dewkit's tiny forehead.
"He's fine. Maybe a little chilled from the cold weather." He reported. "If he gets worse, I can give him some herbs."
"Thanks Jayfeather. If you don't mind me asking, who are the rest of the borage leaves for?" she asked, glancing at the remaining pile of leaves.
"They're for Cinderheart, I know she has a while to go, but they can't hurt." Brightheart nodded, satisfied.
"She went out hunting," said Daisy, "We tried to stop her, but..." she trailed off. Jayfeather blinked.
"Okay, I'll come back later." He dipped his head to the queens. "I should be going. Get me if you need anything." The she-cats mewed their goodbyes as he padded out of the nursery.
He had just entered the clearing when Bumblestripe skidded to a halt beside him.
"Jayfeather, I was looking for you! Can you come check if Dovewing is okay?"
Finally, thought Lionblaze as he led the patrol towards the WindClan border.
"Spread out and catch as much fresh-kill as you can." He instructed his patrol.
Lionblaze slid over the mossy ground, sneaking up on a plump wood pigeon. Fox Dung!
It heard him at the last second and started to take off. He lunged at the last minute and clawed at its outstretched wings. It faltered and he took the opportunity to rake his claws over the bird's back. It limply fell to the ground. A messy catch, but I'll take it.
Lionblaze kicked dirt over his kill and headed deeper into the forest. He tasted the air. Vole! He darted forward and barely missed a small gray body as it disappeared into its burrow.
"Bad luck." Sympathized a voice. Lionblaze spun around.
"Cinderheart!" he meowed in shock. "What are you doing out of the nursery?" She sighed and settled down on the carpet of leaves.
"I just wanted some fresh air." She mewed exasperatedly. "Don't queens get to hunt?" Lionblaze inspected her skeptically, deciding she didn't look much different.
"Well," he conceded, "I guess." She purred.
"I thought you might say yes. Let's hunt together."
Cinderheart chased a fat squirrel into Lionblaze's outstretched claws, but missed a rabbit. Lionblaze was about to dash off in pursuit, but Cinderheart faltered as she tried to catch her breath.
"Cinderheart?" Lionblaze queried.
"I'm fine, just winded." The gray queen insisted. Lionblaze examined her.
"Maybe you should go back to camp." Cinderheart shook her head.
"I'm fine," she persisted, "See? I've caught my breath already."
"Come on Cinderheart. Just go." She calmly groomed a paw.
"Fine," she huffed, "but only because it means so much to you." She padded away heavily. Lionblaze purred, then raced back to collect his prey.
Sorry, not an interesting ending. Can some more people please review? Hope you enjoyed!