Warriors: The New Prophecy #3: Dawn by Hunter Erin

Author:Hunter, Erin [Hunter, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Squirrelpaw dropped the mouse onto the fresh-kill pile. It did little to bulk up the meager offerings of a sparrow and a vole already brought in by the dawn patrol. Sorreltail had hunted with her, but had caught nothing.

“Take that straight to the elders,” Firestar mewed, padding over to them.

“Not Ferncloud?” Squirrelpaw queried.

“Cinderpelt says she won’t eat anything yet.” Firestar sighed. “But Cody has been sharing food with Birchkit.”

“That kittypet should go back to her Twolegs and stop eating our fresh-kill,” Sorreltail commented irritably. “She’s no good for hunting.”

“Cody takes hardly anything for herself,” Firestar pointed out. “And while she cares for Birchkit, the other cats have more time for hunting.”

Squirrelpaw glanced sympathetically at Sorreltail. She probably resented Cody more for taking up Leafpaw’s time than for being a kittypet. She picked up the mouse and carried it to where the elders were making the most of the frail warmth of sunhigh at the top of Sunningrocks.

Frostfur and Speckletail had their eyes closed, dozing. Longtail, the blind tom who was no older than some of the warriors, sat up. “I smell mouse,” he mewed.

“It’s not very big, I’m afraid,” Squirrelpaw apologized.

“It’s fine,” Longtail assured her. He prodded the mouse with his paw, and the tip of his tail twitched excitedly when the little body shifted, as if the desire to hunt for himself had not dimmed.

Suddenly he lifted his head and opened his mouth to scent the air. “WindClan!” he exclaimed, more in surprise than alarm.

“What, here?” mewed Squirrelpaw, looking around. She didn’t think her father was expecting visitors.

At the foot of the rock, Tallstar was leading a small, bedraggled patrol out of the woods. The ThunderClan cats watched them climb slowly up to where Firestar waited. No cat challenged them. Tallstar’s step was so faltering, his frame so emaciated, that Squirrelpaw was amazed he had made it all the way here. The two warriors that accompanied him were in no better condition; Onewhisker and Tornear were so thin they looked like they were made of twigs and leaves, and Squirrelpaw half feared the breeze might blow them away.

Crowpaw was at the rear of the patrol, looking thinner than he had on the journey to the sun-drown-place, though he was not quite as scrawny as his companions. Squirrelpaw bounded down the slope to touch noses with him in greeting. When she got closer, she saw that his eyes were as dull as his Clanmates’, and his fur was ungroomed.

“Crowpaw!” she exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m as fit as any of my Clan,” Crowpaw growled.

Tornear blinked at her. “Crowpaw has been hunting like a whole patrol on his own, finding prey to feed nearly all the Clan,” he reported.

Squirrelpaw pricked her ears.

“He even caught a hawk two sunrises ago,” Tornear went on. Even though starvation seemed to have robbed the WindClan warrior of all emotion, Squirrelpaw thought she detected a hint of pride in Tornear’s voice.

Crowpaw shrugged. “I used a trick the Tribe taught us.”

“Crowpaw!” Brambleclaw came bounding up the rock.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.