Chapter 6
The moor of WindClan territory lay in front of Sprucepaw, its vast landscape becoming a bit overwhelming for her. The scents of nectar and wild berries wreathed through the air, making Sprucepaw close her eyes in serenity."Come" her mentor Sunstrike meowed as she padded up to her apprentice, "Let's keep going, I'd like to show you the ThunderClan border."
The light brown apprentice nodded and followed the tortoiseshell deputy. What an honor to be the deputies apprentice, but it did help that her father Waspfur was Sunstrike's younger brother.
"Do you see those trees next to the lake" Sunstrike asked, as Sprucepaw looked forward.
She nodded, "Is that ThunderClan?".
"Yes" the deputy began padding to where the trees began to disperse into grassland.
"Right here" she flicked her tail to a large rock, "Is where our border ends, and the ThunderClan border begins. Now I know sometimes in Leaf-Bare you can't quite see where it ends, but as long as you don't go beyond that large Rowan Tree, you should be fine."
Sprucepaw looked forward to a large tree that grew taller than the ones below it. As the wind blew its leaves it seemed to whisper through the air, Sprucepaw sighed, she loved nature.
"Would you rather go down to the lake?" Sunstrike meowed while pausing, "Or would you like to have your first hunting lesson?".
Pondering the possibilities for a short moment, Sprucepaw was leaning more towards going to the lake. Her mother Sweetmallow had told her how beautiful the water was, and ever since she was born Sprucepaw wanted to find out what it truly looked like.
"Let's go to the lake" she finally meowed, as Sunstrike nodded.
"If we come across any prey I'll give you a hunting lesson, although I doubt we'll find any rabbits towards the shore."
Hearing the possibility of killing an animal, Sprucepaw shivered. She always thought that killing was inhumane, they were taking a life for StarClan's sake.
Couldn't the clans just eat berries? Sprucepaw loved eating berries, especially Blue Berries when they were all plump and ripe.
Veering off the task before her, Sprucepaw gasped as she saw the luscious waves reflecting the sunlight, only fox-lengths ahead of her. The waves lapped at the shore softly, as ducks and swans swam across its surface.
"It's beautiful" Sprucepaw was beyond shocked, this was better than she even imagined! On the other side of the water, Sprucepaw spotted the island where the clans gathered once a moon.
"Is that RiverClan?" she asked, vaguely spotting cats on the shore fishing into the lake.
Sunstrike nodded, "I'll show you our border with them another day, although its pretty easy to remember. Just don't go past Horse-Place."
Sprucepaw nodded, Don't go past Horse-Place. Padding forward to sniff at the lakes water, Sprucepaw could faintly smell the scent of fish.
"Yuck" she spat, why would RiverClan eat those?! Not only did they smell horrible, but there was no reason to kill them, they could very easily hunt in the forest!
Suddenly Sprucepaw spotted Sunstrike looking forward, her ears pricked straight upwards.
"I smell rabbit" she told Sprucepaw quietly, instantly dropping to the ground.
As her mentor motioned for her to do the same, Sprucepaw felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to kill an animal, if she did then she was practically a murderer!
"I think its over by the rocks at the edge of the lake" Sunstrike breathed in the scent, "If we can corner it then it has no chance."
The light brown she-cat simply nodded as they pawed forward slowly, the rocks at the edge of the lake barely three fox-lengths ahead.
Sprucepaw could faintly see the outline of a small fluffy white tail, and the big ears of a rabbit looking for food.
Suddenly whispers engulfed Sprucepaw's head, and images as well.
"Food, must find food" the whispers were coming from the rabbit! And then Sprucepaw saw an image of the same mother rabbit returning to a burrow, with countless babies looking for food.
It's a mother, Sprucepaw realized, And if she dies, then so do all of her babies!
Noticing Sunstrike was in striking distance and about to make the kill, Sprucepaw ran forward and bolted into her mentor, catching her by surprise. Making a loud thud as they hit the ground, instantly the rabbit darted back towards its home, its tiny white tail disappearing behind a bush.
"What in StarClan's name is wrong with you?" Sunstrike growled, brushing grass and twigs off of her tortoiseshell pelt.
Sprucepaw lowered her head, "I could hear what the rabbit was thinking. I'm sorry but I couldn't let you kill it, she had babies Sunstrike!".
But the tortoiseshell deputy with a large white mark on her forehead only stared at her apprentice, making Sprucepaw even more confused.
"You heard what the rabbit was thinking?" she asked, unsure of what to think.
Sprucepaw shuffled her paws, "Yes, and I saw an image of her babies in a burrow" did she do something wrong?
But why and how could Sprucepaw hear what an animal of different species was thinking, what was wrong with her?
"Well Sprucepaw" Sunstrike meowed finally, "I think you've finally found your power, remember you are a Zodiac."
Suddenly something clicked in Sprucepaw's brain, how could she have been so dumb, of course this was her power! But what use could hearing what animals of different species be to her?
And how could it finally bring peace to the forest?
Join Qfeast to read the entire story!
Sign In. It is absolutely free!
