Snowballing Troubles - Chapter 1

Instructions

Warriors: A Fan-Based Series Book 1: Snowballing Troubles Chapter 1 Snowball woke up extremely tired. Last quarter moon, he had received his warrior name. Ever since then, he had less time to sleep as compared to before. It seemed as though every single cat in StormClan wanted him to do all the hunting for the clan. Snowball got up and walked outside the warrior den to stretch. “Snowball!” Bloodclaw, StormClan’s deputy approached him and growled. “You’re in the hunting patrol with Acorntree and Crystalpaw again.” See! Snowball thought. Every time I wake up, some cat tells me I’m in the hunting patrol! Why can’t some other cat hunt for the clan? Snowball watched as Bloodclaw walked away. “Snowball, what’s wrong?” Flowerheart, Snowball’s best friend asked, sitting by his side. “It’s just that I’m always in the hunting patrol! Why can’t I patrol the borders like most of the other cats?” growled Snowball in reply. “It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll be able to patrol the borders someday,” Flowerheart mewed before standing up and leaving. Snowball, feeling a little better, went to the apprentice den to fetch Crystalpaw, Acorntree’s apprentice. Crystalpaw was just a kit when her mother, Cindertail, had gone missing. A few quarter moons after that, Rainstar found her body near the lake. She said that it seemed that Cindertailhad been attacked by somebody, most likely foxes. Upon hearing the news, every cat was devastated, especially Crystalpaw. After a few moments, Crystalpaw came out of the den and they joined Acorntree, who was near the Highledge. Acorntree suggested, “Let’s go hunt near the lake. There are lots of prey there.” “Alright!” Snowball and Crystalpaw meowed in agreement and they then set off. The three cats walked along, occasionally stopping when they heard some noises. Snowball perked up his ears at every strange sound he heard, the fur at the back of his neck prickling up. He never heard such noises before. It sounded like the rustling of bushes when a cat was in them. Snowball looked around, scanning the surroundings carefully. Was he being watched? The thought of it made him shudder all over and he was even more cautious than ever. “Acorntree,” Snowball said softly. He tapped his brother’s shoulder, who was in front of him. Much to his shock, Acorntree suddenly yelped loudly and leaped backwards, almost crashing into Snowball. Seeing his brother’s response, Snowball jumped too. Crystalpaw just looked at them with a quizzical look. Acorntree slowly turned to look behind, his eyes the size of huge berries. His whiskers twitched in fear. Snowball and Acorntrees’ eyes met. They stared at each other for quite a while, and Snowball was not sure of what to do. “Err… Acorntree?” Snowball finally whispered. Acorntree, after a moment’s pause, shook his head profusely. “Snowball,” he said, “I thought you were a monster or attacker!” He sighed and narrowed his eyes at Snowball. Snowball looked sheepishly at his brother and said, “I just wanted to tell you, did you hear that strange noise just now?” He leaned in closer. “I think s-somecat’s following us.” Acorntree shuddered. “That’s…”he paused, thinking of the right words. “...scary to think of.” He whipped his head around, making sure that there was no cat hearing. “Yeah,” Snowball lowered his head, making a mental note to tell Rainstar about their weird encounter when they returned. “A…corntreeeeeee,” Crystalpaw dragged, “and Snowballllll, let’s go already!” Saying that, she spun around and walked towards the lake. Acorntree rushed to catch up with his apprentice. Snowball gulped and followed them. When the trio arrived at the lake, they quickly hid behind a bush so as to not let the prey spot them. As they cautiously peeped out of the bush, Snowball was amazed by what he saw. Schools of fish swam in the clear lake waters, which flowed rapidly in one direction; Rabbits jumped around on the soft green grass in the sunlight; and mice were running all over. Snowball looked at all of this in wonder. He had never seen so much prey in his whole life! “Woah!” Crystalpaw loud whispered, clearly feeling the same way as Snowball. Acorntree counted down, “Pounce on as much prey as possible in three… two… one… GO!!” The cats crouched down, leapt out of the bush and pounced on the prey. Rabbits and mice scrambled to get away. “I’ve got three prey!” Snowball said proudly. “I have got two,” Crystalpaw added. After some more hunting, the three cats went back to the camp with lots of fresh-kill for the clan. “I’m exhausted!” yawned Snowball as they reached a clearing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they heard a piercing yowl. Shocked, Snowball froze, momentarily unable to move. (continue in notes & creds)