Sun rays filtered through the holes in the roof, casting warm beams upon the sleeping cats below.

Shadow lifted her head groggily, welcoming the warm sun after so many rainy days. She hauled herself from her nest and stretched her stiff muscles, still sore from yesterday's battle training. Spark shifted in the nest beside her and murmured in her sleep.

Shadow stepped through the den entrance and found herself in a deserted camp. She looked up to the sky and realized that the sun had barely risen yet, just peeking into the dens. No cat was awake yet, the dawn patrol had probably already left and she was all alone.

Remembering Frost's words from yesterday she decided to go hunting, maybe a full fresh-kill pile would please Ivy. The apprentice bounded out of the camp and into the forest.

Dew still clung to the leaves and it felt like the forest had just woken up, birds began singing their songs and squirrels crawled out of their dens high in the trees. The rustling of leaves signaled that the mice too were waking up.

Shadow realized how lucky she was, after all these rainy days the prey finally had a chance to come out of their dens and forage for worms and nuts.

She focused on a lump of moving leaves, a small rodent was scuffling around under the large leaves. Shadow sunk into the hunter's crouch that Ivy had shown her and crawled forward slowly.

She wiggled her haunches and leaped forward, her claws outstretched and unsheathed. The mouse squealed before Shadow finished it off with a quick bite to the neck.

She licked her lips, ignoring the sharp pangs of hunger in her stomach. After burying the small mouse she continued her way through the forest, determined not to come back until she was satisfied with the amount of prey she had caught.

Shadow decided to head towards the two-leg place. The scents from previous hunting patrols that led there were stale, telling her that nobody had hunted there in a while.

As she stalked through the forest silently her thoughts turned back to her conversation with Spark. She wondered if her sister had told her thoughts to anyone else besides her, she hoped not.

Trust was not something you could have in BloodClan; someone you thought was your friend could turn you in to Sky in a heartbeat.

If any cat had heard Spark's treacherous words then the two sisters were both in grave danger.

Shadow had seen Sky deal with traitors once before. She shuddered at the memories of the cat's agonized screams as they begged for mercy.

A loud crackling came from the bushes next to her. She whipped her head up and perked her ears to where the sound was coming from.

Shadow realized she was close to BloodClan's border, the two-leg place was not far off. A huge black cat pushed his way through the bushes, a sparrow clasped in his jaws.

She hissed fiercely, trying not to let her fear show. The black tom blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting to run into anyone.

"Get off of BloodClan territory!" Shadow spat, bushing her fur out. The massive cat smirked, infuriating her further.

Suddenly a young tom around her age burst through the bushes.

"Is everything alright Caspian? Who is she?"
The smoky gray tom questioned, narrowing his murky gray-green eyes.

"Everything's fine," Caspian snapped. "Just a foolish brat bothering me, collect your prey and go back to the dumpster Fog."

Shadow wrinkled her nose at the unfamiliar word. Before she could utter another mew the two strange cats had left her standing there in confusion and anger.

She huffed and decided to keep hunting, she would report this to Ivy later.

After catching a squirrel, a mouse, and 2 voles she headed back to camp.

Halfway there her jaws started aching from the huge amount of prey. The apprentice put down her prey and decided to carry the squirrel under her chin like a bundle of moss. She looked ridiculous but no one was around to see anyways.

After walking a few tree lengths a loud snicker sounded from beside her. She whipped her head around to see Blaze staring at her, amusement dancing in his bright, orange eyes.

"What are you laughing at dung-face!"
Shadow spat, her stormy blue eyes blazing.

Blaze's eyes landed on the squirrel tucked under Shadow's chin. "Interesting, err, technique."

She quickly dropped the piece of prey and glared at him. "I don't suppose you know a better way?"

The tom padded forward slowly. "No, but I can help you."

He dipped his head to pick up the squirrel, brushing her cheek lightly in the problem. Shadow drew back sharply, then picked up the rest of her prey.

They walked back to camp in awkward silence, avoiding any eye contact.

When they pushed their way through the camp entrance Shadow deposited her catch at the fresh-kill pile, earning an approving nod from her mentor.

She turned to thank Blaze for helping her carry the prey only to find that the apprentice had already left.

What do you think about Blaze so far? How do you think the characters in the prologue connect to the characters in this chapter? Keep an eye out for Fog and Caspian, they'll be important later on (:
Don't forget to vote and comment, you guys inspire and motivate me so much <33

(Word count: 917)