Chill

Torrentpaw's fur fluffed up against the chill of the early leaf-bare air. Duskpaw still slept beside her, curled up in his soft moss nest as the dawn sun slowly crept up into the sky. She was awake before the other apprentices, sitting up in her nest with her eyes fixed on the exit of the den. It was too close to daybreak to consider going back to sleep, but she let herself doze, not wanting to leave the relative warmth of the den for the cold water outside.

Soon, she knew that the warriors would begin to stir, and then they would call their apprentices to begin the day's training. Part of her wished it would come sooner, and part of her wished she could just go back to sleep, curled up beside Duskpaw. She knew she should be more enthusiastic about her warrior training, but the onset of snow the past few days and the icy stillness of the frozen stream was dampening her spirits. She was always worried about something or another, but the past few days filled her with dread. She didn't know why, she only knew that something felt wrong. If only she could sleep.

Finally, in moments that felt like seasons, she heard the call of a warrior - Duskpaw's mentor, Barkbrindle. Duskpaw didn't seem to hear, so Torrentpaw nudged him with one paw. "Wake up," she murmured, her voice soft so that she didn't wake Swanpaw or the other apprentices. They would surely appreciate every bit of sleep they had left before their own mentors called on them.

"They're always up so early," Duskpaw muttered. "The sun isn't even up yet." Despite his complaints, he got to his paws, shook himself awake, and padded off to meet his mentor.

Torrentpaw decided she may as well leave the lodge and brave the cold until her own mentor woke up. As she left the lodge, she saw Barkbrindle, Duskpaw, and Hawthornstem leaving camp, apparently deciding to get a head-start on the dawn patrol. The sun had yet to finish its ascent, and the territory was still dark, especially in the underbrush.

"Torrentpaw, good morning," Sparrowtail said as she left the lodge, spotting her apprentice already out and about. "You're up early."

"Good morning, Sparrowtail," Torrentpaw replied quietly, her gaze settling on her paws.

"When the sun rises some, we'll practice some battle moves," Sparrowtail told her. "Why don't you grab some fresh-kill? Some food will get your blood pumping. A nice reward for being awake and on top of things so early!"

"Thanks." She bowed her head to her mentor and headed off for the fresh-kill pile. She grabbed a small wren and crouched down to eat it, taking slow bites of the thin, mostly-feathered bird.

Just as she was finishing up, she heard a rustling, and saw the rest of the apprentices, finally waking up. The sun was in the sky, although it was foggy and the sky was grey.

"Lucky cat," Swanpaw mewed, nodding to her sister.

"If you woke up before the sun woke you, perhaps you could enjoy a morning meal, too," Sparrowtail said, her voice more teasing than stern.

Swanpaw's mentor chuckled, gently nudging her as he led her along on a hunting patrol.

"Are you ready for battle training?" Sparrowtail asked, and at Torrentpaw's small nod, she led the way to the training clearing.

---

"Let's head back to camp. You did well, Torrentpaw. You just need to work more on your offensi-"

A shrill yowl grabbed the cats' attention, and they turned to see Swanpaw, breathing heavily and covered in snow and mud and- was that blood?

"What's wrong, Swanpaw?" Sparrowtail asked, worry clear in her tone.

"Coyotes!" she wailed, trying to catch her breath. "The dawn patrol was attacked!"

"Tell me what happened," Sparrowtail said, her voice calm and collected, trying to take control and ease the worries of the frantic apprentice.

"We were hunting, and heard yowling and-and yipping," Swanpaw explained. "So we rushed over to investigate, and the patrol was trying to fend off these two coyotes... they were so big... and scary." The usually confident apprentice was clearly shaking.

"Is the patrol okay? Do they need backup?"

"Between the dawn patrol and the hunting patrol, we scared them away. They left. But-but... Duskpaw..."

"What happened to Duskpaw?" Torrentpaw mewed, the first thing she said since Swanpaw returned to camp.

"I don't think he's gonna make it." Swanpaw sobbed and buried her face in her sister's silver fur.

Torrentpaw didn't move. She just sat as still as a rock, her eyes fixed on nothing as she stared forward. She didn't want it to be true, but she knew it was. Her heart sunk, and the cold of the air finally penetrated her pelt, chilling her to the bone.