Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
"Hey, Burrowpaw!" Sparrowfeather called over to her as she exited the apprentices' den.
                          
      She waved her tail at him. "Good morning!" she replied, making her way over to the patch of sunlight that him and his sister were lying in. He scooted over to make room for her, and she sat down next to him.
                          
      "How about some morning hunting?" Sparrowfeather asked, his eyes hopeful. 
                          
      "Oh, yeah," Burrowpaw said with a smile. "That sounds like fun."
                          
      Sparrowfeather gave her an excited grin. "Great," he said, getting up. "Let's go! The prey won't wait for us."
                          
      "I could come along too," Griffinwing interjected, sounding a little hurt.
                          
      "But Burrowpaw and I haven't hunted together since my warrior assessment," her brother protested. "I hunt with you all the time." He turned back to Burrowpaw. "I can't wait till you're a warrior."
                          
      "Me too," she agreed, following him toward the camp exit.
                          
      The two entered the forest and started looking for prey. Burrowpaw put her nose to the ground, sniffing out any creatures that may be hiding near by. She picked up the scent of a squirrel and started to stalk along the trail toward the nearest tree. The small gray squirrel was perched on a tree root holding a nut in its tiny paws. She'd have to be precise in order to capture it in time.
                          
      She crept forward ever so slowly, keeping her tail low to the ground and her eyes trained on the animal. When she was close enough, she bunched her hindquarters and leapt forward, trapping the squirrel in her paws and killing it with a clean bite to the neck.
                          
      "Great catch!" Sparrowfeather called to her. Burrowpaw gave him a grunt of gratitude as she lifted up the squirrel. Suddenly she heard voices around her, and she inwardly groaned as she recognized the sounds.
                          
      "You'll never be leader, no matter what you do!"
                          
      "Oh really, watch me!"
                          
      Burrowpaw listened intently, a little less scared. But she didn't hear anything that might give away who these cats were. 
                          
      Then, she heard what sounded like fighting, and finally, one cat seemed to give way and let out their final breath. Burrowpaw shivered as she listened. Why couldn't she see them? And what did it mean?
                          
      Sparrowfeather was staring at her, concerned. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." He pressed his warm body against hers, trying to calm her down.
                          
      Burrowpaw realized she'd dropped her squirrel and quickly picked it up again. She staggered away from Sparrowfeather. "I'm fine, I need to get back to camp," she mumbled. "Thanks for hunting with me!" And before Sparrowfeather could protest, she'd already run off.
                          
      When she got to camp, she dropped her squirrel on he prey pile, and tried not to act too suspicious as she padded toward the medicine den. She did catch Griffinwing giving her a frown on her way.
                          
      Ducking under the lichen, she found her brother resting his head on his paws. Satrfur was nowhere in sight, which Burrowpaw found a little odd, but she wasn't going to complain if she got to talk to Dandelionpaw all alone. She nudged him and his eyes fluttered a little bit before focusing on her.
                          
       "What do you need, Burrowpaw?" he asked, sitting up and giving his fur a quick grooming.
                          
      "I heard the voices again," she replied.
                          
      Dandelionpaw's mouth dropped. "I thought they went away!" he said disbelievingly.
                          
      Burrowpaw shook her head anxiously. "What do I do?" she demanded. "And what could they possibly mean?" She had to restrain herself from shouting, but it was hard. Why couldn't she be a normal apprentice? She didn't want silly visions of the past or future, not at all.
                          
      "I think the best you can do is just ignore them," Dandelionpaw said, shaking his head sympathetically. "We still don't know what they mean."
                          
      Burrowpaw nodded solemnly, wishing her brother of all cats would know what to do, he was a medicine cat after all. "Alright then, I'll tell you if I hear them again." And she headed out. 
                          
      Sparrowfeather had come back into camp and Burrowpaw approached him cautiously. He turned as she got closer and she flinched at the hurt look in his eyes.
                          
      "I'm sorry for running off," she said. "I just thought I had a headache or something, but I'm all better now, okay?"
                          
      Sparrowfeather stared at her for a moment before answering. "Are you sure?" She nodded and he sighed. "Ok, just don't do that again." He gave her a small smile before heading toward the warriors den.
                          
      I hope I haven't hurt his feelings, Burrowpaw fretted. Why is it so hard for me to keep friends?