“Twilight, now leap at me with the best angle you can.” Cinderheart instructed.
The purple cat jumped at her, but she neatly dodged it. Twilight smiled and flipped backwards. She landed on Cinderheart’s back and caused her to lose balance. Then she gave a quick nip on her leg. Cinderheart went limp, showing that she gave up. Twilight let out a yowl of victory and then backed up. Bramblestar nodded at the two.
“That was a great move. You did a great job teaching her Cinderheart.”
They both smiled at his praise. He looked over to see the other ponies practicing battle moves with his cats. They’ve only been here a few days but they were learning fast, especially Octavia. Bramblestar felt a tap on his shoulder. He could smell the scent of Purdy.
“Bramblestar, I went out hunting and I found Mapleshade’s scent by a killed rabbit.”
“Show me where.”
Purdy nodded and started heading towards the entrance. Bramblestar had just gotten out the entrance when he smelled blood. He looked over to see Purdy covered in scratches. One of his eyes were closed and he had a couple of teeth missing. He could hear Mapleshade laughing in the distance.
“Purdy, can you walk?”
“I, I think so. It’s a good thing we’re right next to camp.”
He nodded and led the elder towards the medicine den. Jayfeather came running out, already having supplies for his wounds.
“Dovewing heard the attack, but the whole camp could hear it.” He explained quickly.
Bramblestar froze. He hadn’t heard the attack, only saw it when he exited the camp. This disturbed him more than ever. Jayfeather looked at him, obviously reading his mind to see what was wrong. His blind eyes intensified quickly.
“You’re just not used to listening to danger.”
“I shouldn’t be like this!” Bramblestar snapped back.
He stomped out of the clearing. Jayfeather shook his head and went back to Purdy’s wounds. When he got back to his den he found Octavia waiting for him.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
He quickly sighed. “Yes, it’s just my senses haven’t worked the best lately.”
“I know you’ll be fine in no time.”
“I don’t know Octavia. If my sense don’t work then I’ll have an even worse time when Mapleshade comes back.”
Octavia gave a small nod. Bramblestar felt relieved that she understood his troubles and didn’t just try to dismiss them right away. Suddenly a thought came to his mind.
“Would you like to help me train?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
The two cats walked out the entrance and to the training area. After a couple hours of training the two went hunting. Bramblestar caught a shrew and two mice while Octavia caught three canaries and a rabbit. As they brought their haul back to camp he listened for danger, his hearing suddenly sharper than normal, but heard nothing out of the ordinary. The camp was busy with cats training and talking over defense strategies against Mapleshade. The fresh kill pile was hardly stocked, and their addition didn’t make much of a difference. Bramblestar felt anger burn inside of him. His clan should not be preparing more for Mapleshade then the upcoming leaf-bare.
“Brightheart, Sandstorm! Both of you lead a hunting patrol now!” He growled.
Both cats quickly got up and chose the cats they wanted and hurried out the entrance.
He shook his head while another thought hit his mind.
“Mapleshade is ruining my clan.” He thought disparagingly.
The seven cats who had come with him had never been asked on a patrol so he had to order it personally. His deputy, who was now Brightheart, didn’t like to put them on patrols. He knew it’s because of where they came from. He raised his ears as he heard the voice of Mapleshade.
“Looks like you’ve helped me ruin your clan”