Warriors of the Arctic: Chapter 2 by Camden

   Owlpaw stretched her back as she walked out of the apprentice den. It was not as comfy as the nursery, but she thought she should start to act tough to survive in her harsh home.

   She looked around the crevice for Moosefur, the day of her apprentice ceremony; he had escaped a polar bear encounter. He was tired and promised he would show her the territory the next day.

   “Are you ready for a tour of the territory?” Owlpaw spun around to see Moosefur near the fresh kill pile.

   “Sure am.” She said running up to him.

   “I sure am ready for you young ones to start your training.” Stoneheart said. “We need more help fighting off IceClan.”

   The elder was sitting with Moosefur holding a hare in his paws. Stoneheart was a little mean, since he had no company in the elders den. He had black ragged fur with a torn ear from an attack from IceClan.

   “Why don’t you eat before we go.” Moosefur suggested, “We have a very large territory.”

   Owlpaw looked in the deep crack in the ice were they kept their fresh kill cold. She nosed her way past a stale mouse, and a few small rabbits to a nice warm mouse at the bottom. She sank her teeth into the mouse’s flesh. It’s rich taste flooded her mouth till it was gone.

   “Ready?” asked Moosefur.

   Owlpaw nodded.

   Cats ran into the camp with scars and dripping blood. They all ran into Crystalfur’s den. Bearstar stood talking to Whitefeather near the camp steps.

   “What’s going on?” Owlpaw asked Moosefur.

   “I don’t know,” Moosefur meowed glancing toward Bearstar, “but I’m going to find out.”

   They ran toward their leader quickly. Owlpaw was scared if a polar bear was near. Her dream she had a couple sunrises ago had scared her.

   “Bearstar, what’s going on?” Moosefur asked.

   “IceClan attacked a border patrol.” Bearstar meowed.

   Crystalfur ran out of her den with a worried look on her face.

   “What are you doing!” growled Whitefeather, “You should be healing our injured cats!”

   Crystalfur ignored Whitefeather’s hatefulness. “Runningstorm has a deep scratch on his shoulder.”

   Owlpaw froze eyes wide. Crystalfur did not sound like it was good news. Her father was in danger, Owlpaw could tell.

   “Is he alright?” she asked.

   “I need cobweb to stop the bleeding, but I have run out. I have numbed the scratch for now with ice, but it won’t last long.” The she-cat exclaimed, “I need cobweb to keep him from running out of blood. We are running out of time.”

   Graystorm ran out of the medicine cat’s den. “The IceClan patrol has crossed the border. They are coming to invade the camp!”

   Bearstar thought a moment. “We need to send out another patrol.”

   “What about Runningstorm?” Owlpaw asked.

   “I need you and Moosefur to go with Crystalfur to go get cobwebs.” Bearstar meowed.

   “What about the patrol?” Moosefur asked.

   “We have enough Warriors to handle them.” Bearstar hissed. “You need to go with Crystalfur because only IceClan and PolarClan have cobwebs, and it seems like IceClan is unwelcoming right now.”

   Owlpaw, Moosefur, and Crystalfur ran up the camp steps out into the wind. The cold air was colder up here, Owlpaw shivered as a gust of wind blew across her spine. They turned into the direction of the wind and ran. How do cats like it out here? Owlpaw thought.

   “So how does PolarClan get their cobwebs?” Moosefur asked.

   “A twoleg monster crashed in their territory long ago.” Crystalfur answered. “It carried spiders that produced lots of cobweb.”

   “How did the spiders survive?” Owlpaw asked, obviously, a tiny arachnid would not survive in this freezing climate.

     “They didn’t, they left a lot of cobweb though.” Crystalfur meowed. “It’s going to be hard to persuade them to give some up.”

   Owlpaw had heard about a land far away past all the ice that had twolegs, spiders, bugs, and lots of other interesting critters. She wondered if cats could live in this mystical place. Probably not, after all, it was just a nursery tale.

   Soon, the ice had turned into deep snowy hills. Owlpaw took in a breath of freezing air. She started to move forward when Crystalfur put blocked her with her tail.

   “We have to wait for a patrol.” Crystalfur meowed.

   “But the longer we wait, the more time we waste. We have to get the cobweb for Runningstorm.

   “Don’t worry.” Said Moosefur reassuringly, “A patrol will arrive soon.”

   Owlpaw was touched by the warrior’s sweetness, but she was still worried they would get back in time. Will we even get the cobweb? She wondered. And if we do, will we be able to fight off IceClan?

   The wind blew a big cloud overhead. Now, a blizzard was ripping through her pelt as if the wait made the situation tense. Now everything was white, even Moosefur and Crystalfur were unseen, though they were a tail length away from her.

  Owlpaw’s stomach started to ache. Not because of the wind, or the cold snow, it was because she was terrified to find out what was going to happen next.