"Good job, Pigeonpaw." Darkfoot praised. "You'll make a fine warrior."

Pigeonpaw let out a purr. "What's next?"

"The final part of your assessment is going to test your hunting skills. You must catch five pieces of different prey before..." Darkfoot glanced at the sky. "Sundown."

"When do I start?" Pigeonpaw asked.

"Immediately."

"Okay." Pigeonpaw started off into the forest. "I won't let you down!"

As she continued through bracken, she caught the scent of a mouse. She slipped into a stalking technique and was upon it within minutes. It let out a squeak before she managed to kill with a quick bite.

"Foxdung!" she cursed under her breath, knowing that all the prey in the area had been alerted to her presence. I'll have to head to Sunningrocks.

-x-x-x-x-

Pigeon paw made her way carefully across the slick rocks. One wrong step and she could be sent plummeting into the rain-swelled river.

She heard a scurrying noise and pricked her ears. Sure enough, she could see a shrew inching out from under a rock. Pigeonpaw narrowed her eyes in concentration and slowly started towards the shrew. Then she pounced on it, killing it with one blow.

-x-x-x-x-

Pigeonpaw counted the prey in her head. Three mice and a sparrow, as well as a shrew. She paused, pondering where to go next. The prey had probably forgotten the mouse's squeal by now, she figured, so she could go there; it was one of the most prey-rich parts of the forest.

Yes, that seems like that best option. She started toward the spot, before spotting an herb patch. Yarrow! Hawkleaf said he needed that. She bit off a few leaves and continued, ears open for sounds of prey.

Halfway there, she paused. She could smell a squirrel somewhere nearby. She headed towards the scent, only to find it was up a tree.

Well, he said five different pieces of prey. she thought.

Her decision made, she put the yarrow down at the base of the tree and scrambled up. Quickly noticing her, the squirrel dropped the nut it was munching on and dashed over to the next tree. With a sigh of frustration, Pigeonpaw leaped over to the next tree and pounced on the squirrel before killing with a quick bite. Then she jumped down to a lower branch with the squirrel between her teeth. She took a step towards to next branch and slipped.

She panicked, scrabbling for a claw-hold as she slid off the branch. She unsheathed her claws and dug them into the branch before trying to pull herself back up.

"Helmmuh!" she shouted as best she could around the squirrel. Miraculously, Darkfoot heard her.

"I'm coming, Pigeonpaw! Hold on!" she shouted, scrambling up the tree. She quickly grasped Pigeonpaw's paws and, bracing herself against the trunk, hauled Pigeonpaw up.

"What were you thinking?" Darkfoot asked when they were both safely on the ground. "Climbing a tree like that after it rained!"

"There was a squirrel in the tree!" Pigeonpaw said, gesturing to prey on the ground in front of her. "You said I had to get different five pieces of prey."

"You shouldn't have recklessly endangered yourself like that, even if there was a squirrel!"

"Sorry." Pigeonpaw muttered, looking down. "I guess I'm not going to be a warrior yet."

"Not yet." Darkfoot agreed. "But someday soon. And I look forward to that day."

"So I'll be out of your fur?" Pigeonpaw asked jokingly.

Darkfoot chuckled. "Come on, Pigeonpaw. Let's take this prey back to camp."

Pigeonpaw smiled. "Okay."