Chapter 1
Nightpaw lay comfortably in her nest as the sun came up. Her eyes fluttered open as she breathed in the wonderful scents of newleaf. She sat up and yawned. She was glad to have this day off. Shadepaw and Stormpaw, who also had the day off, were bouncing around in front of the prey pile. Nightpaw padded out of the apprentices den and walked over to the pair, who were play-fighting on the ground.
"Hello boys," she said, calmly stepping over them.
They jumped. Stormpaw whirled around. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Nightpaw?" he hissed. Nightpaw grabbed a squirrel from the pile and walked back towards the shade in front of the apprentices den. She flicked her tail to show she had heard.
Laying herself down in front of the den, Nightpaw dug into her squirrel. Clearheart has really improved on his hunting, she thought, noticing his scent on the piece of prey she was eating now. She turned towards camp entrance, where the young warrior was on guard duty with Rosestorm. Finishing her piece of prey, she slowly lay her chin down on the sandy floor of the clearing. Suddenly, a big cloud of dust flew into her face. "Hey!" spat Nightpaw, jumping to her paws. "Whoops!" said Shadepaw sarcastaclly. Nightpaw flew at him, bowling over the smaller tom and engaging in a play fight. She stood bolted to the ground, Shadepaw charging at her on one side, Stormpaw on the other. Both had their heads down. Then, at just the right moment, Nightpaw jumped! The two heads crashed together. Nightpaw landed gracefully in front of her opponents, then turned to face them with a grin.
"I forgot about that move," Stormpaw groaned.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going hunting. See ya later!" And with that Nightpaw turned and headed out of camp. "Going hunting," She said to Rosestorm as she passed by her.
"Be back by sunhigh!" called the ginger shecat as Nightpaw vanished through the bushes.
I will, Nightpaw called inside her head as she rolled her eyes. Give an apprentice some slack! I mean, it's my day off.
"Ugh! I was this close!" said Nightpaw as she watched her targeted rabbit bound off and out of sight. She stomped down a forepaw and all the leaves around it trembled. "The only thing I caught so far was a scrawny chipmunk! How am I ever going to become a warrior if I can't catch even the simplest prey!" She stomped away, then sat down. Okay. Yelling won't solve this. I have to try again.
Nightpaw sat up, took a deep, deep breath, and tasted the air. She was pleased to scent a squirrel on the breeze. Instinctivly Nightpaw dropped into a hunting crouch. She hesitated for a moment, then crept foward, slowly shifting her weight from paw to paw. She stopped, her target coming into sight. The squirrel sat with its back to her, helplessly trying to crack open an acorn. Nightpaw tensed, every muscle in her body ready to take off. She waited, timing it just right... Then, she pounced!
She grabbed the squirrel in her jaws before it had time to react. As it went limp, Nightpaw gave a sigh of relief. She turned around and padded back to where her "scrawny" chipmunk was buried benath some leaves at the base of an oak tree. She uncovered it and picked it up in her jaws. She skipped happily back to camp.
Nightpaw lay on her back, letting the warm sunshine engulf her full belly. She had just finished off a mouse and was ready for a little excitement. She stood and shook herself. She then padded off in a random direction, scanning the camp as she went. She saw Fishear sitting by the prey pile, deep in conversation with Ashwind.
"Nightpaw!" Nightpaw turned, and to her suprise, Owlkit was scurrying towards her, his small paws slipping in the soft sand.
"You promised to teach me some battle moves, remember?" he squeaked.
"All right!" said Nightpaw, who had been waiting for something to do. She dropped into a crouch and dug her forepaws into the ground, then she turned her head to Owlkit as she spoke.
"You see, when your enemy is in front of you and about to consider charging, you do this"
Owlkit tried his best to mimic Nightpaw tensed her stance and continued.
"He will think you're giving up and leap at you. And when he does, you leap in the same heartbeat." Nightpaw demonstrated, bounding into the air, and pinning an imaginary cat as she landed.
"How will that help?" asked the young kit, tipping his head to one side.
"Ah, but suprise is a warrior's best weapon!" stated Nightpaw "He won't be expecting that, you see?"
"I see now," said Owlkit.
"Well I have to go now, but keep practicing and you'll be a warrior in no time!" She bounded off. Nightpaw spend the rest of the day practicing her own battle moves and having a nice piece of prey. Tomorrow, I'll be training again. Better get some rest. She padded slowly into the apprentices den and settled down in her nest with a contented sigh. As she lay down, images of The Great Battle flashed into her mind. Nightpaw shook her head to clear those thoughts, then closed her eyes and slept.
