"Wow, I cant believe I'm an apprentice! What about you, Icepaw?" meowed Darkpaw.
He turned to look at Icepaw only to realize that he was no longer there.
He looked all over camp for Icepaw, and finally, there he was, circling Snowpelt like a bee circling its hive. "Mousebrain," Darkpaw mumbled.
"Looks like I'm stuck with you, runt." He was too busy watching Icepaw, and he didn't notice Dankfoot coming up behind him.
"If you're going to be my mentor shouldn't you be a little nicer?" he asked.
"That's what you think, mousebrain!" Dankfoot replied.
"Enough!" Flamepelt appeared behind Dankfoot, "You both are being mouse-brained!"
Dankfoot and Darkpaw both blushed, "S-s-s-sorry, Flamepelt."
They turned back to face each other, "Sorry, Dankfoot."
"Sorry, Darkpaw!"
"Good," Flamepelt meowed, "you need to at least act like you like each other."
"Sorry, Flamepelt," they both meowed simultaneously.
Flamepelt rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath,"Toms!"
Snowpelt eyed Icepaw suspiciously as he circled her, "Err... What are you doing?" Icepaw stopped in his tracks and blushed.
"Sorry, I'm just... nervous," he lied. He stopped and glanced up at Snowpelt only to see that she was walking away, "Wait for me, Snowpelt!" he called as he trotted up next to her.
"Alright, I don't want to be mean, but we have a tight schedule to keep up with! I need to give you the grand tour of things first of all. I assume you know how the Tunnel Traps work?" she asked in a hurry.
"Umm... no?" he said sheepishly, "but there's always room for improvement, right?"
"Well, what are the odds that you would become my apprentice! After all, I was your escort here!" Flamepelt purred.
"Yes, that is strange..." Scarpaw mumbled absentmindedly. "So.. you were going to take me on that tour of the tunnels, right?"
"Oh! Of course! I'd almost forgotten," she replied. "Hmmm... Snowpelt and Icepaw are at the Tunnel Traps... Dankfoot and Darkpaw are..." she rolled her eyes, "arguing again! So.. we can go to The Trickle or the Great Prey Tunnels, which would you prefer?"
Scarpaw glanced down at his rumbling belly, "I think I'd like the Great Prey Tunnels!"
"Hunting practice it is!" she said energetically.
As they trekked down to the Great Cavern, Scarpaw said, "Wow.. I never knew things were so... big... out here!," he glanced up at Flamepelt, "I feel like a kit again!"
Flamepelt purred, "Well, we'll be inside the Tunnels again soon!" Just as she said this, the Entrance Tunnel closed around them. They would have been drowned in black had it not been for Flamepelt's Glowmoss. They continued down at an even pace until they reached a small ledge, and Flamepelt meowed, "You'll have to jump here, but don't worry, I know it looks far away; it's actually less than a tail length!" Scarpaw carefully hopped down and gritted his teeth when the earth came up to meet him.
He raised his head and said, "You were right! That wasn't that bad!"
"Hey, runt, we're going to check out the Tricklefish Traps. Maybe I'll teach the kit to make one!" Dankfoot sneered.
Darkpaw glowered at him, "I have a name you know!"
"Oh! Sorry," Dankpelt said sarcastically, "I forgot your name. Isn't it mousebrain?"
"Never mind, let's just go!"
"Okay, Mousebrain."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Dankfoot!" called Deadstar, "what is the meaning of this?"
"I er.... I was just.... taking Mousebrai.... I mean Darkpaw to The Trickle for fishing practice."
"Very good. See to it then."
Darkpaw snickered.
"Lets go Darkpaw," said Dankfoot gruffly.
As they arrived at The Trickle, Darkpaw exclaimed, "Wow I never knew it was this amazing outside of camp!"
"Well it is, let's begin!"
As Flamepelt and Scarpaw continued their journey, Scarpaw mewed in awe, "Whoa! This is the biggest cavern I've ever seen! Let me guess, the Great Cavern?"
"You got it, Scarpaw! This is the Great Cavern!" she replied.
They walked down a short hill and began to climb another when Flamepelt said, "Alright, here's the Great Prey Tunnel Entrance!" As they trekked through a short tunnel, Flamepelt meowed, "Careful, don't get your feet wet! This is where the Trickle runs into the Great Prey Tunnels." Scarpaw looked down to see a thin... trickle... of water.
Well, that explains why it's called the Trickle! he thought.
"Almost there," Flamepelt stopped when Scarpaw's stomach rumbled loudly, "Well, I'm sure you'd enjoy a nice meal, right?" Scarpaw nodded. "Sorry, but we have to feed the Clan before individuals," Flamepelt meowed, "Otherwise we would just be a band of rogues!"
At sunhigh Darkpaw and Dankfoot were still training in the Trickle. "Okay, Dankfoot, I think I know how to retrieve the Tricklefish from the traps, but can you teach me how to make one?"
Dankfoot thought this over and finally replied, "Okay, Darkpaw, tell me what you think you know about the traps and I'll tell you how mouse-brained it is."
"Whatever you say Dankfoot." Darkpaw thought it over for a minute and replied, "Okay I think I got it. We take a Trogbowl and some webbing. We put the webbing in the Trickle and attach the Trogbowl to the webbing," he thought for a moment, "faced down, of course. Then we attach a few strings of webbing to the top of the tunnel and attach them to the Trogbowl. When the fish swim by the webbing they tear the webbing and the Trogbowl falls and the suction it makes traps the Tricklefish."
"Wow, I thought you were completely mouse-brained, but you got that correct on you're first try!"
"Flamepelt told me when I was in the nursery."
"She always helps worthless kits," he replied jealously.
"Hey you were a kit once too."
"Yes, but I wasn't worthless!" his voice echoed around the tunnels.
"I'll show you worthless when I become leader," Darkpaw muttered under his breath.
"What was that!" Dankfoot eyed him with arrogance.
"I was just saying how great of a warrior you are," Darkpaw lied.
"I am a great warrior aren't I?" Dankfoot asked proudly. "Lets go find some Trogbowls so you can make some traps."
"Okay!"
"Oh! Those two are actually beginning to get along!" Flamepelt purred to herself as she passed by Dankfoot and his apprentice by the Trickle. She stopped and meowed cheerfully, "So, what are you boys up to?"
"We're going to get some Trogbowls!" Darkpaw announced happily.
"Well, I'm glad you two are beginning to get along!" she replied as they continued towards the Great Prey Tunnels. Not long after they ran into Dankfoot and Darkpaw, the smaller tunnel they were in opened wide into an almost four foxlength high tunnel! "Here we are! The Great Prey Tunnels!"
Scarpaw looked around in amazement. There were Trogbowl Mushrooms everywhere, some with tiny cave crickets crawling around inside, trapped by its cup-shaped cap. Many were so large, their caps had closed only to leave a large ball the size of a badger. Scarpaw tensed every muscle in his body, closed his eyes, and listened with all the intensity his small body could muster. He opened his mouth slightly and let the gentle breeze draw prey-scents across his scent glands. His stomach rumbled like thunder and broke his concentration. He reopened his eyes, having located several animals already.
"You look like you've found something," Flamepelt said, as if she had been reading his mind, "Show me how you would stalk it."
Scarpaw crouched as low as he could and slowly lifted each foot and gingerly placed it forward, mouselengths at a time. As he approached a Slimewyrm he had scented, his stomach grumbled noisily, and the Slimewyrm quickly charged into the water and shot away like a rocket.
Now Scarpaw was the one to groan, "Oh, come on, stomach, I'm trying to get you food here!" his stomach grumbled again, "Mousedung! You're worse than Icepaw when he first met Snowpelt!"
Soon after they saw Flamepelt and Scarpaw, Dankfoot told Darkpaw, "Go ahead and find a good Trogbowl."
Darkpaw ran around the tunnel sniffing the mushrooms, he found a nice sized Trogbowl about the size of himself. "Wow this thing is huge!" He quickly bit off the bowl.
"Very good," meowed Dankfoot, "but I could've done better."
Whatever, mousebrain! thought Darkpaw.
"Now get some webbing."
Darkpaw gathered up a mouthful of webbing and put it in the Trickle. He continued until there was enough webbing in the Trickle. "Now how do I get it on the top of the tunnel?" he thought. "Oh! I know how!" he replied to himself. He grabbed a rock and attached it to some strings of webbing and threw the rock to the ceiling.
"Very good, Darkpaw!"
He continued this until five strand were hanging from the ceiling, then he attached the Trogbowl. "Okay, I'm done Dankfoot."
"Let's go back to camp to get something to eat."
They padded back through the tunnels and into camp.
After they had taken their prey back to camp, it was almost sundown. On Scarpaw's way to the Apprentice Den, he spotted Gracepaw, the Medicine Cat Apprentice, and Dawnfur, the Medicine Cat, talking and heading down into a tunnel leading to the Underlake, a giant underwater lake that stretches under most of the surface lake. Thousands of cave streams like the Trickle rush into it as waterfalls, and millions of Glowbait, small worms with glowing bodies, constantly fall and perish in the Underlake, staining it a radioactive green. The water is unsafe to drink, but the moss that grows by its shore is invaluable. LostClan calls it Glowmoss.
"We'll be there soon enough, Gracepaw. I know you've never seen the Underlake before, but its a long journey. You should conserve your energy!" Dawnfur scolded gently.
"I know, I know. It's just... I've always wondered what the origins of our Glowmoss looks like!" she replied with great enthusiasm and awe plain in her voice.
"Well, don't fret then, we'll be there soon enough," Dawnfur said with a twinkle in her eye.