Briarlear crept along in her best hunter's crouch beneath the trees of the forest. Her prey, a plump sparrow, was barely visible even though it was only a few mouse lengths ahead of her due to the early morning light. The wind was in her favor as she sprang, dispatching the sparrow with a quick bite. She stood triumphant, holding her catch where her Teacher could see.
"Great job, Briarlear!" Smoke padded over and admired her Learner's catch. "That's good for today I think. Let's dig up your other prey and head back to camp."
Briar's eyes shone with her Teacher's praise. She was happy to have Smoke as her Teacher, and she had had no problem being accepted into the Pack. She carefully dug up her two squirrels and vole before trotting after Smoke.
Dapplelear had been right about the camp – you did get used to it as Briarlear spent more time in it. By this time, Dapplelear was just plain Dapple now, because he had graduated into a full grown Pack mate. As she padded into the camp, Dapple greeted her with a friendly meow.
"Are you sure you caught enough prey? I think Mud could eat all of that in one bite!" Briarlear chuckled; she had soon learned after she arrived that the brown tom had been known for his voracious appetite.
"I'll be sure to keep Mud away from it," Briarlear purred. She selected one of her two squirrels and settled down to eat besides some other Learners.
"How is the prey running, Briarlear?" Amberlear, a she cat with a light orange colored pelt, padded out of the Learner's nest, a hollow log lined with moss long enough for al of the Learners to curl up inside of it.
"Fine. The Ancestors have been good to us this Greenleaf." The Ancestors were the dead members of Gopher Cat Pack. Briarlear had learned about this not long after she had come to join the Pack. At first, she thought it was a bit silly, but as she grew older she began to respect the group of cats more deeply. Briarlear bit into her squirrel thoughtfully. Did she still have the faith that she needed in The Ancestors, or was it all just a show she put on to be accepted?
A soft voice interrupted her thoughts. "Briarlear, could you help me?" Briarlear scarfed down the rest of her vole and took the bones to the Ancestral fresh kill pile – a deep depression in the ground where the remains of fresh kill was given to The Ancestors. At every new moon, the plumpest piece of prey found in the pile was given to The Ancestors, but the rest of the time they got the Pack's leftovers.
"You called me, Spotherb?" Spotherb was the Pack's Healer. Briarlear had found out that when a cat became a Healer, the suffix herb was tacked on to the end of the cat's name. The Healer was chosen specifically by The Ancestors because they received signs directly from The Ancestors about the Pack's future.
"Briarlear, I have to go harvest some herbs. Would you come with me?" Spotherb's white pelt with black spots on the left ear and right front paw came into view.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"We need more juniper berries; we've nearly run out of all of it since Amberlear developed her stomachache."
"Let's go then!" Briarlear bounded out of the narrow den. "I'll go tell Smoke where we're going." She soon spotted her Teacher chatting with Mud by the nursery. "Smoke, is it ok if I go with Spotherb to collect juniper berries?"
"Um…" Smoke looked at her paws, embarrassed. Briarlear realized they must have been speaking about something important, and she had just barged over and interrupted.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Smoke." Now it was Briarlear's turn to be embarrassed. "I'll come back later…"
"No, no, you go ahead and go with her." Smoke nudged her apprentice lovingly.
"I'm good to go, Spotherb!" Briarlear ran over to the Healer.
"Alright." The two cats padded out into the forest.
Note
This chapter takes place about three moons after the prologue, when Briarlear is seven moons old.