Chapter 1

Redpaw wiggled his haunches, laser focused on the vole a fox-length in front of him. It had been oblivious, sniffing for food, but suddenly it looked up – and right at him. Redpaw pounced desperately, but came up empty-pawed and cursing.

"Mouse dung!" he spat, then glared at Icecloud, his mentor. "If you weren't staring at me I would have caught it."

Unperturbed, the white she-cat blinked slowly. "Don't wriggle your haunches. It makes your tail wave and alerts the prey." Her blue eyes narrowed. "That's an amateur mistake, Redpaw. You should know better by now."

The ginger apprentice hissed quietly and dug his claws into the cold ground, lashing his tail. Icecloud was right, but he was too proud to admit it. Sighing, Icecloud allowed her tone to soften slightly.

"I know you're frustrated," she mewed, "But there's no room for error in leaf-bare. We've lost Rosepetal and Spiderleg already, and Millie needs to keep her strength up if she's to fight off the greencough."

Redpaw resisted the urge to screech in frustration. She didn't have to explain that to him like he was a stupid kit! He knew he had to bring something back to camp, even if it meant he spent the whole day hunting. Besides, he refused to return shamefaced.

The two padded around the Sky Oak for what seemed like ages longer. In the end, Redpaw managed to catch a small shrew, and Icecloud a wiry squirrel. Meager additions to the fresh-kill pile, but better than nothing.

Padding back into camp, Redpaw spotted Bramblestar chatting with Birchfall and Whitewing, and quickly looked away. He didn't want his father to see what pitiful prey he had caught. Too late; Bramblestar had seen the white of Icecloud's pelt, and broke off his conversation with the senior warriors.

"How's the hunting today?" he asked. Redpaw shrugged, using the shrew in his mouth as an excuse not to speak. Icecloud, however, laid her squirrel on the ground and dipped her head to the leader.

"About the same," she replied, "leaf-bare hunting is always disappointing. We've searched the Sky Oak, so no cat should hunt there until tomorrow." She didn't mention the fact that Redpaw had missed a vole.

Slinking away, Redpaw left the two talking and took his shrew to the nursery, as he knew Icecloud would tell him to do. Presumably, her squirrel would go straight to the sick Millie.

"Is that for us?!" came an excited squeak from below. Hazeltail's two kits, Cricketkit and Turtlekit, were jumping around Redpaw's legs. Even in leaf-bare they were full of energy, and Turtlekit showed no signs of the whitecough he had come down with a half-moon earlier.

"It's for Hazeltail," Redpaw replied, laying down the shrew in front of the queen. He shifted his paws uncertainly. "Sorry it's not much…"

"It'll do," Hazeltail mewed, not unkindly, then glanced at the apprentice, "You could do with some fresh-kill yourself you know. You're looking awfully thin."

Redpaw mumbled something noncommittal in reply as he backed out of the nursery, knowing that his thinness was due less to hunger than to a naturally slight build. Leaving the strange milk-smell of the nursery behind, Redpaw heard the kits chattering within.

"Can we try some mama? Can we, Can we?" followed by a pause, and then, "Eugh! It's so tough!" and, "let's go see Jayfeather!"

Back at the fresh-kill pile, Redpaw discovered that he had not escaped his father, who waved him over with a tail-flick and offered the rest of the cardinal he'd been eating.

Reluctantly, Redpaw settled down on the cold ground beside his father and tucked his white paws in. He took a bite of the bird, careful to keep the feathers out of his teeth.

"You've been an apprentice for three moons now," Bramblestar mewed, "It's about time you had an assessment to see how your training's coming."

"It's leaf-bare," Redpaw looked down, "I won't be able to catch much," if anything.

Bramblestar flicked a striped tail over his son's ears good-naturedly, "Nonsense. Squirrelflight's the best hunter I know; you've got it in you, too. You'll do great, Redpaw."

Redpaw, his mouth full of cardinal, said nothing. His father rose to his paws and stretched. "I'll tell Icecloud to plan on assessing you tomorrow." He looked around the camp, "and maybe Toadstep, too."

The apprentice just sighed softly and watched Turtlekit chase Jayfeather's tail around camp. If Bramblestar was so certain of his son's hunting prowess, he was sure to be disappointed.