Scarpaw crept forward, keeping her tail down and carefully putting her paws down. She saw her prey, a mouse, nibbling some seeds at the roots of a tree. She drew herself forward, careful not to alert the mouse to her presence. She paused, checking the distance, then pounced. She killed the mouse with a quick bite to the neck, then turned toward Heartwillow, her mentor.
"How was that?" she asked.
"Great! RiverClan needs more warriors who can catch forest prey as well as fish. You're learning quickly." answered Heartwillow. Scarpaw looked excited.
"Thanks! You're a great mentor, I would never have been able to catch it if you hadn't shown me how."
"You probably could have figured it out. Keep hunting, I want to see how much you can catch." Heartwillow meowed. She paused, then added, "We should split up. We'll catch more prey that way. I'm going to fish, you keep hunting forest prey."
"Ok. See you later!" mewed Scarpaw. She turned and padded quietly away. A she stopped after a few foxlengths, then tasted the air. There was a squirrel nearby. She checked the wind direction to make sure she was downwind, then dropped into her hunting crouch. She crept forward until she was close enough, then pounced. She killed it quickly, then scraped earth over it so she could collect it later and continued hunting.
When Heartwillow and Scarpaw returned to the RiverClan camp, they had each caught a lot of prey. Heartwillow had several fish, and Scarpaw had caught another mouse, a water vole, and a thrush in addition to her original mouse and squirrel. They both dropped their catch on the fresh-kill pile.
"Take some food over to the queens and your mother. Then you can eat." meowed Heartwillow. Scarpaw froze, and Heartwillow paused. "Actually, just the queens. I'll take something over to Mapletail. I think it's best if you continue to stay away from her." Mapletail was the mother of Scarpaw and Minnowpaw. Flashkit, the third kit in the litter, a blue-gray tabby she-cat with brown eyes, had mysteriously disappeared one day, the same day that Mapletail had pushed Scarpaw into some sharp rocks. The rocks had given Scarpaw scars over her back, and her name. Before the incident, her name had been Reedkit.
Scarpaw picked up her squirrel and thrush in addition to three of Heartwillow's fish, and brought them to the nursery. Morningpelt, Whitefrost, and Cinderstream took the squirrel, the thrush, and a fish leaving the one fish for Whitefrost's kits, Sparrowkit and Foxkit to share. They were five moons old now, and would soon become apprentices. The other fish went to Morningpelt's four kits, who still drank mostly milk, but ate some prey now.
While Scarpaw was bringing food to the queens, Heartwillow took a water vole over to Mapletail. As she approached, Mapletail watched.
"Is that for me? I saw that mouse-brain Scarpaw carrying it in. It's probably covered in dirt. She probably dragged it everywhere." Mapletail hissed. Heartwillow held back a hiss, and fought to keep herself from clawing the ill-tempered she-cat.
"Scarpaw is not a mouse-brain, and you know it. She IS your daughter. I thought you would care about your kits more than that, but I guess I was wrong. I don't know why the Clan puts up with you." replied Heartwillow, trying not to hiss at her.
"Because I am Stonestar's sister. He would never force me to leave. And Scarpaw is not my kit. I have no kits." growled Mapletail. Heartwillow sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue with her.
"Eat your water vole." she meowed, irritated, as she walked away. Stonestar's sister or not, Mapletail was trouble. The entire Clan hated Mapletail, except Stonestar. He was blind to her faults, and without Stonestar, the Clan could not banish her. They were stuck with her.
