The place she had to collect moss at was full to bursting. She shredded it, disappointed that it had many razor-sharp thorns in it.
"Try it this way." Firestar scooped the moss then combed through it thoroughly.
She scooped messily, yet when she combed through it there were less thorns than last time. As she combed through it again, she found none.
So, she scooped more.
Soon she'd gathered a big wad of moss, enough for quite a few nests.
Firestar then told her to build her own nest, pointing out the apprentices' den to her.
So, she put her nest on the very edge. It looked like… a wad of moss. She lay down on it, creating a Blazepaw – sized dent. Then she saw her moss pile was depleted, just enough so that two nests could've been formed.
Firestar spoke up. "I'm going to be here throughout your training."
Blazepaw nodded.
"Now, you must be hungry."
"I am." The mouse seemed moons away now.
"I'll teach you how to do the hunter's crouch. Battle is not as important- there are not many rivals to defend against right now."
So, they padded out to a hollow, which Firestar told her was used to train apprentices, and asked her to show the hunter's crouch.
She obliged, dropping into a very messy hunter's crouch.
Firestar corrected her, giving her tips, such as lowering her hindquarters a bit, and balancing evenly.
After a while, Firestar told her the important things about catching prey. "A rabbit will hear you before seeing you, while a mouse will feel you before it hears you."
"So… step lightly and be quiet?"
"Exactly. Now, you might want to put that into practice. Go out to the territory. I'll tail you, but won't catch anything or give tips."
"Okay. And do I get to eat my catch?"
"Put it on the fresh-kill pile." Firestar showed Blazepaw the pile's area.
She raced through the tunnel in the decaying brambles, and into the woods.
The trees provided shade, making it a cool, pleasant feeling. Then she scented something. From its smell, which she'd smelt before it was… mouse! She stepped lightly as she could, tensed and sprung on a plump mouse. She heard the snap of bone. She'd crushed it! A kill was a kill, though. So, she buried the mouse, and continued on, finding a rabbit. She stepped a bit more heavily now, and the rabbit got a bite to the neck. Blood oozed out. She buried that, as well, never stopping to pause, until she got to a stream. A pheasant was grazing there. So, she pounced, but it saw her. She sped up, managing to catch it and break its neck.
She heard a purr. "We'll have leftover prey." She noticed that his pelt looked a bit more solid. So, she collected her prey, and mouth full, headed to camp.
"Can I eat now?"
"Yes, because there are no elders, queens or kits."
"Are there other rules to this life?"
"Yes. There is a warrior code, which I will teach you. But for now, take something."
She chose the rabbit, while Firestar took the mouse. A bit later, a few cats squeezed through the barrier.
"A StarClan cat? And a kittypet?"
Furious, she got up, but Firestar pushed her down. "I'm rebuilding the clans. Blazepaw here is ThunderClan's first member."
"Fair enough. I'm Mistfur, and I'm trying to keep the Clans alive. Looks like you've had better hunting than us. This is Ravenwing and this is Dawndew."
They meowed greetings.
"Can we share your prey?"
"Kits, queens and elders first, as they say." Blazepaw meowed.
Ravenwing and Dawndew dipped their heads as two more cats, a queen and kit, shared the pheasant with them.
The others watched hungrily, then brought their own meagre offerings, and ate.
They set out at dusk, yowling, "See you at full moon!"
What's so good about the full moon? Blazepaw wondered, as the strange cats padded away.