Chapter Three
Breezepaw awoke the next morning shortly after sunrise. Stretching, she gave herself a hasty grooming and left the den, where her brother and Shimmerpaw were still soundly sleeping. At some point while she had slept, Oakpaw joined her in the den, half-awakening her as he arranged his own nest, but Breezepaw had been so soundly asleep, she had barely noticed.
Once in the clearing, Breezepaw took a look around, attempting to judge the exact time. It was a clear, cool morning, and from the amount of sunlight, still rather early. The dawn patrol had probably left, along with an early hunting party, but aside from that, most of the Clan still slept. She felt slightly disappointed that Shadowpaw was not still around.
Dewdrop, Sunkit and Moonkit's mother, was one of the few cats in the clearing, picking up a mouse for she and her kits to eat. Aside from she and Breezepaw, only Bambooleaf and Flowershell could be seen, eating by the nettle patch.
Remembering what Featherflight had said the previous night about eating something, Breezepaw chose a piece of fresh kill from the pile and brought it over to the tree stump where the apprentices usually ate.
She was about halfway done her meal when the dawn patrol returned to camp, Featherflight with them. Seeing her mentor return, Breezepaw quickly finished her meal and walked over to Featherflight, waving her tail in greeting.
"Hi Featherflight! I ate like you said to, and am ready to go when you are."
"Good," her mentor replied, turning to head back up the entrance tunnel, Breezepaw on her heels. "We'll hunt by the little stream to the south. There's lots of prey there, so it'll be a good place to start."
The two she-cats made their way through the forest. Meanwhile, Featherflight began to go over the warrior code, and Breezepaw listened carefully. "One of the most important rules is that the Clan always comes first. When fighting, the safety of the Clan comes before the safety of any one individual, and warriors should always be prepared to give their lives for the Clan's sake. When hunting, the Clan must be fed first. If you're out on a border patrol and you catch something, you can eat it, but if you are out just hunting, whatever you catch must be brought back to the Clan. You cannot eat until the Clan has been fed. Another hunting-related rule is that prey cannot be stolen from another Clan's territory. But that's pretty common knowledge. Along with that, each Clan has specific borders that are not to be crossed, but you knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes, Featherflight. Featherflight, are we almost to the stream?" Breezepaw was getting impatient to begin her hunting.
"Almost. It's on the other side of this rise." Containing her eagerness, Breezepaw continued on beside her mentor. Sure enough, a small stream wound through the trees, and prey-scent hung heavily in the air. At the top of the rise, Featherflight put out her tail to stop Breezepaw from descending. "When hunting, it's important to remain downwind of your catch, and stay silent. If you don't, the prey will either smell or hear you, and will take off faster than you can say 'crowfood.' If you ever hope to catch anything, you'll make sure you do those two things, and do them well. Now tell me, which way is the wind blowing?"
Breezepaw lifted her chin to feel the slight breeze. "Towards us," she replied after a moment.
"Good. So how should we approach our catch?"
"From the way we're coming. That way, they won't smell us." Breezepaw recited back what her mentor had taught her a few moments ago.
Featherflight nodded. "Right. I'm glad you listened to me. Okay, see that pine tree a few foxlengths from the stream? Let's go down, but stop there. And be as quiet as you can be." She moved off, leaving Breezepaw to follow behind her.
Focusing on stepping lightly and remaining silent, Breezepaw fallowed slowly, reaching the tree a few moments after Featherflight, who was waiting patiently.
"Nice job staying quiet. Walking lightly will become more natural with time, allowing you to move faster. Anyway, before we start I have a few more things to teach you. First, there's a big difference between hunting ground-bound prey and prey that can fly. We'll stick with ground-bound prey for now, though. There's also a difference between hunting different types of prey. For example, hunting a rabbit is different from hunting a mouse because a rabbit will smell you before it sees you, even if you remain downwind. But a mouse will feel your pawsteps even before it smells you, which is why you must always step lightly. Got that?"
"I think so… so what next? And how do you step lightly in a way that allows you to move fast enough to hunt?"
"Good question, which is what I was getting to next. You need keep your paws from making impact on the forest floor, and to do that, you need to take your weight into your haunches, like this." Featherflight dropped down into a hunter's crouch and stalked forward a few paces. Breezepaw noticed that her footfalls made no noise or vibrations on the ground.
After stalking a short distance, Featherflight rose and walked back. "Now you try."
Breezepaw crouched as Featherflight had done, and, being careful to keep her weight on her haunches, crept forward as she'd seen her mentor do.
"Make sure you keep your weight shifted evenly as you walk, and keep your tail down and belly low." Breezepaw listened to her mentor's tips and adjusted her stance, moving forward until Featherflight called her back.
"Not bad at all for a first attempt. Now, I want you to go down to the riverbed and try to catch something for real. Make sure to remain still until you've pinpointed your prey's position, and then stalk. But don't hesitate too long, or it'll get away. Speed is important."
Breezepaw nodded and strode down to the river, where she sat patiently, sniffing the air for the scent of prey. After a moment, she spotted a squirrel at the base of one of the trees. Dropping down as she had before into a crouch, she waited until it was absorbed in something else before slowly stalking forward. The creature paused, ears twitching, but didn't flee. Then, in one fluent movement, Breezepaw sprang forward, catching the squirrel beneath her and biting into it. The taste made her mouth water, and she fought the urge to eat her catch, remembering what Featherflight had told her about the warrior code. Laying her squirrel down, Breezepaw turned her back to the tree and faced the stream. She hoped to catch one more thing before returning to where Featherflight waited, undoubtedly watching her hunt.
Spotting a thrush at the water's edge, Breezepaw resumed her hunting position, which was already becoming more natural to her, and waited, debating whether or not to go for the bird. Featherflight hadn't taught her anything about hunting birds yet, but she was determined to make her mentor proud, and knew that if she hesitated too long, she would miss her chance to catch the thrush. She was downwind of it, and the bird hadn't yet noticed her. Making up her mind, Breezepaw sprang forward, pouncing on the bird, which, startled, attempted to take off. But Breezepaw was faster. With a swipe, she knocked the bird to the ground and quickly finished the kill. With the plump thrush in her mouth, she returned to where she'd left the squirrel, and with both pieces of fresh kill, returned to the pine tree.
Featherflight was waiting there to congratulate her. "That was a great catch, Breezepaw! Especially for a first attempt! You even got the thrush, and I haven't even gone over hunting birds yet! It's obvious hunting comes naturally to you."
Breezepaw dipped her head respectfully to her mentor's praise, embarrassed and proud. "Thank you, Featherflight." She murmured.
"How would you like to go off hunting on your own for a bit?"
Breezepaw looked back up in surprise. "That would be great, Featherflight." She responded, tail twitching in excitement. Her first solo hunting mission! And after only one day of training!
"Okay then, you hunt to the south, and I'll go hunt closer to camp. Be back in camp by sundown. And stay within the borders. Bury what you just caught here, so you can find it later and nothing comes and steals it. You can do the same with anything else you catch, too. Just remember to pick it up on your way back."
"Yes, Featherflight." Breezepaw mewed, and with a farewell wave and a word of good luck, Featherflight moved off, leaving Breezepaw alone to hunt for the Clan.
Spirits soaring, Breezepaw hastily but carefully buried her catch and moved off farther to the south. On the opposite bank of the stream, she made another easy catch out of a robin.
After a whole afternoon of hunting, Breezepaw collected her entire load, which consisted of four pieces of fresh kill, and made her way back to the CallistoClan camp, full of pride at her day's accomplishments. She found Featherflight waiting by the fresh kill pile, which was considerably well stocked for so early in Newleaf.
"I see you did really well today," her mentor commented, taking in Breezepaw's catch as she deposited it on the pile. "That's only one less piece than I caught today!"
Breezepaw purred with laughter, not sure whether she was joking or not. Featherflight picked up a piece of fresh kill and moved off to join Sandstone, a young and handsome tom with a white pelt that was marked with brown and gold spots around his shoulders and on his tail, calling back over her shoulder, "You can eat now if you're hungry. You've more than earned it!"
Breezepaw complied, choosing to take the squirrel she had first caught. She brought her meal to the tree stump, and was joined by Moonkit and Sunkit, and later by Oakpaw, who returned to camp from training with Frostclaw with a mouse dangling from his jaws, but nothing else. He looked disappointed and annoyed, glaring at the single mouse as he deposited it on the pile, and Breezepaw opted not to tell him about her hunting success, as it was painfully obvious he had not shared in it.
The four friends sat for some time, discussing training and the past few days, Breezepaw and Oakpaw answering numerous questions from Moonkit and Sunkit, who were in awe at all their friends had learned from only two days of training. As dusk fell over the camp, Oakpaw and Breezepaw bid their friends farewell and gathered prey for Galekit, which they delivered to her. As promised, Shellspots allowed the three siblings to converse until the after darkness had completely fallen, then shooed the two apprentices out.
Back in the clearing, activity had begun to slow, and the last hunting patrol of the day was returning, depositing yet more fresh kill upon the pile.
"I'm going to bed," Oakpaw mewed to his sister, touching her shoulder with his tail tip. "See you tomorrow."
"Night Oakpaw," Breezepaw replied, nuzzling his shoulder affectionately. He had been in a subdued mood all afternoon, and Breezepaw suspected that it wasn't only his hunting troubles that were bothering him.
After Oakpaw had gone, Breezepaw padded over to the tree stump, where Shadowpaw and Shimmerpaw were now sharing a meal. Both had been among the last hunting party.
"Breezepaw!" Shimmerpaw called out as the young red-orange she-cat approached. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you sooner- I've been so busy with training… so how have you been?"
"I've been great, thanks," replied Breezepaw to her old friend, taking a seat between she and Shadowpaw.
"Did you hunt today?" asked the dark tabby tom, taking a bite of his robin and offering some to Breezepaw.
She declined politely, replying, "Yup. I did, and it was great!"
"Catch anything?" Shimmerpaw asked.
"I bet she did," Shadowpaw mewed. "I'm telling you, Shimmer, this one'll be the best hunter in the Clan before long."
Breezepaw rolled her eyes, embarrassed. "Stop it, Sky," she laughed, batting at Shadowpaw's ears. "But yes, I did catch something."
"How much?"
"About… about four pieces of prey," she admitted at last, growing more embarrassed as her two friends' eyes grew wide with disbelief.
"See, told you. Best hunter in the Clan. And she's only got one day of hunting training under her paws." He shook his head in wonder. "It took me two lessons before I could catch a single thing besides a leaf."
"At least it only took you two- it took me three!" Shimmerpaw eyed Breezepaw sternly. "Great StarClan, Breeze, if you keep on hunting like that, the forest will have no prey left!"
"Aw, stop!" Breezepaw mewed, feeling very hot about the ears.
"I'm only teasing," Shimmerpaw replied good-naturedly. "You know me."
"Yeah, I do," Breezepaw smiled, feeling happy to be back joking with her friends. She had seen so very little of them since the moon they were apprenticed, and it felt good to be able to sit around chatting with them again, able to understand at least some of what they had experienced in their three moons of training.
For a while longer, the three sat up talking, before being reminded by Shadowpaw's mentor, Robintail, that they should get some sleep, as they would all have training the next day. Laughing among themselves at being reprimanded in much the same way that their mothers had told them to stop whispering and go to sleep back in the nursery, they padded off into the den. Breezepaw went to bed that night completely content with her life and thinking about what adventures the next day had in store.
