Volepaw blinked open his eyes. He stepped outside and saw Mudpaw speaking with Cloudrock. He padded over to Icepelt and sat down, awaiting to hear about his punishment.
"I've given your punishment some thought," Icepelt began. "And I've decided to go easy on you because you were dragged away against your will. Your punishment is simple: You will hunt for the clan every day and cannot take any prey at the end of the day unless me, Snoweybramble, or Mountainstar says so. The only way you can take prey for yourself without our permission is if you've caught three to five pieces of prey for the clan. Your punishment will start when I think you're skilled enough to hunt on your own, but for now, you must ask permission from me." Volepaw looked a bit surprised, but nodded and followed Icepelt out of camp.
They met at the training clearing along with Silverpaw and Dewdrop. Volepaw began practicing his hunter's crouch that he learned yesterday, as well as his pounce while Silverpaw and Dewdrop practiced in the forest. Mudpaw appeared through the bushes with Cloudrock before he too began to practice his hunting moves.
Silverpaw's P.O.V
Silverpaw walked in the forest and practiced her pouncing. After catching that squirrel yesterday, she seemed more confident. After practicing for a bit, Dewdrop spoke up.
"I think that's enough," Silverpaw sat up and gave her a confused look. "I think you're ready to practice on real prey. Besides, it'll give you a chance to work on scenting your prey, tracking, and working with the wind." She bounded off into the forest with Silverpaw at her heels.
Dewdrop began to slow before she stopped completely, her mouth open to look for scents. She angled her ears at a bush and Silverpaw immediately noticed a vole scuffling around. Dewdrop mouthed "watch" to Silverpaw and crouched down.
Silverpaw watched intently as Dewdrop stalked forward at the vole. Making sure she avoided the large stick on the ground, and staying upwind of her prey. She drew near, before exploding forward, pouncing on the vole and killing it so quickly Silverpaw didn't see. The vole stood no chance and never let out a squeak.
Dewdrop sat up and dropped her prey and burying it. "We'll pick it up on the way back." Silverpaw nodded. "Now you try. Find yourself a prey and catch it."
Silverpaw walked away after she spoke and kept a look out for scents. It took a while, but she managed to find a bird pecking at the ground. Silverpaw crouched down, nerves rushing through her as she creeped forward. Silverpaw continued to draw near before she took a step and, all of a sudden, looked down. She saw she was about to step on a small twig, and tried to avoid it, but she couldn't react fast enough as she was in the middle of taking a step. Her foot came down and the twig let out a small snapping noise and the bird sat up and looked around. Silverpaw froze as the birds' eyes landed on her, and the bird let out a squawk of terror and began to fly up. Suddenly, Dewdrop raced out from the bushes and leaped up into the air and used her paw to knock the bird out of the sky and onto the floor. She killed it in one bite to the spine.
Silverpaw drooped her head with disappointment and annoyance. Dewdrop padded over and dropped the bird. "It's okay, Silverpaw," she mewed. "This is your first real hunt, and it's okay that you made a mistake. You're still a new apprentice and you're learning. At least I got it." Silverpaw nodded, still mildly upset and continued looking for more prey.
The sun had risen and fallen halfway when the two decided to head back to camp. Silverpaw strode into camp proudly. In her jaws was a vole and a mouse that she had managed to catch while Dewdrop carried the bird and a vole. Daisypaw exited the nursery and saw Silverpaw carrying her prey, which caused her to scowl and hiss. Silverpaw placed her prey on the fresh-kill pile and Mountainstar looked at her proudly.
Dewdrop dropped her prey before turning to Silverpaw. "You can pick a piece of prey from the fresh-kill pile. Just be ready to leave at dusk. We'll be joining Crystalpaw, Fogfur, and Grassstream to patrol the Darkclan border." Silverpaw nodded.
"Where is Crystalpaw anyway?" Silverpaw mewed.
"She's confined to camp because she had a bellyache yesterday. She'll be back in training tomorrow but she said she feels well enough to join us now." Silverpaw seemed a bit confused, but nodded and took the bird she failed to catch and brought it to the edge of the camp.
Crystalpaw emerged from the apprentices den and picked out the vole Silverpaw caught and joined her. "How was training?" Crystalpaw mewed, settling down next to Silverpaw.
"It was good," Silverpaw mewed. "I practiced some hunting techniques with Dewdrop and then she had us go practice on real prey."
"That sounds cool!" Crystalpaw mewed through mouthfuls of fur. "I wish I could've been with you, but I have a stomach ache. I'm feeling a lot better though."
"Yea, that's good," Silverpaw plucked out some of the feathers and set them aside. "Speaking of which, how come this bellyache suddenly sprung on you?" Silverpaw turned and stared into Crystalpaw's eyes and Crystalpaw averted her gaze.
"Oh uh," Crystalpaw shuffled her paws. "I actually faked it to cover Mudpaw and Daisypaw. Volepaw too, but I think he didn't want to be there."
Silverpaw gave her an incredulous look. "Why would you do that?" she mewed.
"Mudpaw made me," Crystalpaw sighed. "And besides, it's not like I got in trouble. Right now, the hostility is focusing on Daisypaw and Mudpaw." Crystalpaw shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm continuing my training tomorrow anyway." She began to eat her vole.
Silverpaw prodded her gently with her nose. "You know, I caught that vole," she purred.
Crystalpaw looked at her. "Really?" she gasped.
Silverpaw held her head high. "Yup," she mewed.
Crystalpaw purred happily and took another bite. She chewed slowly, pretending to really taste it and give it some thought. "Well, it tastes very juicy and delicious," she purred.
Silverpaw purred before continuing to eat her bird. When she finished, she picked up the feathers she plucked out and carried them to the nursery. She walked into the nursery and was immediately tackled by a trio of kits.
She purred, amused, before letting out a wail. "Oh no!" she purred. "You've got me!" The kits squealed happily before Rosekit sat up on Silverpaw.
"Did we really get you?" she squeaked.
"Of course you did," Silverpaw purred. "You'll turn out to be fine warriors." Rosekit puffed out her chest before joining her littermates.
Silverpaw padded over to Waterfall and dropped the feathers. "These are for you and the kits," Silverpaw mewed.
Waterfall stretched out her neck and picked up the feathers in her jaws. "Thank you, Silverpaw," she purred, placing the feathers in her nest. "You gave me just enough to add to my nest, as well as one for the kits to play with. I'm sure they'll enjoy them." Silverpaw mewed a goodbye before exiting the nursery. By then, Volepaw had returned from camp and began eating.
Silverpaw sat down next to him. "How was training?" she asked.
"It was alright," Volepaw replied. "Mudpaw and I practiced hunting all day."
"Speaking of," Silverpaw mewed. "Did your mentors decide on a punishment yet?"
Volepaw nodded, his mouth full of fur. "Icepelt went easy on me and I just have to hunt for the clan before I can eat. Mudpaw didn't get off so easy though, since he was the one who came up with the idea. He has to go on every dawn patrol every day until Cloudrock says so. He also has to hunt a lot more than normal and has a quota of prey he needs to catch every day or he isn't aloud to eat."
Silverpaw nodded slowly. "That's rough, especially since he's a new apprentice. He kind of deserves it though, being so naive." Volepaw purred in agreement and continued to eat his prey.
Daisypaw's P.O.V (In the morning because I can)
Daisypaw awoke, blinking. She turned and noticed everyone had gone and she was the only one left. She left the apprentices den and saw Eagleshadow waiting impatiently. She padded over to him and before Eagleshadow could speak, she spoke. "So," she mewed casually. "When are we going to get our warrior names?" Eagleshadow sighed loudly. "You're not."
"Why not?" she hissed. "We fought in a battle and proved our bravery and skill. When even saved lives and won!"
Eagleshadow glared at her. "You're far too young to receive your warrior names. You're just too inexperienced." Daisypaw hissed with fury but Eagleshadow silenced her with a harsh glare.
"On a different note," Eagleshadow continued. "You're late."
Daisypaw gave him a look. "You never said when to wake up, so I'm not late." Daisypaw protested.
"All the other apprentices already left quite a while ago and they all woke up closer to dawn than you. You're late compared to them." Eagleshadow hissed. Daisypaw grumbled a bit but said nothing. Eagleshadow narrowed his eyes and continued.
"I've decided your punishment. For today, you're confined to the camp and you're required to take care of the elders. Clear their bedding and get rid of their ticks and fleas. Bring them prey if needed. If they don't need anything, then help out with the medicine cats and take care of the queens and kits as well. You'll be confined to the camp every other day. You cannot disobey any orders you're given." Daisypaw gaped at Eagleshadow and opened her mouth to speak but Eagleshadow ignored her and continued.
"This will teach you discipline as well as respect. You're dismissed. I've already notified the elders of your punishment so there's no use trying to lie." Before Daisypaw could reply, Eagleshadow padded away and joined Petalflower and Snoweybramble and left on patrol. Daisypaw glared at Eagleshadow and growled. Grumbling angrily, she stalked to the elders den and walked in. She couldn't wait until they became warriors and Eagleshadow was old and relying on them for prey and then she'd show him who's boss.