Chapter 5

The next morning, Sandpaw and Dustpaw were snoring loudly. Both apprentices were eager to wake Tigerpaw up and tell him all about the Gathering which they attended, but the tabby ignored them and continued sleeping despite Sandpaw's protests. The long trek through the territory, and the fighting lessons, had left him exhausted; that had been just his first day in the forest, and it was already more intensive than his life as a house cat.

Despite being hard at work, the other warriors still stared at him with apprehension and disbelief. Oftentimes, the younger cats would taunt him, ridiculing him for his kittypet roots. Tigerpaw would find himself wanting to retaliate, but Bluestar's icy cold stare from the Highrock would freeze both him and the taunting cat, defusing the situation. Eventually, though, she approached him.

"Pay them no mind, Tigerpaw," her voice was now calm, soothing, and motherly. "I sense great potential in you. Your Clanmates will come to realize that, too."

He puffed out his chest and raised his head at the leader's words.

That day, Lionheart had gone off to train with Graypaw, and Tigerpaw was still not assigned a mentor. He had to bite his tongue as to not let the leader know his own scathing opinions about the matter. Fireheart had taken Ravenpaw away as well, alone so that the kittypet would not hamper his training, he had said. Since Sandpaw and Dustpaw were still sleeping, allowed just a little more time of rest than the others, Tigerpaw was essentially left alone in camp. Not knowing what to do, he was tempted to approach Bluestar for guidance, but the leader was already conversing with other warriors, and Tigerpaw had learned his lesson on eavesdropping on a leader.

"Hey, Kittypet!" a familiar voice called out suddenly. Tigerpaw turned around, seeing a cream-colored tabby with an overly-confident posture.

The apprentice struggled to remember his name, but meowed out: "Longtail?"

The warrior grinned. "Don't you forget that name, kittypet." Despite his words, his shoulders were relaxed and his tail was high. Sitting down, he motioned with his head to another warrior that was approaching them; a tom, black with barely noticeable stripes, and an expression that seemed much less enthusiastic than any other cat's. "This is Darkstripe," Longtail introduced the dark tabby. Normally, Darkstripe would dip his head in greeting, but Tigerpaw knew better than to expect courtesy of Clan cats to a stranger.

Darkstripe gave an exaggerated sigh. "Longtail wants to take you out hunting," he meowed. "So you could stop taking the fresh-kill that we catch for the warriors."

Tigerpaw repressed a hiss. In reality, he was thankful for this opportunity; although fighting was thrilling, hunting would put his natural instincts to good use. His mouth began salivating at the thought. "Okay, I'll go!"

Tigerpaw was not used to traversing the territory yet, but after the long walk with his temporary mentors, he felt more at ease with his surroundings. Darkstripe was taking the lead, jumping nimbly over the fallen tree trunks and dodging the thorn bushes and overgrown roots. At the back, the apprentice was stopping to carefully inspect the obstacles before passing through them; he could barely guide himself by Darkstripe's scen that he left behind as he walked. Longtail, instead, would occasionally stop to make sure Tigerpaw was following, but he did not stop to wait for the tabby, instead pulling up ahead with a constant pace.

Darkstripe was testing him, Tigerpaw knew as much. Or perhaps that wasn't right —he was waiting until the tabby embarrassed himself to prove a point: that kittypets don't belong in the forest.

It didn't take them long until they found the most overgrown area of the forest. Both warriors stopped there, with Tigerpaw clumsily making his way through to meet them.

Darkstripe stared at him. "I said you could come," he meowed. "But I didn't say you could interfere with our hunting."

"Well, he is here to learn," Longtail replied. "He will have to hunt eventually. And what better way to learn than with the best warriors of ThunderClan?"

The black tom rolled his eyes but said nothing. He walked deeper into the undergrowth, his paws making no sound that Tigerpaw's naturally sharp ears could detect.

Longtail faced the apprentice. "Okay," he began, unsure. "Uh, what do you know about hunting?"

Tigerpaw cocked his head to one side. "Drop to a crouch, make sure that your prey doesn't see you, and kill it swiftly."

The pale warrior nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right." Short silence followed as Longtail kept thinking about what to teach him. Tigerpaw had to remember that this warrior was only an apprentice shortly before he arrived to the forest. "Well, also, you have to step lightly when you stalk, or mice will run away before you have the chance to see them."

Tigerpaw nodded. Hunting came naturally to any cat, it was something that was taught to him by his mother back at his Twoleg nest. She, however, never delved deeper into the tactics of hunting; after all, they all had Twoleg food ready whenever they felt hungry.

Longtail's ears perked up. Tigerpaw reacted by standing still, frozen, as to not disturb his temporary mentor. To his surprise, the pale cat grinned.

"Seems Darkstripe caught something," he purred.

"How do you know?" Tigerpaw replied in a hiss, afraid of scaring off any nearby prey.

"I can hear the rustling of leaves," Longtail explained. "The sound is stronger when a big cat like him jumps out of cover to catch his prey." Tigerpaw's ears moved to all directions, expecting to hear something. "It will come to you, eventually. You'll have to learn to drown out all other forest sounds; mice aren't particularly noisy."

As if on cue, the dark warrior approached them silently, a fat mouse dangling from his mouth. He left it on the floor, snorting. "I expected to find a bigger pile of fresh-kill when I returned. I overestimated what a kittypet can do."

Tigerpaw's fur stood on end. Longtail's head swung back and forth between the two cats.

"W-Wait, we were just talking," he meowed rapidly. "No need to fight here. Let's keep hunting."

"Fine," Darkstripe sighed, making a hole in the dirt for his prey. "But let's make it quick. You don't want to leave your Clanmates hungry, do you?"

This time, the warriors allowed Tigerpaw to take the lead. They were following only a few mouse-lengths behind, but saying nothing. Tigerpaw was instructed to keep his eyes and mouth open; it was his task to detect prey. If the two warriors detected anything, they would not be allowed to talk, but by their expressions it seemed like they were biting their tongues quite often.

Reaching a tall oak tree, finally Tigerpaw saw something. The tall grass moved and a juicy scent arrived to his mouth. He crouched happily and looked back. Darkstripe's eyes were barely visible to him, while Longtail was hiding a few steps behind. His pelt was harder to camouflage, Tigerpaw guessed, so he had to stay back for this hunt. Even if that meant he would have to be judged by Darkstripe now.

The black warrior said nothing, however. He nodded at the apprentice, his muzzle pointing at the rustling grass ahead.

Tigerpaw turned to face his prey and crouched lower. This was probably a mouse, so he had to remember to step lightly. He was downwind, perfect. As he neared, beige fur appeared between the leaves. Tigerpaw contained his excitement and creeped closer…

Then he stopped. He was expecting the small body of a defenseless mouse, instead he saw the long ears of a rabbit, eating grass and stopping to scan the area, then eating grass again. Now he hesitated. A rabbit was bigger than a mouse. It wouldn't be able to hide as easily, but if he had to chase it down, he could trip and slow down.

"Be ready," Darkstripe's meow startled him. Ready for what? The rabbit was now more alert.

"Tigerpaw, catch it!" Longtail appeared from the other side, scaring the rabbit off. Now, both of them were running towards Tigerpaw and Darkstripe.

The tabby's mind raced, thinking as quickly as it was capable of. In a swift movement, Tigerpaw grabbed the rabbit with his paws. The prey wrestled, trying to break free of his grip, but Tigerpaw's claws were long and held on tightly to its flesh. Then, he seized the opportunity, clamping his jaws around the rabbit's fur, breaking its spine. The creature lay on the ground, immobilized, breathing rapidly. Tigerpaw decided it was time, biting down on its neck for a swift kill, the metallic taste of blood running down his fangs. He relished it, licking his lips in satisfaction, as the two warriors approached him.

"Look, it's big!" he meowed pointing at the prey. "I caught this!"

"With the help of Longtail," Darkstripe snorted. "Even if you didn't, I would've caught it."

"Now now, Darkstripe. Let's give this one victory to the kittypet," Longtail purred. "At the very least, he found it. Good work."

Darkstripe stared. "You didn't thank to StarClan for this kill, I'm assuming."

Tigerpaw stared back but said nothing. The other warriors had mentioned StarClan multiple times, but only now was he aware that he was supposed to thank them for him hunting down prey. It made no sense, but he knew better than to disrespect them in front of Darkstripe.

"Thank you StarClan for this fresh-kill," Longtail murmured beside him. "We will honor its death as it traded its life for ours." After a pause, he looked back at Tigerpaw. "This is part of our warrior code. Each prey you kill, you have StarClan to thank for."

Why? Tigerpaw was tempted to ask, but seeing the expressions of his temporary mentors, he decided not to. What mattered now is that he had finished his hunting lesson, and he couldn't be more proud of himself.