The next day, Crowstorm and Tawnypaw were padding along the slushy mountainside as the snow was thawing around them. In just a moon, flowers would begin growing along the landscape but for now it was just brown and white as the two cats were moving along, the peaks in the distance would still be covered with snow until early Greenleaf. As a result, the peaks would feed the rivers with fresh water for all animals to drink. Crowstorm and Tawnypaw were approaching the western border of Thunderclan territory. There was a ridge that Tawnypaw was all too familiar with.
"What is this border ridge?" Crowstorm mewed testing her skills.
"It's the ridge to Shadowclan." Tawnypaw mewed.
"That's right; I want to bring you up the slope so that we can have a look around." Crowstorm mewed. He soon began to lead Tawnypaw up the gentle sloping ridge as they were capable climbers. They soon got to the top of the ridge which the land was flat and used as a vantage point.
"This is so beautiful." Tawnypaw mewed as she was able to see the territory down below with fresh streams and rivers flowing downward.
"Thanks. The territories to the far south are Riverclan and Skyclan. Windclan is to the east and you already know what Shadowclan is." Crowstorm mewed as he rested his head on his apprentice.
"Hey what are you two doing here?" A voice called out. The two cats turned their heads to see that three cats were approaching from the steeper part of the slope. The Shadowclan cats had huge paws and long claws that were meant for digging, their diet consisted of Groundhogs, Hares, Mice, Lemmings and the occasional Mountain goat kit.
"We're here to drive the intruders away." The deputy called out.
"Hold those claws in those paws of yours, Crowstorm doesn't mean any harm, after all, he's just showing his apprentice around." The leader mewed.
"Shadowclan cats, this is my new apprentice, Tawnypaw. Tawnypaw this Pebblestar, their leader, Falconwing, their deputy and Falconwing's apprentice Robinpaw." Crowstorm mewed to the cats that Tawnypaw should get accustomed to. "Anyways what brings you here?"
"We are busy looking for prey, the lemming population had crashed last season and we lost half of our kits due to a lack of sustainable prey." Pebblestar responded.
"We're all anxiously waiting for the Goat kits to come." Crowstorm mewed.
"More than that, the snow geese are coming to the mountains to lay their eggs and raise their young so we can more easy prey to go around, we're not as big as your clan's warriors so we don't have the strength to take on a goat queen protecting her kit." Pebblestar mewed.
"And then we'll wait for the annual salmon migration that will bring us prey." Crowstorm responded.
"Not if Ravenstar and all of Riverclan eat them all first." Pebblestar sneered. The three cats soon turned and padded away.
"What's Riverclan have to do with fish?" Tawnypaw mewed as she was curious.
"Fish are what Riverclan are used to eating. Whenever we move territories, they always need the river to feed themselves, plus they are great swimmers so there moreover used to being around rivers. Their diet changes very little as a result." Crowstorm mewed as they both padded down the hill as they went back to their side of the territory. The continued to patrol the territory as well as mark the boundaries they had. They soon moved back into the territory as they began to make their way back to camp. They spotted a Mountain goat herd that was massing together in the hundreds. Many of them were kitting and the tom goats looked over their queens as they kept an eye out for predators. Crowstorm and Tawnypaw knew that this was a good opportunity to hunt since the goats would be preoccupied for their kits and the newborn goats were still struggling to their hooves. Now was a good chance to attack. However just 20 fox lengths away, Snowstorm was stalking them. The purely white tom was in a hunter's crouch sensing that he would have the element of surprise if he got close enough to them.
Just a few tail lengths away, Swiftbreeze was closing in from another angle with Yewpaw and Rosepetal moving in from the top. It was clear that Snowstorm was going to attack first. Soon all four cats soon hit the Mountain goat herd and hit them hard. Many goats were beginning to scatter in panic as the four cats were in the middle of the herd to take out sick or old goats. Crowstorm and Tawnypaw saw this and decided to strike to the side but there was a problem. Many of the tom goats were busy flashing their big horns to try to break them apart so the predators could retreat but they only played as a distraction for the other four cats encircling the herd trying to get a nip into one of the newborn goat kits. Soon Snowstorm's eyes turned to see a goat yearling move away from the group sneezing. It was clear they separated a sick individual.
Separated from the group, this goat yearling has made a fatal mistake. The six cats began to chase the sick goat yearling down ignoring the rest of the herd. They came from all sides. Snowstorm quickly bounded over with Swiftbreeze as they both pounced on the goat together sinking their teeth and their claws into the thick leafbare hair it had but it certainly wasn't doing much but they continued to bite and scratch their way to inflict some form of injury. Rosepetal and Crowstorm ran together as they leaped onto the side of the goat with Snowstorm clamping his jaws around the back of the neck of the yearling goat. Droplets of blood began to fall onto the rocks and snow as the cats continued to attack. Yewpaw and Tawnypaw continued to attack the goat yearling from the sides and the flanks wanting to score a decisive blow. Yewpaw bit into the goat's leg as Tawnypaw pounced onto the goat's side as her claws sank deep into the goat's side. The goat continued to panic as more blood continued to spill out onto the ground. Snowstorm looked up to see a goat queen charge over and using her horns she had, jabbed Snowstorm with them sending him flying off the goat yearling. The rest of the cats jumped off the goat as the queen went over to protect the offspring. She gave off a screeching cry as Rosepetal went over to Snowstorm.
"Are you all right?" Rosepetal asked with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine; their horns don't do much compared to a goat tom." Snowstorm panted. The two goats soon walked away from the six cats. Although the goat yearling was still alive, their attack has critically wounded it and it would be a matter of time before it collapses from its wounds. "You four get back to camp, me and Swiftbreeze will finish this target off." Snowstorm got up and he and Swiftbreeze knew they had to play the tracking game to follow the goat's trail of blood.
"Go find other prey, we'll finish this hunt." Swiftbreeze mewed. The four cats left to go look for other prey. Tawnypaw was left with many questions as well.
"Why are the goats so special?" Tawnypaw asked.
"They offer a steady food supply. Thunderclan is the only clan daring enough to attack prey that is a lot bigger than us. With great hunting tactics, we often prey on the goat kits that are pretty slow and not that quick at responding. They offer the most amount of food for most of Newleaf until they migrate south passed Skyclan territory during Leaffall. They spend their Greenleaf season around the big swamp and only migrate to the mountains when the great Greenleaf rains come forcing many animals to higher ground, many goats die because of the rains flooding the rivers and it's one of the times we often take advantage of and just eat." Crowstorm mewed.
"Wow so the cats are adapted for different styles of hunting?" Tawnypaw asked.
"Yes they are, Shadowclan is good at digging, that's why they have the best dens to hibernate in, Windclan cats have very long legs which allows them to catch swift moving prey such as hares and birds. Riverclan is very specialized as they mainly eat fish. They only eat other prey if the fish are scarce. And like I said before, they are good swimmers." Crowstorm mewed. "After all we need to eat as much as we can before Leafbare sets in, I'm pretty sure that Yewpaw would want to cuddle up with a nice plump looking Tawnypaw." Tawnypaw blushed hearing Yewpaw's name. They decided to hunt.
The sun began to set when the two cats padded back into camp. Crowstorm was carrying a groundhog while Tawnypaw managed to catch a raven. The other apprentices looked in as they were not really impressed.
"Nice catch you got there." Berrypaw smirked as he knew he had caught a mouse but he had a big smile completely smug.
"My catch is better!" Jaypaw shouted as she had caught a vole that was slightly larger and with more meat than a scrawny mouse.
"Daisypaw managed to catch a Goat kit while the queen goat was off guard." Ashpelt mewed as boasted about his apprentice.
"Now if you think Daisypaw is impressive, take a look at this catch." Snowstorm mewed as he puts down the goat yearling that Tawnypaw helped attack earlier. "We managed to ambush and encircle it but escaped and it soon died from its wounds so we finished it off."
"That's impressive, well done Snowstorm." Rowanstar mewed. "I'm giving the apprentices more time to practice their skills but I see three worthy cats that are ready to be made into warriors but I still want to keep my eyes on Daisypaw and Yewpaw."
"Can we please eat? Featherfur asked. "I've been starving ever since I woke up from that deep sleep."
"We can but I would like to assign you to the dawn patrol at sun rise. It's too late to organize anymore patrols since the land is expansive enough already." Rowanstar mewed. Soon all the cats took their catches as well as the plants that some managed to gather, the vegetation in the pile was slowly being replaced with meat as the animals were slowly coming back. Shadowstep was busy treating Snowstorm's scratch he had when the goat queen attacked him earlier today, Tawnypaw as busy talking with Pineshade, Stormstrike and Ripplepaw while they were talking about their day when Daisypaw padded over with the goat kit she managed to catch earlier as she placed it by Tawnypaw.
"A true Thunderclan warrior would eat an entire goat kit." Daisypaw mewed to Tawnypaw.
"Aren't you going to have some?" Tawnypaw asked as she was nervous about having this all to herself.
"I want some of that Goat that Snowstorm managed to catch, this one is all yours." Daisypaw mewed.
"This seems a bit much." Tawnypaw mewed.
"A true warrior eats the entire thing!" Daisypaw shouted. Soon Tawnypaw gulped as she began to eat the goat kit.
Tawnypaw looked nervously as she ate the goat kit. Daisypaw looked on with a menacing look across the she-cat's face. Tawnypaw knew she didn't want to eat the whole thing but she had to sacrifice that since she didn't want to upset Daisypaw. Tawnypaw finished the entire goat kit as her belly stuck out uncomfortably if she was expecting kits. Daisypaw smiled as she looked at the engorged She-cat.
"Now you've proved your loyalty, I hope you can eat as much as me." Daisypaw smiled as she padded away leaving Tawnypaw completely sick and helpless.
"Don't mind her, Daisypaw is always teasing apprentices since she wanted to become a warrior moons ago but Rowanstar forbade that since she was making fun of other apprentices." Ripplepaw mewed to Tawnypaw.
"Yeah, now you think about that." Tawnypaw mewed. She felt something uncomfortably happen to her as she lay down onto the slushy ground.
"Want me got get Shadowstep?" Crowstorm asked as he saw Tawnypaw sick.
"You better." Tawnypaw whined.
A little while later, Crowstorm finished his guard duty as he went to Shadowstep's den to check on his apprentice.
"How is Tawnypaw?" Crowstorm asked.
"She just has a Bellyache, that's all. I gave her some Watermint and Juniper berries to soothe the pain for her. However she would be able to make a recovery quick enough. She would be able to get out of the den tomorrow morning to continue her training with you. Featherfur has given scoldings to Daisypaw but she is having none of it. Maybe if she becomes a warrior the teasing would stop but, I don't know?" Shadowstep mewed. Tawnypaw laid in his nest as she was still a bit groggy from eating Daisypaw's catch.
"And Daisypaw's about?" Crowstorm asked.
"Daisypaw? She's already the biggest apprentice out of the bunch, and she eats a lot too. I swear she uses up a lot of watermint so I can treat her Bellyaches which she frequently gets. I don't know if that apprentice can tell her mind from her gut." Shadowstep responded. "I swear she's going to get fat one day." Crowstorm laughed.
"We all are, well I'll leave you with your work; it was nice speaking with you." Crowstorm mewed. He turned away from the medicine cat as he padded out of his den.
"Thank you again." Shadowstep mewed. He soon fell asleep in his nest.
[A/N]: Thanks to Grayshadow Warrior again for helping me come up with some more cats for the story, I always appreciate the help that I get and I would like to get even more of it to continue on with this story.