It's been such a long time since I wrote this story. Icky icky ick of me. Bad kitty. *slaps self*

But I was in Great Britain on vacation, so I didn't have my pc to write stuff.

Anyway I bet you know who saved Brokenpaw in the last chapter, my dude who needs to show up more in my stories. It's not that hard to guess. Also I do apologize for the very long dry spell. I've had no motivation for this story in particular. But I have some more time now since my drawing tablet is starting to malfunction; I need another sort of hobby. Also, I need to create plot ideas. As you can tell, I do not use a script, something I really should be using. This is getting stale. I'd like people to read something worth reading instead of sh*t that slithered out of my head.

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Ch. 16 part 1

Brokenpaw crouched low, his belly brushing stray pine needles and bracken the littered the forest floor. The scent of lizards and voles whirled around the marshy ground, tempting the tabby tom in all directions. Briefly, Brokenpaw scanned the short plants that sprouted out of the wet soil.

Where could Raggedstar be?

Brokenpaw had started his hunting assessment at sunhigh. Raggedstar had told him that he would follow his apprentice unseen. That fact alone distracted the dark apprentice greatly. He found himself looking for his mentor and not prey that he was assigned to catch. More than often in time frame he was given, Brokenpaw pushed aside weeds noisily, scaring off the prey in the area. But most of all, Brokenpaw was caught in the grasp of boredom. He simply didn't find hunting as exciting as fighting and practicing battle moves. This fact had startled Dawnstar, much to Brokenpaw's surprise. He had always seen Dawnstar as quite an accomplished battler, especially with all the victories she told him about when she was RiverClan's leader.

Earlier on in his apprenticeship, the two partner's ideas clashed constantly. Both Dawnstar and Brokenpaw found each other abrasive and harsh when they wanted to be. But Dawnstar tried her best not to anger her partner as much as she would like to ordinarily.

"You need to focus on hunting too. Life isn't just about battles you know. If you don't hunt soon, you'll be unable to serve your clan." She would hiss into his ears when he practiced battle moves without her or Raggedstar. But Brokenpaw just glared and snarled back.

"What about you? I've never heard of you hunting! You're even more battle hungry than me. You led your clan into countless wars"

Dawnstar's gaze would then grow cold and her dark ambers eyes would heat up with some hidden emotion that Brokenpaw couldn't recognize.

"You have no idea what it's like. I'm trying to help you! Do you want to be-," she'd cut herself off and snap her jaws shut for a heartbeat and improvise, "like Thunderstorm."

Then the grey warrior would stalk off and fade for a while, leaving Brokenpaw alone for the rest of the day. The tabby apprentice felt guilt for provoking his partner, but then dismissed the argument when she reappeared the next morning as if they had never quarreled to begin with.

But now, Brokenpaw refocused himself on hunting. He scented the air and cocked his ears. So far, no prey scent or sounds were carried by the breeze. The marshy grounds seemed devoid of all scents as well. Slightly disheartened, Brokenpaw moved on towards the thicker sprinkling of pine trees. The apprentice hoped to find something of value there, since there were always reports of birds and squirrels in the trees. Then, hope flared in his chest when he saw a squirrel lazily munched on a nut on the tangled roots of a pine tree. Carefully, Brokenpaw edged towards the squirrel. He crouched low and dragged his body across the flossy grasses and marsh grounds.

The tabby soon found himself within leaping distance of his target. Bundling the strength in his legs he sprang! But his paws slipped on stray pine needles and launched him at the tree trunk. With a dull thud, Brokenpaw's head hit the rugged wood. The squirrel raced up to the safety of the tree branches. The dark tom looked up at the squirrel, his head still spinning from the blow.

I bet I can get that. It's not that high up the tree yet.

Brokenpaw grasped the tree bark in his claws as he prepared to climb. His head still spun from moments prior, causing him to sway; he clawed the tree harder.

So far so good.

The squirrel hadn't left its perch on the branch. Once again, it lazily at its nut treat. A perfect piece of unsuspecting prey.

Brokenpaw balanced himself on the branch. Luckily for him, the branch didn't lurch when it felt his weight. Slowly, he inched towards the squirrel. The anticipation made his claws itch with excitement. The apprentice gripped the soft bark to expel the feeling.

Then, Brokenpaw let out a burst of energy and lunged at the squirrel! Excitement filled the young cat's mind as he imagined his claws scraping fur and his teeth tasting the blood of his prey. But instead, his stomach lurched as he felt his claws swipe air and his jaws snapping at wind! The squirrel had leapt up to a higher branch. Brokenpaw snarled at the squirrel in response, angry with himself that he wasn't fast enough to catch it.

Beside himself with rage, Brokenpaw climbed higher. His only thoughts were on the squirrel and how good it would feel to catch it after a long, drawn out chase. Brokenpaw attached his claws the thick trunk and sprang at the next branch! With his claws out stretched, he sliced at the squirrel. But instead of clawing it, he clawed the bark of the tree and the squirrel escaped into the abyss of the pine trees.

The tabby held back a yowl of rage as he failed his hunting opportunity.

Where's Dawnstar when I need her? She could have helped me with this stupid assessment!

Brokenpaw clawed his way down the tree, aware of his paws slipping with every step. Carefully, he jumped the ground. His paws thudded the earth in a satisfying "thump." Still angry, the apprentice sloshed through some puddles.

Maybe I'll find a frog.

The dark tom swatted away thick weeds that covered the marshy floor. Insects gave way to the intrusion. Soon he came across a frog wallowing peacefully in the puddles. Skillfully, Brokenpaw lashed his claws out at the frog and killed it. Satisfied with his kill, Brokenpaw looked up at the sky.

Great StarClan it's sunset!

The tabby apprenticed raced home. His paws thudded painfully quick on the drying earth. He pushed through the camp entrance, his frog nearly slipping out of his jaws in his rush. Brokenpaw shoved cats out of the way in the center of camp to put down his only prey down on the fresh kill pile. A few stared at his behavior and whispered to themselves. Brokenpaw paid no heed to them.

But then, he spotted Yellowfang sitting outside of the medicine den. Her feather like tail was curled over her paws neatly, almost nervously. Her orange eyes betrayed some sort of emotion. Worry? Brokenpaw guessed. Her gaze made the tabby apprentice uncomfortable; it made his pelt itch and crawl. Much to Yellowfang's dismay, Brokenpaw ignored her and scooted off to the apprentices' den. He leapt at his mossy nest in hopes to forget his failed hunting assignment. But instead of landing in his den and softness of feathers and moss, Brokenpaw ran straight into the rugged tabby fur of Raggedstar.

Gulping, Brokenpaw looked up at his mentor. Raggedstar's whiskers twitched with annoyance and his eyes sparked with dull disappointment.

Uh-oh.