Disclaimer: All rights to Warriors belong to Erin Hunter. I merely own a few cats in this story. Enjoy!
Reedpaw yawned and hurried out of the apprentice den. One sun had passed since he became an apprentice. His father, Nightshade, was busy caring for his mate, Briarlight, just outside the medicine cat's den. Many moons ago Briarlight had an accident with a tree falling into the camp's clearing. Her backbone had been broken so her hind legs were immobile. Because of this Nightshade could always be found by her side, fussing over how much she tried doing on her own.
Reedpaw skittered over to Emberpaw and Silverstorm, the white fur on his paws getting dusty from the clearing. Silverstorm was his mentor and Emberpaw, a few moons older than himself, was her daughter.
He sighed and looked at the other two apprentices, one emerging from the apprentice den and the other talking with Jayfeather. Shadowpaw and Rowanpaw were littermates but completely different. Shadowpaw was a dark gray tom and Rowanpaw was a golden tom. Plus Rowanpaw was training to be a medicine cat.
Thornclaw, Emberpaw's father and Shadowpaw's mentor, hurried over to the group and narrowed his eyes as his apprentice slowly sauntered over as well. "I'm glad you could finally make it over, Shadowpaw." He grumbled, slightly annoyed.
"Well I would've been here before you if Reedpaw would've woken me up." Shadowpaw muttered sleepily.
"Emberpaw, come on!" Cloudtail called from the entrance. The white warrior was Emberpaw's mentor. "We're going on the sunhigh patrol." Emberpaw nodded, said her goodbye to the group, and then hurried over to her mentor and three other warriors.
"Alright," Silverstorm started. The sunlight gleamed in the light grey tabby she-cat's blue eyes. "Today we'll teach you both how to hunt since that is how the clan thrives."
Reedpaw snuck a glance at Shadowpaw who looked more bored than anything. He sighed then listened to Silverstorm prattle on about hunting techniques.
"And that's how I would recommend catching a mouse. If you were trying to catch a rabbit, step lighter and pounce with precision." Silverstorm concluded.
Thornclaw licked his tail at Shadowpaw before narrowing his eyes. "You better have been paying attention. "Come on." Then he started towards the tunnel, Silverstorm at his heels.
Reedpaw stood beside his clanmate, almost concern. "You okay? You don't seem very excited about training today."
"I'm just a little tired still." Shadowpaw sighed before trudging behind his mentor. Reedpaw followed them as well.
They pawed up the steep slope just outside the entrance, pausing at the top to check for scents. After a few moments Silverstorm turned to look at the young apprentices.
"What do you smell?" She asked.
Reedpaw inhaled deeply, placing each scent he knew from the fresh kill pile. "Mouse…. And squirrel."
Shadowpaw snorted. "There's a hint of rabbit too, though it's a little stale."
Thornclaw complemented his apprentice then scented the air as well. Reedpaw noticed another scent just barely noticeable. He didn't know this one however. "What's that other scent?"
Silverstorm and Thornclaw tested the air then both grew still. "It's slightly stale but I think we should be okay." Thornclaw noted to the silver she-cat. The she-cat nodded and pushed forward, deeper into the forest.
"What do you think it was?" Reedpaw asked the other apprentice.
Shadowpaw shrugged then padded forward, narrowing his eyes at the ground. Reedpaw sighed then followed everyone.
Their mentors paused once again in the clearing. They tested the air once again then nodded to one another.
"Alright, let's see what you both can do. I want you both to test the air for either a mouse or squirrel, stalk it, then pounce and catch the prey. Good luck." Silverstorm flicked her tail for the apprentices to begin.
Reedpaw hurried off in one direction, scenting the air. His mouth watered as he picked up the mouse's scent. It was scuttling under a leaf, searching for hidden food. Reedpaw dropped to his haunches and slowly moved forward, keeping low to the ground. He stepped lightly and forced his tail to stay still so not to alarm his prey. Then he leaned back and threw himself at the small animal.
But his pounce came up short. The mouse scurried away, frightened. Reedpaw sat up and let out a hiss of annoyance.
"Nice try. Next time try moving up a little more before pouncing." Silverstorm appeared overhead on a low tree branch.
"Alright," Reedpaw nodded.
Shadowpaw glanced around the clearing. The scents of mouse and squirrel wafted by his nose but he wasn't interested in them. There was another scent he wondered about. The same one they smelled earlier. He started towards the scent trail, hoping that he'd be able to track it down before Thornclaw figured out what he was doing.
The trail led him out of the clearing and deeper into ThunderClan territory. He was out of breath by the time the scent got immensely strong. Shadowpaw stopped and flicked his ears. He could hear something. A low growl coming from a small earthy den rang in his ears. Shadowpaw took a step back, his back paw crushing a twig. The snapping sound made two glowing amber eyes peer out of the darkness. Then a figure twice the size of Thornclaw crept out of the den. Shadowpaw froze, too afraid to turn and run.
"Shadowpaw!" The dark grey tom turned enough to see his mentor hurrying towards him.
Thornclaw stopped in between his apprentice and the fox, teeth bared and tail lashing. The brown tabby tom unsheathed his claws and pulled his ears back in an attempt to ward off the angered fox. It didn't work though. The fox snarled and started towards Shadowpaw's mentor, gaining a little more speed with each paw step.
Thornclaw leaped for it, claws extended. The sudden attack surprised the creature long enough for the warrior to rake his claws down its muzzle. The fox yelped loudly but continued to pursue the cats.
Shadowpaw stood there and watched, completely frozen still. He could hear quick paw steps coming closer behind him. The scents of Reedpaw and Silverstorm surrounded him until the black and white tom stood beside him and the silver she-cat was fighting alongside her mate.
After a few long moments, the fox fled and both mentors padded back over to the young apprentices. Shadowpaw dropped his gaze to his paws after seeing Thornclaw wounded. Silverstorm was pretty banged up at well but nothing too big. He glanced over at Reedpaw before returning his gaze to his paws.
"What did you think you were doing?" Thornclaw growled. He groomed a tuft of bloodied fur from his shoulder.
"I-I thought I scented a different type of prey…" Shadowpaw replied quickly.
Thornclaw let of a hiss of annoyance but said nothing. Instead he turned towards camp and started padding away, limping very slightly. Silverstorm shook her head then signaled Reedpaw and Shadowpaw to follow her as she started back towards the camp once again.
Shadowpaw followed behind Reedpaw, wishing that he could've helped defend himself.