Stormpaw's POV
I woke up in the apprentice den, and walked outside, to see Dustcloud pacing. "Finally your awake! We are going to go practice hunting" he mewed.
Once we were in the forest I scented the air for some prey. Normally we caught fish in the river, but since I was new to hunting, we were going to catch some birds instead. "Once you find your prey you need to crouch down, and try to stalk your prey, without rustling any leaves, or stepping on twigs. Since you can't see, your going to need to use your sense of smell, and hearing to locate your prey."Dustcloud whispered. "You need to crouch down with your forepaws tucked beneath your belly, and your tail barely above the ground. Then you stalk your prey, lightly setting your paws down, so they don't rustle leaves, or crack twigs." He meowed.
I scented the air again, and picked up the trace of a shrew. I could hear it rustling leaves ahead of me, so I knew it was close. I dropped into the hunter's crouch tucking my forepaws underneath my belly, my tail almost pressing the ground, and my belly swaying close to the ground. I began to creep up on the shrew, veering around trees, when I smelled bark or sap, and stopped when the shrew smelled about a foxlength away. I pounced before the shrew could move, and swiftly bit it on the back of its neck.
I trotted over to my mentor, with the shrew hanging from my mouth. "Great job! You caught it on your first try!" he praised me.
We headed back to camp once I had caught another shrew, and a thrush. I layed my prey on top of the freshkill pile, and walked over to my denmates, to tell them about our hunting session, and how I had caught three pieces of prey, without having to see.
At around sunhigh, me and my mentor went out into the forest, to practice some battle training. "Since you can't see you need to listen to my pawsteps, so you know when I get close enough that you can attack me, or dodge when you hear me jump, or when you hear my paw swipe at you." He mewed to me. He pounced at me, but I quickly sidestepped, and I saw my chance. I quickly located where he was with my senses, and pounced onto his back. He tried to roll over, and crush me with his weight, but I got off his back before he could crush me, and pounced again. The force of my pounce sent him rolling away, and I quickly pinned him down. "Nice job, Stormpaw!" he congratulated me.
We headed back to camp at sundown, and I took a piece of freshkill, and settled down to eat.
Dustcloud's POV
I was still surprised by Stormpaw's excellent hunting skills that she had even without sight, and her formidable battle skills.
I bounded to Featherstar's den and asked to come in. I walked in and sat down. "How is Stormpaw as a warrior apprentice?" He asked me. "Stormpaw will make an excellent warrior one day. She was able to catch 3 pieces of prey today, and when we were battle training, she was able to pin me down, even without sight. If you ask me, I think she will be one of the best warriors in Stormclan one day." I replied.
"Then Stormpaw will become a warrior. She will still have to prove to her clanmates that she is worthy of becoming a warrior, and if she is unsuccessful in being a warrior, and earning her clanmates respect, she will be thrown out of Stormclan." He decided.
I walked over to my apprentice and meowed, "Featherstar has decided that you will become a warrior when the time comes, now get some sleep, because we are on the dawn patrol tomorrow."
Stormpaw's POV
I was bursting with excitement when Dustcloud told me that I was going to be a warrior. I'll work extra hard to make sure that my clanmates respect me, and that I will become a warrior, I thought to myself.
I walked out of the apprentice den to join the dawn patrol. We patrolled the Mapleclan border, and renewed our scent markers, but as soon as we reached camp, I picked up dozens of cat scents mingled with pine sap, and heard yowls, and screams of pain from inside camp. Oh no! Mapleclan is attacking the Stormclan camp, I thought as I raced through the entrance with the rest of the dawn patrol.