Chapter8: Harepaw
A group of three rabbits were being herded across the moor by two swift footed cats. If you were to look at the pelt and eyes of these cats, you could successfully determine that they were brothers.
The rabbits ran right into the awaiting paws of Leaftail and Emberfoot. The two warriors swiftly killed the rabbits.
"Great job, you two! Your tactic works again to score several plump pieces of prey for the Clan." Emberfoot congratulated.
Leaftail nodded in agreement. "Eaglepaw and Harepaw never fail to impress."
"Great. We get it, we're awesome. Now, could be please get this prey back to camp so we can continue hunting, or at least go on a border patrol?" Eaglepaw asked impatiently. This caused the two warriors to purr with amusement.
"Of course," Emberfoot started, "We could always patrol the ThunderClan border. That is the best place to hunt for squirrels."
Harepaw perked his ears when he heard this. I wonder if I'll be able to catch sigh of Blazepaw, this time! He thought. He had been on patrols to the ThunderClan border before, but he had yet to see the striking apprentice.
Once the group had put their prey on the freshkill pile, the headed to the shared border with ThunderClan. Harepaw was excited when he saw another patrol on the ThunderClan side of the border. The two patrols yowled a greeting, and Harepaw saw who had come from ThunderClan. The patrol was led by Sorreltail, and contained Toadstep and Ivypool with their apprentices; Stonepaw… and Blazepaw.
Harepaw nearly leapt with joy when he saw Blazepaw, but stayed calm and nodded for him to come off to the side. "Anything new?" He hissed.
Blazepaw shook his head then paused. He told Harepaw of his first meeting with Smokepaw after the gathering.
"What did that mean?" Harepaw wondered.
"I'm still trying to figure that part out. I'm going to ask Smokepaw if she thought of something next time I see her."
Harepaw nodded. "I have another meeting with Beetlepaw and Nightpaw tonight. I will tell them of what you've told me. Thank you." The two apprentices got back to their patrol just as they were heading separate ways.
Back at camp, the two brothers were given permission to get some freshkill. The refused, stating that they wanted to go hunting again. Emberfoot and Leaftail were too tired to go out on yet another patrol, so their apprentices joined Sunstrike's patrol with Swallowtail and Boulderfur.
"What? Afraid you'd get behind in your training?" Boulderfur teased.
Eaglepaw purred. "We are trying to make up for lost time."
This caused Boulderfur to blink. "Lost time? What time have you lost?"
"When we were kits, all we did was made trouble, now we are helping the Clan." Harepaw responded.
Boulderfur shook his head. "That's just what kits do." He murmured.
When they got to their intended hunting grounds, Sunstrike stopped the patrol. "Okay," she said, "let's split up. We'll catch more prey that way."
Eaglepaw and Harepaw looked at each other. "We have a better idea." Said Harepaw.
"Oh? And what might that be?" Sunstrike asked.
Eaglepaw replied this time. "Where me and Harepaw gather a bunch of rabbits together and herd them into your awaiting claws."
Sunstrike thought for a moment, and then she nodded. "Alright. It's worth a try, but if this doesn't work we are splitting up."
Eaglepaw told the rest of the patrol were to wait while Harepaw went scouting for rabbits. Harepaw stopped suddenly and opened his mouth to taste the air. "Smallkit! Orangekit! Lightkit!" He growled. "I can smell you! You might as well come out now."
Slowly, the three kits came out of the bush they were hiding behind. "How did you know we were there?" Smallkit asked. The brown and white she-kit was the smallest of her litter, but she was the boldest.
"Yea! Our s-scent was hidden super well by that bush." Orangekit agreed. The pale tabby was normally seen following his sister around and agreeing with anything that she said.
"See! I told you he would scent us," the last of the three, Lightkit, hissed. She was a white she-kit with light brown stripes.
"He couldn't have scented us through that! You must've made some noise to alert him." Smallkit accused her sister.
"Yea!" Orangekit hissed. "You didn't want us to sneak out in the first place."
"That's enough!" Harepaw silenced the kits. "I know this territory well. I could tell when there was something wrong with the scents."
Smallkit cocked her head. "Wow, that's amazing! I can't wait until I'm an apprentice." She sighed.
"Harepaw! Have you found those rabbits yet?" Eaglepaw's voice drifted over the hill, and he was quick to follow.
"No, but I found these three." Harepaw replied.
Eaglepaw glared at the kits. "Great, now we have to escort you back to the camp and prolong our hunting trip!"
The apprentices passed the rest of the patrol on their way back to camp, those of who decided to help bring them back. None of them were happy.
"Oh! My kits! Don't you ever sneak out like that again." Their mother, Furzepelt, exclaimed when she saw them.
"Yes, don't you ever do that again." Swallowtail grumbled.
"My apologies," Furzepelt said as she ushered her kits into the nursery.
Swallowtail hissed at her flat tone. "No respect."
Sunstrike rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Swallowtail. We should go hunting while there is still daylight." She turned to the brother. "Sorry, but I'm afraid we won't have time to try out your tactic. You're fine with regular hunting, right?"
Eaglepaw bristled when she said regular hunting but he still replied, "Sure."
Even with their shortened hunting trip, Harepaw and Eaglepaw still managed to catch a thrush each, while Sunstrike caught a blackbird, Swallowtail a small vole, and Boulderfur caught a squirrel and a mouse.
"Now I'm sure you've earned you fill." Leaftail commented when he saw how much prey the patrol had brought in.
"You have to keep you strength up, otherwise you might fall behind." Boulderfur agreed. His last comment sent the brothers running to the freshkill pile. Boulderfur purred, "I guess they don't want to fall behind."
Eaglepaw and Harepaw quickly finished off the rabbit and retreated to their den. Harepaw tried to fall into a light sleep so that he could be up by moonhigh. There were something's he needed to discuss with Beetlepaw.