Two things before I start -

Firstly, yes, Arika24, Cloudpaw is an OC. They're all ocs! The Clan is a fanclan set in a fanclan universe/lh, gen

Secondly, great catch, Raindropp14. The prologue was meant to have a divider between the scene between Larch/Petal, and Petal/Briar. Originally, the divider was a set of asterisks, but FFN doesn't support them anymore, apparently, so they were removed at saving. It is now fixed, however! Thank you for mentioning it!

Cloudpaw's tail swished from side to side as she lay crouched in a patch of tall grass. Her ears were pricked, and she parted her jaws to scent the air, just as Brookleap had taught her to. She was on high alert for any sight or sound that would tip her off to nearby prey.

Anxiety rose in her chest.

Brookleap had shown her how to hunt on the moor, and yet she couldn't help but feel like she didn't know what she was doing… Her mentor had made it look so easy when he caught a squirrel right before her very eyes. After the squirrel, he showed her how to catch a bird, how she should utelize her claws to hook the bird's wings to keep it from flying away from her. Once he had caught these two pieces of prey, he instructed her to try it out, too.

"I'm taking these back to camp. When I come back, I want you to have caught something for me, any piece of prey," and with that, he turned and ambled back towards StoneClan camp.

Cloudpaw thought this method of teaching was unfair and unnecessarily stressful. She had only been an apprentice for a quarter moon, and she had only been given one demonstration about how to hunt. What if her target happened to be a mouse? Or a snake? What would she do, then? Brookleap had not told her what to do to catch other creatures. She had no frame of reference…

Surely it can't be that different…

Cloudpaw closed her eyes and focused hard on the scents and sounds around her. Her ears swiveled on her head, her jaw hung open. She sat this way for a few minutes before she caught something.

A robin!

She opened her eyes and slowly scanned the grassland for her target. It took a moment for her to spot the creature, but once she did, she was on the move.

She crept out of the tall grass that concealed her, slowly padding toward the bird. He had only mentioned it in passing, but Brookleap had told her it was important that no part of her alerted the prey to her presence; so she needed to be aware of where she placed her paws, and where her tail was in relation to her. One wrong step would make the dead grass crackle, and the robin would fly away. If her tail was stuck up, the bird would see it and fly away. Cloudpaw stared at the feathered creature, her eyes never once moving from it.

Crack!

She had stepped in the dry grass.

The deep, black eyes of the robin turned on her, and before Cloudpaw could leap to try and catch it, it was gone, safe in the branches of a nearby tree.

Cloudpaw groaned softly and sat up, her tail swishing in frustration.

Maybe I should try to catch something that can't fly first…

She crouched back down and scented the air, but there was nothing except for the scent of the robin that had fled, so Cloudpaw stood and moved east. When she caught a new scent, she instantly sank to the ground. She scanned the grassland before her until she saw it - a rabbit.

Nervousness rose in the apprentice's chest. A rabbit might not have been able to fly, but they were fast - faster than she was, no doubt. She would still need to get close to it in order to have a chance at catching it. Part of her felt as though she had no chance to begin with, but she pushed those thoughts aside. She needed to catch something before Brookleap came back. She didn't want to disappoint her mentor. She had to try.

She crouched once more and began to stalk. The apprentice slinked forward silently, and she got quite close to the rabbit, before it turned, stared directly into her eyes, and took off in the opposite direction.

Cloudpaw bolted, taking off after the rabbit at full speed. She gave her best, but she simply had neither the speed, nor stamina, to catch up with the rabbit and kill it. She slowed to a trot, a walk, and then she stopped to sit.

"Fox dung!" She shouted between pants. "I didn't make any noise!'

Her chest heaved, her tail flicking erratically with irritation.

Before she could continue on and attempt another hunt, she heard a rustle in the grass. She turned her head, and she nearly jumped out of her fur when she saw a cat looking back at her. Cloudpaw realized soon enough that this was another StoneClan apprentice, though - Sparrowpaw. The older apprentice trotted over to her, a cheerful bounce in his step.

"I heard you shouting all the way from the pond - what happened?"

Cloudpaw dropped her gaze, her tail still flicking.

"I, um… I was trying to catch a rabbit," she admitted.

Sparrowpaw laughed and sat with her. "First time hunting?" He asked in a knowing tone.

"Yes," Cloudpaw said with a nod.

"Clearly," Sparrowpaw teased. "You're standing upwind, Cloudpaw. You might not have made any noise, but that rabbit could smell you. That's why it ran away before you could get too close."

"Up…wind?" Cloudpaw asked. Brookleap hadn't mentioned that…

"Yeah! Do you feel which way the wind is blowing?" Sparrowpaw asked.

Cloudpaw focused on the breeze for a second. She could feel it in her fur. The wind was blowing against her, causing tufts to flick up. The grass showed it, too. The blades bent forward, in the same direction she was facing.

"It's blowing that way," Cloudpaw said, pointing forward with her paw.

"That's right!" Sparrowpaw said brightly with a nod. "And when the wind is blowing toward you, it carries your scent forward, which allows prey in front of you to smell you, and it'll let them know you're coming, no matter how stealthy you are."

"So I should," Cloudpaw trailed off and looked behind her.

"You should hunt in that direction," Sparrowpaw pointed behind her with his tail. "That way the prey won't see you coming, or smell you coming."

"Brookleap didn't tell me about any of this!" Cloudpaw sighed miserably.

"Really?"

"Yes! I don't know why he wouldn't."

"That's mouse-brained. The wind is super important when you hunt up here. It can be carried so far. There are no bushes or trees or anything to block it off. Not telling you would make it way harder for you to learn up here."

Irritation flickered in Cloudpaw's expression. "That's not fair."

"No, it isn't. I don't know why he'd do something like that. Or. Not do something like that, I guess. But! You know now, don't you? You should give hunting another try."

"I should!" Cloudpaw agreed, standing.

"If you go that way and then go right at the pine tree, there's usually some mice around. Those are good to practice on. They're not too fast or too big, can't fly, and go down easily."

"Is there prey that doesn't go down easily?" Cloudpaw asked.

Sparrowpaw tipped his head to the side as he thought. "Well, rabbits can be tricky. They will bite you and scratch to try and get away. Twigtail told me that Skydapple nearly retired early because a rabbit scratched him in the face. It messed up his eyesight, but it did eventually heal, luckily. She said that Skydapple never chased another rabbit again after that."

"A rabbit almost blinded him?" Cloudpaw gasped.

"Yeah! But after four moons, his sight slowly came back, and he stayed a warrior."

"I didn't know they were even dangerous…" Cloudpaw admitted. She looked behind her and then back to Sparrowpaw. "I suppose I should try that way, then."

She turned and trotted off in the direction that Sparrowpaw had told her, but before she got too far, she turned around and shouted, "Thank you, Sparrowpaw!" She saw Sparrowpaw flinch and shake his head.

Cloudpaw stopped for just a moment to wonder what that was about before doing as he had instructed. She scented the air again, and she picked up something she'd never smelled before. It wasn't far away, either.

She settled into her crouch and began to stalk silently over the moor. She watched where she put her paws, careful to avoid any stones, sticks, or dead grass. With every pawstep she could feel herself getting closer - until she saw it - a long, tubular creature slithering through the grass. Snake!

She stared at it for a moment, looking over its bright orange markings against its otherwise dark body. This kind of snake wasn't dangerous, right…? For a moment she considered leaving it and going to look for something else, but who knew how far Brookleap was right now. She needed to catch something before he got back. She had to prove that she was capable as a hunter and would be able to feed her Clan!

So, after sending a quick prayer to StarClan for protection, she leaped at the creature and quickly took its wriggling body between her teeth and bit down hard on its neck, just behind its head, and the body fell limp. She set the snake down to look at it. It was quite pretty, actually, with its dark scales, patched with beautiful orange, and yellow stripes. She picked it up again and turned take her prey to camp.

"Well done!" A voice praised from behind her.

Cloudpaw nearly leaped out of her fur as she spun around to see her mentor beaming with pride.

Cloudpaw had been proud of her catch all the way up until she set it in the freshkill pile, at which point Sorrelpatch snorted and pointed out that there was hardly any meat on it. Her tail drooped, but she tried to hide any other displays of disappointment.

"At least you killed it before it started to taste bad," Sorrelpatch sighed.

"Before it starts to taste bad?"

"Yes. This is a garter snake. When they're afraid they release a fear scent so strong that it makes them inedible. But," the brown tom lowered his nose to sniff the snake. "It doesn't smell bad. You made quick work of it."

Just as Sorrelpatch picked a sparrow and carried it off to eat, Moonpaw bounded up to the freshkill pile, nearly running into Cloudpaw.

"Watch it!" Skypaw called from behind them.

"Hi, Cloudpaw!" Moonpaw said brightly, sitting down beside her. "Woah! A snake!" The fluffy white tom sniffed at the creature before picking it up and choosing it as his meal.

"Do you want to eat with us?" Skypaw asked.

"Sure," Cloudpaw nodded and surveyed the pile before picking up a plump vole. Skypaw picked a mouse and the three of them found a quiet corner of camp to nestle into to talk.

"So, what have you two been learning?" Cloudpaw asked.

"I was taught a battle move today!" Moonpaw said excitedly.

Skypaw gasped. "Lucky! I had to gather moss and help sort herbs with Plumpelt," she groaned.

"At least you weren't outside in the hot sun all day," Cloudpaw said, trying to look on the bright side.

"What did you do?" Moonpaw asked after tucking into his snake.

"I went hunting on the moor," Cloudpaw said.

"That must have been so fun! I want to learn to hunt," Skypaw said.

"I'm sure you'll get to soon enough. Hunting is so important, there's no way your mentor would put off teaching you." Moonpaw said.

"Have you learned to hunt yet?" Cloudpaw asked Moonpaw. After all, he did have an impressive hunter as a mentor.

"Yep! And tomorrow me, Littleleap, Flamewing, Ambersight, and Sparrowpaw are going on a hunting patrol at dawn!"

"And you're excited about that?" Asked Skypaw. "I wouldn't want to be on a patrol at dawn!"

"It's a good time to catch prey, actually! They're all just waking up. They'll be less alert to danger!"

"If you say so," Skypaw said, taking a bite from her mouse.

Cloudpaw was about to open her mouth when she heard pawsteps behind her. She and her siblings turned to see Briarheart and Brookleap walking over to them. Anxiety pricked in Cloudpaw's heart. Had she done something wrong?

"Good evening," Brookleap greeted calmly.

"Cloudpaw, your mentor has requested that the two of you be sent on the dawn patrol tomorrow morning. He thought it would be a good idea to tell you now, so that you will sleep earlier," Briarheart explained.

"Who else will be on the patrol?" Cloudpaw asked.

"Shadowclaw, Thistlewing, Berryleaf, Tigertail, Blossomtuft, and Newtpaw. Shadowclaw will be leading the patrol."

Cloudpaw nodded in understanding. "Alright," she said. "I understand."

With that, the deputy and her mentor strode away into the fading evening.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow morning," Moonpaw snickered.

"I guess so…"

She looked over the clearing. Her Clanmates were milling about, some huddled in small groups. This was the best part of the day to Cloudpaw. Their lives were hard, their work was difficult, and they had to fight to survive, but at the end of the day… At the end of the day, they were all almost like one big family, looking out for each other, talking to each other, making sure everyone was safe, healthy, and fed. Even old Plumpelt was out of her den, sitting with her siblings, eating, and talking. It made Cloudpaw wonder if they were talking about a new apprentice for her.

Plumpelt was one of the oldest cats in the Clan - and easily the oldest non-elder cat. Many thought that she would have retired moons ago, after Larchdapple had become a full medicine cat, but when he was exiled and chased away, she no longer could. Neither she nor Larchdapple had an apprentice by then. So, despite the fact that she was steadily approaching her 200th moon, she remained the Clan's only medicine cat.

Cloudpaw felt something on her shoulder, and the fur along her spine bristled as she looked over to see who it was. She recognized the cat's scent before she saw her.

"Hello little ones," came Berryleaf's soft purr as she took a place between Cloudpaw and Skypaw.

"We're not so little anymore!" Moonpaw protested, holding his head high and chin out.

"Well I still remember when your ears and eyes were closed," the cream she-cat mewed. Berryleaf curled her tail around her and tucked her paws beneath her chest before continuing. "I wanted to check up on the three of you. How are your apprenticeships going?" She asked, her eyes shone with happiness.

"Good!" Skypaw exclaimed. "I'm the only one out of the three of us that doesn't have to go on a dawn patrol tomorrow!"

Cloudpaw wrinkled her nose. She wasn't happy about having to be up so early.

Berryleaf laughed. "Well, Cloudpaw, at least it's not just you. I'll be up with you, too. And Shadowclaw. And Brookleap. And Newtpelt."

"What's the patrol going to be like?"

"Quick," Berryleaf said. "Shadowclaw is very no-funny business. She'll make sure the patrol is quick, clean, and thorough. She takes her job seriously. You'll see what I mean in the morning."

"Is she… Mean?"

It sure seemed that way, sometimes. Shadowclaw seemed like the type of she-cat who worked hard and did not tolerate people getting in her way. To Cloudpaw, it seemed like she worked hard because she was ambitious. Did she want to be the deputy? Whatever the case, her hard work paid off. There was a reason that, despite her youth, she was so well-respected and trusted within the Clan.

"She can be… Intense?" Berryleaf said. "Just do exactly what she says, and you'll have no problem. Work hard, and you might even get on her good side."

"Should I get on her good side?" Cloudpaw asked.

"Well-" Berryleaf began

"She sounds boring," Skypaw jumped in.

"And too strict," Agreed Moonpaw.

Berryleaf laughed. "She's a good warrior, though. Any three of you would have been lucky to get her as your mentor."

"I don't think you know what lucky means," Skypaw joked.

"Don't worry Cloudpaw. She's not so bad. You might even like her."

"I hope so. She's a little scary…"

Cloudpaw went to sleep early that night. She was one of the first apprentices in the den. After all, if she were expected to get up very early the next morning, then she would need to go to sleep early to get all the sleep she needed. She curled up in her nest and laid her tail across her face, and soon she slowly sank into sleep.

Wailing jolted Cloudpaw awake. She, and all of the other apprentices in the den leaped up to see what was going on. She narrowly squeezed out of the den, and the sight before her made her blood run cold.

A fox was in the middle of the camp, cornered by five warriors, the fur around its mouth and on its chest darkened by what Cloudpaw could only assume was blood. The shrieking that woke Cloudpaw up continued from the other side of the clearing, just outside the nursery.

Hissing and yowling broke out from the warriors that had the fox cornered. More had since joined them, and they leaped at the fox, tearing at its fur. Sparrowpaw and Newtpaw raced past Cloudpaw to help the warriors fighting the fox.

The fox yipped and screeched, trying to shake the cats off, and when that did not work, it reared onto its back legs and tried to fall back and crush a cat beneath it. Try as it might, though, the fox was woefully outnumbered, and warriors swarmed it on every side, taking chunks out of its fur and flesh until it fell to the ground. Its yowls and yips faded into pathetic wimpers, and then into nothing, at which point the warriors let it go.

Cloudpaw was frozen on the spot, but amidst the wailing, which she hardly recognized to be Mothspeckle's, she could hear Briarheart shouting orders to get the fox out of camp. Several warriors stepped up, and before Cloudpaw fully knew what was happening, she found herself before the fox.

"Can I help?" She asked.

A black she-cat looked back at her, her eyes filled with anguish and fury. Shadowclaw. "Yes," she said stiffly. "You grab it by the scruff," she said nodding to where she wanted Cloudpaw to go.

Other warriors and apprentices gathered with her to help drag the fox off. The job was hard. Shadowclaw had directed them to take it and bury it somewhere in the territory, not on the highlands, somewhere in the caves. The sandstone would be easier to dig out than the hard, packed earth of the highlands.

The job was very difficult for Cloudpaw. Not only was her head spinning, but the fox tasted disusting, and it had a sharp, rank scent that drowned out everything around it. It took a great deal of willpower for her to not drop the fox and retch.

They found a suitable spot for it after what felt like an eternity of carrying. Cloudpaw had been gripping the corpse so hard in her jaws that when she let go, she was sore, and speaking hurt.

"Cloudpaw, Russetfur, Sweetflower, start digging, and bury the fox. We will go back to camp to clean up the blood and help bring any injured cats to Plumpelt."

Wordlessly, the two warriors began to dig. A moment later, Cloudpaw joined them. When the hole was done, the three of them grabbed the fox by the scruff and dragged it into the hole. It fell with a muted thud, and when the wretched creature was fully in the ground, the three of them buried it. For just a moment following this, the three cats sat in silence. It was Cloudpaw who broke the silence.

"What… What happened?" She asked meekly.

No one answered. When Cloudpaw opened her mouth to ask again, Russetfur placed her tail across Cloudpaw's mouth, and she fell quiet. Cloudpaw got the message loud and clear. It was too soon. No one wanted to acknowledge what had happened.

It wasn't hard to piece together. The fox had been coated in blood, Mothspeckle had been screaming and crying outside the nursery beside someone.

Someone had been killed by the fox.

The three cats walked silently back to camp, their tails and gazes low. When they came back through the rock tunnel, Skypaw and Moonpaw were there to greet her. They fussed over her fur, and they told her what the two warriors would not.

"The fox got Turtlekit," Skypaw's voice broke as she spoke, and Moonpaw wrapped his tail around her shoulders. Skypaw leaned into her brother for comfort.

"Turtlekit?" Breathed Cloudpaw.

Her gaze fell to the dusty floor of the clearing, wide-eyed. Turtlekit was only a moon younger than they were… He and both of his siblings were so close to becoming apprentices… Cloudpaw had been exited for them to join them in the apprentice den, so it would be warmer and less empty…

"Was… Anyone hurt?" Cloudpaw asked hoarsely.

"Sparrowpaw was bitten… And Mothspeckle has a gash across her side… She- she did her best," Moonpaw murmured weakly.

As if trying to distract himself from the horrible tragedy that had just happened, Moonpaw leaned forward to begin grooming Cloudpaw's fur. Cloudpaw allowed him and his sister to clean her, and she tried to groom them in turn. It would do nothing to bring back the sweet kid who'd been lost, but at least they could take solace in their shared grief.

When the three of them were passably clean, they padded miserably back to the nursery, pulled their nests together, and curled up together, as they had less than a moon ago in the nursery.