At some point during the night, Patchpaw, Laurelpaw and Silverpaw had also made their way into the apprentices' den. Snakepaw was unaware until he felt a paw prodding at his side.
"Wake up! We're going out to train!" Patchpaw meowed in his ear. Snakepaw rolled over and stretched out his front legs before opening his eyes.
For a moment, he expected to be greeted by Tawnyflower back in the nursery. But he was an apprentice now, and the only cats nearby were the other apprentices.
"Am I late?" Snakepaw groaned tiredly. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
"Silverpaw woke me up when he left for the dawn patrol. I thought you needed more sleep. You went to sleep early, so I figured you were really tired."
There was nothing but innocence in the young she-cat's tone, but Snakepaw couldn't help but feel bothered that he wasn't included in the early morning apprentice chatter.
He was relieved that Patchpaw didn't seem to notice the hurt in his eyes as she bounded toward the exit of the apprentices' den.
Not wanting to be left behind, Snakepaw hopped up onto his paws and followed her out into the camp.
Rednose and Crowwatcher were already together near the clan exit. Rednose's ears perked as he noticed Snakepaw and Patchpaw finally leaving their den.
"You'll have to eat when we get back. It's normal for apprentices to have a hard time adjusting to being awake so early," Rednose looked to the side toward Crowwatcher, waiting to see if he had anything to add.
After a brief pause, he continued. "-but you shouldn't make a habit of it. Let's go."
The four cats passed the returning dawn patrol as they left.
Gingersnap, a warrior Snakepaw hadn't been formally introduced to, was among them. He was a solid ginger tabby with deep amber eyes.
He padded alongside Silverpaw, his attention forward as he made an effort not to slip on the frozen ground.
Silverpaw gave a taunting look to Patchpaw, who returned it with a stuck out tongue. Snakepaw urged her to continue walking, and the two of them sped up to walk beside their mentors
"Are we battle training today?" Patchpaw asked, struggling a bit to keep up with Crowwatcher's large strides.
"We will get to that," Crowwatcher said simply in response.
"Hunting is more important at the moment, since leafbare hasn't shown any signs of leaving soon." Rednose added. This answer seemed to satisfy Patchpaw much more than her own mentor's did.
"Elmstar wants us to build your endurance so you'll be ready to travel to the island in a few days time, so we'll be walking all the way to the bridge and start hunting there."
Snakepaw wrinkled his nose in disapproval. The bridge was all the way at the edge of their territory.
It was the only path to ThunderClan's territory that didn't require walking across the stream, but it was the furthest away from the lake you could go before wandering into uncharted territory.
By the time they approached the bridge, Snakepaw's legs were already aching.
"We haven't even started hunting yet, and my paws are numb!" he complained, Patchpaw giving him a concerned glance.
"That's good, it means you're really pushing yourself." Rednose said with a small nod, turning to look at Snakepaw.
Crowwatcher was next to him, and the four cats sat in a circle formation while the apprentices were instructed.
"Hunting in ShadowClan territory can be more difficult than other lands, since half of our territory is marsh. We have to crouch down, but keep our bellies high enough to not drag in the mud."
As Rednose explained, Crowwatcher stepped to the side and demonstrated a hunter's crouch.
He lowered himself, bending his legs to allow his nose to touch the ground and taste the air.
His tail was still, and his belly was kept at a fair height above the ground. The only movement Snakepaw could see was the rise and fall of the warrior's chest as he crept forward in his stance.
"You need to place your paws lightly, but with enough weight that you don't slip in the mud."
Snakepaw's gaze flicked between his mentor, who was explaining, and Crowwatcher, who was demonstrating. He wasn't sure who to keep his eyes on.
With a flick of his tail, Rednose motioned for the two apprentices to drop into a hunting crouch.
Snakepaw lowered himself steadily, his pupils dilating as he dropped his head near the earth.
He felt his muscles tense to support his weight on awkwardly bent legs.
Patchpaw, on the other hand, seemed to have no issue holding her crouch, though her tail was flicking rapidly.
Crowwatcher lifted himself out of his pose and padded near Patchpaw, eyeing her. "You'll stir up all the leaves with that tail of yours, and you need to keep your flank still. And Snakepaw," the black tom looked over Patchpaw toward the dilute calico apprentice.
"You're going to strain your muscles like that. If it's hard to keep your balance, pull your paws closer to your center until you're able to stand comfortably."
Snakepaw responded with ear flick, tucking his paws inward to better support his weight. Patchpaw continued to struggle to keep still.
Snakepaw let himself stand up normally while Crowwatcher continued to correct Patchpaw's stance.
His attention turned to the stream, then the pine trees on the other side of it. Inside ThunderClan territory, just where the trees turned into the rocky pebbles that lined the stream, two apprentices stood.
Snakepaw studied them for a moment, and was ready to see their accompanying warriors emerge from the forest, but they never came.
The first apprentice was hard to see against the snow. She was a slim, gray cat with a darker face and paws.
The apprentice next to her was a taller, black tom with white speckles on his paws and legs.
They both stood, staring across the stream, unaware they had caught Snakepaw's attention.
They look like they're waiting for something.
Without any sort of signal, the two apprentices spun around and lurked back into the safety of the pine forest.
"Snakepaw, your hunting crouch is good. I want you to head near the twoleg nest and try to catch something. I'll be following you from a distance to see how you do. Crowwatcher is going to go with Patchpaw, once she figures out how to keep her legs from shaking."
Snakepaw gave an uncontrollable snort at Rednose's comment about his sister.
"I'll see you soon, then," Snakepaw called over to Patchpaw.
She didn't seem to hear him- either that or she was so focused on getting her hunting crouch right, she couldn't take the time to reply.
Snakepaw lurked, keeping his body low to the ground.
Every step he took sunk deeper into the marsh surrounding him, but his focus was set on a nearby frog.
He forced his tail to stay still despite his excitement that came from finally finding a piece of prey on his own.
He'd been padding around the marsh for some time, and he'd only been able to find something after it had found him.
But now he had it, there was a frog right in front of him. He just had to catch it.
He carefully placed each paw in front of the other. I just need to be patient.
Keeping steady, he slowly gained on the frog, until he was just a tail-length away.
Now!
He sprang forward, slamming his paws down on the slimy frog.
The ground under the frog was softer than Snakepaw thought it would be, and he found his jaw slamming down with his paws splayed in front of him.
Caked in mud, he slightly opened his eyes. Despite his slip, the frog was stuck between the apprentice's paws.
I got it!
He quickly stood and gave the frog a nip in the spine, killing it. Thank you starclan for this prey.
With the frog in his jaws and his fur caked in mud, he turned around to see if he could spot Rednose.
The ginger and white tom stepped out from behind a bush, his whiskers twitching in amusement.
"It wasn't graceful, but you did catch your first prey. Good job, Snakepaw."
Snakepaw padded back into camp, holding the frog in his maw by one of its rear legs.
He'd taken the time to wash his pelt off in a nearby stream, so the only remaining sign of his blunder was his cold, damp pelt. Patchpaw wasn't far behind him, carrying a small mouse of her own.
Silverpaw padded toward the two from a distance, giving am amused mrrow at their catches.
"You could've caught something less chewy, y'know." Silverpaw said with a wrinkled nose. "One of the kits will have fun with it, atleast."
"I would've settled for a 'great catch, snakepaw!' or even 'thank you for feeding the clan, snakepaw!'" Snakepaw retorted, rolling his eyes.
His tail flicked in mild agitation. The dampness of his pelt was beginning to feel like ice against his skin.
Patchpaw sped up to walk beside him, giving Snakepaw a friendly nudge. "He's just picking on you. You did great today, much better than me." she said with a chuckle.
Snakepaw's walk turned into a trot as he made his way to the fresh-kill pile, placing his frog onto it neatly. A cool breeze ruffled his pelt and chilled him to the bone.
He realized how mousebrained he must've been to think that being wet was better than being covered in mud during leafbare.
Stifling a shiver, he turned toward the apprentices' den to warm up in his nest.
Snakepaw stepped into the apprentice's den, giving a small glance to see if Bluepaw was around.
Surely enough, the tom was laying in his nest just as he was the day before. Snakepaw spun around in his own nest and lay down, tucking his paws under his chest fur and his nose under his tail.
Bluepaw turned his head over his shoulder and looked at Snakepaw. Without moving his head, Snakepaw returned the tom's gaze.
The gentle sunlight of sun-down was shining through the gaps in the den, lighting up Bluepaw's silvery-blue pelt.
He gave a smile to Snakepaw, his darker blue face holding a friendly expression.
Snakepaw couldn't help but notice how pretty the tom's pure colored pelt looked in the light. It made his own pelt seem muddied in comparison.
"Do you always lay in here?" Snakepaw murmured, his voice slightly muffled by his tail over his nose.
Bluepaw tilted his head slightly. "If I'm not hunting, training, or on patrol, yeah. I really don't like the snow."
"And your mentor doesn't have a problem with that?" Snakepaw chirped, lifting his head.
"Adderthorn would prefer not to listen to me complain about how cold it is," the blue tom replied with a soft laugh.
"His fur is much longer than mine, so he probably thinks this cold is unbearable for me."
"And you don't miss sharing tongues with Laurelpaw and Silverpaw?" Snakepaw was worried he was pushing too much, but Bluepaw didn't seem to mind the questioning.
"Laurelpaw is my littermate, I can see her whenever I want." The tip of the tom's tail flicked back and forth.
"And I don't care much for Silverpaw. He's too loud." Finally somecat agrees! Snakepaw looked at the tom with a slight smile.
Bluepaw rose to his paws and stretched. "I'm going to find some prey, do you want anything?"
Snakepaw felt his stomach rumble as if in response to the offer. "Yes please," Snakepaw meowed.