Warrior cats [Major Update: read desc]

Chapter 3

As soon as light hit Dawnpaw’s eyes, She stretched with flexed claws and yawned. “Good morning!” Honeypaw was inches from Dawnpaw’s face. “Morning.” Dawnpaw mumbled. Leopardwhisker was impatiently waiting at the entrance of the apprentice den. Dawnpaw made She to the entrance of the den quickly. The mentor growled. “You were supposed to get up before sunrise.” “Yes, umm… It won’t happen again.” “I hope not.” Leopardwhisker flicked his tail. “Come on, let’s go.” “What are you going to teach me?” “I’m going to train you how to hunt.” He turned and Dawnpaw followed. Everything was new to Dawnpaw, the woods, the bushes, the smells. It was a whole new world to Dawnpaw. She had never stepped foot out of the camp, but now She knew what they’d been missing out on. “Have you heard of tail signals?” Leopardwhisker’s voice was quiet but not a whisper. “I… I think I have heard of it. Can you show me?” Leopardwhisker stopped walking and faced Dawnpaw. His tail went directly up. “This means you must stop.” He kept his tail up but swayed it. “When I do this, you must stay behind me. And finally,” His tail kinked over his back, “Attack. You will use this in battle, but for today, we will practice this in our hunting.” The mentor carried on walking with Dawnpaw close behind. The two made their way towards where the Thunderclan border and Shadowclan border met. Leopardwhisker soon crouched so Dawnpaw crouched with him. “Tell me what you smell.” This time he spoke in a whisper. Dawnpaw opened her jaw to sniff the air more efficiently. There seemed to be a frog in the distance, but a small squirrel that smelt closer. “I smell a squirrel and a frog. But the squirrel seems to be closer.” The tom’s tail went up and swayed. Dawnpaw did as She was told and stayed behind. Leopardwhisker moved so Dawnpaw could see the squirrel. A moment passed and Dawnpaw stayed in her spot waiting for her mentor to tell her to attack. She could tell that their mentor trusted that they knew how to catch prey, but the truth was, Dawnpaw was nervous. Leopardwhisker finally kinked his tail over his back and Dawnpaw ran with all the force She had and with all of their strength, they put into the attack. She claws unsheathed as they pounced and landed on the squirrel. However, the victory was short lived when the squirrel squirmed and jumped away and into a tree. Dawnpaw wanted to go after it so She jumped onto the tree, holding on with as much strength as possible. They started to climb, but decided it would be hopeless. Not being too far off the ground, She let go from the tree and made their way back to their mentor. She expected their mentor to be horribly upset, but he just sighed and turned to the direction where the frog smell was coming from. “Let me show you this time.” His words were stale. As the forest cleared and water was visible, Dawnpaw felt disappointed in themselves that they couldn’t even catch a squirrel. Dawnpaw watched as Leopardwhisker caught the frog with ease. He dropped it in front of Dawnpaw. “It will be much harder to hunt in the dark.” He urged Dawnpaw to pick up the prey and take it back to camp. Dawnpaw led the way to camp with Leopardwhisker behind them at a distance. It almost felt as if he was embarrassed by his apprentice. Dawnpaw made a mental note to try harder next time. Walking into camp, She was greeted by Whitepaw. “Hey Dawnpaw. Nice frog.” “Yeah, too bad I didn’t catch it.” Dawnpaw smiled awkwardly. They dropped the frog off at the fresh kill pile. “Have the queens had anything to eat yet?” She questioned, tilting their head. “I don’t think so.” Dawnpaw offered to go feed the queens and kits as an excuse to see her mother. She trodded over to the nursery with the biggest magpie she could find. She peered into the nursery feeling the warmth of the den. Mossfeather looked over and smiled. “You needed to see me again.” She laughed. “I got some prey for you all.” Dawnpaw slowly made their way inside and saw Bluekit, who seemed angry. “How did you become an apprentice before me?” He was very big now and is on the verge of being apprenticed. “Well, I was born a few months before you. That’s how.” Dawnpaw stuck their tongue out to Bluekit and he returned the gesture. Dawnpaw placed the magpie in the center of the nursery. “I need to go now…” Dawnpaw turned to leave but her mother stopped her. “Please, tell me what happened while you were hunting. I want to know everything that’s happened to you today.” “Well,” Dawnpaw saw pride in their mother’s eyes, “Umm well I almost caught a squirrel, but it got away.” Instead of being utterly disappointed, Mossfeather smiled. “That’s alright. It took me a while to learn how to properly hunt. I couldn’t stop wiggling my tail before I pounced and I’d give my location away.” Dawnpaw laughed. “Really?” “Yes really. It wasn’t until I practiced tirelessly that I finally attacked prey right.” “Huh…” Dawnpaw felt better about their slip up from earlier. “Well I really should get going, my mentor is waiting for me. Goodbye mama.” “I’ll see you later Dawnpaw.” Dawnpaw trodded out of the den and made their way to the fresh kill pile to eat since there were no elders to feed. They picked up a lizard and devoured it. She didn’t know how hungry hunting made them. They laid down on a rock that was in the clearing and soaked in the sun. They saw an orange tom trot into camp. Dawnpaw knew him as Duckpaw. Duckpaw made his way to the fresh kill pile, grabbed a mouse, and sat next to Dawnpaw. “Hey. Erm… Aren’t you Dawnpaw?” The golden colored apprentice nodded, not really wanting to engage in a conversation. Duckpaw smiled “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Duckpaw, but you probably already knew that huh?” She smiled and nodded in response. “You don’t say much, do you?” “I- I do… I just don’t normally just talk to others. I like to get to know them better before talking their ears off.” “Oh,” Duckpaw laughed, “I see.” There was a long silence. “How’s Deadtail?” Dawnpaw mewed, hoping to break the awkward silence. “Oh my mentor? She’s strict but she can’t be as strict as Leopardwhisker.” Dawnpaw’s ears perked up. “Yeah, he’s a bit stern, but not mean. He just has high expectations.” “Can you reach them?” Duckpaw’s question hit Dawnpaw like a monster. “Well… I hope I can, but today wasn’t a very good day for me. I missed my prey.” Duckpaw chuckled to himself. “Sorry to hear that,” He took a bite of his mouse, “Good luck when it comes to hunting at night.” “Yeah, I know. Leopardwhisker told me it was going to be harder for me.” Duckpaw ate the rest of his mouse and rubbed his head on Dawnpaw’s head in sympathy. “I know you’ll get the hang of it, just practice.” “Alright…” Dawnpaw sighed. Once it was sunhigh, most of the warriors and their apprentices were back to the camp, but Squirrelpaw was nowhere to be found. “Squirrelpaw!” Dawnpaw went looking for him around the clearing. They decided to find Frogfang and ask where his apprentice could be. As Dawnpaw was approaching the orange tom, Honeypaw trodded beside She. “Hey what’s up?” Dawnpaw looked at their sister. “I’m looking for Squirrelpaw.” Honeypaw thought for a minute. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him since he got back from his patrol. He said he wanted to check again because he thought he saw something.” “Huh… Did you see which way he went?” Honeypaw pointed her tail to where four trees was. “I believe he was going towards the Windclan border.” “Thanks Honeypaw.” “No problem. Hey, are you going by yourself?” Dawnpaw thought of a quick lie because if She said they were going alone, Honeypaw would come and get distracted. Dawnpaw didn’t want to stop to look at every herb on the way. “I’m going with… Duckpaw. Yes.” “Well you might want to go get him then. And promise me you’ll be safe. You are going near another clan’s territory.” “That gives me more of a reason to find Squirrelpaw.” Dawnpaw stated. “Just be careful.” “I will.” Dawnpaw trodded over to Duckpaw. “Hey Duckpaw! Can you do me a favor?” The apprentice hummed in response. “Can you walk out of camp with me? You don’t need to go far, I just need you to come with me for a moment.” Duckpaw thought about his answer. “What’s your scheme Dawnpaw?” “No scheme, I just need you.” Duckpaw agreed to come with them. They left the clearing and made their way towards the Windclan border. When the apprentices were a few fox lengths away from the border, Dawnpaw told Duckpaw to lay low and stay right where he was and to not move. He agreed once again and stayed extremely still. Dawnpaw continued, crouched and ready to attack if necessary. Dawnpaw could hear Squirrelpaw’s voice up ahead. He sounded like he was laughing with someone. Dawnpaw hid down wind behind a bush and watched as Squirrelpaw chatted with a Windclan apprentice.