Lost Hope: Book 4: The Darkest Shadow

Chapter 20

Foxflame and Lilacsnow had decided yesterday that it was finally time for their apprentices to receive their warrior name.

"Can I just sleep for a bit longer?" Claypaw whined as Foxflame nudged her side with his nose.

"What if I told you this was your last day of training?"

Claypaw looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"

Foxflame blinked innocently. "Oh, just that I may or may not be assessing you today." He smiled at his apprentice's astounded expression.

"Finally!" she cried. "Lilypaw! Did you hear that? We're being assessed today!"

Her sister's eyes shot open. "Wait, really?"

Lilacsnow rolled her eyes. "Yes, now hurry up and get out of your nests. We've already let you sleep in because it was the Gathering last night."

"Ok!" the sisters squeaked and followed their mentors out of the den. They left camp and padded on toward the training clearing to begin, Claypaw and Lilypaw bouncing along behind them the whole time.

"You know, the first thing to becoming a good warrior is the walking stance," Lilacsnow said absently, though her eyes gleamed playfully as she looked behind her.

The apprentices immediately straightened up and followed with a more reasonable gait, which Foxflame started laughing at.

"She's just messing with you," he informed them, still chuckling.

"Oh," Lilypaw said, looking a little embarrassed.

They reached the training clearing and positioned themselves in front of their apprentices, beginning to explain how the assessment would go.

"We'll be watching you the whole time, but you wont see us," Lilacsnow said. "Just focus on hunting, ok?"

"Ok!" Lilypaw agreed readily.

"You got that, Claypaw?" Foxflame asked his own apprentice, who nodded.

"Alright, Lilypaw, I'll have you hunt closer to the FernClan border," Lilacsnow instructed.

"And, Claypaw, you can hunt down past the trees and near the river," Foxflame said. "Ready? Set? Go!"

Both apprentices shot off in different directions, eager to impress their mentors.

"I'll catch up with you in a bit then?" Lilacsnow said to her brother.

Foxflame nodded. "Yep, see you later." And he turned and followed his apprentices through the tree, being careful not to walk directly behind her so she wouldn't turn around and see him. Instead, he took a path off to the side and watched through the undergrowth as she tasted the air for prey.

He had already picked up the scent of mice and Claypaw seemed to smell them as well. She dropped into a crouch and approached a large tree where a burrow was present between the roots. She pressed her nose to the earth and twitched her ears, listening for movement in the tunnel. After a few moments she pulled her head away and reached paw in. Squeaks followed her attack and suddenly, a half dozen mice shot out of a different end of the burrow and scattered. Claypaw picked a target, an older mouse who was slower than the rest and gave chase. She soon had it under her paw and bit it's neck.

A clean kill, Foxflame thought approvingly.

Claypaw buried the mouse under some dirt and moved on from the tree, tasting the air once again for another target. She angled her ears up and Foxflame followed her gaze toward a large sparrow perched on a tree branch. She put her paws to the trunk, digging her claws in, and began to haul herself up. Foxflame watched as she came to the branch with the sparrow, hidden by the leaves. She padded forward, light on her paws. The sparrow was engrossed by a grub and was pecking at it attentively. Claypaw was close enough to pounce now, and she readied herself on the branch. Foxflame waited for her to spring forward, suspense tensing the air.