Waging War Book 3: Blood Red Moon {COMPLETE}

Chapter 4

Slatepaw crept through the forest, making sure that every pawstep was silent and his prey was completely oblivious to the danger he presented. He could see the squirrel just a few taillengths away from Slatepaw's claws. He let out a silent breath to steady his body, making sure that he was intently focused on this catch.

He shifted his weight into his haunches and put his strength into a mighty leap forward. With claws extended, his paws landed cleanly on the squirrel, pinning the plump red squirrel to the forest floor and killing it with a clean bite to the neck. Perfect. Slatepaw thought with a swipe of his tail. Every time.

"Good work, Slatepaw." His ears twitched when he heard the voice of his mentor, Leafdawn, approach. Her mottled brown pelt coming into view. "The assessment is done, let's meet up with your sisters."

Slatepaw gave his mentor a nod then the two of them worked together to gather all the prey he had caught. As usual, Slatepaw caught a bountiful amount even though the air had been getting colder with each passing day. He confidently carried his catch back to the training area. He and Leafdawn arrived last and he saw his sisters, Mistpaw and Dewpaw sitting with their mentors Ravensong and Rabbitspring.

Mistpaw had four pieces of prey at her paws while Dewpaw had three, both paling in comparison to Slatepaw's six. He knew that his sisters were good hunters, but he would always outshine them. He sat down next to Mistpaw and awaited Leafdawn's approval. There was no way that he would fail this assessment and by the end of the day, at long last he would have his warrior name.

Slatepaw briefly recalled how Blossompaw, ridiculed him about his lack of a warrior name but he refused to let some lowly SunClan apprentice get under his skin. While he agreed that he should've been made a warrior as soon as he returned from the journey, he couldn't change the past, only his future.

"I'll go ahead and start." Ravensong spoke up. "Mistpaw, you did an incredible job while hunting. You remained focused and you stayed silent, not letting a single piece of prey escape. You have truly earned your place here in AshClan. You pass."

"I'll go next." Rabbitspring said, her voice small and timid. Slatepaw didn't know how such a skittish she-cat earned her warrior name, but it wasn't his place to question Riverstar's choices. Not yet, anyway. "Dewpaw you also did an incredible job hunting today. I am proud of the fine warrior that you have grown into and I know that the rest of the Clan will be proud of you as well."

"Thank you, Rabbitspring." Dewpaw purred softly.

"And finally, it's my turn." Leafdawn rose to her paws and faced Slatepaw with an intense expression. "Slatepaw you showed me on your very first day as an apprentice that you had a natural talent for being a warrior. Yet you had all the fiery arrogance of a fox. You still have that arrogance today, but I do believe that you learned a lot on the journey we took together. I still think that you need to work on your attitude, I believe that your skills will be an incredible benefit to AshClan. You pass."

There was no relief to be felt because Slatepaw knew that he already passed, Leafdawn would have to be a mouse-brained fool to keep as an apprentice for any longer. He already had the skills of a full grown warrior, he was certain he could fight most of the warriors in AshClan or any other Clan for that matter.

"Let's return to camp now." Ravensong mewed, standing up along with the others. "Riverstar doesn't like to waste time." Slatepaw stood up as well, he and Leafdawn carrying his prey back to the AshClan camp.

While he stayed composed and stoic, Slatepaw did feel a sense of excitement about finally earning his warrior name. He would finally not be restricted by a mentor, he would no longer have to do menial tasks such as removing ticks from the elders, he would have his own freedom to finally show AshClan what he could do.