The Burning- Book One: Blossom [DRAFT]

The Hunt

Robinpaw trudged into the camp, her muscles screaming. The Hunting Testing was never this hard! I combed the woods for any prey, and even then I barely would catch it!

The silver trainee stopped by the freshkill pile and dropped the two mice she'd caught into it, wincing as she saw how tiny they were. Why am I such a failure?

As if to prove her statement, Thrushpaw walked into the camp, carrying both a hare and a squirrel. Her eyes lit up as she spotted Robinpaw, but with the squirrel tucked beneath her chin and the hare dangling from her mouth, Thrushpaw could only wave a tail in greeting.

Not only are her catches impressive, but the fact that she can carry them both! I'm such a failure. Robinpaw exhaled in defeat and sat down, exhausted, as the white she-cat deposited her prey into the pile and hurried over to her.

"So, how was it?" she inquired, stretching out her back.

Robinpaw sighed. "Horrible."

Thrushpaw turned to face her. "Really? It wasn't Foxtail, was it?"

"No," mewed Robinpaw, flicking her tail in dismissal. "I can't hunt! I had to search FOREVER to find anything, and then I'd leap and miss it! I only got two mice," she finished glumly.

Thrushpaw purred. "You're annoyed because it isn't like the Testing, aren't you? Not as easy?"

Robinpaw nodded. What is it? Are my muscles weak for sleeping on soft moss? Is that it? Or is--

"Robinpaw, the Testers sprinkle seeds in the hunting ground there, so prey comes over and eats it. That's what those little circle things on your paws were, remember them?"

Robinpaw did remember them. Her fur begin to feel hot as she realized that the prey was always eating that. "Oh." So I'm not a failure?

"Every trainee needs at least a couple of days to adjust from the easy hunting of Testing. You're not a failure," she added, purring and nudging her playfully.

Robinpaw's body relaxed. Thank the Sun and Moon...

"And you caught two mice! I think I went home empty pawed my first day!" purred Thrushpaw.

"Really?" purred the silver she-cat.

Thrushpaw nodded, staring off into the forest as she recalled the time. "Yep! I was concentrating so hard on impressing my mentor, I forgot to keep my tail still. The prey heard me coming every time." She turned back to Robinpaw. "It's great you brought back something. The pile's looking a little low."

Robinpaw turned to look at the pile. Low? It seemed to have plenty of prey! "Low?" she repeated.

The white she-cat nodded. "Yeah. Remember, there are only so many hunters. Let's see...Larkfoot, Deerleg, Ratmuzzle, Shrewfoot, Harewing, Moletail, Foxtail, you, Quailpaw, and I." She paused. "Oh, right! And Kestrelwing!" She tilted her head. "Well, sort of. Not right now, you know, she's under suspicion or something, but normally she'd be hunting."

Kestrelwing's face flashed into Robinpaw's memory, and she suppressed a shudder. Her mother's indifference was one of the scariest memories she had...along with her lack of reaction to her son's death.

"Put that way, that seems like a lot. But remember, there are ten Leaders, eleven or twelve Lesser Leaders, seven Fighters, and...oh, I don't know how many servants. Don't see them much. But that's a lot of cats."

Yeah...a lot of cats, agreed Robinpaw. "Why aren't there more hunters?" That genuinely confused Robinpaw. Why wouldn't there be more Hunters and less Lesser Leaders? They didn't do anything useful.