Flowerstar's Judgement {COMPLETE}

Chapter 6

"Hold your body still, and step lightly. A mouse will feel the vibrations in the ground if you step too hard." Owlfoot explained, Flowerpaw placed her paw on the forest floor. Shifting a leaf slightly. "Too hard, if I can hear the leaf from where I am then I know for a fact that a mouse would be able to hear you." Flowerpaw looked at the leaf, trying to focus on making her pawsteps lighter. How am I supposed to step any lighter than I am? I'll move like a turtle! Despite everything, she tried stepping once more. "Still too hard." Owlfoot said sternly. "You're rushing yourself, you're trying to make it go by quickly.

Owlfoot crouched down beside Flowerpaw, placing his paw forward. It was essentially silent, not making any sound and not moving any leaves on the ground. Flowerpaw watched everything about his paw steps. Don't rush it. She told herself. Flowerpaw looked at the forest floor, taking another step but moving slowly and setting it down gingerly.

"Better." Owlfoot nodded. "Now try creeping forward, every paw step needs to be silent. It may take a while for you to catch the mouse, but if you rush then you won't catch it at all." Flowerpaw nodded and began moving forward, making sure her pawsteps were silent. "I understand it may be difficult now and you're focusing very hard on stepping lightly. Soon, though, it will come as natural to you as breathing."

Flowerpaw wondered how she could get used to stepping so lightly, but she would certainly try. She kept moving forward with her silent pawsteps until she had moved several foxlengths away from Owlfoot. "Not bad, you're getting better." Flowerpaw stood up, feeling more confident in herself from Owlfoot's praise. "Each piece of prey is different, that's why the other Clans might hunt things that SunClan cats don't. For example; MoonClan cats hunt rabbits because they're faster than we are. LichenClan cats like hunting birds, they have powerful legs that allow them to jump farther. AshClan cats eat a lot of prey similar to us, but have different techniques to deal with their different territory." Owlfoot sniffed the air. "However, if it's in our territory and you see a chance to catch it, feel free to catch any kind of prey. No cat will turn their nose up at prey."

"Will I learn from you how to catch rabbits?" Flowerpaw questioned, tilting her head.

"I'll teach you once you have mastered other hunting methods, rabbits don't frequently cross into our territory so you'll need to know how to catch what's in our territory. Squirrels, mice, voles and birds." Owlfoot looked around, his green eyes scanning the forest. He turned back and looked down at Flowerpaw who was still thinking about her hunting techniques. "Let's head back to camp, we'll be joining a patrol here shortly. Get something to eat and prepare to leave."

Flowerpaw didn't complain, she began following her mentor through the forest and back towards SunClan's camp. "When will I actually go hunting?" Flowerpaw questioned, she had been an apprentice for a few days now and had just spent the past few days learning how to hunt but hadn't practiced her skills on actual prey yet. She wanted to hunt, she wanted to provide for her Clan. That's why I'm an apprentice. She was already way behind her sister when it came to training and she wanted to catch up.

"Probably tomorrow." Owlfoot replied. "I know you want to hunt but I want you to take your time, you have several moons before you'll become a warrior. Good warriors aren't made by rushing, they're made by patience and learning." Flowerpaw snorted. Does he ever stop meowing about patience. She twitched her ears and silenced herself, not speaking the entire walk back to camp.

Flowerpaw stepped into camp and watched Owlfoot approach his mate, Firetail. Flowerpaw turned away, scanning the camp to see who was all here. She spotted Sunpaw sharing a piece of prey with Honeypaw outside the medicine cat den, Tallfern and Marshpelt were sunning themselves outside the nursery, their bellies slowly growing in size. Flowerpaw was excited for more kits, but SunClan didn't really have the room for any more apprentices.