Warriors: Fire and Ice

Chapter 2

Icepaw trotted after Frostwhisker, excitement fizzing under her pelt. Today she was going to be learning to hunt!

Flamepaw had also been taken out, but he was in a different part of the forest; Spiderfoot had insisted that they didn't have any distractions. Icepaw somewhat agreed; her brother was very annoying at times.

Eventually, Frostwhisker halted, and Icepaw recognised the area as the Sky Oak she had passed in the territory tour the day before.

Frostwhisker turned towards Icepaw. "Now, do you know why I was assigned to be your mentor?"

Icepaw wracked her brain for ideas, but didn't find any. She shook her head.

"It's so that I can teach you to hunt with a white... er, blueish-white pelt," Frostwhisker awkwardly licked her chest. "The prey will see you earlier than any other pelt colour."

Icepaw's head drooped. "So I'll never hunt properly?"

"That's not true at all!" Frostwhisker assured. "There are methods for cats like us. It's easy once you get the hang of it."

Icepaw was relieved, but she she still felt unsure. "Really?"

"Really," promised Frostwhisker. "For example, you could roll in mud or jump down on the prey from a tree. Can you think of any other methods?"

Icepaw cocked her head thoughtfully. "Well... couldn't you approach from behind a tree root or something?" Suddenly, she got an idea. "Don't we have an advantage in leaf-bare, when we're camouflaged on the snow?"

"Very good!" Frostwhisker purred in approval. "That's exactly right. Snow is crunchy which means it's hard to walk on it quietly, but that's the problem with every cat. Instead of having to worry about both being seen and being heard and being scented we just worry about the last two."

Icepaw purred. Being white isn't so bad after all, then! "Can I please try to catch something? Please?"

Frostwhisker lifted a paw to silence her. "You probably won't catch anything on your first try, but you can try," she responded. "But so that you don't go blundering about, scaring off all the prey, I'll show you the basics."

Icepaw watched patiently as Frostwhisker dropped into a neat crouch and slunk forward, step by step. Remembering how the other apprentices had talked about being careful with your tail and legs when hunting, she took note of how Frostwhisker was low but only slightly brushing the ground and how her tail wasn't waving about, but still behind her, not low enough to sweep on the ground.

Frostwhisker stood up again. "You try now. Have you got it?"

Icepaw nodded. She fell into a crouch, but it was messy and her paws sprawled out from under her. This is harder than it looks! The she-cat tried again, this time tucking her paws in a little more. However, she just fell over into one side.

Frostwhisker didn't help; she just watched thoughtfully, allowing Icepaw to figure it out. Narrowing the her eyes with a growl, the white apprentice tried again, putting an equal amount of weight on each paw this time. She was balanced! She crouched there, not even swaying in the slightest, stiller than rock.

A shrew had appeared. It scuffled through the leaves, its delicate nose twitching as it took in the different scents. However, the wind was right; it did not smell Icepaw. Trembling with excitement, she made sure her tail wasn't too high, or too low, and stayed there, making sure she wouldn't topple over as soon as she stepped forward.

Everything was right. Icepaw held her breath. She had to catch this! Think of how proud Dawnflower will be. And it'll totally show Flamepaw! The she-cat took a step forward, placing her paw down lightly. Remembering how Aspenpaw had complained about how he'd missed his first catch by stepping on a twig, she checked the ground.