The Trials: Bloody Earth (Book One)

Chapter One

Chapter One

Shadowpaw paced the clearing. His hunting assessment was today, but somewhere in him he knew he would do well. He’d always been a great hunter. His mentor said he would be the best hunter in the clan one day. His brother on the other hand, was very talented in the art of battle. 
Battlepaw was even named after his skill. His mother had great expectations for both of them. His brother was supposed to be the best fighter and strongest cat in the clan, and Shadowpaw was to be the best hunter and sneakiest cat in the clan. They both were looking like they would live up to those expectations. Battlepaw even had scars from intense training sessions and fighting whenever he could. 
Battlepaw then strode out of the apprentices den and sat down next to Shadowpaw. “How do you think you're going to do, Shadowpaw? I’m not sure about hunting, but I’ll kick ass during the fighting portion!” 
Shadowpaw snorted. “I’m sure you will. Switch it around and that's what I’ll do!” 
Suddenly without warning, Shadowpaw felt a weight knock into him and he rolled into the sand. “Got ya!” Battlepaw snorted. Shadowpaw tried to wiggle away, but his brother was too strong. “Alright, alright. Let me up!”
Suddenly, two she cats and a tom started walking over to them. “Ugh, why do you two always have to act like kits?” Their sister, Roughpaw, grumbled. She is definitely the favorite. She’s a bit over average with her skills, definitely not as skilled in battle as Battlepaw or as good of a hunter and hider as Shadowpaw, but she's smart, has good leadership skills, and is confident, which makes her stand out. She also tries very hard to be the best of the best, so she has a couple scars but not as many as Battlepaw. 
Swoopstar growled at them.
“Your sister is right! I don’t want you two embarrising me and Brighteye while I give you cats your warrior names!” Brighteye stayed quiet, tapping his tail gently on the ground. He never chose favorites. He was also very quiet, and never shared his opinion.
“Make yourselves look presentible.” Their mother meowed. Suddenly, their father spoke. “Just so you know, we really are proud of you. Even if we don’t show it.” 
Brighteye said with a straight face. He got up and went over to Swoopstar. He curled his tail around her and they waited for Battlepaws mentor, Flamewhisker. They didn’t have many warriors because of a band of cats that coaxed them away from the clan, promising them glory, and killed many that didn’t falter under their words. They were sane enough not to kill queens, apprentices, and kits, but others were not spared.
Some survived though, those cats being Splashpuddle, Violeteye, Softheart, and Dirtpelt, the elders. So Flamewhisker had to take on two apprentices, Spikepaw and Battlepaw. I can’t imagine how stressful that must be. Shadowpaw thought. Heavy pawsteps thumped around the corner. A beautiful orange she cat with blue eyes rushed over to them. “I’m dearly sorry! I don’t have much of an excuse for being late.” She bowed her head and flattened her round ears to the back of her head. “Get up. You are forgiven, Flamewhisker.” Swoopstar meowed dismissively. She yawned. “Let’s just start.” She meowed and stood up. “We start with the hunting portion. If you forgot the rules, here is how this will go. Your mentors will be watching you from the bushes. Your goal is to catch three pieces of prey before the time is up. We will put you each in separate spots. If you don’t catch at least the amount needed, you fail. But if you get an amazing result on the fighting portion, it could save you. Is everything clear?” The apprentices nodded. “Firewhisker, where would you like to place Battlepaw?” Firewhisker thought for a moment. A light sparked in her eyes and she opened her jaws to speak. “A bit away from camp, down the edge of the slope and by the clanless border. It should be a bit rocky and fade into plain with a few trees.” She looked at Battlepaw and swished her fluffy black dipped tail. “Do you know where that is?” Battlepaw straightened. “Yes, I know where that is.” He meowed. “Brighteye?” Swoopstar meowed to her mate. “Shadowpaw, I think it would be good for you to go by the old thunderpath. It's plentiful with rocks and bushes, so a good bit of prey should be lurking around there.” Brighteye gazed at him with cool, yellow eyes that reflected Shadowpaws exactly. Shadowpaw nodded. He was lucky to have such a wise cat as a father. And to have a deputy mentor him. “And Roughpaw, you may hunt just outside camp. I’ll show you exactly where.” Swoopstar meowed to her daughter with gleaming icy blue eyes. “Good luck, everyone.” She meowed simply as she led Roughpaw away. Battlepaw then zoomed off towards his location without waiting for his mentor. “You go first, I’ll be lurking behind to find a good spot to hide.” Shadowpaws father meowed, not realizing how creepy that sounded. “Ok, I’ll do my best to make you proud.” Shadowpaw meowed. His father simply nodded. Shadowpaw picked himself up and walked out of camp. He calmly walked through the forest, his dark pelt gleaming with the light of the sun filtering through the trees. His paws gently brushed what soft grass was on the ground, avoiding small sticks and twigs like they had their own mind, designed to avoid alarming any prey that could be lurking about. It didn’t take long before he spotted the large thunderpath with many cracks in it. Not many monsters were active on this cold, horrible smelling stone. He wrinkled his nose as he took in the fumes of the thunderpath. It was faint, but still pungent enough to make one's eyes water. He tried to remain focused. I don’t have much time, I need to focus! His eyes shot around the area. His ears then perked up at the sound of a small chirp, and he turned his head. A dove fluttered in the one tree close to him. Is it worth my time? That’s a hard one to catch, and if I fail I’d have wasted time. He didn’t hear any other noises from prey, so he decided he might as well try. He was to try a very difficult, advanced technique that  even the best warriors struggled with. He was going to try to quickly climb the tree, and catch the bird by leaping at it from inside the tree. He had done this successfully with squirrels before, but never with birds. He raised his haunches, and launched himself at the tree, his unsheathed claws digging into the bark. He thrust himself upward, and finally reached the first branch. Don’t look down, do not look down! He unsheathed his  claws further. He had always been scared of heights. I’m no Skyclan cat, this is not my thing! He clenched his teeth. Suddenly, the dove on the branch above him started to pick at it’s feathers. He locked his eyes onto the prey, and went behind it. It then stopped when it felt weight on the branch it was on, and hopped closer to the edge. It was a long, thick branch, so the edge was still not very thick. He suddenly lunged forward and seized it with outstretched jaws. He steadied himself and crunched down on it before it could let out an alarm call. He was just about to climb down when he felt bark land on his nose. He shook it off and glanced up. A squirrel was scurrying among the branches above him. He flattened his ears, trying to think of a place he could place his last catch. He saw a bush near him and swung his neck, letting go of the prey and hoping it would land in it. The mourning dove landed right next to it, barely brushing the leaves. Eh, close enough. He shrugged. He clawed up some more branches, silently averting any sticks or leaves that could make the squirrel aware of Shadowpaws presence. He was just about to get into a crouch behind it when the squirrel let out a small squeak and stood up. It turned around to get down from the tree when it saw Shadowpaws yellow eyes glaring at it. It let out a panicked chittering noise and tried to run off. Shadowpaw lunged at it, and missed terribly. He tried to try again, but realized that he was falling mid air. He scrabbled in the air, and caught hold of a branch. He strained to pull himself up, and lost grip with one of his paws. Whenever he attempted to reach back up to another branch, his other paw slipped more. Then, what he dreaded most happened. His other paw slipped, and he was falling again. He landed with a thump on the ground, the air in his chest heaving out of him like he’d been stepped on. He sat there for a split second regaining his breath before struggling to his paws. He let out a grunt at his first paw step but continued on. It didn't take much time at all before the squirrel from before was sniffing by the bush he had dropped the dove by. He got into a crouch and stalked forward. He shot forward and crunched its spine with his paws. He put it next to his dove, and glanced around. Just one more piece! After a long while of searching, he then saw three rabbits, a mother, a father, and a baby, laying together under a rock, unaware of what's happening around them. The baby needs to grow into large prey later, so we will let it live. For the parents, they look like a nice meal. He checked if he was downwind from the rabbits and adjusted himself. He slowly stalked forward, and seized the biggest rabbit. It struggled, but he quickly broke its neck. The other rabbits were already trying to escape, and he dashed after them. He let out a final leap and tumbled with the rabbit. It used its back legs to scratch him on the shoulder and he let out a low growl. In a desperate attempt to keep it from escaping from his grasp, he sunk his teeth into its throat and ripped it out, blood spattering his muzzle. Damnit! The blood gives it a fresh taste, and now it’s bleeding out all over my paws! His frown turned into a smile. But most importantly, I did more than pass! I got more prey than needed! “Times up!” A voice meowed behind him. He turned around to see Brighteye emerging from the bush he almost dropped the dove in. “Well done, Shadowpaw. You have passed. And caught more than what was expected of you as well. You have made me proud.” The white tom smiled. “I’m glad.” Shadowpaw purred. “I saw you fall out of that tree and get scratched by the rabbit. Are you ok?” The deputy meowed with a hint of worry in his voice. His head was hurting a little and the scratch stung like fire, but he wasn’t going to let his mentor, father, and deputy know that. “I’m alright! Just knocked the wind out of me when I fell out of the tree, and this tiny cut is nothing!” Shadowpaw meowed with a grin. Brighteye still looked a bit worried, but didn’t say anything else but a plain ‘Ok’. Shadowpaw went to go collect his prey. He put the squirrel and the dove in his jaws and strung one of the huge rabbits across his back. “Can you help me carry that other rabbit as well, please?” Shadowpaw meowed with a muffled voice. “Of course.” Brighteye grinned and picked up the other large rabbit in his jaws, its fur blending in with Brighteyes fluffy, mane like chest fur. They walked together with the load of prey, and back to camp.