Warriors: Heronpaw's Secret (Complete)

Chapter 15

 ''Are you ready, Heronpaw?''

 ''Ready.'' Heronpaw meowed, confident, and looked at Beesun. Two days passed since Cougarheart became a warrior, and now it was his turn to become one. Although he was younger than Cougarheart, she became a warrior later than she was supposed to, because Whitelion said that she couldn't concentrate during her training and was falling behind. Heronpaw felt guilty, because he knew it was his fault, but he tried to be as focused as possible.

 ''Now, I want you to catch as much prey as possible.'' Beesun ordered. ''I will be watching you carefully, but even if you see me, do not interact with me. I'll tell you when to stop.''

 Heronpaw froze. ''But it's leaf-bare! All the prey is hiding!'' He protested, disheartened.

 Beesun nodded. ''I know, and that's a good thing, because I can test your hunting techniques. Not all the prey is hiding, otherwise no cat would survive during leaf-bare.''

 Heronpaw silently hissed, then looked around the moor, which was covered in snow. Leaf-bare arrived a moon before Cougarheart became a warrior, and hunting was already hard. Prey was scarcer than he thought it would be, and they could barely catch anything. He sighed, longing for the warm breeze and the soft grass of greenleaf.

 Heronpaw turned and sniffed the air, stepping on the cold, soft snow. He let out a growl. Even if I find any prey, they'll hear me before I can even get in a hunting crouch!

 He looked around, knowing that prey would be easier to spot during this time. However, he was also easier to spot as well, with his black fur. But at least he had a little bit of white on his fur, unlike the cats who were fully black. He thought of Badgerleap and Lightningpaw, who had almost no white on their fur, and knew that the real challenge was for them.

 Heronpaw shook his head. No, I have to focus on my hunt now. He sniffed the air and looked around the snowy meadow for any prey. He then spotted a rabbit near a rock, with its back at him. Found something!

 Heronpaw immediately dropped into a hunting crouch and started creeping toward the rabbit, careful not to make any noise. Then, the wind suddenly changed its direction. The rabbit's ears perked up and it turned around. As soon as it saw Heronpaw, it let out a loud squeak and sprinted away. Heronpaw quickly sprinted toward the rabbit and jumped right on it, digging his claws in its fur. He let out a relieved sigh as he delivered the killing bite on the rabbit. That's one prey down, I have many more left to go if I want to become a warrior.

 ''You can stop now, Heronpaw.''

 Heronpaw looked up from the vole he just caught and saw Beesun approach him. She nodded, looking proud. ''Well done! Your hunting has told me that you will have no problem during all the harsh leaf-bares that will come. Let's go back to camp.''

 He quickly got up, excited. ''So that means I passed my assessment?''

 Beesun nodded, proud. ''Yes. Now gather all your prey and let's go back to camp. I'll tell Rosestar.''

 Heronpaw let out a relieved purr and grabbed his vole with his jaws, then rushed toward the area where he put all his other prey. He digged through the snow and nudged the rabbit and the shrew out, then grabbed them as well and followed Beesun, his tail high in the air. He felt like he was about to burst with happiness.

 As soon as he entered the camp, Foggypaw sprinted toward him. ''Hi, Heronpaw! Did you pass your warrior assessment?''

 Heronpaw nodded, the prey in his mouth keeping him from answering. He rushed toward the fresh-kill pile and dropped the prey down, then looked back at his friend. ''Yes, I did! What about you?''