Warriors: Wounded Pride (Book 4)

Chapter 22

     "What do you think we'll be doing today, Seapaw?" Oceanpaw mewed to her sister as he got close to her face.

Seapaw sighed and shrugged in response to her littermate.

"Come on! You must have some sort of idea!" Oceanpaw said.

"Our mentors haven't told us anything, Oceanpaw!" Tidepaw meowed from the other side of the Driftclan Apprentices' den.

"So? I just want to know what you two think we're doing!" Oceanpaw pouted.

Tidepaw sighed and stared at her brother. "Maybe we'll take care of the Elders more." she replied.

The black-furred tom stared back at his sister. "Seriously...? That's such a boring response!"

"Boring?!" Tidepaw hopped onto her paws and ran at her brother. "I'll show you boring!" She pounced toward her brother.

Oceanpaw scurried out of the way. "You'll have to be quicker than that!" he smirked.

Seapaw sighed and lied her head onto her paws. Her ears perked up once she heard pawsteps outside the den over the noise of her littermates fighting. She sighed again as she saw another tom standing at the entrance of the den. Seapaw stood up as she looked at the tom. There, staring at the three apprentices, was their father, Shadowblossom.

"Tidepaw, Oceanpaw." Shadowblossom meowed.

Both apprentices jump and tumbled into their sister, then all three stood up and faced their father. "Shadowblossom!" Oceanpaw and Tidepaw mewed in unison.

Shadowblossom sighed. "We're going hunting with Kingletsong and Ripplewave." he meowed.

"Yay!" Tidepaw and Oceanpaw meowed.

Seapaw only stared at her father as he turned around and padded out of the den. His kits followed behind him. They soon saw as both Ripplewave and Kingletsong stood at the entrance of the camp. The four cats padded over to them. "Hey!" Kingletsong meowed. "Are you three ready to hunt?"

"Yep!" Tidepaw replied.

Seapaw nodded.

"Yeah!" Oceanpaw said.

Ripplewave smiled. "We're glad you're all ready. Let's get going!"

Shadowblossom and Seapaw left the camp already, padding away from the group. "We better catch up with them!" Kingletsong mewed, running after the two. The rest of the group followed Kingletsong.

*

The three apprentices sat in front of their mentors. "Shadowblossom will show on how to hunt!" Kingletsong mewed.

"Why me first?" Shadowblossom questioned.

Kingletsong shrugged.

The black-furred tom groaned and padded away from the group, but not too far. The Driftclan cats quietly watched as Shadowblossom crouched and lifted his haunches and tail in the air. He slowly padded forwards, sniffing the ground and the air for prey. Shadowblossom then held his position as he heard rustling nearby. Soon, a brown mouse scurried out of a bush. The Driftclan tom watched as the mouse sniffed the ground in front of him. Shadowblossom then lept at the mouse, but he missed it. Shadowblossom then chased after the mouse. It did its best to swerve away from the tom, but Shadowblossom unsheathed his claws and pounced at the mouse again. The black-furred tom's claws then dug into the back of his prey. The mouse soon stopped moving as blood dribbled from its back and onto the ground.

"Woah!" Oceanpaw and Tidepaw meowed in unison.

"Nice one, Shadowblossom!" Ripplewave said.

Shadowblossom picked up the mouse and padded back over to his clanmates. "There. Remember to stay quiet and keep your tail up." he meowed to his kits.

"Yes, Shadowblossom!" Tidepaw and Oceanpaw mewed.

Seapaw nodded in response.

"We'll split up and you will hunt with your mentors. Seapaw, you stay here with me." Shadowblossom meowed.

The white-furred she-cat nodded.

"Come on then, Oceanpaw!" Ripplewave meowed and padded in another direction.

"You too, Tidepaw!" Kingletsong went in a different direction through the forest.

Both apprentices nodded and followed their mentors, and Seapaw stayed with her father.

*

"You got this, Tidepaw!" Kingletsong cheered his apprentice on as she chased a mouse around.

I'll get it! She unsheathed her claws and lept at the mouse. She missed and tumbled into a bush. "Ow..." she meowed to herself.

Tidepaw got up and padded out of the bush, shaking herself off as she sighed. She looked at her mentor and frowned.

"Don't worry, Tidepaw! You'll get the hang of this soon!" Kingletsong smiled.

I hope so... Tidepaw thought.

*

Oceanpaw crouched and hopped forward. "Like this?" he asked his mentor.

Ripplewave sighed. "No, Oceanpaw..." She crouched and lifted her tail. "You do it like this."

"Oh!" Oceanpaw replied, then crouched and hopped forward again, but he ended up in the same position as his mentor. "Like this?"

Ripplewave sighed again. This will take a while...

*

Seapaw watched as a gull hopped in front of her. The white-furred she-cat waited for a few heartbeats before pouncing at the gull. It tried to flap away from her, but she dug both sets of her claws into the back of its neck and down its back, causing it to go limp. Seapaw turned her head to her father.

Shadowblossom nodded.

Seapaw picked up her prey and padded back over to Shadowblossom. She dropped the gull in front of him. "Good job."

Seapaw smiled at Shadowblossom.

Shadowblossom couldn't help but to smile back at his daughter.

*

Oceanpaw padded into the Driftclan Apprentices' den. He yawned as he then padded to his nest and plopped down in it. "Ripplewave and I stayed out of camp for a while!"

"Why?" Tidepaw asked.

"She wanted to teach me more!" Oceanpaw replied.

"Was it still hunting?" The tortoiseshell she-cat mewed.

Oceanpaw nodded. "Yeah! She taught me how to crouch better, but I don know why! I'm already great at hunting!"

Tidepaw giggle. "Oh, yeah?"

The black-furred tom nodded again. "Yeah!"

"Did you even catch anything?"

"Did you?" Oceanpaw retorted.

Tidepaw got up and ran over to her sibling, tackling him.

"Hey! Get off of me!" Oceanpaw exclaimed.

"Nope!" Tidepaw smirked.

As the two apprentices wrestled, Seapaw shook her head as she watched.

Those two are fish-brains. She thought and lied her head onto her paws, closing her eyes.

But I still love them.