The Apprentice's Curse (A Shrouded Path book 1) {COMPLETE}

Chapter 3

"Remember to dive quickly and grab the fish before they have a chance to swim away."

The sun was high in the sky, and Minnowpaw stood almost belly-deep in the river as Tawnyclaw taught her how to dive for fish. She'd spent the morning replacing Blacktail's and Troutleap's bedding and cracking their fleas between her teeth, listening to Troutleap's stories and Blacktail's complaining. She'd been so relieved when she'd finally finished and was able to join Tawnyclaw on a hunting patrol with Flamepelt, RiverClan's youngest warrior, and Birchclaw. The sun warmed her pelt from above and the river cooled her paws as it flowed lazily on, and she relished the combination.

Tawnyclaw suddenly vanished as he launched himself under the surface of the water, returning almost immediately with a large fish in his jaws. Tossing it onto the bank, he meowed, "Now you try it."

Minnowpaw concentrated hard on the water. They were by the deepest part of the river, where the fattest fish swam and cats had to dive to catch them. There were so many fish, and they were moving quickly, and Minnowpaw found it hard to focus on just one. Taking a deep breath, she dove after one, the shock of the cold stinging her face, and managed to close her teeth around it. Standing back up, she shook the water from her whiskers. She'd caught one!

"Very good," Tawnyclaw praised her.

A little farther upstream, the water splashed as Flamepelt slapped his paw down and hooked a fish of his own. The ginger warrior looked proud as he flopped it onto the bank, killing it. "Not a bad hunt," he called to Minnowpaw and her mentor. His golden pelt shone radiantly in the newleaf sunlight, making him look like the sun itself. He shook the water from his whiskers as he joined them.

Birchclaw padded over from where he'd been fishing, two fish clamped in his jaws. "Let's head back to camp," he meowed. "We've caught more than plenty." Flamepelt picked up his catch, and Minnowpaw and Tawnyclaw split the pile they'd caught between them, and the four cats returned to camp.

A quarter moon had passed since Minnowpaw and Tawnyclaw's fight, but Minnowpaw's shame and punishment had humbled her. She had to admit that looking after the elders wasn't horrible; Blacktail was always grumpy, but Troutleap was fun and energetic and loved to tell her stories. She had almost begun to look forward to taking care of them each day. However, as she realized that it was almost the full moon, she felt relieved that her punishment was nearly over. She wondered if she'd be allowed to go to the Gathering this time, or if Ashstar would make her wait until the next one because of how she'd acted. As the hunting patrol returned to camp, she hoped she would be going.

Minnowpaw dropped all but the largest fish on the fresh-kill pile. "I'll take this to Nightwhisper and Silverheart," she told her mentor. She'd become fond of the medicine cats, particularly Silverheart, during her time collecting mouse bile and other herbs for all of the elders' aches and pains. The pretty young medicine cat apprentice was always friendly with Minnowpaw and seemed to enjoy her company. Nightwhisper was kind as well, though a bit more reserved, with a strange air of wisdom around him that Minnowpaw knew only medicine cats possessed.

Tawnyclaw nodded. "Good idea," he mewed. "Then you can take a break if you'd like. Maybe later we can join the evening patrol."

The medicine den was overflowing with strange, pungent odors as Minnowpaw pushed her way in. She only recognized the smell of juniper; as a kit, she'd eaten too much one time and given herself a bellyache, and Nightwhisper had given her some juniper to help. The other smells were strange and foreign, some bitter and others sweet. Minnowpaw could see Nightwhisper's tail poking out of a small tunnel at the back. He was muttering something. Silverheart was neatly arranging piles of herbs in the middle of the den, tossing some shriveled leaves and wrinkled, rotten berries aside as she worked. She looked up as Minnowpaw entered.