Mossfire's Rebellion

Chapter Seventeen

"Now remember," Blackscar grunted, standing beside all of the mentors, "You four will have till sunhigh to hunt, and then we will have a mock battle with the four of you. Assuming everything goes well," He said, glaring directly at Mosspaw, "You will be warriors tonight." 

Mosspaw quivered with excitement and she looked over at her littermates. Swiftpaw looked like she was about to burst out of her skin, Oakpaw was ready and determined, and Leafpaw appeared calm, but the twitching of her whiskers gave away her nervousness. This would be their last day as apprentices. After today, she would not have to do whatever Blackscar told her, his breath breathing down her back at every turn. 

"Alright," Fernwish nodded, 'You will start hunting. You may not see us but remember, we are watching. It may be leafbare," She said, looking around at the white blanket that covered the ground, "But a good warrior will be able to catch prey in any season." 

Blackscar walked up to her, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Remember, they may be your littermates, but you must see them as competition. You need to come out on top tonight or my training will all be for nothing." 

Mosspaw sucked in a breath, feeling the cold air fill her lungs. Is he saying that she wouldn't become a warrior unless she caught the most prey? Surely the other mentors would see how good she was doing. 

"You may begin!" Fernwish called. Swiftpaw immediately ran off, snow flying up behind her. Leafpaw and Oakpaw stalked off in different directions, their mentors following behind them. Mosspaw looked around, considering the best spot to catch prey. She decided to head the opposite direction of Swiftpaw, towards Windclan territory. 

She walked slow, feeling the snow crunch under her paws. She couldn't hear any prey, but was looking around the roots of the trees, in case any squirrels were looking for nuts. She looked around, only seeing the layer of snow on the ground. She couldn't hear, scent, or see any prey. She was about to try a different spot when she saw a lump of the snow moving. 

She froze, not daring to make a move. A mouse peeked his head above the snow and gave it's head a shake, more snow falling to the ground. Mosspaw wanted to leap, but she knew she needed to wait. The mouse hesitantly looked around before starting to dig in the snow, looking for nuts. 

Mosspaw took a couple of steps forward, moving as slow as possible so the mouse would not hear her. She then heard a flap of wings above her. She looked up, and saw a sterling sitting on a tree branch, watching the mouse. Perfect  Mosspaw thought Now, just go after the mouse . If the sterling went after the mouse, she could get both of them at the same time. 

She waited for what seemed like a moon before the bird swooped down, grabbing the mouse with it's claws. The mouse let out a squeak and Mosspaw leapt. Her paws connected with the bird and she brought the two of them down, giving them a killing bite. "Thank you StarClan, for this freshkill." She murmured, looking up. 

Did you see that, Blackscar?  She thought smugly, looking around. Even the most experienced warrior could have appreciated that. However, if the black tom was watching her, he was making his presence unknown. 

She buried the two pieces of freshkill in the snow, covering it up. Hopefully the snow will keep the freshkill safe until she was able to come back. She kept trying to hunt until she saw the sun was high in the sky, but she was not able to find anything else. She sighed before grabbing the starling and the mouse, hoping that it was enough. 

Once arriving back at the meeting area, she noticed that her littermates were also only able to catch one or two pieces. Oakpaw had thrush dangling from his jaws, Leafpaw had two mice, and Swiftpaw caught a squirrel.