Blood and Snow

Time is Up

Snowpaw woke up feeling awfully sore. She could hardly move. Since she had started training in the Dark Forest again, they had been working them nonstop. Snowpaw did feel stronger and it definitely did show in her training, and she knew that her warrior assessment could happen any time especially since the gathering was getting so close. She had heard Grassstar mention that he wanted to introduce her at the gathering.

She needed a plan. Snowpaw needed to be able to word her sentences right so WindClan wouldn't kick her out when they figured out what she did to Thrushblaze. When she woke up, she had a bad feeling. Today is the day, I'm sure of it. As soon as she stepped out of the apprentice's den, she was greeted by the face of her mentor, smiling.

"Today is your big day!" she chirped. Snowpaw glanced around and saw Silverpaw looking regal as always with her fans all around her. Heatherpaw was a bundle of energy as she hopped around in excitement. Rabbitpaw was trying to look cool by puffing out his chest and holding his head high. Snowpaw smiled back at her mentor. Looking around at her clanmates made her feel accepted, but the nagging worry in the back of her head of what would come made her stomach churn.

"Okay, apprentices!" Stonetail meowed. "Today is your warrior assessment. All four of you will try to catch as much as you can until sunhigh. Your mentors will be watching you even if you don't see them. Whenever you are ready to begin, go ahead and start." he rose his tail as a signal and the four apprentices scurried out of the camp. The rest of WindClan watched and silently cheered for them with smiles and kind eyes. The four mentors, Yarrowsun, Stonetail, Barksong, and Ferretpool followed closely behind them.

Snowpaw tasted the air. The sky was clear and it was quite cool, after all, leaf-fall was coming. Rabbitpaw had already bolted off and was no longer in sight. Heatherpaw was going in the opposite direction from where Snowpaw was standing. All that was left was Silverpaw and Snowpaw.

Feeling annoyed, Snowpaw made the decision to go hunt around the ThunderClan border. It would decrease her risk of running into RiverClan and so far she didn't think anyone had headed over in that direction. She padded that way and tasted and sniffed the air as she went.

Then she caught a scent of a rabbit. In the distance, she saw its short brown fur. Snowpaw got down into a stalking position in the long grass. The wind was going toward her so the rabbit didn't scent her. Once she got close enough, the rabbit eventually heard her. Once it got stiff she began to sprint after it. The rabbit was fast, but after all of her training at night and in the day, she was ready. Her body wasn't built like the other WindClan cats, but it was built for swimming. Though to her advantage, for swimming and running you need strong legs and she had those. Once she was only a tail-length behind the rabbit she extended her paw and batted it on its haunches which made it trip. Snowpaw needed to hurry because a couple of fox-lengths away was a burrow.

Before the rabbit could stand back up again, she put her paw on its spine and bits its throat. She silently thanked StarClan for this prey to satisfy her mentor who was watching her from somewhere. She quickly buried the rabbit and started hunting again. For a while, she couldn't smell anything. She took deep breaths so she didn't get frustrated. You are not worthless even though RiverClan thought you were. You are going to show them at the gathering that they were wrong. Feeling more confident she kept going.

Finally, she scented the mouse. She was nearby the forest, but even if she did fall into the stream she could swim and get out hopefully before ThunderClan or her mentor noticed. Snowpaw spotted the mouse hidden among some shrubs nibbling on some nuts. Snowpaw got into the hunter's crouch and padded softly toward it. Her pawsteps as quiet as ever. With a leap, she landed on top of the mouse and quickly snapped its neck. Snowpaw had been quite lucky today considering that she was not the best hunter. She buried the mouse and continued on.