Rising Greatness

Chapter 2

Shoving all those thoughts and worries down I got up and stretched out my legs and let out a big yawn. Only two other apprentices laid in the den. As I went outside to the fresh kill and started chowing down on a big vole, my mentor stalked over to me and hissed in my ear " Hurry up and finish! Don't take long, we have to get going.". I thought I swallowed that thing hole when she started rushing me to eat. Not one bit of flavor came out at all! Once I finished swallowing my vole I hurried along beside Barkstripe. " Never be late like that. I have evening patrols and I have to train you for as long as I can. No excuses after today." We walked along the paths where many cats had walked. You could tell by the worn out trails in the dirt. "You're going to have to memorize every scent in this forest and this side of the lake. Every single warrior learns scents and you're going to have to do as they did." We padded along near our borders with Skyclan and Windclan, as well as throughout our own. Pine and oak trees rang out through the forest with hints of cedar. The sound of birds and squirrels spun wild everywhere in large amounts. We will never go hungry again, I thought.
Once we tracked what felt like a thousand paw steps, Barkstripe started pointing out different smells. "Now do you smell that very thick dirt covered smell?" She said as she sat down, and gestured to me to sit beside her. "Umm.. yeah it's also covered in bark too." I said as I took a huge deep smell in the air. "That's rat, now you can tell a rat from a vole because the voles have a wet musty smell." She said, then nodded over to some mud. "They live near the rim of the lake." "What about mice?" I said trying to see if I could make anything out different from the rat and vole. "Well they smell stronger of bark. Take a deep breath near the root of these trees." She said, gesturing over to the roots of a tall oak. I took a huge wift of the thick bark and smelled something strong in that scent and warm. "I smell one." I said in a low voice. I creeped along the side of the tree till I saw a little mice head pop out from the braken that surrounded the tree. I tried to pounce on it, but as soon as I did, it ran away leaving me in the dirt on my face. Barkstripe trotted around the tree then chuckled when she saw me in the dirt. "You'll learn how to hunt soon enough. Now let's finish up on smelling prey, then we can see what smells you make of our border."
As we padded closer to Windclan Barkstripe gave me a flick of her tail to stop. "Take a deep breath Willowpaw, do you smell the brush and dirt clung to something?" She questioned. "Yeah I do, although it's much too big for a rat." I said, crunching up my nose. Another smell drifted in, a foul smell from the border. "That would be a rabbit, very few crawl around in our territory, but in Windlcan that's just about all they have." "What's that other smell though? Windclan?" I said looking up at her with curious eyes. "Yes, their scent markers must have been renewed so that's why it's so strong. You'll get used to it though." She replied as she turned around and padded back the other way.
After observing what squirrels smell like, where moss is and how to collect it, and what Skyclan smells like and their grassy land we finally sat down to rest in the training hollow. "Now you know where not to go and how to find your prey, but can you sense it?" Barkstripe said as she pushed herself up from her lying position. "What do you mean?" I asked. How could you sense your food? Wasn't it always smell? "Close your eyes, and don't use your nose." Barkstripe said, flicking her tail on my shoulder. "What do you hear? What do you feel?" I pushed my paws into the ground, closed my eyes, and strained my ears. I heard little paws scuttering in the brambles. I felt the small pound of their steps in my paws. "A rat." I whispered, as a creeped forward, pricking my ears. I opened my eyes once I was right behind it. I got down into the best crouch I could, leaped on it with all my force. With one shriek and a crunch, it was dead.

As I proudly trotted back into camp, Barkstripe whispered to me" Very good Willowpaw, I'am proud to be your mentor. Keep up your good ways." She said, then gave a quick nod before going off to join her patrol. Once I settled myself near Ivypaw, and a Lunapaw eating a big dove. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar kitten running out of camp. I really wanted to eat but I knew Frostkit that young should not be out of camp. Pushing away my meal I chased after the little furball. It took forever tracking where she was going because of her zigzagging pattern. I started to smell the unfamiliar but very alive scents of ....... wait, this is Shadowclan territory! I was so focused on getting Frostkit, I didn't realize I crossed into Skyclan then Shadowclan territory! My heart leaped as I raced faster to get him. As I hit the border I stood in disbelief . The little furball layed there, alive but very hurt. As soon as I stepped forward two cats jumped on me. I bit the tail of the tabby gray cat and sent him flying away. That would leave a scar for sure. The other cat had a deep hold of my back as I wrestled it away as I clawed his ear. He jumped out of the way to where I could dive on his hind leg and bite it. I achieved just that.

As he ran I picked up Frostkit hurried back to the camp with the fluffy ball in my jaws. The land was more than familiar after tracking it three times. When I arrived at camp, shocked faces stared at me. I really was glad I followed to stop any more harm on the kit. "Willowpaw!" Dawnstars voice cracked through the camp. " You have some explaining to do."