Warriors: Salmonstar's Fate

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

                Salmonpaw was so nervous as Eaglefeather, Marshpaw’s mentor, told all three apprentices to sit down by the riverbank. They hadn’t left the island yet because the hunting part of the final assessment was done using the stream surrounding camp. “Marshpaw, catch two fish,” Eaglefeather meowed.

                Marshpaw missed the first time but successfully caught it the next two times. Flowerpaw was perfect. And then it was Salmonpaw’s turn. She took a deep breath. You’ve done this for moons now, you’ll be fine. Just pretend like your warrior name isn’t at stake.

                She leaned back and lifted a forepaw. She swiftly brought it down and managed to grab two fish at once. She breathed a silent sigh of relief. She turned towards Icewhisker, Eaglefeather, and Rosethorn, who all looked astonished. “Does this count for two fish?” she asked.

                All three mentors quickly nodded. “Okay then…” Eaglefeather was lost for words. “Let’s swim across the river, we’ll follow behind you.”

                Salmonpaw leapt in without any hesitation, pleased that she landed in the water before Marshpaw or Flowerpaw. She made sure to keep a steady pace while also swimming as fast as possible. She was the first to reach the other side and pulled herself out. She nearly slipped, which would probably not have looked good in front of the three mentors, but she fortunately was able to tighten her grip in time. The red-furred she-cat stood and waited for the other cats to arrive.

                “You swam awfully fast, Salmonpaw,” Marshpaw purred teasingly. “Scared that the fish are going to bite you?”

                “Marshpaw!” Eaglefeather shouted with annoyance. “This is not the time or the place for your dumb jokes!”

                “Sorry,” Marshpaw muttered, but he clearly didn’t mean it.

                “We’re going to go by Great Pine and see what you can smell,” Eaglefeather meowed and started to lead the way.”

                “Salmonpaw, you go first,” Rosethorn ordered once they reached the tree. “Name one thing you can scent.”

                She carefully sniffed the ground. “Fox,” she growled.

                “How old?” Icewhisker asked.

                “I’d guess it is from about two or three days ago,” she replied.

                “Can you tell what it was doing?” Icewhisker continued.

                Salmonpaw inhaled the scent again. “Near the base of the tree its smell is stronger and is mixed in with the scent of blood and a dead pigeon,” she answered.

                The white-furred tom nodded. “Very good,” he praised her. “Marshpaw, I believe it is your turn?”

                “I can smell all of us!” Marshpaw declared.

                Eaglefeather narrowed his eyes. “You know that is not what we’re looking for.”

                Marshpaw sighed. “Ripplecloud passed through here yesterday and it smells like he buried two mice that he caught just in front of where Rosethorn is standing until he was ready to take it back to camp.”

                Eaglefeather nodded. “Flowerpaw, what do you smell?” the tom asked.

                “Leafwhisker came here sometime more than likely in the afternoon two days ago,” she responded. “It seems like he was carrying tansy with him.”

                “You all did well,” Eaglefeather meowed. “Now we’ll go to the Training Shore to test your battle skills.”

A/N: I've been gone since early Monday morning but I'm back since this afternoon. I saw Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters when it came out today but it was really disappointing. It followed the book even less than the first movie... :D

As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter!