Frostsong's Destiny | Warriors Fanfiction | BOOK 1

Chapter 5

"All cats old enough to hunt their own prey gather under the lichenrock for a clan meeting!"

Brightstar's words echoed through the camp, sending the cats out of their dens for the meeting. Most of them immediately spotted something that told them what the meeting was about.

In the center of the camp, under the lichenrock, was Windstripe's dead body.

"Cats of Pineclan," Brightstar began, "last night, Windstripe, one of our beloved queens, passed away due to Greencough. May Starclan guide her to her place, and may they take good care of her."

The cats, saddened by Windstripe's death, began to groom her body gently as a last farewell. Frostpaw and Greenpaw stood to the side with Stonefang, staring at her silently.

"Frostpaw, Greenpaw," Ravenfeather began, walking up to them, "it's time to bury her. Missingfang and I have already dug up a hole outside of camp."

Frostpaw silently nodded and walked with Greenpaw and Ravenfeather to pick up her body. They dragged it out of camp, set it in the hole, and covered it up with the dirt around it.

When Frostpaw and Greenpaw returned to camp, they discovered that the clan meeting was over, and the cats had returned to their dens to eat and hide from the cold.

Frostpaw gently padded over to the fresh-kill pile and picked up a skinny mouse. Prey seemed to be getting scarce, especially this late in leafbare.

She brought it over to her den, sat down, and began nibbling it. She was hungry, but she was too tired to eat.

Brightstar walked into the den. "Frostpaw, it's time for training. I know you're still grieving about Windstripe's death, but prey is getting scarce, and you need to learn how to help hunt," he said.

Frostpaw leapt up on her feet. Yes, she was still sad about her mother's death, but she was going to finally learn how to hunt!

Brightstar motioned for her to follow him out of camp with a flick of his tail. Frostpaw quickly followed, and before she knew it, they were stopped in front of a decently sized tree.

"This is where you will be training every morning. Today, as you know, we will begin the hunting crouch, stance, and attack. Follow my moves," Brightstar ordered.

He bent his limbs to where he was crouched to the ground and gently lifted one paw up to walk forward, switching between them as he slowly moved. He nodded to Frostpaw, and she attempted to copy his moves.

She lowered herself to the ground until she was leveled with her leader, and she slowly began to stalk forward, as he had shown her.

"Good," Brightstar said, standing up. "That is your hunting crouch and stance. Next, you will learn the attack, for when you actually are hunting prey. Watch closely."

He lowered himself into the hunting crouch again, stalked forward, and suddenly halted as he looked at a stick, acting as if it were a mouse. He crept forward a few more paces, stopped, waited for the right moment, and finally pounced on top of it and gripped it in his teeth.

"That is how you catch prey," he said, dropping the stick. "Now you try with another stick."

Frostpaw looked around and spotted one sticking out the snow. She lowered herself into the hunting crouch, stalked forward, and kept her eyes on it, waiting. Finally, she pounced. When she gripped it in her teeth, she tried to pull up, but tumbled over as she realized it was a root, not a stick.

Brightstar laughed. "You did it correctly, but that's a root," he teased. "I know, I know," Frostpaw responded.

Brightstar spent the rest of the morning with Frostpaw, teaching her about scents, perfect times to catch certain prey, and waiting.

"Now you try catching your first prey," Brightstar finally said after a while. Frostpaw nodded and raised her nose into the air.

She immediately smelled the scent of a magpie. She located it sitting in the snow, dropped into the hunting crouch, and hid behind some bushes. This was her chance. There was a chance it would fly away, but if she waited for the right moment, she could get it before it even noticed her.

Frostpaw leapt out of the bushes and pounced on it, pinning it down by its wings. She sank her teeth into it, picked it up, and dropped it in front of Brightstar, who looked pleased.

"Good job!" He congratulated. Frostpaw smiled. "Now, bring it back to camp. That will conclude our training for the day," Brightstar ordered. Frostpaw nodded and made her way back to camp.

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"So," Owlpaw started, sitting by Tawnypaw and Frostpaw, "you caught your first prey today?"

Frostpaw nodded. "It was a magpie. I gave it to Missingfang," she responded. Tawnypaw smiled pleasantly.

"What have you been doing, Tawnypaw?" Owlpaw asked.

Tawnypaw lowered into a crouch and swiped one paw forward, his tail lashing. "Oh, you've been practicing fighting?" Frostpaw asked.

Leapordpaw walked in. "He's already learned to hunt, so he's been working on fighting techniques," he said.

Frostpaw frowned. I guess I'm behind in training, she thought.

Just then, Orangefang walked through the den entrance. "Frostpaw and Leapordpaw, you're to go on the afternoon hunting patrol with Stonefang, Brightstar, and Redpelt. Get ready," he said. Then he left to go talk to others.