Raven (A Warrior Cats based Story)

Chapter 6.

*Pic is Brakenclaw

Opening my eyes, I was glad to realise that I had woken up at dawn. Yawning and giving a stretch I stood up and quietly padded out of the den, trying not to wake up Riverpaw who was still sleeping. Once outside of the den, I glanced over to where the freshkill pile usually sat. Seeing squirrel left with a couple of mice, birds and a fish, I padded over to get something to eat. "I see you are awake on time today, Ravenpaw." Breezecloud's voice sounded vaguely irritated. Looking up I noticed that she also looked distracted. "Yeah, sorry for not being on time yesterday. I had a long day..." Breezecloud gave me a distracted nod before padding away. Mystified, I picked up the squirrel and went to sit in a quiet corner to eat it and wait for Swiftstream.

I had just finished eating the squirrel and begun to wash when Swiftstream came out of the Warriors' Den, stretching. Quickly finishing my wash, I padded over to where Swiftstream was sitting. "What are we doing today, Swiftstream?" Swiftstream smiled at me before meowing "Well, considering there's hardly anything on the freshkill pile at the moment, I thought we should evaluate your hunting skills." Leaving the camp, we trotted to the Training Hollow. "Alright! What do you know about hunting?" The question confused me. Surely hunting was just that! The seeking out of prey and stealthily creeping up on said prey until you could pounce on it and kill it. Tilting my head to one side to exemplify my confusion I asked "What do you mean 'What do I know about hunting'?" Now, Swiftstream was the one looking the most confused, but her confusion quickly dissolved into understanding. "I mean, do you know the rules about hunting? Like, what you should remember when hunting specific prey." Understanding replaced my confusion and allowed me to meow "You mean like how a rabbit will smell you before it sees you and a mouse will feel your pawsteps through the ground before it smells you?" Swiftstream's face lit up with happiness as she mewed "Yes that's exactly what I mean! So can you show me how you would go about hunting a mouse?" Giving a nod, I positioned my self in my mouse hunting crouch, being sure to keep my weight in my haunches well balanced. Glancing at Swiftstream, I saw her give a nod and I began moving forward slowly and evenly, keeping my steps as light as I could until I reached the other side of the clearing. "Well done! Maybe we should actually try some hunting for real. Come on I know just the spot." Getting up to follow Swiftstream, I noticed a pair of unusual eyes. One eye was green while the other was yellow. Both seemed to cut through me with their intentness. "Come on Ravenpaw! Don't you want to hunt?" I glanced over to where Swiftstream was waiting for. Turning my head to look at that intense piercing gaze again, I realised that it had disappeared. Shrugging I trotted over to where Swiftstream was and followed her as she trotted into the forest.

We returned to camp just after sunhigh, our jaws laden with the prey we had caught. I could tell that Swiftstream was extremely proud of my hunting skills. As I dropped off the prey I was carrying, Swiftstream meowed to me "Go get the last of that prey and bring it back for the elders. Then you can eat and rest for the rest of the day. You've done well and deserve the rest." Nodding I padded back out into the forest to where Swiftstream and I had left the last few pieces of prey. Just as I was about to uncover the prey I heard a hiss of anger. "Mousefodder! What are you doing! If you had of been any good at hunting you would've caught that bird!" Realising that the voice belonged to Breezecloud and was rather nearby, I decided to go and see what was going on. Reaching the edge of a tiny clearing that was under a tree, I saw Breezecloud and the sand coloured tabby tom, Brakenclaw. "Well if you're such a good hunter, then why didn't you catch it?!" Brakenclaw's usually friendly voice was filled with anger. "Because it was your prey, Fleabag!" Brakenclaw gave another hiss and unsheathed his claws. "Take that back!" Brakenclaw growled. Breezecloud's eyes glinted as she realised that she had scored a point. "Or what, Kittypet?" That appeared to end Brakenclaw's self control, for he suddenly leapt at Breezecloud. Soon the two cats became a whirlwind of claws, teeth and fury. Thinking I should probably stop the two cats from severely hurting each other, I prepared to step in. "That's enough! Brakenclaw! Breezecloud!" Mudstar's voice sounded over the hissing and the two cats fell apart glaring at each other angrily. "When will the two of you learn to get along! Breezecloud, you're Stormclan's deputy, you should know better! Brakenclaw you may be just a warrior but imagine if one of the other clans had seen the two of you fighting! I'm ashamed of both of you!" Both Brakenclaw and Breezecloud hung their heads at Mudstar's words, but continued to glare at each other when he wasn't looking. "I want the two of you to start getting along, and as such you will both hunt together and patrol together until I see the two of you getting along." Finished, Mudstar spun around and left. Taking the opportunity to leave, I turned and crept away.

Sitting in a quiet corner, I watched the clan prepare for the night as the day ended. "Hi!" Turning I saw the black tom known as Sparrowpaw nearby. "Hi." Unsure of how to behave, as few cats had ever started a conversation with me aside from my family and Swiftstream, I answered as simply as I could. "Has Swiftstream told you whether or not you are coming to the Gathering tomorrow?" The Gathering? Oh right! Tomorrow the moon would be at it's fullest and Swiftstream, told me that the clans met on those nights. "No she hasn't yet. I doubt that I'll be going anyway as I'm new to the clan." Sparrowpaw shifted himself into a more comfortable position before meowing "I think Mudstar will want to bring you. Especially after how well you hunted today." Embarressed, I shuffled my paws a little. "It's easier to hunt here in the forest where prey is abundant, than it was in the streets." I murmered quietly. I looked up as Swiftstream padded over with excitement rolling of her in waves. "Hi Ravenpaw! Hi Sparrowpaw! Mudstar just told me to tell you that you're coming to the Gathering with us, Ravenpaw! You're coming too, Sparrowpaw!" Excitement began to course through me, setting my eyes alight. I wonder what the other clans are like?