Warriors: A New Beginning #1: The Beginning

Chapter 38

Wavepelt slipped out of the warriors den and headed for the apprentices den to wake up Ashpaw. It had been two moons since Dapplecloud's death. Waterfall still mourned her deeply, but he spent time with Featherkit and Briarkit whenever he had the chance. They probably remind him of Dapplecloud.

She entered the apprentices den and nudged Ashpaw. "It's time to wake up."

"Why?" Ashpaw blinked up at her sleepily. "Can't I sleep a bit more?"

"Okay, then." Wavepelt decided to do the same trick Speckledfur had done on her. "That's fine with me, if you want to miss your final assessment..."

"What?" Ashpaw sat bolt upright. "My final assessment? Did I hear that correctly?"

Wavepelt nodded. "Let's go."

They exited camp and Wavepelt halted.

"Before we start, I'll tell you what to do," she mewed. "We'll first test your hunting skills. I want you to catch a mouse, a squirrel, a rabbit, and a bird of some kind."

Ashpaw nodded seriously. "Where do I hunt?"

"Anywhere in ThunderClan territory," Wavepelt decided. "You can start wherever you like."

Ashpaw dashed off, and Wavepelt waited before quietly following her.

I know she can do this, she thought. By sun-high, she'll be a warrior.

Her attention turned back to her apprentice. Ashpaw had halted and was parting her jaws. Wavepelt hid behind a bush and watched.

Ashpaw dropped into the hunter's crouch and crept toward a tree root. She's probably found a mouse.

Ashpaw paused and waggled her haunches, then pounced. A squeak was heard, and Ashpaw stood up, a mouse dangling from her jaws. The apprentice buried it and moved on, on the lookout for more prey. Wavepelt followed her.

Ashpaw's eyes were alert, searching tree trunks. She's going to tackle the squirrel.

Sure enough, Ashpaw raced up a tree trunk swiftly, but silently. Good. She leapt onto a branch and nipped her target, a grey squirrel with a bushy tail. Then she climbed down the tree and buried the squirrel.

She's doing very well! Wavepelt thought as Ashpaw set off again. She just has a rabbit and some kind of bird left.

Wavepelt noticed that Ashpaw was heading for the WindClan border. That's a good choice for rabbits. WindClan's prey is basically just rabbits.

Ashpaw stopped at the border and turned. Wavepelt quickly hid behind a clump of brambles.

Ashpaw tasted the air and finally purred with satisfaction. She crouched and lightly placed her paws on the ground as she padded closer to what she was stalking— probably a rabbit, but Wavepelt couldn't see it.

Then Ashpaw pounced. A screech was heard, and then a "Mouse dung!" from Ashpaw as a rabbit tore out from behind a bush. Ashpaw raced after it in hot pursuit. She gained speed, then pawed the prey down and killed it with a swift bite to the neck. She was about to bury it when she jerked her head up. Dropping the rabbit, she ran like a WindClan cat and leapt onto a bird which had just landed. She took the two pieces of prey and headed back the way she had come.

"Good work." Wavepelt revealed herself. "You can put that prey with the others that you caught. Then we'll work on fighting."

Ashpaw's eyes gleamed with pride. "Okay, Wavepelt." She ran off to where she had caught her squirrel and buried her prey.