Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 21

"Ravenpaw," A paw poked her sharply in the side. "It's time to wake up. Thornwhisker told me to get you. He says you have a practice assessment to do." Sandpaw was hovering beside Ravenpaw, continuously poking her with her front paw. Drowsily, Ravenpaw lifted her head and blinked sleep out of her eyes. She clumsily swatted at Sandpaw with a front paw to get the annoying young she-cat to stop poking her.

Then excitement hit her. She was going to be doing a practice assessment that day! Quickly, she sat up, causing Sandpaw to let out a startled hiss and draw back sharply.

"What in the name of StarClan was that about?" Sandpaw muttered, her tail lashing back and forth. Ravenpaw's whiskers were quivering with excitement as she looked at her denmate.

"I'm going to do a practice assessment for when I have to do my real warrior assessment!" Ravenpaw purred excitedly. Before Sandpaw could respond, she scrambled out of her nest and hurried out of the den.

The colorful rays of dawn were still in the sky, looking quite beautiful. Most of the Clan was awake now, and Ravenpaw knew the dawn patrol was still out in the forest, though she didn't know which cats were even on the patrol.

Shallowstar was sharing tongues with Longfur beside the elder's den at the edge of the clearing. Blacktail was grooming herself in the center of the clearing, while Thistlefang crouched nearby, looking as if he was very deep in thought. Silverflight was sharing the remains of a mouse with Mouseclaw, who was her brother, near the edge of the clearing close to the medicine den. Palefoot and Thornwhisker were talking to each other near the Leader's Rock. Ravenpaw darted over to her mentor the moment she spotted him.

"Good morning, Ravenpaw," Thornwhisker purred as she skidded to a halt beside him. "Palefoot told me that you couldn't sleep well last night, and that she informed you about your practice session today. Did you get any sleep after that?"
Ravenpaw nodded, shifting from paw to paw with her excitement.

"Good," Thornwhisker said, a look of amusement crossing his face. "Are you ready to start?"

"Of course I'm ready!" Ravenpaw meowed, flexing her claws into the grass with excitement. Adrenaline was pumping through her, and she was dying to dash into the forest to catch something already.

"Great," Thornwhisker said, flicking the tip of his tail. "Then follow me. Palefoot will be joining us." He glanced over at the deputy, who nodded.

"I want to see how well you're doing," Palefoot said, "With a mentor like Thornwhisker, I have no doubt that you'll be quite an efficient warrior." She cast a glance at Thornwhisker, a look that had some sort of meaning Ravenpaw couldn't understand.

"Thank you, Palefoot," Thornwhisker said, looking a bit flustered, to Ravenpaw's surprise. "Follow me. Unless you want to lead." He glanced at Palefoot.

"Oh no," Palefoot purred, looking amused. "She's your apprentice, Thornwhisker. You should be the one who chooses where she will practice."

Thornwhisker nodded, looking flustered once again. "Sure. Alright then. Let's go." He turned and bounded into the forest. Ravenpaw quickly hurried after him, Palefoot at her side.

Why is he so flustered? Ravenpaw wondered as she tried to keep up with Thornwhisker. He bounded effortlessly through the trees, weaving around the undergrowth with ease. Although Ravenpaw was used to running through the undergrowth, she was having a hard time keeping up with her mentor's pace.

After a bit, Thornwhisker suddenly veered sharply to the left. Ravenpaw gasped, nearly skidding into a tree, as she tried to imitate her mentor's sharp turn. What the heck...?

Ravenpaw ran after her mentor as he continued to bound effortlessly through the woods. She could feel Palefoot still at her side, and saw that the pale gray she-cat was growing as tired as she was as they raced through the undergrowth. After what seemed like moons, Thornwhisker finally halted in a small clearing, lit orange by the rising sun.