Warriors: A Twisted Path

Chapter 12

  "Keep your head up Talonpaw!"
  Talonpaw lifted up his muzzle so he was face to face with his brother. Their forearms were locked into place, and they were trying to drag the other to the ground.
  They had been training all day, and Talonpaw did feel very tired. But he wasn't ready to go back to camp yet, he still wanted to learn more!
  A sudden burst of energy helped Talonpaw flip Finchpaw to the side, and he quickly pinned his brother down, curling his tail up in triumph.
  "Very good!" Orangepelt purred proudly, and Gorsecloud nodded in approval.
  Talonpaw puffed out his chest, getting off of his brother.
  Finchpaw got to his paws, brushing off some dirt from his pelt with his tail. "I was just going easy on you."
  Talonpaw playfully cuffed his ears. "Yeah right!"
  Finchpaw let out a small growl and lunged at him. Talonpaw braced for the attack and moved out of the way, tugging on his tail as he went by.
  Finchpaw swirled around and hit Talonpaw's head with his paw, but before Talonpaw reacted, Orangepelt spoke.
  "Alright, alright. That's enough you two." Orangepelt mewed. "Let's do some hunting before we head back to camp."
  "Yay!" Talonpaw and Finchpaw exclaimed, then ran off onto the moor, stopping after a while to wait for their mentors.
  "Hurry up slow pokes!" Finchpaw called to them.
  Once they caught up, Gorsecloud rolled his eyes.
  "Don't you two ever lose any energy?" He said.
  Talonpaw pricked his ears and sniffed the air, scenting rabbit. Before he could even move, Orangepelt raced away, coming back moments later with a rabbit as big as Talonpaw.
  He stared at the prey in awe. "That's huge!"
  Finchpaw looked at Orangepelt with admiration. "You're such an amazing hunter!"
  Orangepelt purred. "Don't worry, one day you'll be able to catch prey as big as this. For now you two will hunt together."
  Talonpaw and Finchpaw nodded, so they moved on.
  Finchpaw stopped, sniffing the air. "Rabbit!" He whispered.
   Talonpaw's green eyes darted to a rabbit, who was nibbling on some grass. "Wait here Finchpaw, I'll drive it to your paws."
  Talonpaw slowly stalked around the rabbit, keeping his distance and staying quiet. Once he was on the other side, he leapt forward and chased the rabbit to Finchpaw. It soon ran right into his brother's paws, and he quickly killed it.
  "Thank you StarClan for this prey!" Talonpaw mewed.
  "Great catch!" Orangepelt praised.
  Gorsecloud nodded. "And good teamwork."
  Talonpaw smiled. He had just caught his first rabbit! Along with the help of Finchpaw of course.
  Orangepelt's mew broke his thoughts. "Let's hunt some more then head back to camp."

  The group returned to camp with four rabbits. Talonpaw and Finchpaw had worked together to catch another rabbit.
  The two brothers each put one rabbit in the fresh kill pile, stepping away proudly.
  Timberfall padded up to the fresh kill pile and picked up one of the rabbits, turning his broad head to the apprentices. "Good work you two, I'm sure Blackstar and Frostkit will enjoy this."
  Talonpaw lifted his head up proudly. "Thanks Timberfall!"
  Timberfall gave them a brief nod then walked away to the nursery.
  "Wow! I can't believe we just got praised by Timberfall!" Finchpaw exclaimed.
  "Yeah, I didn't think he knew we caught those rabbits." Talonpaw agreed.
  "Well, you were staring at them like they were the only things in the world." Orangepelt purred from behind them.
  Talonpaw turned around to look at his mentor.
  "Get something to eat and rest, we're going on the dawn patrol tomorrow morning." Orangepelt said. "I said I would go help Brokenheart sort herbs, so I'll see you later."
  Talonpaw nodded and watched his mentor pad away. Finchpaw had grabbed a rabbit, and was in front of the apprentice's den. Talonpaw went over to join him.
  "I can't wait till we go to our first gathering!" Finchpaw said, offering some of the rabbit to Talonpaw.
  Talonpaw took a bite, nodding. "Maybe we can meet some other apprentices!"
  "And learn their weaknesses!" Finchpaw meowed.
  Once they were finished eating, they went into the den. Talonpaw curled up in his nest, and as soon as his head hit the moss, he was fast asleep.