Warriors: Omen Of Fire

Chapter 11

Snowpaw crouched low, his belly fur hardly brushing the leaf-strewn ground as he crept forward. He held his tail still. It was still sore from the battle from a couple of days ago, but Cloudpaw said it was starting to heal up nicely. Just up ahead, there was a huge squirrel nibbling on an acorn, seated on an old oak tree branch just above his head.

He tested the air. It was blowing towards him. Perfect.

He bunched his muscles under him once he was close enough. The squirrel didn't even notice him. Snowpaw leaped up and hooked his claws in the squirrel's bushy tail, dragging it to the forest floor. He killed it quickly and carried it back to where he had buried his earlier kills.

Snowpaw walked confidently forward with his squirrel in his jaws. Today he and Emberpaw were hunting for their final assessment. Charfur and Lizardbelly were out in the forest somewhere, watching them. But Snowpaw wasn't worried. He knew he was ready to be a warrior.

The ginger and white tom stepped through the underbrush gracefully. Tiny green shoots were pushing their way up through the leaf mould and small flowers were beginning to burst into life. As Snowpaw climbed to the top of the training hill, maw laden with his fresh kill, he heard a pleased voice behind him.

"That was brilliant!"

Snowpaw's ears twitched; he turned and warmly greeted his mentor. Placing his catch down he purred, "thank you Charfur! I've learned from the best."

"You've come a long way since I first started training you. You are more than ready to be a warrior."

Snowpaw purred as he admired his catch: a vole, a robin, and a squirrel. It was a bountiful haul on a warm, but overcast new leaf day. Charfur sat down beside him and began washing his whiskers. Snowpaw glanced around the forest and pricked his ears.

Chickadees were twittering above their heads high up in the trees and a light breeze rustled the bright green leaves. The grey clouds above were drifting lazily across the sky. I wonder how Emberpaw is doing? he thought as he gazed through the trees.

She soon climbed up the hill with her jaws crammed full. She had caught two shrews, a water vole, and a sparrow. Emberpaw's eyes were bright with confidence and pride. There's no way we aren't passing our assessment today!

"That catch is amazing!" Snowpaw commented as she padded nearer. Emberpaw placed it down on the ground and cleaned a burr out of her white fur.

"You are an impressive hunter," her mentor leaped down from a branch and onto the training hill. Dandelion fluff floated up into the air as she landed softly on the mound of earth.

"I know," Emberpaw said nonchalantly, her nose in the air. Lizardbelly flicked her tail in annoyance. They still hadn't been getting along recently. Emberpaw had outgrown her mentor. Snowpaw felt the same, but at least he had the decency to respect he and his mentor's relationship. Emberpaw constantly acted like she was better than everyone.

"In that case, you won't mind carrying your prey back to camp on your own would you?" Lizardbelly sounded irritated.

"Not at all." Emberpaw struggled to pick up her prey and keep it all in her jaws, but she refused help. Charfur, on the other hand, helped carry Snowpaw's prey back to camp without a word.

As they slid through the lush undergrowth Snowpaw noticed Lizardbelly's stomach bulged as she walked. She's put on some weight since new leaf started, he thought to himself, amused.

"Nice catch!" called Starnose as they emerged from the entrance tunnel and into the camp. Meltwater and Rainwhisker were nodding as the apprentices added their catch to the fresh kill pile.