Nightstar's Prophecy

Chapter Four

Apprentice work came quickly to Nightpaw. When she wasn’t receiving training from Boulderfur, she was helping take care of the elders and changing the bedding in the Elder’s den and the nursery. Acornsweep, a lovely brown she-cat, had just recently joined the nursey, expecting Stonestrike’s kits. Nightpaw was happy to help her out, as the queen was rather friendly and always shared extra prey.

Soon enough, a moon had flown by and it was time for her first apprentice assessment. Boulderfur informed her that that morning, she would be sharing an assessment with Squirrelpaw. She would be assessed on the western borders, and that Squirrelpaw would be assessed on the WaveClan border. She was nervous, but she was sure that she could do well.

She headed out, Squirrelpaw and herself heading separate ways. She was aware that she would be watched by Froststar, Boulderfur, and Redheart, as the tradition went. The leader, the deputy, and her mentor would be watching her progress, determining what she needed to work on and what her strengths were. She knew that, in order to be a warrior that Froststar would consider as a mate, she would have to be good at fighting more than hunting, although she would have to be good at hunting and excel in fighting in order to make that happen. She was determined to be perfect.

Mist hung low on the beach and she looked around. It would make it hard to hunt this morning, but she couldn’t let that stop her. She had to do good. She had to. She opened her jaws to scent the air around her. There was the smell of crabs and fish as usual, but there were also birds nearby. She watched her pawsteps, looking around, keeping her steps quiet as she walked forward.

The mist soon had her pelt damp, and although it made her uncomfortable, it wasn’t all that bad. It cooled her off more than anything. A shadow at the edge of her vision had her staring back onto the moor. There was a vague shape of a cat. She assumed it was just one of the cats watching her, so she turned her head and kept going. There was a gull feeding nearby. She had yet to be taught how to catch one, but she wanted to try nonetheless. She knew how to hunt birds, so this shouldn’t be any different, right?

However, a sound behind her, a rather loud meow, made the bird fly off. She whirled around, ready to tell off Squirrelpaw or Boulderfur or whoever it was, but it was neither of them. It was a dark brown tabby she-cat, her mangy pelt riddled with scars. She had a missing eye, a torn ear, and part of her mouth was permanently curled up, making her look like she was stuck in an eternal snarl. There was also a horrible scar on her throat, and she wondered how the she-cat was even here. With a scar like that, she should be dead.

Nightpaw felt her fur prickle as she stared at the she-cat. What did she want? Who was she? Was she a rogue? They had had plenty of trouble with rogues in the past, so she just assumed that it was a rogue. Nightpaw tried to remember her battle training. However, the she-cat said nothing, just disappeared into the mist. Nightpaw ran after her, not wanting her to get into camp or something, panic for the other cats rising into her. However, the rogue soon disappeared in the mist and Nightpaw found herself unable to track her scent.  She sighed. She needed to focus. She could report it to Froststar later.

Turning, she noticed that she had trampled over something. She looked down. It was a dead gull, it’s insides writing with maggots. She curled her lip. She had trampled over crowfood, and now she smelled like it. She doubted she would be able to hunt now. She headed towards the ocean in order to try to wash the smell over her pelt.

By the time that happened, it was almost sunhigh, and her assessment was over. She managed to catch a crab, but that was it. She trotted back to the camp, reporting to Boulderfur, Froststar, and Redheart. She already knew that she had done bad, so she averted her gaze so she wouldn’t have to look at them.

“I noticed you got distracted at a point in your assessment.” Froststar said. “What was that about?” He asked. Nightpaw set down the crab and placed her paw on it.