𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 [ʙ1] | 𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

Chapter 9 - Lionpaw

      Lionpaw leapt out of his nest excitedly.

Today's the day! he thought.

He nudged Silverpaw, who was in the nest next to his.

"Silverpaw wake up! It's our assessments today!"

Silverpaw blinked her teal eyes open wearily and stood up.

"Yeah..." she said looking melancholy.

"Hey, don't let anything get you down. You can only become a warrior once y'know," the golden tom gave her a kind smile.

They were the only ones in the apprentice den and Lionpaw nudged her out into camp.

The sun was rising bit by bit into the cloudy sky.

Spruceclaw rushed up to Silverpaw.

"Silverpaw, before you say anything, I just want to let you know how proud I am of you and Hawkpaw," the white and brown senior warrior gazed at his daughter.

"Aw Dad, I love you so much," Silverpaw whispered, burying her head into Spruceclaw's chest fur.

Spruceclaw purred and rested his head on top of hers.

Lionpaw smiled and walked away, not wanting to interfere with a family moment.

He then walked straight into his sister...the last cat he wanted to see.

Lionpaw shoved past her, not saying a word.

Silverpaw had told him the fight that had happened between her and Fawnpaw.

Then Lionpaw went over and yelled at his sister about it.

Now both siblings were not on speaking terms and that was just fine for Lionpaw.

All the apprentices are going to take their assessments today but Lionpaw and Silverpaw would be hunting in the same area.

He meowed a greeting to Velvetcloud, who just received her full medicine cat name.

Lionpaw caught sight of his mentor and paying over to him.

"Hey Stormleap. When are we starting the assessment?" he asked the dark gray tom.

"Right now actually! I was just looking for you, Lionpaw and Swiftstripe went to find Silverpaw," he replied to the golden apprentice.

Together, they walked out of camp and waited by the fern tunnel.

Lionpaw scented Hawkpaw and Fawnpaw and realized they must've already started their assessments.

When Swiftstripe and Silverpaw finally emerged from the fern tunnel, they began padding deeper into ThunderClan territory. 

"Ok. You two are going to split up but still stay fairly close to one another when the assessment starts. All you need to do to pass the assessment is to catch three pieces of prey. And remember, Swiftstripe and I will be watching you and your technique," Stormleap explained.

"Good luck you two," mewed Swiftstripe as she leapt into the bushes, out of sight.

Silverpaw gave Lionpaw an encouraging smile and they set off.

Lionpaw crouched low, his tail waving in the air. 

He watched every paw step and the golden tom pounced on a plump vole under a tree root.

He bit down on its neck and he buried the prey excitedly.

One down, two more to go, he thought, filled with confidence.