♕

"No, Goldenpaw, like this," Pebblespring repeated. Honeypaw could tell she was getting impatient by her annoyed tone.

Today they were learning how to hunt. Honeypaw thought she was doing pretty well for her first time, though, Goldenpaw, not so much. Her and Leopardfur were waiting patiently beside a small pond, lily pads slowly floating in the water and frogs croaking as they laid on the pads, water soaking through.

She watched as Goldenpaw got into a hunting stance, her tail laid on the forest surface, she hunched over and pounced.

"That was by far the best one, Goldenpaw, keep in up!" her mentor praised.

Honeypaw snorted, Goldenpaw wasn't even doing it well, though, it was their first time trying to hunt.

Leopardfur looked around. "I think I want you two to start looking for some prey and try catching it, make sure to be as quiet and quick possible, but if needed, make sure to take your time."

Finally, it was time to hunt!

Honeypaw flicked her tail in farewell as she trotted away. It was time to try hunting herself! Although it was her first time hunting, she was confident that she could catch something. She wanted to bring some prey back to the Clan, her parents would be so proud.

Confidence seemed to boil her skin, her heart began pumping with excitement. This could show Stripestar that she was in fact; normal.

She sniffed the air, scents from everywhere filled her nose. She could smell the slight scent of MossClan cats from marking borders from the dawn patrol and the nice, green-leaf, turning to leaf-fall, air. The sky was plastered with white clouds as it mixed in with its light blue milky color.

Then it hit her, the smell of a water vole. No one was around beside her and her prey, this was her chance. She got into the hunting crouch Leopardfur had shown her and crept toward her prey.

The water vole looked very big to most water voles, it had thick, wet brown fur and beady black eyes. It hadn't noticed her yet.

She crept forward a little more, shuffling her paws to get ready and pounce until a twig snapped beneath her big, ginger paws.

"Mouse-dung!" she cursed as the water vole stumbled away into the water. A good piece of prey, gone, wasted. She wasn't done yet, she didn't want to be empty pawed. She sniffed the air once again until she spotted a nice looking mouse scuffling through the undergrowth.

This time she didn't want to make a mistake. She crept toward the mouse as it popped its head out. She froze as it stared at her, squeaking with fear. Surprisingly, it kept walking. She quietly sighed with relief and waited patiently for it to get closer.

Suddenly, another mouse appeared. This one was much bigger as it's gray fur was ruffled and it's round ears were perked. Two in one, perfect.

She crept just a tiny bit closer and finally pounced, extending her paws as she unsheathed her claws. The mice squealed with surprise as she grasped the smaller one with her claw, killing it. However, the bigger one scurried away before it could be killed.

Happiness surged through her, at least she caught something!

She picked up the mouse triumphantly, raising her head as she began heading back to her mentor who was waiting patiently for her to return.

She spotted her mentors' slick fur as he sat beside Puddlespring as they quietly talked amongst themselves. Surprisingly, Goldenpaw was no where to be seen, she probably didn't catch anything anyway.

Leopardfur spotted her and purred with delight. "A mouse, good job for your first independent hunt, Honeypaw!" he praised.

She dropped the mouse in front of him. "Where's Goldenpaw?" she asked.

"Not here yet can't you see?" Puddlespring snapped, clearly not impressed to see that Honeypaw returned first.

Honeypaw shrugged and she waited for her sister to return. Finally, Goldenpaw's golden-yellow fur flashed in the distance as she came into view. The apprentice came panting, nothing in her jaws. Her paws were slashed with mud and her fur looked drenched. Her blue eyes were filled with disappointment.

"What happened to you?" Puddlespring asked, not impressed. "Were you swimming?"

Goldenpaw batted at the ground. "I—sorry," she apologized with embarrassment.

Honeypaw let out a little giggle. Whatever Goldenpaw was doing did not help her in getting any prey. "Goldenpaw was just trying to swim," she meowed sarcastically.

Goldenpaw let out a low, irritated noise. "Whatever."

                                         ♕

The four cats began walking back to camp. Honeypaw was walking beside Leopardfur, the mouse dangling from her jaws. She was followed by Goldenpaw and Puddlespring who were quietly chatting.

Leopardfur managed to catch a large frog while Puddlespring caught a sleek silver fish. Goldenpaw was still empty pawed which made Honeypaw want to burst out laughing, but of course, that wasn't proper.

Finally, they made it back to camp and trotted down the path toward the entrance, the gray clouds hovering over them, slowly passing by.

She dropped her mouse onto the pile as well as Leopardfur and Puddlespring. She glanced up to see Stripestar gazing down at her. His fur was matted to his body and his dark blue eyes looked like pools of awe. He was clearly impressed.

She tried not making eye contact, but she couldn't resist the leaders gaze. She looked up, the leader looked much bigger when he was sitting up, looking amongst his warriors and apprentices, coming back from patrols.

MossClan was growing stronger by each day with Stripestar as their leader. Then she wondered, how many lives did Stripestar have left? Surely he still had his nine lives, right?

"Amazing work Honeypaw, I like to see that our apprentices are working hard," Stripestar purred unexpectedly.

She realized that Goldenpaw was beside her, she could feel her sisters hatred that seemed to flow around her like a cloud. She stormed away toward the Apprentices den, her tail trailing behind her.

Guilt swept into her mind. "Thanks Stripestar," she responded before dashing toward the Apprentices den, she wanted to apologize to Goldenpaw and tell her she would one day catch something.

She padded in, the air seemed to smell like a pond as she could hear the waterfall in the distance, which did not bother any MossClan cat, from what she knew.

She spotted Goldenpaw curled up on her small moss bed and beside her sat Rainpaw, his amber eyes seemed to be filled with worry and what else could she see? Sympathy?

"Hey uhm, Goldenpaw I just wanted to apologize, Stripestar wasn't saying anything directly to me, you were just, uh, unlucky today," she promised, though, neither Rainpaw nor Goldenpaw seemed thrilled.

Rainpaw flicked his tail in greeting. "Goldenpaw is just tired," he pressed. "Let her get some rest, she just wasn't feeling it today."

Honeypaw understood, maybe she had too much on her mind, like she, herself, always did. But what could be on Goldenpaw's mind? It seemed like the only thing Goldenpaw seemed to think about was humiliating her sister.

She shrugged it off. "Okay," she admitted. "Also, have you happen to know when the gathering is? I merely forgotten."

Rainpaw nodded. "I think it's in a couple of sunrises."

Honeypaw twitched her ears with excitement. "Okay, thanks Rainpaw!" she thanked.

Soon would be the gathering and she could meet all the other apprentices from the Clans! She could also meet all the warriors, leader deputies, medicine cats—well every rank! Although, not all of the apprentices were probably going and besides, she couldn't have her hopes up just yet. She didn't even know she was going yet!

The Apprentices den was growing darker as fog seemed to blow through the camp. Her eyes tried adjusting to the light, but she decided that she might as well lie down, she had many days ahead of her and she would need all the energy and strength she could collect.

She sighed with relief as she stumbled in her moss bed. She stared upward between tree branches toward Silverpelt as it slowly passed by...