It had been three sunrises since Crowpaw had managed to catch that scrawny little mouse. He hadn't scented a single thing since. His frustration at his uselessness grew worse and worse as he sat in front of his den, sharing tongues with his littermate, Pigeonpaw, watching warriors bring in what seemed like endless amounts of fresh-kill. It was unfair, to him at least, how easy it seemed for great warriors such as Hazelear to catch prey, even in such hard times. He wished that Oceanfleck would take him out for a hunting lesson today, as he so obviously needed it.

"Crowpaw, you seem troubled. Is something the matter?" Pigeonpaw asked him softly, giving his head a gentle lick. She always knew when something was wrong.

"It's only the fact that I've somehow gotten to be the worst hunter in the clan. Oceanfleck is surely disappointed in me," Crowpaw sighed, leaning into his sister's caring touch. "I wish I was better at being an apprentice."

"Nonsense! you're a fine apprentice," Pigeonpaw replied, obviously shocked at his answer. "Oceanfleck brags about you all the time with Stagleap."

"But I haven't been able to catch a single piece of fresh-kill since that scrawny mouse I caught three sunrises ago," Crowpaw replied gloomily, beginning to groom Pigeonpaw.

"It's leaf-fall, Crowpaw, nearly leaf-bare. Everyone is a sour hunter in these days. Not to mention, you've only been an apprentice for a moon. That's not much time to become the best hunter ValleyClan has ever seen," Pigeonpaw mewed.

"At least you actually can hunt!" Tatteredpaw chipped in good-naturedly, his torn paw laying limply beside him as he groomed Webbedpaw.

That simple comment made Crowpaw let out a small giggle, his ears twitching with delight. It amazed him how easily his friends managed to cheer him up. "Fine, you get that, Tatteredpaw," He purred.

"Of course I do. My name is Tatteredpaw, is it not?" The brown-eyed tom said, amusement twinkling through his words.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it, your paw is 'tattered'," Pigeonpaw meowed with amusement, shuffling her paws on the ground. "Whine to somebody who cares."

"Hey! That's mean!" Tatteredpaw said with fake sadness, stomping his good front paw on the ground. "I'm cared about! By my mother, and by Nettlesplash!"

"Keep telling yourself that," A old, yet kind purr came from behind them. All three cats turned their heads. It was Nettlesplash, with Oceanfleck right beside her.

Before any of the three could speak, Oceanfleck said, "Nettlesplash, teasing the young is not productive. Go on a herb hunt, or whatever you medicine folk do."

"We heal cats, keep the Clan in good health, and make sure our herb stock is always full enough to take care of every mouse of the forest, thank you very much!" Tatteredpaw purred defensively.

"That was a good job at defending your position, Tatteredpaw, but Oceanfleck is only teasing. She is right, however. We do need to go on a 'herb hunt', as she calls it. Our storage is dangerously low for going into leaf-bare," Nettlesplash assured her young apprentice. "Come, I will assess your skills today, just to be sure you're keeping up with your training."

"Oh! Really?! Like, an assessment? Already? Why didn't you warn me, I should have paid more attention!" Tatteredpaw squealed, standing up quickly, his paw limp as usual.

"You'll do fine," Pigeonpaw said in an encouraging tone, giving Tatteredpaw a lick on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we believe in you!" Crowpaw purred, rubbing against Tatteredpaw's side.

"Let's go, we have no time to waste, my apprentice. I believe it will snow soon," Nettlesplash said worriedly.

Tatteredpaw nodded in agreement and hobbled along about the Russian Blue she-cat, keeping up surprisingly well for a cat with such a disability. Crowpaw was always curious about how his paw tore in such a disabling way, but he didn't want to bring back bad memories for his friend. He would have asked Tatteredpaw's mother, but she had been dead ever since kitting. The poor cat had really lost a lot.

"Anyways, I didn't wander over to you two without a reason. Crowpaw, Pigeonpaw, you are both to join the hunting patrol this evening, led by Asheneye himself. Pointedstar specifically asked you two to join, due to your poor performance in supplying prey," Oceanfleck told them, going from teasing to serious much too quickly for Crowpaw's liking.

"Yes, Oceanfleck," The two of them said in unison, standing up together. Crowpaw found it unfair that his father was criticizing them. They weren't warriors yet! They didn't have to be perfect. He didn't dare say this out loud, however, they would be scolded for dodging their responsibilities, and for disrespecting the warrior code.

"Come along, you two. They're leaving now," Oceanfleck told them, flicking her tail and beginning to walk towards their destination.

"Well, we should go..." Pigeonpaw said slowly, looking at Crowpaw. The black tom nodded, and the littermates followed after Crowpaw's mentor.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I've been feeling extra inspired recently, probably due to re-reading the first few books of warriors, so expect more frequent updates! Alssooo, tell me who is your favorite character so far! To be honest, mine is probably Tatteredpaw. I also just realized I never had Webbedpaw speak up. I feel so bad, poor little ignored Webbedpaw.