Robinpaw blinked open her eyes to the soft glimmers of dawn.

Huh. That's weird, she thought. Normally, someone else has to wake me up...

Right on cue, Swallowpaw stretched and turned to face Robinpaw, stopping, confused. "Well, this is a first, isn't it?"

Robinpaw nodded drearily, before turning to face the still slumbering Thrushpaw. "Uh, should I wake..?"

Thrushpaw yawned and stretched. "No need." She stopped, suddenly realizing that Robinpaw had spoken. "Robinpaw! You're awake!"

Robinpaw licked her chest, embarrassed. "I guess I finally got used to waking up so early..."

Thrushpaw purred. "Took you long enough!"

"Anyway," interrupted Swallowpaw, "we're going tree hunting today!" Her mew sounded excited, almost proud.

"We?" Robinpaw wondered if her mind was still muddled for sleep.

Swallowpaw purred. "Well, I get to accompany you today! I've finished learning all the moves now, so Mousefang said that I could protect you guys!"

Robinpaw nodded, excitement filling her as well. She'd never trained with Swallowpaw before!

On the other side of the den, Foxtail, Mousefang and Moletail were waking from their sleep. Foxtail stretched, glancing in Robinpaw's direction. Surprise lit her yellow-green gaze for a moment, but she quickly masked it and walked over to her trainee's side calmly.

"We'll be going to go tree hunting," mewed her mentor. "I assume Swallowpaw has told you that she'll be guarding you?"

Robinpaw nodded. Swallowpaw shot her an excited glance, and the silver she-cat returned it eagerly.

Thrushpaw turned to Moletail, who was slowly stretching. "Can we leave?"

Moletail exhaled sharply and grumbled, "Foxtail, can you take her? I'm just so tired..." His mew trailed off with a yawn.

Foxtail nodded understandingly. A glint of amusement flashed in her eyes as her gaze flitted quickly over to a slumbering Starlingclaw. "Of course."

Thrushpaw stared at her mentor curiously, before following Foxtail's gaze to Starlingclaw. She turned to Robinpaw, who could barely suppress a purr.

"Let's go!" mewed Swallowpaw, practically bouncing with excitement now. "Please?"

Mousefang purred, walking over to Foxtail. "Let's go before she explodes of excitement!"

With an amused nod, Foxtail padded out of the den, the rest following, where the pale sunlight slowly washed away the traces of morning fog. A sudden shiver stole through the silver she-cat at the chill. Leaf-fall was approaching.

For once, Robinpaw felt awake enough to truly admire the forest. The leaves above her were tinted the slightest bit orange as the sun cut through them, lighting the whole forest with an etheral light. The trees, though not the closest together, were surrounded by all sorts of foilage that made stalking harder and gave prey more pieces to hide. The bushes' beautiful green was fading slightly to an orange, and Robinpaw wondered how she hadn't noticed before.

"Robinpaw," came a teasing voice from beside her. "Stop gawking and pay attention to your Clanmates!"

With a guilty start, Robinpaw realized she'd veered slightly from the path. She met Thrushpaw's amused gaze, embarrassed, and tried to cover it with a purr.

Speeding up a bit, Robinpaw walked beside her mentor. She opened her mouth to ask her where they were heading, before realizing that she'd been here before-- Thrushpaw had taken her hunting not long ago!

The tall birch tree came into view; it seemed to be where they were heading. Foxtail confirmed her suspicions by nodding at the distant tree. "The Climbing Tree," she mewed. "After all, to tree hunt, you have to be able climb first!"

Robinpaw felt a sudden urge to run to the tree, and catching Swallowpaw's gaze, she could feel that her friend felt the same.

With a sudden thudding of paws, the two she-cat were running toward the tree, Robinpaw's feet padding expertly across the uneven ground. She realized to her shock that she could see the obstacles in her path by the growth of the plants around her-- her hunting had honed her knack for finding the shortest and easiest trail.

In only a few moments, the silver she-cat slowed to a stop beneath the tree, Swallowpaw only a mousetail behind. Robinpaw felt her heart beating hard, energy still flooding though her veins as she looked triumphantly at her challenger.

Swallowpaw let out an embarrassed purr, her breathing as quick as Robinpaw's. "You beat me." She paused, shaking off her momentary jealousy. "But you just seemed to know exactly what was going to be beneath your paws!"

"And you two beat all of us!" called Thrushpaw, slowing to a stop behind them and breathing hard. "We weren't expecting you to dash off like that!"

Mousefang and Foxtail approached them, having followed at a much more reasonable pace. "Take it easy, youngsters," chuckled Mousefang with mock anger. "I'm not getting any younger!"

Foxtail purred, her gaze full of pride as she gazed upon her apprentice. "It seems you've learned the power of observation, haven't you?"

Robinpaw nodded, her heartbeat slowly returning to its normal pace. "So, we're climbing trees?" The run had felt her with a sense of confidence that she'd always lacked-- she felt like she could climb any tree and catch any prey thrown at her.

Foxtail nodded. "Yes." She walked over to the tree, unsheathing her claws and plunging them into the bark. "Birch bark is quite soft, so it's a great tree for climbing. But that doesn't mean it's easy," she added quickly, seeing Robinpaw's expression. "There are some rules that you always have to follow when tree climbing-- first, you always have to make sure you have a partner." She gestured to Thrushpaw. "That partner will be watching you, and making sure you don't climb unto a weak branch. You will also have a protector, someone who watches for outside attacks that could startle or attack your partner or you." For this, she turned to Swallowpaw. "It's also best to always have three claws on the tree at a time, moving one at a time."

Robinpaw nodded, eyeing the bark of the tree warily. "Is that all?"

Foxtail nodded. "The rest is best learned for yourself."

The silver tabby unsheathed her claws, approaching the tree. With a deep breath, she leapt unto the side of the tree, digging her claws into the tree.

Just as Foxtail had said, the birch bark was remarkable soft, and her claws slid in easily. Robinpaw could almost forget that she wasn't standing on the ground, until her claws suddenly began to feel pulled down. Instinctively, Robinpaw pressed herself to the tree, taking one paw off the tree and moving up. Then the back paw.

Robinpaw settled into a rhythm, her movements feeling natural. Her focus expanded as she felt more comfortable, and a smell suddenly hit her.

Squirrell!

Suddenly, Robinpaw's senses went into overdrive, her hearing concentrating until she could hear the skittering of paws above her. She turned her head slowly, taking care not to alert her prey. She spotted the squirrel, its brown body camouflaged among the leaves. She crept closer, and closer...

And suddenly she was on it's branch. Grateful for her small size and the thickness of the branch, the branch didn't even seem to creak.

The squirrel continued eating his meal, oblivious to the predator breaths away.

Robinpaw pounced, her teeth coming down a little sloppily on the squirrel's neck as her claws sank deep in the bark to stop her from overbalancing. It squirmed for a moment, but the bite had thankfully been fatal. It hung limply from the triumphant trainee's jaws.

Below, the she-cat could hear her companions cheering.

Filled with a sense of jubilation and success, Robinpaw crept back toward the trunk of the tree and stopped, hesitating. She looked down at her mentor helplessly, who quickly understood her question.

"Just go down backwards!"

Nodding as well as she could with the squirrel in her grasp, Robinpaw latched back on the trunk and backed down slowly tail first.

Before she knew it, she was back on the ground, surrounded by mews of congratulations.

And for the first time ever, Robinpaw felt like she could really do anything.

Ok, ok, I know. This was really, really late.

*ducks to avoid all the rotten fruit flying in my direction*

I-I have no excuse.

But, ah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite its tardiness! And don't worry, there should be another update coming out tomorrow or the next day as well, so I should be right back on schedule!

What did you think of Robinpaw's new confidence, the tree climb, and Swallowpaw's reappearance? Should I include her in more chapters?

~a very very late and embarrassed Ember