There was no doubt in Volestripe's mind that Goldthorn was secretly trying to kill him. He had been put on his first border patrol that morning with Blizzardfur and Redflower and had met his first FenClan cats. There had been three of them, two warriors and one apprentice. Leading the FenClan dawn patrol was a ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes whom Blizzardfur had called Foxfeather. With him were two brown tabbies, one a she-cat with green eyes and the other, the apprentice, a tom with yellow eyes. Mouseleaf and Eaglepaw had been mostly silent whilst the patrols greeted each other. After the dawn patrol, Volestripe helped Lilypaw clean out the nursery. It hadn't been hard, all he had really done was clean out the old moss and played with the kits while Lilypaw shaped the new nests. Afterwards, just before sunhigh, he went herb-collecting with Rocknose, ShadeClan's Medicine Cat, which had taken surprisingly long to complete. He was glad he had offered to help as it gave him a chance to get the Medicine Cat to like him. Some cats, mainly Lilypaw, Daisytuft and Cloudmist, had been friendly towards Sparrownose and himself while others, notably Rabbitstripe and Badgertail, had been less then friendly to the former kittypets. Glodthorn had been pleasantly surprised to find that Volestripe had been helping around the camp but he still had decided, despite never having been taught how to hunt, to send him on a hunting patrol with Sorrelwing, Patchface and Heronstrike. They were hunting at a section of forest at the top of the hill where ValleyClan territory was, the area called Hillslope. It was apparently populated with many rabbits and large birds found only at this part of the territory.
"Right, we'll split up into two pairs. Volestripe will come with me as he is the least experienced hunter."
Patchface nodded and, Heronstrike at his side, disappeared into the forest.
"Ummm... Sorrelwing? I've never hunted before. Goldthorn hasn't taught me yet." Volestripe explained awkwardly.
"Then I'll show you a basic hunting crouch. You'll get better practising now while we hunt." Sorrelwing decided.
She crouched down so that her belly fur was practically brushing the ground, placing her paws an equal distance apart, pinning her ears back and holding her tail low to the ground, keeping it still.
"Try copying me." she instructed.
Volestripe tried to replicate her, flattening himself to the ground and holding his tail out behind him.
"Place your paws further apart and stand up a little more and you should be fine. Don't forget to make sure you're downwind of your prey, step lightly and be careful not to rustle any plants, especially with your tail."

Volestripe crept forwards carefully, stalking towards the small thrush that was pecking busily at the leaf-covered floor. Quickly checking that there weren't any leaves to rustle or twigs to crack, he prepared to spring. Volestripe pushed off the ground, flinging himself forward rather noisily. The thrush took off instantly but, with a stroke of luck, Volestripe managed to get a few claws stuck in its wing, dragging it out from the air and biting its neck. His first catch! Volestripe purred happily and went to find Sorrelwing.

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She twitched her whiskers irritably, cleaning the mud from her ash pelt. She really wished that Blaze hadn't insisted on meeting here. She couldn't stand the mud. Finally, nearing dusk, she gave up on waiting and went to hunt. Several minutes later, she returned to the tree where their meeting had been scheduled with a large shrew in her jaws. Waiting in the shade sat a brown tabby she-cat with yellow-amber eyes and white chest fur.
"Finally." mumbled the first she-cat, dropping the shrew. "You took so long I got hungry."
The tabby huffed before taking a bite of the shrew.
"Hey! That was mine!"
"Don't get your tail in a twist, and I'm here for the meeting."
"Fine. Your report?" sighed the first cat.
"Everything went well except I was forced to kill Four."
"You what?!" the she-cat screeched.
"You killed target Four!?"
"Don't panic, I only killed him once."
"Okay, okay, nothing's wrong, everything's alright..." she hyperventilated.
"Alright, I'm going to go now-and I'm taking this shrew with me."
Before the first cat could protest, Blaze had run off carrying the shrew.

He's not going to be pleased with this... killing Four...

With yet another sigh, the she-cat padded away.