Falconpaw stood on the spot, hardly moving. A light morning breeze ruffled his fur as he fixed his gaze on a bird flying on top of him.

He slowly got ready to stand. His hindlegs were ready to leap, while his fore paws are ready to catch the bird.

Falconpaw could almost taste the prey. As he was going to leap, an angry yowl froze him in his tracks.

"Falconpaw!"

The yowl had also frightened away the bird. Angrily, Falconpaw whipped around, ready to take out his frustration on the cat who chased off a prey - a prey that he nearly caught!

To Falconpaw's surprise, it was Swiftshade. His father stared at him in disappointment.

"We are SunClan cats," Swiftshade mewed. "We do not hunt like RookClan. Get it into your head for once, and start acting like a proper SunClan cat."

Falconpaw looked down at his paws, half frustrated that Swiftshade couldn't see that he was just hunting his own way, and half disappointed that Swiftshade couldn't approve of his hunting methods.

"Did Rivernight teach you to hunt like that?" his light amber eyes bore into him.

Falconpaw shifted his paws nervously. "No."

"Then hunt like how Rivernight teaches you to," Swiftshade continued sternly.

"Hey Falconpaw!" Kinkpaw rushed towards him.

His denmate was panting hard - which means that Kinkpaw was running a lot - but his eyes shone with excitement.

"I caught a huge rabbit today!" Kinkpaw mewed.

"That's great!" Falconpaw meowed, feeling a bit jealous that he didn't catch anything. "Can I see it?"

"Brightpelt and Rivernight are bringing it back to camp," Kinkpaw replied. "So what did you catch?"

"Well..." Falconpaw hesitated. "I almost caught a bird." He left out the part where Swiftshade scared his prey away.

"That's okay," Kinkpaw mewed cheerfully. "Let's keep working hard, and we could become the best hunters in SunClan one day!"

"Kinkpaw," Swiftshade finally spoke up. "Could you head back to camp first. I want to speak with Falconpaw around something."

Kinkpaw cast an anxious look towards Falconpaw. He must be worried that I would get scolded for not bringing back prey.

As much as Kinkpaw wanted to stay, he needed to follow the orders of a senior warrior - who happened to be his mentor as well.

Kinkpaw quickly darted off, leaving Swiftshade and Falconpaw alone.

"Are you struggling with your apprenticeship?" Swiftshade asked, his tone more gentle than when he spoke to Falconpaw before.

"No, everything is fine," Falconpaw replied honestly.

"Remember, you were given these skills for a reason," Swiftshade mewed, beginning to walk away. "Let's head back to camp now."

~~~~

Sighing, Falconpaw settled himself beside Kinkpaw, who was wolfing down a piece of prey.

"Come, let's share," Kinkpaw invited. "There's plenty for both of us. I caught it myself."

"By the way, where is Shadowpaw?" Falconpaw asked after taking another bite of the rabbit.

"I don't know," Kinkpaw shrugged. "Maybe still out training with his mentor."

"Take a good rest for your training tomorrow," Pouncestar advised, walking towards the two apprentices. "Be sure to work hard, so that when both of you are ready to become warriors, you will do the Clan proud."

"Thanks Pouncestar!" Kinkpaw and Falconpaw mewed.

After Pouncestar left to discuss important things with Rivernight and the senior warriors, Kinkpaw leaned closer to Falconpaw.

"Pouncestar spoke to us!" he hissed excitedly. "We could be special!"

"Or maybe he's just checking on his own Clanmates like us," Falconpaw pointed out.

"Whatever the reason, we better follow the Clan leader's orders," Kinkpaw meowed. "See you in the morning."

With that, Kinkpaw walked into the apprentices' den. Falconpaw finished up the last of the rabbit and buried the bones outside camp.

As he was about to walk back to the apprentices' den, he spotted a familiar figure. "Shadowpaw! Where have you been?"

"Training," Shadowpaw replied.

"Did Patchcloud make you train until so late?" Falconpaw asked worriedly. "You could tire yourself out like this."

"No, and I'm fine. I was trying to get a move right," his denmate replied. "Are there any prey left for me?"

"No, but you could share with Echospring," Falconpaw suggested.

Shadowpaw nodded quickly and walked back into the camp, with Falconpaw following.

While Shadowpaw politely asked the SunClan medicine cat if he could share the prey with her, Falconpaw trudged into the apprentices' den, where Kinkpaw was fast asleep.

As Falconpaw lay beside him, he began to fall asleep. Before he closed his eyes, he glimpsed a pair of icy blue eyes staring at him from behind the bushes that surrounded the camp.