"Tigerpaw! Let's hurry, Gorgepaw and Clayfur are waiting for us!" Silentstar yowled from across the clearing at Tigerpaw who was sitting at the fresh-kill pile talking with his sister, Horizionpaw while they shared a scrawny mouse together. The slightly warm weather brought the prey back but not enough, WindClan was still struggling to catch prey but something was better than nothing.

Tigerpaw immediately jumped to his paws at the sound of his name being called, bounding over. Tigerpaw looked more mature though still had his energetic and slightly child-like personality.

"Silentstar! Sorry! Horizionpaw wanted to tell me all about what she and Boulderclaw were planning on doing today!"
Silentstar nodded, "of course, but you still need to focus on your training. You have several moons left ahead of you."
Tigerpaw nodded, "okay! What're we doing first?"
"Hunting practice. Clayfur and Gorgepaw are waiting for us right now. Let's hurry."

Tigerpaw looked excited, his tail up as the two of them walked out of camp, the moorland was beginning to show its true, green colors again after being covered in a thick, cold blanket of snow. Though some of the sleet and ice remained in certain areas of WindClan land.

A quick run through the slight snow was nice as they neared closer to Clayfur and Gorgepaw, the two seemed to have caught something already.
"Clayfur!" Silentstar called out, her deputy turned towards her, nodding.
"Hello, Gorgepaw just caught a rabbit. I'm surprised, he didn't even need my help this time."

Gorgepaw placed his rabbit down, it looked to be a young one though, freshly mature and out of the burrow. It was a dull brown color with a few white spots. "Good catch!" Silentstar meowed approvingly.

"Well, are we ready?" Clayfur mewed.
"Yes, but I want them to hunt near the ThunderClan border, even if our main prey is rabbits, it doesn't hurt to try and catch a mouse or squirrel here and there."
The deputy tom nodded, "I see. Gorgepaw hasn't hunted there in a while, it'll be nice to sharpen your skills."
"I'm going to hunt a squirrel?" Tigerpaw mewed as the patrol set out. Gorgepaw purred, nudging his denmate playfully. "Don't worry, mice are easy to catch. Just put a paw on them and they'll die of fright! Squirrels are more difficult though, they're really fast." Tigerpaw nodded, "okay!"

"I don't understand why ThunderClan cats like hunting in the trees!" Tigerpaw hissed, crouching low. "It feels like they're gonna fall on me!"
"Shh! You'll scare all the prey away!" Silentstar scolded. Flicking her tail on Tigerpaw's flank. The dark tom listened, shutting up.
Gorgepaw and Clayfur had gone further ahead for more luck, now it was just her and her apprentice.

"Now, find a trail and follow it." Silentstar mewed. "I want to see your tracking skills again, alright?" Tigerpaw was an amazing fighter, he could take on both his littermates in training but his hunting could really use some work.

Tigerpaw nodded, sniffing around until he found the scent trail of a finch. Tigerpaw looked back at his mentor, blinking confusedly.
"Follow it." She nosed forward, "when you see the bird, go as close as you can, then pounce. Make sure to be light on your paws!"
Tigerpaw hesitated before he went ahead, he was careful, darting out of the way of twigs and wrinkled leaves until finally, he was a fox-length away from the bird. It was pecking at the ground, looking for a worm or something to nibble on, completely unaware of the danger it was about to be in.
Silentstar observed her apprentice carefully, his crouch was good, his paws set firmly but gently on the floor, looking focused on his prey.
Tigerpaw bunched his muscles together a crept forward slowly.
He placed his paw down and suddenly the bird looked alert.
Silentstar unsheathed her claws, ready to catch the finch in case her apprentice missed it. Tigerpaw leaped high in the air, growling loudly. The finch squeaked in fear and flapped its small brown wings, preparing to take flight, Tigerpaw hissed as he leaped not far enough and the bird was already high in the sky.

Silentstar cursed under her breath and hared forward, she leaped gracefully up in the air and caught the finch by one of its longish-tail feathers. The bird let out a warning call but it was cut short as she dragged the bird down and finished it off with a bite to the neck.

Tigerpaw gasped, "That was amazing!" He laughed excitedly, staring at his mentor with wide, impressed eyes.

Clayfur nodded as he emerged from the snow-covered bushes, Gorgepaw holding a mouse by its pink tail in his jaws.
"Impressive as always, Silentstar." He purred.
"Woah! Gorgepaw! You caught a really big mouse!" Tigerpaw bounded past Silentstar and circled around his denmate, looking astonished.
"I almost caught one too but I tripped over a root." The tabby tom admitted rather sheepishly.
Gorgepaw smiled, "I did that my first time too! I landed muzzle first into a tree.."
"Ouch..." "Yeah."

"Well, it's just become sun-high. Should we head back to camp?" Clayfur mewed, turning towards Silentstar.
She nodded, "yes, then Tigerpaw you can tell your littermates all about what we've learned, okay?"

Tigerpaw smiled wide, "Mmmhm!" And grabbed the finch and began to walk out of the small forested land near the ThunderClan border.
Gorgepaw hurried after him.
Clayfur purred, the two began to walk side by side. "energetic, huh?"
Silentstar laughed, "absolutely. It's starting to make me feel old with how I can't catch up with him."
Clayfur rolled his eyes.

"You're around my father's age, you aren't that old."
Silentstar smiled, "I think I see the elders' den in your father's near future."
"Hah! He's not retiring anytime soon."
"I should hope not." Silentstar smiled, watching Tigerpaw and Gorgepaw race ahead of them with prey in their jaws, seeing who could race home the fastest. From what Silentstar could tell, Gorgepaw was winning.

"Your father- even with his slight hiatus- he's still a wonderful warrior. I don't know where I'd be without him."
"My father seems to have that effect on a lot of cats." Clayfur purred, twitching his tail tip. Silentstar nodded.

•••

UNFINISHED AND UNCONTINUED

Hello All! :D

I was actually supposed to, and wanted to really finish this book, but- my motivation dropped and I just couldn't- apologies.
I may return to this chapter, hell, maybe even this book, but that possibility is highly unlikely—

Well, until then my peeps 🐣, creeps 🐜, and sickly sweets 🍬! and hopefully we'll meet again in the next book!! <3

~ Spring and Smiley, out. 💜💛