ALDERPAW

A few days has passed since Alderpaw joined IceClan. Yesterday, he was shown around the territories by Shadowfoot and Thornwing. Since Poolstar had not assigned his mentor yet, he was sharing mentors between Shadowfoot and Thornwing.
This training session though, Icepaw came to join them. Thanks to Owlpool and Lakepaw, her wound was healing well.
Shinepaw led Alderpaw quickly through the stone tunnel of the camp and up the side of the rock-stwen valley. As they climbed over the crest of the ravine, a cold breeze ruffled their fur. Fat, white clouds raced across the blue sky overhead. Alderpaw felt a fierce joy well up inside him as he followed Shinepaw towards a small clearing with earth for the ground.

Icepaw was already there and Thornwing and Shadowfoot were sitting a few tail-lengths apart on the cold earth.
Icepaw looked at her paws nervously.

Thornwing glanced at the apprentices and announced, "Today we are going to practice stalking. Now, there is a big difference between creeping up on a rabbit and creeping up on a mouse. Can any of you tell me why?"
Alderpaw had no idea.

"Because rabbits are bigger?" Shinepaw guessed.
Shadowfoot glared at her.

It was Icepaw who spoke next; "Because a rabbit will smell you before he sees you, but a mouse will feel your pawsteps through the ground before he evens smells you."

"Exactly, Icepaw!" Thornwing purred. "So what must you bear in mind when hunting mice?"
"Step lightly?" Alderpaw suggested.
Thornwing looked approvingly at him. "Quite right, Alderpaw. You must take all your weight into your haunches, so that your paws makes no impact on the forest floor. Let's try it!"

Alderpaw watched as Shinepaw and Icepaw immediantly dropped into a stalking crouch.
"Nicely done, Shinepaw!" mewed Thornwing as the two apprentices began to move forward stealthily.
"Keep your rear down, Icepaw, you look like a duck!" spat Shadowfoot. "Now you try it, Alderpaw."

Alderpaw crouched down and began to creep across the flat ground. He let himself fall instinctively into the right position, and as he stepped forward, as silently and lightly as he could, he felt a grow of pride that his muscles responded so smoothly.
"Well, it's obvious you've known nothing but softness!" growled Shadowfoot. "You stalk like a lumbering kittypet! Do you think dinner is going to come and lie down in your food dish and wait to be eaten?"
Alderpaw sat up quickly as Shadowfoot spoke, a little taken aback by his harsh words. He listened carefully to the warrior, determined to get everything right.
"His pace and forward movement will come later, but his crouch is perfectly balanced," Thornwing pointed out mildly.

"Which is better than Icepaw, I suppose," complained Shadowfoot. He cast a scornful look at his apprentice. "Even after two moons of training, you're still putting all your weight on your left side."
Icepaw looked even more dejected, and Alderpaw couldn't stop himself from blurting out, "Her injury is bothering her, that's all!"
Shadowfoot whipped his head around and glared at Alderpaw. "Injuries are a fact of life. She should be able to adapt. Even you, Alderpaw, have learned something this morning. If Icepaw picked up things as quickly as you, she'd be a credit to me instead of an embaressment. Imagine being shown up by a kittypet!" He spat angrily at his apprentice.

Thornwing's tail lashed left and right. "Enough. Maybe you three apprentices might focus your mind better if you try out your stalking for real."
All three apprentices looked up brightly.
"I want each of one of you to try catching real prey," meowed Thornwing. "Icepaw, you look beside the Owltree. Shinepaw, there might be something in that big bramble patch over there. And you, Alderpaw, follow the rabbit track over the rise; you'll find the dry bed of a winter stream. You may find something there."

The three apprentices bounded away, even Icepaw finding some extra energy for this challenge.

With the blood pounding in his ears, Alderpaw crept up slowly on the snowy rise.
Alderpaw crept quietly down the bank and crouched on its snowy floor.
Every sense felt on fire with tension. Silently he scanned the empty clearing for signs of life. He watched for any tiny movement, his mouth open so he could pick up the smallest scent, his ears twisted forward.

Then he smelled mouse. He recongonized the odor instantly, remember his first taste the night before. Wild energy surged through him, but he remained motionless, trying deperately to pinpoint his prey.
He strained his ears forward until he pricked up the rapid pulsing of a tiny mouse heart.

Then a flash of brown caught his eye. The creature was scrambling through the snow that draped the edges of the frozen stream.
Alderpaw shifted closer, remembering to keep his weight on his haunches until he was within striking distance. Then he pushed back hard on his hindpaws and sprang, kicking up snow as he rose.

The mouse raced away. But Alderpaw was quicker. He scooped it into the air with one paw, threw it onto the snow, and lunged on top of it. He killed it quickly with one sharp bite.

Alderpaw carefully lifted where the warm body between his teeth and returned with his tail held held high to the clearing where Shadowfoot and Thornwing waited. He had made his first kill. He was a true IceClan apprentice now.