Poolpaw purred as she watched Featherpaw pace back and forth while they were waiting for their mentors. "Where is Bluefeather?" She murmured.
Poolpaw looked at her, she had never seen Featherpaw nervous, except for her apprentice ceremony. "She's putting fresh bracken in the elders's den."
Featherpaw twisted her head towards her sister, "Should I be helping?"
Poolpaw rolled her eyes.

She then spotted Icefrost and Bluefeather trodding forward to their apprentices.
Featherpaw hurried to meet Bluefeather. "I'm sorry," she blurted. "I should've been helping—!"
"No need," she cut her off. "I wanted you fresh for your first day of hunting."
"We're really going?" She breathed.
Bluefeather nodded. "Of course."

"At last!" Poolpaw unsheathed her claws excitedly then sheathed them back in.
"Ready to go?" Poolpaw turned around to see Icefrost behind her.
"I've been ready for ages!" Poolpaw mewed.
Icefrost nudged Poolpaw out the tunnel. "Come on, then."

Poolpaw shot after her, and racing to be the first to the bottom of the ravine. She gazed up at the slope, her paws prickling as she snowy branches swaying like tails, beckoning her into the forest.
Icefrost flicked her tail, "Come along."

Fat white clouds raced across the blue sky as Icefrost led the way up the ravine. As they crested the ridge, wind ruffled Poolpaw's fur and a feeling of fierce joy welled up inside her.
Bluefeather glanced at Icefrost. "The Owl Tree?"
"The Great Sycamore might be better for prey," Icefrost decided.

Icefrost headed into the trees. Following onto her heels, Poolpaw gazed up at the towering trunks. Branches with snow on top of them crisscrossed the sky, shaking a bit as the breeze shook them.
It always made Poolpaw nervous. What if a branch had fallen?

Icefrost led them through the aching fonds of a fern where Duskpaw's scent still clung. They skirted around bramble that smelled of Flowertail and Poolpaw could see tiny golden tufts of fur caught on its barbs. Icefrost kept going as the forest sloped steadily upward.

"How much farther?" Poolpaw glanced over her shoulder, trying to memorize the route they came.
"Not much," Icefrost promised.
All the trees and bushes looked the same.
Icefrost finally halted. "Here we are."

Icefrost was in front of them and lifted her chin. Ahead, a gigantic snowy tree towered above the others, its crown stretching beyond the canopy that shielded the sky.
The Great Sycamore.
Its roots, some thick as branches, twisted through dense layers of snow around its base and burrowed into the earth.

Poolpaw's pelt tingled. She could smell prey. Birds chattered in the branches above her head. She took a paw back and felt fallen leaves crunching under her paws.

"The first lesson of hunting," Icefrost began, "is patience."
Bluefeather nodded. "The greatest hunter is the one who knows how to wait."
"Can't we just sift through the leaves till we find something?" Featherpaw asked.
Bluefeather shook her head. "You'll scare everything back to its burrow."

Bluefeather padded toward a bush three fox-lengths from the base of the tree. It was still thick with leaves, and she disappeared behind it. Icefrost followed, beckoning the apprentices forward with her tail. Her tail was held erect and waving from side to side. She had learned from Raindapple that that tail signal meant Come over here.

"Is there prey behind there?" Featherpaw asked, wide-eyed.
"Not if they've got any sense," Icefrost meowed.

Icefrost was already crouching behind the bush, her belly flat to the snow, peering through the low branches toward the roots of the sycamore.
"Get down," she whispered.
Poolpaw did as her mentor said; she crouched next to her, with Featherpaw and Bluefeather beside her. She squinted through the bush, wondering what was supposed to be looking for.
"Don't move till you see your prey," Icefrost advised.

"Will prey come out into the open?" Featherpaw asked.
"Now that we're downwind, some might." Bluefeather told her. "Do you see the sycamore pods?" Poolpaw scanned the ground and noticed some little wings shapes among the leaves, like tiny moths littering the ground.
"Where there are pods there are bugs," Bluefeather meowed.
"And when there are bugs there are prey," Icefrost finished.

Poolpaw looked at her mentor. "What are the hunting techniques for prey?"
Icefrost nodded, "Well, when your stalking a mouse, you have to be light on your feet. A mouse will feel the vibrations in the ground before they see or hear you. When hunting a vole, hunt them quickly in a crouching position. Make sure to kill them quickly. Birds can be hunted in in short stalking to get close. If you aren't close enough, during the final leap the bird could fly away easily. If you stalk them close enough, be ready for a leap to hook your kill. Now for squirrels, speed is the key for squirrels, you may start out slow but you must strike quickly or they will scamper into the trees."
Poolpaw nodded, listening to Icefrost's every word carefully.

The silver warrior stiffened and her ears prickled. Poolpaw followed her gaze. A small, furry shape was skittering along one of the roots.
A mouse!
The fur ripped along her spine, and she unsheathed her claws. "When do we pounce?" She hissed to Icefrost.

Before Icefrost could say anything, Featherpaw shot forward. She leaped for the mouse and bit into it's neck. She turned and trodded back to her Clanmates. Bluefeather was meowed with delight. "Great job!"
Featherpaw purred with pride as she put down her catch.
"You were fast!" Poolpaw praised her sister. She was a little disappointed that she wasn't able to get the mouse but she put that aside and was proud of her sister!

Icefrost looked at Bluefeather. "Maybe we should do practice stalking."
As Bluefeather nodded, Poolpaw sighed. Because I hadn't caught anything..

But she wanted to make her mentor proud and she eager to show her mentor the skills Bravepaw had already taught her. She dropped low to the ground, keeping her tail pressed against the leaves, and began to stalk forward.
"Not bad," Icefrost meowed. "But lift your tail a little. You don't want it dragging through the snow. Lower your chin, too,  and flatten your ears. You need to try to disguise your shape."

"Like this?" Featherpaw crouched beside Poolpaw, ears flat, chin swaying close to the ground like a snake.
"Good," Bluefeather praised her. "Now move forward slowly. Remember, make your movements as small as you can."

Poolpaw put one paw lightly in front of the other, pulling herself forward; she lifted her belly she dragged it on the snow. She placed each paw down so gently that the snow flattening beneath her without crunching.
"Promising," Icefrost purred, and Poolpaw let out a sigh of relief.

They practiced until the sun began to slide behind the trees.
"It's time we went home," Bluefeather announced.

"Just one more go," Poolpaw pleaded. She was so close to being able to move silently through the snow.
"You can practice more in camp, if you like."
"But there aren't any layers of snow there," Poolpaw complained.

Featherpaw sat up and fluffed out her fur. "Come on, Poolpaw. Mom and Dad are gonna get worried and I'm hungry."
Sighing, Poolpaw straightened up. "Okay."

She watched Bluefeather and Featherpaw head through the trees.
"We can practice again tomorrow," Icefrost promised, bounding away to catch up with Bluefeather.
Poolpaw trailed a few tail-lengths behind her Clanmates, wishing she could practice more.

Suddenly she heard the skitter of paws on bark. She froze. Glancing sideways, she spotted a squirrel sitting on a tree root with a nut between its paws. It was gnawing busily, absorbed in its tasty morsel.
Poolpaw dropped into a crouch. Raising her belly and lifting her tail so it just skimmed the leaves, she began creeping toward it, silent as a snake on a rock, she was trembling with excitement; her heart was pounding so hard, she thought the squirrel must hear it.
But the squirrel only carried on gnawing until Poolpaw was so close, she could hear its teeth scrape into the nut. Holding her breath, she stopped and pressed her backside to the ground, tensing the muscles in her hind legs.
Now!
The squirrel had no time to move. She knocked it from the root, pinned it to the ground, and sank her teeth into its neck. The warm tang of blood surprised her as the squirrel went limp beneath her paws.

"What's happened?" Icefrost leaped into the root behind her, her pelt bristling.
Poolpaw sat up with a heavy squirrel hanging from her jaws.
Icefrost's eyes gleamed. "Well done!"

Bluefeather and Featherpaw appeared behind her. Featherpaw's eyes grow round, and Bluefeather opened her mouth and stared for a moment.
"Did you catch that?"
Joy rising like a bird in her heart, Poolpaw nodded.
"It's almost as big as you," Featherpaw whispered.

"Give thanks to StarClan for the life this creature has given to feed the Clan," Icefrost meowed.
Thank you, StarClan!

Icefrost brushed against her. "Let's get it back to camp while it's still warm."
Poolpaw was relieved when she took the squirrel from her. She'd been wondering how she'd carry it home without tripping.
"Thanks." She trotted happily past her and headed for the ravine.

"No way!" Duskpaw stared in disbelief as Icefrost laid the squirrel on the fresh-kill pile.
"All by herself!" Featherpaw boasted about her littermate.
Poolpaw purred as Clanmates gathered to see her catch, she'd liked that her Clan was praising her.
"Was that your first hunting session?" Bravepaw asked. He sounded really impressed.
Poolpaw nodded.

"You're lucky to have her," Rainpelt told Icefrost.
"IceClan's lucky to have her!" Hawkflame's fiery orange eyes were round. "I don't remember any other apprentice catching prey on their first try."

Whiteclaw and Raindapple came straight ahead into the crowd. Whiteclaw wrapped his tail around Poolpaw, looking proud. She felt Raindapple's muzzle brush her cheek. "I'm so proud," she whispered.
Whiteclaw let his tail go of Poolpaw. "We both are,"

"I'm going to catch something bigger than yours!" Featherpaw promised.
"It's not a competition," Bluefeather reminded her.

Stormclaw padded from the elders's den. "I smell fresh squirrel."
Featherpaw skidded to meet him. "Poolpaw caught it," she announced.

While Stormclaw admired the catch, Icefrost took Poolpaw aside. "I'm very impressed with you today. You listened well and you learned quickly."
Poolpaw felt a purr spring in her throat. She did it! She impressed her mentor!
"I want you to come to the Gathering tonight."
Poolpaw holded back a gasp. It was a HUGE honor to be selected to go to the Gathering! She'd always dreamed of going to Gathering!
Poolpaw nodded at once.
"Good. Now get some food and rest as much as you can. We'll leave when it gets dark."

Featherpaw looked expectantly at her mentor and Bluefeather nodded. "I would like to take Featherpaw to the Gathering as well, as they had caught a mouse on their first hunting lesson."
Featherpaw purred and nuzzled Poolpaw. "We get to go to the Gathering together!"