The Hunting Tournament

A large swathe of apprentices followed the molly, and she reflected briefly on this absolutely hare-brained idea she had come up with. Her and Brindlestar had recently discussed the innumerable amount of apprentices they had as opposed to any other rank in the clan, and with the rogue threat and the alliance that existed between SkyClan, ThunderClan and RiverClan, there was no denying they desperately required warriors. The hope of this day was namely to burn off some of the energy the younger members of the clan had, and to improve their ability to work as a group. With varying levels of experience between the apprentices, the deputy had hoped the elder ones would guide the younger ones and they would improve their skills together, increasing teamwork, building clan pride and preparing them to be warriors and mentors themselves.

It was the perfect day for it really; the wind rustled gently over the moor, enough to stir the mottled she-cat's whiskers and provide a reprieve from the sweltering heat, but not too much that it overwhelmed everything else. The air was abundant in fresh scents, not only of grass and potential rain that night, but packed to the brim with prey scent and pollen. Heronfeather was practically buzzing with excitement at what the day could hold, and was excited to see how the apprentices would work together and how much prey they could bring in as a whole. Her only job was to sit back, relax, and provide assistance where needed. She hoped briefly that a group of this size would not attract unwanted attention, something she had thought scarcely about until they were out here. It'll be fine, she tried to remind herself, and paused in the middle of the moor, waiting for the group to catch up.

Satisfied all the stragglers were now within earshot, she began to give instructions. "As I explained briefly in camp, this is a day completely devoted to hunting. I would prefer for everyone to buddy up, even if you choose to hunt solo, as this will teach you how to keep an eye and ear out for your fellow clanmates. As we will be out here for quite some time, I really hope to see the apprentices with more experience and skill looking out for the newer ones, and for you all to be kind to each other," the molly was attempting to keep her statements as broad as possible, but she was well aware of the way some of them spoke to and treated each other. "All of your mentors and I will be watching and here if you need any help. Good luck and have fun!" she chirped, waiting for the apprentices to group up and disperse.

Featherpaw was still getting used to the wide open moor outside the camp walls— it was amazing how far the rolling hills went. He spent a great deal of his time lately admiring the moor, studying the slopes and the ripples of heather and grass in the breeze.  Spending the whole day out hunting on the moor was a perfect idea, at least to Featherpaw.
The pointed tom lifted his bright blue gaze from the grass to look around his denmates for someone to partner up with. Everyone’s such a good choice... It’ll be hard to just pick one cat, he thought with a twitch of his whiskers.

Willowpaw had quietly trotted at Heronfeather's heels as they arrived out on the moor. He hadn't been an apprentice for long so it was still a thrill venturing out from camp, not that he'd actually let anyone know how exciting it still was.
At the mention of partnering up Willowpaw reigned in a groan. Looking over the other apprentices... His ears flattened and he wrinkled his nose. Ugh. Slim pickings. Well, he certainly didn't want to be with... Well... Actually, Featherpaw could be somewhat entertaining? But he'd be so distracting while he tried to hunt. Willowpaw looked around at the other apprentices again, undecided.

Eaglepaw followed Heronfeather proudly. In his mind, there was no doubt that he would be reaching warriorhood soon. He would show these amateurs how to really hunt. As the deputy finished talking, he turned around, with a sniff of disdain. He was one of the older apprentices, and more experienced. His competitive streak made him want to pair up with the best, most strongest apprnetices. But hadn’t the older she-cat said something about...pairing up with the younger ones? He looked around, sizing up his competition...or possibly his teammates. Finally, he decided he would let others approach, and he would try to deem them worthy or not of his presence.

”If anybody wants to join me and win, come talk to me.”

Dashpaw was eager to try her paw at hunting. Since being given her apprentice name, the black and white she-cat had taken every moment she could to learn what Heronfeather had to show her. Given the low number of warriors, something she thought little of, Elmpaw and her had both been assigned to train under clan leadership. Regardless of circumstances, it was an honor and one she stepped into willingly. This hunting session for all the apprentices was just another pawstep in the direction of earning a warrior name. As the deputy spoke, her ears perked, and she nodded, "I'll show you what I can do, Heronfeather." She vowed softly before turning to find a partner. It would be better to learn from someone who was older than her.

It was Eaglepaw's words that reached the silken fur of her ears first. She turned towards him, trying not to stumble over her over-sized paws. Dashpaw managed to bump into Featherpaw on the way and dipped her head in apology. Wide eyes stared into her soul and she blinked, "Sorry, Featherpaw, I didn't see you there, I'm just too excited about all this. Good luck to you." Underneath the tom's intense gaze, her coat prickled slightly with a mixture of foreign emotions but mostly discomfort. She bowed her head and continued off in the direction of her intended target. A smile crossed her maw as she looked up to the tabby tom.

"I can hunt with you, if you want, Eaglepaw. I know I just started my training but I promise I'll do my best to catch all that I can."

Elmpaw stuck nearby his sister, his nerves rattling his very core. It was quite evident on his face that he wasn't entirely sure he would be able to do this and there was definitely part of him that longed to run (well, "run") back to camp and hide in the gorse where nobody could see him. As he stared wide-eyed around at the other apprentices, however, he caught a glimpse of Heronfeather and Brindlestar and frowned, ears pinning back. He couldn't let them down...

Swallowing hard, the young apprentice limped closer to Eaglepaw, Featherpaw, and Dashpaw, painfully aware of his shortcomings. "I, um...I--" he stammered, struggling to find his voice. "If you want, Dashpaw, you c-could go with Eaglepaw and I could, um, go with Featherpaw? O-Or..." Elmpaw's gaze landed on Willowpaw, who was also nearby. "Willowpaw, uh, would you like to join us? Featherpaw and I, I mean...I-I'm not very experienced yet, so if you d-don't want me on your team that's...that's alright, I guess, but I'm gonna try my best..."

Featherpaw caught Willowpaw’s eye and gave him a friendly wisk of his tail. He didn’t know the other tom as well as he would’ve liked, but he always thought he looked a little… Lonely. When Dashpaw bumped into him, he turned his attention to her instead. “It’s alright! I didn't see you, either. Good luck on your hunt!” He cheerfully called after her as she hurried over to Eaglepaw. At least now choosing a partner would be a little easier with fewer cats to choose from. He twitched an ear as Elmpaw took his sister’s place beside him, giving him a friendly nod of acknowledgement. “I’ll be your partner, Elmpaw. We'll be a great team!” He tapped the other tom’s shoulder with his tail, giving him a reassuring purr. He looked back over at Willowpaw and nodded to him. “Yeah, join our team, Willowpaw! It’ll be fun!”

Willowpaw glanced between Elmpaw and Featherpaw. His eyes flicked over to Eaglepaw and Dashpaw briefly. Ugh. Whatever. "Yeah. Fine. I guess I can team up with you two." He sniffed disdainfully as he padded over to his new "teammates", slender tail twitching irritably. "I suppose you'll need all the help you can get." Willowpaw muttered, mostly to himself, but not actually bothering to keep his voice quiet enough to not be overheard.

Mistypaw kept mainly to herself, choosing to walk alone from the group rather than shoulder-to-shoulder with the other apprentices. It wasn't that she had anything against them, it was simply that she was never one to get close to friends-whether that be physically or emotionally. Looking forward, she soon saw the group leader, Heronfeather, start lowing down, signalling that they were nearing their destination. Thank Starclan, if she had to walk any further she swore her paws would fall off!

Focusing her thoughts on the current activity, she listened to the deputy's announcements, letting out a soft sigh when something was mentioned about partners. Although she would never admit it, she was horrible at cooperating with a team, even if it was only one other cat. It was just that she didn't even feel... connected, with the other cat. Maybe she just needed to work with communicating her thoughts more. Shaking her head, she gazed across the group of apprentices. It seemed as though all of them had picked a partner already- which was expected. Many of them were friends already, while Mistypaw always steered clear. It wasn't a problem though, she could just find someone who wasn't already paired. "Hey, does anyone not have a partner yet?" Her soft voice called across the crowd. Her dark eyes scanned for any cat stepping forward. She herself didn't mind hunting alone, but she didn't want to come across as the weird cat who didn't have any friends, or even any cats to interact with.