Hunting Lessons by the River
It was early morning; the birds were singing and the wind softly rustled the branches. A lone figure stood under an willow tree, breathing in the scents of the forest. A river ran next to the cat, gurgling softly.0
Brackenpaw sighed deeply, he loved coming here on early mornings and enjoying the peace and quiet of the river. He watched the river through half lidded eyes when a splash suddenly broke the calm silence.
Brackenpaw whipped his head up to see a lump of black fur splashing desperately to keep its head above water. He hesitated slightly before launching himself into the rushing water; he had never liked getting his paws wet.
He struck out strongly; the moons of training as an apprentice had strengthened his muscles. The black shape let out one last wail before plunging under water, pulled down by the strong currents.
Brackenpaw took a deep breath before diving after it, struggling to keep his eyes open. At last, when he thought he couldn't hold his breath another heatbeat, he spotted a dark lump drifting through the murky water.
He grabbed hold of it with his claws and kicked for the surface. When his head broke the surface, he took in huge gulps of fresh air.
He swam to the nearest bank and laid down his burden. He saw now that it was a small black she-kit. Brackenpaw gently pushed against the kit's chest, pushing water out of its lungs. The kit suddenly came to life, coughing and choking.
"Calm down, don't kill yourself!" Brackenpaw said with a hint of amusement in his voice. After the kit had calmed down a bit she suddenly seemed to realize where she was and sprang up.
"Get of my territory you ThunderClan flea-pelt!" She spat, arching her back so high her forepaws could barely touch the ground.
"I just saved your life and now your screeching at me to get of 'your' territory?" Brackenpaw meowed, half mad, half exasperated. "You're supposed to be in the nursery! What are you even doing by the river?!"
The black kit puffed her chest with pride. "I'm catching a fish for RiverClan, and I'm not a kit! I was apprenticed a moon ago!" Brackenpaw stared at the kit disbelievingly. "How old are you?" He asked suspiciously.
"I'm fi- I mean seven moons old!" The she-kit stammered, narrowing her brilliant green eyes in annoyance at stumbling over her words. "I'm Ravenpaw " she meowed. Brackenpaw's voice shook in amusement as he replied, "My name is Brackenpaw."
"Were you catching a fish to bring back to your mother in the nursery?" He questioned, hoping to catch her off guard. The kit fell for it, "Yes!" She mewed happily. "Ripplekit said I wouldn't be able too even sneak past the nursery entrance!"
Brackenpaw shook in mirth as the kit yowled furiously, realizing that she had fallen for it.
"So Ravenkit, I see you didn't catch your fish." Ravenkit scowled up at the brown tabby, damp tufts of fur sticking up on her head.
"I'll catch another!" She announced haughtily.
"I could teach you to catch a mouse." Brackenpaw offered, immediately Ravenkit changed her attitude and looked at him pleadingly.
"Please do! I'll never live it down if Ripplekit sees I didn't catch anything!" The black she-kit wailed.
"Alright, but you have to promise to listen to me." Brackenpaw purred.
Ravenkit nodded so hard she almost toppled to the ground. The apprentice guided her to a patch of trees and turned to face the kit. "To catch a mouse you must go into a hunters crouch." Brackenpaw explained, sinking gracefully into a perfect hunters crouch.
Ravenkit sunk to the ground lopsidedly and waved her spiky tail in the air excitedly. She looked like a duck with a tail waving in the wind Brackenpaw thought, amused.
"Almost! Just straighten your hips and keep your tail low." Ravenkit pressed her tail to the ground and waddled a circle around the apprentice, stirring up leaves as she went. Brackenpaw sighed and corrected her pose.
The sun was a whole tail-length further across the sky before Ravenkit could finally manage a decent hunting crouch. "Do you want to try it on a real mouse now?" Brackenpaw asked.
"Yes!" Ravenkit responded, green eyes sparkling.
The forest was sparse on the RiverClan side of the river but they managed to find good patch of trees and undergrowth. Ravenkit sniffed the air, her nose quivering with excitement. She picked up the scent of mouse and slid into a hunters crouch.
Before she could stalk closer, Brackenpaw put his tail across her back to stop her and leaned in to whisper, "The wind is blowing away from you, circle around so the mouse won't scent you."
Ravenkit nodded and began slowly and carefully circling around to the opposite side of the mouse. She focused her eyes on the mouse and sprang.
She fell just short of her prey, the mouse squealed in terror and fled. It ran straight into Brackenpaw's claws. Instead of killing it, which he could have easily done, he chased it back to Ravenkit.
She leaped at it and suck her claws into its neck. She stood up proudly, the limp body of the prey in her jaws. She dropped it long enough to say; "I did it! Now I will have something to show Ripplekit!"
Brackenpaw walked over to the puffed up kit and purred, "Well done!"
At that moment the bushes around them rustled. A patrol of snarling warriors burst into sight and a massive gray warrior bowled over Brackenpaw.
The hissing warrior held his thorn sharp claws on the shocked apprentice's throat, digging them in a little bit. "Stop! Stop!" Ravenkit squealed, bouncing around the two. "He's my friend!"
The warrior sheathed his claws a little but was still growling. "Explain yourself!" He spat, the remaining warriors formed a protective wall around the desperate Ravenkit.
"Get of me!" Brackenpaw choked, trying to push the weight of the RiverClan warrior of his chest.
A pretty she-cat stepped forward from the defensive wall of cats. "My kit doesn't seem hurt, Grayclaw. Perhaps you should let them explain." Ravenkit had pushed her way through the patrol of warriors and was now throwing herself at Grayclaw's massive form.
"Move, you big fat hunk of cat!" She yowled, receiving several snickers from the rest of the patrol. Grayclaw bared his fangs at the black kit, Ravenkit squealed and tumbled backwards. The pretty she-cat who had spoken earlier cuffed the warrior sharply on the ears.
"Don't behave that way to my kit!" She meowed, boring into him with her cold stare. The gray warrior dipped his head to her respectfully, "Sorry Mistfeather."
The cat Grayclaw had called Mistfeather had an air of authority around her and Brackenpaw concluded that she must be deputy. Mistfeather shoved the gray warrior of the apprentice and helped Brackenpaw to his paws.
"What were you doing with my kit? " She questioned, her eyes cold and hard. Brackenpaw launched into the story of rescuing Ravenkit and teaching her how to hunt. "And you never thought of bringing her back to RiverClan?" Mistfeather pressed.
Brackenpaw shuffled his paws in embarrassment, muttering something about forgetting. Mistfeather rolled her eyes at him and turned to her kit. "Why did you leave the nursery? Didn't you hear the tales of the elder? Most kits that leave the camp either drown or are attacked by a badger or a fox!"
"But I caught a mouse!" Ravenkit protested, holding up her catch for everyone to see. The deputy looked surprised that the kit had managed to catch something. Brackenpaw thought he saw a spark of pride in her eyes.
"As punishment for disobeying my orders, you shall care for the elders for a quarter moon." Mistfeather said. Ravenkit yowled in disbelief, then turned and stomped off.
One of the warriors in the patrol caught her by the scruff and returned her to her mother's paws. "You did well catching that mouse." Mistfeather consoled, licking her kit on the top of her head.
"I'd better get back to my clan." Brackenpaw spoke, "I'll see you at the gatherings when you're apprenticed. " He meowed to Ravenkit, who nodded in response.
"Thank you for saving me." she said, sounding uncharacteristically shy. Brackenpaw blinked at her affectionately, touching noses with her one last time before disappearing behind a fern bush.
A/N: First chapter out! I hoped you liked the friendly and calm Brackenpaw and the exited, rebelious Ravenkit! This is probably the longest chapter so far, I love writing short stories like these. Please give me feedback and point out any mistakes I made!

