Just a' Hunting

As a cold winter breeze sifted a young apprentices golden fur, he placed another paw down into the thin layer of snow coating the ground. The young tom had his muzzle opened slightly, letting the scents of the forest come to him. After a moment the sweet scent of a vole, scavenging for food, just to his left. Slowly, as not to scare it off, Sunpaw crouched down into his hunting position and turning to face the creature. With soft paw steps he crept forward, his belly almost touching the snow. As he got closer he got hastier, and he leapt to soon. Where he leapt a puddle of ice has frozen solid and the apprentice slid until the puddle turned to ground, then he tumbled over himself until he stopped. After a second Sunpaw got up with a grunt, shaking as much snow as he could off of his pelt. Of course, the vole escaped and he lost the only piece of prey he had seen all day. But he sighed and began walking around again, smelling the air intently.

As the colder months came, it was always harder for a cat to find food. Even the generally well-fed Riverclan cats, cut off from their source of fish when the water sludged over with a film of ice, found it hard to keep their fur sleek and their bellies full.

So, like many cats, Heronwing was out hunting - trying to bring back food for his clans. But he was undoubtedly not the only one. In fact, he was about to turn around in head in another direction when he spotted a young apprentice slipping across the ice.

"Are you alright?" He mewed, worried that they had smacked their head or something on the way down.