Palepaw's Fishing Assessment

Patchface waited at the entrance of the camp. It was early; barely sunrise. He expected his apprentice to be up and ready, despite it being early. The tom waited eagerly, large bushy tail sweeping along the ground. Hopefully he wouldn't be late.

Palepaw slept peacefully with her paw over her nose, snoring gently. Suddenly, a thought hit her. She was going to have her fishing assessment today! The she-cat leaped out of her nest, hastily grooming her pelt and exiting the apprentice den. When Palepaw noticed that Patchface was already waiting for her, she sped up and crossed the clearing quicker. "Sorry if I'm a bit late, Patchface." she meowed, waiting patiently.

Patchface shuffled his paws impatiently before Palepaw approached from the apprentices' den. Hearing her apology, he gave a curt nod. "You're not late all the time, so I'll let it slide. But when you're a warrior, you'll have to learn to be punctual." He flicked his long tail for his apprentice to follow, trotting off toward the river. On the way, he glanced back at him. "I'll be watching you from a distance. You have until mid-day. I'm sure you won't fail to impress." As the river came into view, Patchface stalked off into the bushes to observe his apprentice.

Palepaw closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Alright. Stay out of the sun's path to assure that the shadow won't fall onto the water...Dig your claws into the earth so you won't fall in... Be swift, and spoon the fish out onto the ground...Killing bite when it hits the earth..." she murmured softly to herself, stealthily moving to the river. When she reached the bank, the she-cat scanned the river for any sign of fish. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention: it was a large big-mouthed bass. She smiled, unsheathing her claws and settling at the edge. She noticed that her shadow had not fallen on the surface, and she nodded to herself. Steadying herself, Palepaw flashed out a paw and hooked the fish above the water with her claws. It landed on the river bank with a quiet thump, and she leaned over and gave it the killing bite before it could flop back into the river. Turning around, she didn't see any fish swimming in her direction, so Palepaw headed farther up the river, where she had spotted a small school of fish. The she-cat stalked over to the area where the fish were, and anchored both of her back paws securely in the muddy earth. She leaned forward, and flashed both paws out, spearing several fish at once and lifting them onto the bank. Palepaw bit each of them hurridly, pushing them toward her other fish. Glancing around the clearing, Palepaw allowed her mind to slightly wander. I wonder if Patchface is proud of me right now... I don't know, that was a pretty weird move with the fish there... She turned back to the river and searched for more fish.

Patchface nodded to himself in the shadows, observing her technique. She looked like a professional out there; still as a tree and as keen as a hawk. After he had successfully pulled in a rather large bass, he saw him settle for smaller prey. Why was he going for a school? Sure, there were many, but those small fish wouldn't fill a kit. Even so, it was difficult to even catch more than three. Despite this, Palepaw seemed to scoop several in his paws, tossing them to land. His eyes glowed in astonishment. Patchface blinked at his odd display. Did he teach him that? Ah, well. It was still impressive to say the least.

Spotting a flash of something silver, something that was a bit bigger than the bass, she turned and crept forward. She kept her shadow off of the water and the move she had tried earlier was still in her head. She dug her back claws in, leaned forward, and snatched the fish out of the river. It flopped violently on the land, and she launched herself forward to hold it still, delivering the last blow. Taking a deep breath and stepping back, she admired it. It was another big-mouth bass. Running the move through in her head, she blinked. Talking quietly so she wouldn't startle the fish away, she murmured, "Okay, so now I know that the move works on big fish (one at a time), and several small fish. Then there's the regular-sized fish... would that work?" Glancing back at the river, she spotted a regular fish. She dug her hind paws into the bank and swatted the fish out of the water. When it plopped onto the bank, she bit its neck, killing it. "It worked, but I don't really like it... I think I'll stick with the regular move for medium-sized fish." she decided. Another move flashed into her head. She found another fish that was swimming toward another, dug her hind paws into the mud, and slapped the two fish together, flipping them onto the bank. They fell, flopping. Another death-bite. "Two more fish to add to the pile..." she whispered, grinning.

It was already sunhigh, now. It was hardly sundown, but the tom was radiating with pride. He stepped out of the bushes, dipping his head to his apprentice. "I've seen enough, Palepaw. Let's take your fish and head back to camp." Palepaw... where did she learn the fish move? It seemed to have been quite a professional RiverClan move. "I'll ensure that Fishstar hears about this." He helped her gather the many fish she had caught and began padding back to camp. Palepaw was obviously going to become a warrior. There was no doubt about that.