The Prideful Apprentice [Open]

Hunting had been fairly easy that day. Training with both Smokepelt and Ashstar had helped to sharpen the young tom's hunting skill into a fine craft. He prided himself in his new abilities. Thankfully, battle training had been coming along nicely too. Since the confrontation with the Riverclan cats, he had focused on getting better and better. Next time, they wouldn't escape so easily. However, today the only thing that mattered was feeding the clan. Slatepaw had managed to get his paws on an over-sized hare. The thing had been too slow to pose much of a challenge. Regardless, it looked like in impressive catch. He struggled to keep his head high as he dragged the limp carcass into the camp. Several cats would be able to get a good meal out of it.

The grey and white tom made a show of taking it through the center of camp before hauling it over to the freshkill pile. Afterwards, he sat up proudly next to his kill. His eyes cast a glance around camp, looking for some of the other apprentices. He had never seen any of them grab something so big. Clearly, their mentors were not as good at training, nor did they have the natural talent he possessed. As he waited for someone to come join him, Slatepaw's tail flickered impatiently. This catch would be meaningless if there wasn't any cat to see it. He wanted to lay claim to it himself. It was getting to be the end of the day and most cats were returning to camp. Hopefully, that would mean the return of the rest of the apprentices.

Nectarpaw padded into camp, carrying a rabbit he had caught. It wasn't much, but probably enough to offer to one of his friends. He decided to place it on the fresh-kill pile, since nobody seemed to be near it except for Slatepaw. His gaze landed on the impressively sized hare next to the apprentice, and momentarily compared it to his small rabbit.
"Wow! Did you catch that? Or were you just the first one to come into camp and claim it?" Nectarpaw asked in a friendly tone. He didn't really notice the arrogance on Slatepaw's face, or remember that Slatepaw probably had no idea who he was.

Quailfeather padded through the entrance of WindClan camp and over to the fresh-kill pile, a fat hare in her jaws. But the piece of prey fell out of her mouth in surprise when she saw the behemoth of a rabbit Slatepaw, her younger brother, was dragging around camp. The thing was almost twice his size! It was a seriously impressive catch, and the gray speckled warrior found herself grinning at the apprentice's obvious pride in his achievement. It was a silly thing to cheer her up, but it worked. Frost-blue eyes sparkling with amusement, the WindClan warrior put her comparatively small piece of fresh-kill on the pile and walked over to her younger brother. "That's some catch you've got there, Slatepaw," she purred.

Gingerpaw huffed, padding into camp with a pheasant in his jaws, it's long tail dragging on the ground. He turned to Slatepaw after placing it directly on top of his hare, eyeing the apprentice's catch. It was good, He thought to himself. But mine was better.
"Nice catch, Slatepaw." He said sarcastically.

OOC: Maybe they could somehow form a friendship out of this??

Wildpaw padded out of the apprentices' den after hearing the praising of new fresh-kill brought in from fellow apprentices. After looking at the new fresh-kill, he had to agree that they all looked really good. Wildpaw had yet to get much training, but that was mostly his fault. "They all look really good," he said

A purr rumbled in the grey and white tom's chest as he sat up straighter. More of the clan was returning with their catch. While there was a lot of great pieces coming in to fill up the clan, his was still the most impressive. He hoped that at some point either Smokepelt or Ashstar would return to see it. Both had taught him well. Slatepaw shot his older sister a toothy grin. Despite how little time they had spent together, he appreciated her. Most of his kin was the best. In fact, Slatepaw loved his entire clan. He would fight tooth and claw for any one of them.

Gingerpaw's voice broke through the apprentice's train of though. He narrowed his eyes at his denmate's sarcasm, but said nothing. The pheasant would be mostly feathers, unlike the meaty bulk of his rabbit. Slatepaw simply shrugged off the other apprentice's jealously. Before he could come up with anything to say, Wildpaw had joined them. Being the kind tom he was, Wildpaw praised everyone's catches. Slatepaw just nodded in agreement.

"When are we going to get you out training with us, Wildpaw?" He meowed butting the other cat gently with his head. The ginger apprentice hadn't had much training yet. Slatepaw hoped they'd be able to go out soon though. It was far more fun with more apprentice's to compete against. Training was far more fun that way.

Sagepaw padded up to them with an exasperated sigh. Beetlewing had been far to busy to train her consistently, but when they did her mentor would rarely give her a break. Warrior apprentices don't have to deal with this, She noted bitterly. They all seemed to be hanging out around the freshkill pile without a care in the world. The medicine cat apprentice nodded approval to her boastful brother, trying to catch his green eyes with hers. Slatepaw hadn't exactly been mean to her once finding out she had decided to take on the new position in the clan, but he certainly wasn't thrilled. It was rare now to see them sharing tongues like they once had consistently as kits.

The scent of the freshkill drowned out the overpowering stench of herbs that now clung to her pelt. It wasn't unpleasant once she got used to it. However, she was certain the warrior apprentices would wrinkle their noses up at it. Her stomach growled hungrily at the new smell. It was then that it hit her she had forgotten to eat all day. Sagepaw weaved her way through the assembled cats and plucked the huge rabbit from the pile. She glanced around the gather crowd. There was no hesitation as she sunk her teeth into the soft flesh. Instantly, the warm, rich meat began to energize her. Sagepaw looked at the other apprentices and Quailfeather, "There's plenty here for all of us! Thanks, Slatepaw!" She purred before bending to take another bite. Even with all of the stress of her new role, there was still time for sharing tongues with the cats she cared for most.

Quailfeather let out a slight snort of laughter at Gingerpaw's sarcasm. He reminded her of someone. "Your catch is great too," she assured him, bumping against him playfully. The warrior nodded at Wildpaw, another if her younger brothers. Despite Smokepelt's anger, he sure hasn't stopped churning out kits, she thought wryly. Glad that her father still found his joys in life, the lithe gray speckled she-cat nodded respectfully at her younger sister Sagepaw, Beetlewing's apprentice. She settled herself next to the smaller light gray and white she-cat, taking a bite of the ginormous rabbit as well. The warm, musky taste of fresh-kill flooded her tongue, and she smiled. Though she missed Kindleblaze, Quailfeather was happy to just be here, surrounded with cats she loved.

Trailing far behind the others, Laurelpaw entered camp with a good sized lapwing clasped in her jaws, head held high with pride. Lapwings were hard to catch, and this was the first time she had even been able to chase one down. As soon as she saw Slatepaw's ginormous hare, the bird almost fell from her gaping jaws. Trying not to appear envious, the lithe white and black-ticked apprentice sniffed arrogantly and placed her bird down on the prey pile. Standing above the group of fawning apprentices, she tossed her head haughtily and meowed "Oh please, that's nothing compared to the hare I caught a few days ago! It was nearly twice the size of that one." It was true, she had caught a sizable hare a few days ago; but she exaggerated how big it had really been. Puffing out her chest, Laurelpaw held her tail high as she reveled in her own 'glory' for a moment, gazing at Slatepaw with a tilted head, her look clearly saying 'Still think you're the greatest?'