Rustling Of Tender Foliage[C]

Gender: Male
Rank: Apprentice

Cedarpaw went stiff. Mousedung. Amberpaw hadn't known about the mouse at all! Thank Starclan! He knew he'd been perfectly stealthy and discreet when he'd eaten that mouse...yes...no need to worry.  

The red and white tom shook his pelt out, a bashful laugh escaping from his jaws. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Luckily, it seemed that Amberpaw didn't care about his little secret. Which was perfect because it might as well not even be a secret anyway, it was just a silly mouse! Obviously...

At Amberpaw's next question, Cedarpaw tilted his head to the side, thoughtful. Copperlark...in Birdclan? Of course, it only made sense, but what would Shrewpaw think? Well, he doubted she would mind - she would probably love the idea!

A small smiled crept onto Cedarpaw's face and he nodded. "I think it's a wonderful idea, Amberstar." He looked ahead at the two she-cats, an excited look on his face. "Okay, I'll go distract Copperlark and you talk to Shrewstar."

Cedarpaw, without waiting for Amberpaw's agreement, bounded forward, interrupting whatever the sisters were talking about. "Copperlark!" He lowered his voice, his expression intense.

"I think I can smell a squirrel over there in the bushes." The younger cat gestured toward some undergrowth to their left. "Mind if I kitnap you? I wanna hunt with Thunderclan's finest warrior first."

He winked at Amberpaw, then painted on a very sincere expression, imploring Copperlark to follow him.

Gender: Male
Rank: Apprentice

Cedarpaw led Copperlark further away from Shrewpaw and Amberpaw and, much to his surprise, there was actually a squirrel! He'd been lying about the squirrel, but it was quite a lucky lie. As they crept closer to the squirrel, he glanced over his shoulder, pleased to see Amberpaw whispering something to Shrewpaw. Their plan had worked!

Finally, they were close enough to the squirrel to launch an attack. The red and white tom could see Copperlark waiting expectantly for him to make the first move. However, if he caught the squirrel right away, it might not give the others enough time to discuss! He'd have to find a way to prolong the hunt somehow...

He paused for a moment to formulate the perfect plan, then began stalking closer. With just a few tail-lengths between him and the squirrel, Cedarpaw suddenly reared up on his hind legs and brought his paws down on the leaf-packed dirt with a ferocious growl. The squirrel didn't stick around long to find out what was happening and bolted away from him - right toward Copperlark's waiting claws.

There! It was perfect! Now, she would be too occupied with catching the squirrel to notice what their friends were up to! So, Cedarpaw leaned back to watch the chaos unfold. Stars, he'd forgotten to give her the signal. Hopefully, Copperlark had realized what his hunting strategy was since he hadn't thought to warn her about it.