The Burning- Book One: Blossom [DRAFT]

The Assessment

A limb now stretched out almost directly above her head, and Robinpaw felt a surge of pride in her hearing skills. Moving just enough to gain access to the branch, Robinpaw stepped carefully unto it, hoping that her weight wouldn't move it.

It didn't-- fortunately, the branch was quite strong.

The squirrel was not more than a tail-length in front of her, easy jumping distance. She crouched silently and leapt, silencing the creature forever with a bite to the neck.

Robinpaw now leaned over the edge of the branch, studying the ground below her. Is it too far to drop? The ground isn't too hard, but it might not seem professional to drop it.

Best to carry it down.

She inched cautiously down, careful not to lose her grip on it for an instant. Her tail was straight down below her, and she felt its tip touch the ground.

She leapt, landing squarely on all fours.

Carefully burying the squirrel, she prepared for the second stage of the assessment.

Fishing.

For this, Robinpaw mused as she set out toward the river, Foxtail had specified that I'd need to catch more than one fish.

And it wasn't like Robinpaw was fantastic at fishing. Nor was she bad, either, but she wasn't exceptional.

This would be one of her hardest challenges yet.

The gurgling if water informed her that she'd reached the river and a feeling of anticipation filled her. She imagined Thrushnose's fishing lessons and quickly walked to the side if the river farthest from the sun.

Now she just had to wait.

The silver tabby studied the water carefully, alert for any movement, any flash of scales.

A gleam of silver upstream.

Instantly, Robinpaw's paw was in the water. A fish wiggled frantically on the bank not a moment later, its movement ceased when Robinpaw whacked it solidly on the head.

That's one.

She watched the ripples caused by her paw fade, and the fish began to swim by again.

Her paw entered the water, but the fish swerved and avoided it.

Foxdung. She'd lunged too early.

The fish didn't seem daunted, continuing to swim down confidently. She chose a large one, and...

Thwack!

This time, the fish was dead almost the moment it left the water. Robinpaw purred in satisfaction, quickly burying her two fish.

Bird hunting.

This would probably be the most time-consuming stage. The scarcity of birds was no secret.

Nevertheless, Robinpaw was confident her hearing wouldn't let her down.

She headed toward the place she knew was home to the few birds that lived in FloraClan territory.

The grove she was heading for had been dubbed "Miracle Grove" by the senior hunters. She'd only learned of its existence today as a word of advice from Kestrelwing.

It had been strange, no question, that Kestrelwing had helped her at all. Robinpaw had always thought that her mother didn't care about her.

But perhaps she did.