Warriors: Rising Secrets (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Two: Ravenpaw Becomes A Warrior

Ravenpaw carried his prey into the stone hollow. It had nearly been a quarter moon since Dawnfire and the others went off to find the creatures. But why? Why did they have to chase them away? What was so dangerous? Maybe it planned to move in round the lake or it was stealing prey. He had no clue, but soon they would be back ... hopefully.

"Ravenpaw!" A proud voice came from under the highledge. It was Salem, he was just a dark blob in the shadows with his amber eyes the only things actually visible. Salem was in charge of his training now that Foxclaw had gone on the mission with Dawnfire. Frostflower and Greynose too. That only left three warriors and four apprentices. 

"Nice catch." The dark warrior called. "Redstar talked to me this morning about your warrior ceremony. You were ready two days ago, but Redstar wants you to receive your warrior name today. Foxclaw could be gone for ages and we need the warriors."

Ravenpaw quivered with excitement. "D- does that mean I'll get my warrior name today?"

"Yes." Salem replied."But you still need to do an assessment. Luckily, the weather is fine for you today. I will be watching you along with Runningshadow."

"What about Hawkpaw?"

"He can't yet, is injury has still not healed yet, it needs more time."

Hawkpaw was Ravenpaws' brother. He had injured himself by falling into the stream on the WindClan border. When he fell he couldn't get out and was carried all the way to the lake where Runningshadow fished him out. He had hit his shoulder off a rock and dislodged the bone. He would be doing his assessment today then as well if it wasn't for the injury.

"Wait, do I do it now?" Ravenpaw asked.

"Yes. On you go, Runningshadow is waiting for you. Hunt by the Sky Oak and stay round that area."

Ravenpaw barley heard his last words as he dashed through the thorn barrier. He headed towards the ShadowClan border. As her ran he noticed the leaves on the trees were turning orange. An idea to hunt from the trees popped into his head. Worth a try. He clawed his way up a horse chestnut. As he climbed he noticed the large branches of the Sky Oak.

A while passed by the time he noticed some prey. A squirrel was nibbling on a nut. He quietly moved across the branch. It swayed a bit under his weight but it didn't make a sound. He heard a sound a bit like a twig snapping and a chestnut fell out of the tree and landed beside the squirrel, its spiky green shell breaking in two. The squirrel spooked but didn't run away, only dropped its nut and began investigating the chestnut that had fallen from his tree.

Phew! He thought to himself. \he used this time to think about his landing. The squirrel stopped sniffing the horse chestnut and went back to its previous nut. Its now or never! He told himself. He leaped down from the tree gracefully , not making a sound and landed squarely on the squirrel. He gave it a quick bite on the back of the neck and he felt it go limp.

He put his prey under a hazel thicket to be collected later. Another idea came to him as he stared at the gnarled roots of the Sky Oak. Squirrels like nuts, so why not make the nuts fall from the trees. Hopefully it didn't make the prey scare away but it was worth a try. He quickly scrambled up a beech tree. The best nuts were at the top, but cats can injure themselves if they fall and he didn't want that to happen.

He climbed onto a branch, his claws unsheathed for grip and began to shake. He shook the branch untill he heard the sound of nuts falling from the tree. It was as if it was raining, only the drops were very large.

He studied the ground. Plenty of nuts, but also leaves had fallen onto the ground, which would provide cover for smaller prey which he could hunt. He jumped out the tree and ran to the cover of the bracken.