Dovepaw gave an irritable shrug.
Lionblaze halted as the old Twoleg nest came into sight. Dovepaw picked up traces of herb scent from Jayfeather’s garden, though most of the stems and leaves were blackened by frost. She could hear the faint scutterings of prey in the grass and in the debris under the trees. Spiderleg was right: This would be a good spot to hunt.
“Okay,” Lionblaze began. “First we want to assess your tracking skills. Cinderheart, what do you want Ivypaw to catch?”
“We’ll go for mice. Okay, Ivypaw?”
The silver tabby gave a tense nod.
“But not inside the old Twoleg nest,” Millie added. “That would be too easy.”
“I know.” Dovepaw thought her sister sounded too weary to put one paw in front of another, let alone catch mice. But she headed off into the trees without hesitating; Cinderheart and Millie followed at a distance.
Dovepaw watched until the frostbitten bracken hid Ivypaw from her sight, then sent out her extended senses to track her as she padded behind the abandoned nest toward the group of pine trees. Mice were squeaking and scuffling among the fallen needles; Dovepaw hoped that her sister would scent them and make a good catch.
She was concentrating so hard on following Ivypaw that she forgot about her own assessment until Spiderleg flicked his tail-tip over her ear.
“Hey!” she meowed, spinning around to face the black warrior.
“Lionblaze said he’d like you to try for a squirrel,” Spiderleg meowed. “If you’re sure you want to become a warrior, that is.”
“I’m sure,” Dovepaw growled. “Sorry, Lionblaze.”
Lionblaze was standing just behind Spiderleg, looking annoyed. Dovepaw was angry with herself for missing his order, but even more with Spiderleg for being so obnoxious about it.
It’s mouse-brained to have two judges, she grumbled to herself. Mentors have been assessing their own apprentices for more seasons than there are leaves on the trees!
Raising her head, she tasted the air and brightened when she picked up a nearby scent of squirrel. It was coming from the other side of a clump of bramble; setting her paws down lightly, Dovepaw skirted the thorns until she came out into a small clearing and spotted the squirrel nibbling a nut at the foot of an ivy-covered oak tree.
A wind was rising, rattling the bare branches. Dovepaw slid around the edge of the clearing, using the bracken for cover, until she was downwind of her prey. Its scent flooded strongly over her, making her jaws water.
Dropping into her best hunter’s crouch, Dovepaw began to creep up on the squirrel. But she couldn’t resist sending out her senses just once more to check on Ivypaw, and she jumped as she picked up the tiny shriek, quickly cut off, of a mouse under her sister’s claws.
Her uncontrolled movement rustled a dead leaf, and instantly the squirrel fled up the tree, its bushy tail flowing out behind it. Dovepaw bounded across the grass and hurled herself up the trunk, but the squirrel had vanished into the branches. She clung to an ivy stem, trying to listen for movement beyond the wind and the creaking of the tree, but it was no use.
“Mouse dung!” she spat, letting herself drop to the ground again.
Spiderleg stalked up to her. “For StarClan’s sake, what do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “A kit just out of the nursery could have caught that squirrel! It’s a good thing none of the other Clans saw you, or they’d think ThunderClan doesn’t know how to train its apprentices.”
Dovepaw’s neck fur bristled. “Have you never missed a catch?” she muttered under her breath.
“Well?” the black warrior demanded. “Let’s hear what you did wrong.”
“It wasn’t all bad,” Lionblaze put in before Dovepaw could answer. “That was good stalking work, when you moved downwind of the squirrel.”
Dovepaw flashed him a grateful look. “I guess I got distracted for a heartbeat,” she admitted. “I moved a leaf, and the squirrel heard me.”
“And you could have been faster chasing it,” Spiderleg told her. “You might have caught it if you’d put on a bit more speed.”
Dovepaw nodded glumly. We haven’t all got legs as long as yours! “Does this mean I’ve failed my assessment?”
Spiderleg flicked his ears but didn’t answer. “I’m going to see how Millie is getting on with Ivypaw,” he announced, darting off toward the abandoned nest.
Dovepaw gazed at her mentor. “Sorry,” she meowed.
“I guess you must be nervous,” Lionblaze responded. “You’re much better than that on an ordinary hunting patrol.”
Now that she was facing failure, Dovepaw realized just how much she wanted to pass her assessment. Being a warrior is way better than being part of the prophecy with my so-called special powers. She tensed as another thought struck her. What if Ivypaw is made a warrior and I’m not?
Her sister deserved it, Dovepaw knew. She didn’t have any special powers of her own, but every night she put herself in danger to spy for Lionblaze and Jayfeather in the Dark Forest.
Ivypaw’s better than me. I can’t even catch a stupid squirrel!
“Cheer up,” Lionblaze meowed. “Your assessment isn’t over yet. But for StarClan’s sake, concentrate!”
“I’ll do my best,” Dovepaw promised. “What’s next?”
In answer, Lionblaze angled his ears in the direction they had come from. Dovepaw turned to see Icecloud picking her way across the frosty grass.
“Hi,” the white she-cat mewed. “Brambleclaw sent me to help you.”
“You’re just in time.” Lionblaze dipped his head. “The next part of the assessment is hunting with a partner,” he explained to Dovepaw.
Dovepaw brightened up; she enjoyed hunting as part of a team, and Icecloud would be easy to work with. But she was disconcerted when Icecloud looked at her with her head cocked to one side and asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“I…er…” Dovepaw wasn’t used to giving orders to a warrior. Come on, mouse-brain! Shape up!
“Let’s try for a blackbird,” she suggested. “Icecloud, your white pelt is going to be a problem, though.”
“Tell me about it,” the white she-cat mewed ruefully.
“So we’ll have to find somewhere you can stay in cover until the last moment. When we find a bird, I’ll stalk it and try to drive it toward you.”
“You’ll need to make sure it doesn’t fly off, or—”
Lionblaze interrupted Icecloud’s warning with a meaningful cough.
“Oops, sorry,” Icecloud mewed. “I forgot. Go on, Dovepaw.”
“Blackbirds often nest just beyond the old Twoleg den,” Dovepaw went on after a moment’s thought. “I know it’s too early for them to be nesting, but it might be worth scouting there for good places.”
Lionblaze nodded encouragingly. “Then what?”
“Well…the ground slopes away there. Icecloud could take cover down the slope.”
“Okay, let’s see you do it,” Lionblaze meowed.
Dovepaw had taken only a few paw steps when Spiderleg reappeared, shouldering his way through the bracken. He said nothing; Dovepaw’s paws itched with curiosity to find out how her sister was getting on, but there was no time to ask. It felt weird to be padding a pace or two ahead of Icecloud, as if she was leading a patrol, and weirder still to be the one who was making the decisions. Panic pricked at Dovepaw, like ants crawling through her pelt. Her head felt as empty as an echoing cave, as if everything she had ever learned had flown away like birds from a branch.
I’ve spent more time eavesdropping on other Clans than training to be a warrior!
Dovepaw wanted to finish her assessment without using her special powers. Ivypaw doesn’t have them, so it’s only fair. But it was hard to switch her senses off when she was constantly wondering what her sister was up to. Besides, when she tried to focus on the sounds that were closest to her, she felt trapped and smothered by the trees.