Brackenpaw could feel himself glowing with joy. He had caught his first prey, a plump vole. The small creature hung from his jaws by the scruff.

"I'm so proud of you, Brackenpaw!" his mentor Ivylight squealed excitedly.

"It's nothing." Brackenpaw bashfully replied, although he was ecstatic.

"This is a big deal. I didn't catch anything until half a moon after I because an apprentice!" she insisted

After a while Ivylight decided that they should head back to camp. On the way home Brackenpaw attempted to catch a rabbit, but he didn't come close to getting it.

"Not every hunt goes perfectly, we sometimes have to accept defeat." Ivylight told him.

He still was disappointed, but he tried not to let his gloomy mood show through. He had to learn how to catch rabbits. This was WindClan after all.

When they arrived at camp the younger cats surrounded him. The kits were all stunned.

"How did you get something that big?" Sunkit squeaked. "Will you teach me how to hunt?" Robinkit begged.

He was about to respond when his sister returned.

"Brackenpaw!" She called, "I caught a rabbit!"

"That's great, Poppypaw." He praised.

Jealousy flooded his head, but he pushed it aside. His sister was a great hunter, he was happy for her.

"I caught a vole." He boasted.

The kits threw questions her way as well. Spiderpaw came up to them ready to give them advice.

"You know," he explained, "if you hunt together you have a better chance of catching prey."

"You're not my mentor." Poppypaw spat.

Brackenpaw felt the same way, but didn't want to offend the older apprentice. He meant well, but he often came off as condescending.

"Sorry, I was just trying to help" Spiderpaw hissed scornfully.

"Yeah, whatever." his sister scoffed.

Ivylight passed by. "Go get something from the fresh-kill pile. You both did amazing today."

Brackenpaw slowly approached the pile and placed his vole on top, next to Poppypaw's rabbit. It looked so scrawny next to her kill. His mouth watered at the sight, but he pushed it down. If he could not catch a rabbit, then he should not eat a rabbit.

The shame that eclipsed his other thoughts convinced him to take his own catch. His sister on the other paw settled for a plump finch. She devoured it ravenously. Brackenpaw dejectedly nibbled at his catch. Vole had never been his favorite.

When Brackenpaw finished his meal Poppypaw called to him, "Come on! Snakestripe and Adderfang said they'd take us to the training area."

Brackenpaw wasn't really in the mood, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to learn. His sister eagerly sprinted out of camp, but her mentor scolded her. She slowed down her pace to match Brackenpaw's. "Is something wrong?" she pried.

"Of course not." Brackenpaw deluded.

She glared at him, "I know that's not true."

"I'm just worried I'm not a good enough hunter." He confided.

Her gaze softened. "You've already caught a vole. You're barely an apprentice, you aren't behind so I can't see what you have to be upset about." Poppypaw reasoned.

"I guess you're right." Brackenpaw sighed.

"I'm always right." she joked.

Brackenpaw's mood had greatly improved by the time they reached the training area. The two apprentices raced out ready to begin practice.

"Today I'd like to teach you how to trick an enemy." Snakestripe announced.

Poppypaw seemed to buzz with excitement next to him. Snakestripe motioned with his tail for Adderfang to join him. The black she-cat immediately began to attack and her brother quickly dropped to the ground. She acted triumphant for a bit before Snakestripe lashed out. He soon brought the sleek she-cat down. They tussled for some time before Adderfang regained her composure.

"Can we try?" Poppypaw questioned.

"Go right ahead." the black she-cat purred.

The two apprentice began to mock fight and fearsome expressions crossed their faces. Poppypaw pounced and overwhelmed Brackenpaw, who let himself fall to the ground. His sister cautiously approached and tried to tackled him, but as she leapt he sprang up and brought her down.

They brawled for a little longer before Snakestripe separated them. "Hey I was just about to win." Poppypaw whined.

"If that's what you tell yourself." Brackenpaw teased.

"Hey!" she hissed indignantly.

"It's getting late," Snakestripe reminded, "we're heading back."

"We just got here." Poppypaw groaned.

Though reluctant the young cats followed the warriors back to camp. When they arrived they found Mistfur sharing prey with Duskbreeze the elder. The two siblings rushed toward him earnestly.

"I caught a vole and Poppypaw caught a hare!" Brackenpaw shared eagerly.

"Oh really?" the white tom purred, "You two are going to be the best hunters."

Duskbreeze piped up ready to share an intricate story, "When I was a youthful cat I always hunted. No one could stop me, it was my favorite past time."

Brackenpaw curled up by his father ready to listen to his tale, but his sister sighed and snuck away. The elder continued his story nonetheless.

"One day my mentor, Stormbreeze such a kind warrior, caught me. I had crept out of camp to practice bird hunting of all things. I was the worst at hunting birds and I couldn't stand it. He sat me down and told me..."

Brackenpaw had drifted off. If he couldn't hunt rabbits now, he could practice at night and get the upper paw(umm yeah...) on his sister. By the time he awoke from his thoughts Duskbreeze was finishing his story. "...and so I never set foot outside the camp at night again." he finished.

"You've always had the best stories, Duskbreeze." His father commented.

"Well I suppose the little rascal should get to his nest." The elder sighed.

"Well, goodnight I guess." Brackenpaw farewelled.(is that a word?)

The young tom's steps felt a little heavy on the way to his den, but as he settled into the nest he felt wide awake. He tried for what felt like an eternity to sleep, yet visions of rabbits kept him from dozing off.

He had to catch a rabbit. How will I get out? He questioned himself. Brightpoppy's complaints came to mind, Our den is so drafty, maybe we should tell Thistlestar to get a warrior or two to fix it. Brackenpaw could only hope that the opening was still there. To his knowledge the den had only become poorer after Graycloud and Dustthorn had started to repair it.

It took him a while to work up the courage to rise from his nest. When he did he crept past his sister and Spiderpaw like a mouse. His footsteps gently guided him to the rider's den.

Once he was in the den he only moved his feet whisker-length by whisker-length. Carefully he snuck past Haredash, who was shielding Brightpoppy from the slight breezes. After he passed them his tail brushed ever so slightly against Duskbreeze's nose. He almost thought he saw the gray tom's yellow eyes squint open.

Brackenpaw was right by the entrance, he silently squeezed through the loosely woven wall. Once he was all the way out he ran. All the way to the yellowed fields that were beginning to show the first signs of leaf-fall. He breathed in deeply and wild instinct rose up in him when he caught the slight scent of rabbit.

Finally. His mouth had begun to water at the idea of a juicy rabbit.

A rustle in the long grass alerted him to the rabbit's location. Immediately the young apprentice dropped into a hunting crouch. Step by step he crept up upon the oblivious creature. Closer, closer, closer. His hindquarters stretched up and tension built in his muscles.

"Hello!" A loud voice echoed.

The rabbit ran away as fast as the wind. For a split second, as fear pumped in his heart, Brackenpaw thought the rabbit had spoken. His sanity quickly came back to him. Rabbits cannot talk. So who had spoken? He began to look around himself, but he saw nothing.

Without warning a body slammed down onto him. He leapt up in terror and ran like the rabbit.

"Hey, don't leave." a young voice begged.

He whipped around to catch sight of the assailant. A white she-cat, who looked to be apprentice aged, stood eyes shining with excitement.

"Who are you?" She inquired.

"The better question is: Who are you?    and What are you doing on WindClan's territory?" he angrily ordered of her.

"Calm down." she suggested, "and I'm new around these parts. What's WindClan?"

He did calm down a little. "I am Brackenpaw of WindClan. WindClan is a group of cats who live together and protect each other. There are several other clans too." He answered boastfully.

She paused before responding, "Sounds interesting. Oh and I'm Luma by the way."

"What kind of name is that?"

"A rogue name!" she growled playfully.

By this time Brackenpaw had completely forgotten about the rabbit. The only thing that was on his mind was the stranger. His mind was full of questions.
 
"So who is your mentor?" he asked.

"My what?" she mumbled confused.

"The older cat that teaches you how to hunt, fight and do almost everything." He clarified.

"I guess my mother was my mentor." She sighed. Her voice became soft and vulnerable, "She's not with me anymore."

"Oh." Brackenpaw realised feeling guilty.

"You could join WindClan! They would give you a mentor."

"No thanks." She rejected.

Little did the two notice, the sun began to rise, but the sudden coo of a morning dove alerted them to the waning night.

"Luma?" Brackenpaw murmured

"Yeah?" she responded.

"I want to meet with you again, we have so much to learn from each other." he explained, "but I have to go."

"I'll meet you two nights from now." the white she-cat purred.

He nodded his head, "Make sure you're off the territory soon."

She nodded her head and scampered off through the tall grass. He looked after her almost mournfully, she was so different from anyone he had met before.

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Holy moly.