Crowfeather's Trial

Crowfeather groaned inwardly. The last cats he wanted to spend time with were the new deputy and Nightcloud, who was his former mate and the mother of his WindClan son. I should never have mated with her, he thought. It was a mouse-hearted attempt to make a family in my own Clan. He had been angry and bitter over losing Leafpool. He’d never loved Nightcloud, and she’d never forgiven him for it.

Nightcloud didn’t look too pleased about this idea, either, but the three apprentices were exchanging delighted glances at the thought of training together. Crowfeather didn’t feel he had much choice; besides, he didn’t want to disappoint Featherpaw.

“Okay,” he muttered.

“Onestar wants us to go and hunt down near the ThunderClan border,” Harespring announced, gathering the patrol together with a sweep of his tail. “There have been reports of weird scents in that area, and for some reason prey is scarce.”

Crowfeather nodded. “Good idea. I tried hunting over there the other day and came back empty-pawed.”

Harespring took the lead as the patrol left the camp and headed downhill toward the border with ThunderClan. The apprentices scampered along together, jostling one another and boasting about how much prey they were going to catch.

The chilly wind had faded to a faint breeze, and wide patches of pale blue sky showed between the clouds. Crowfeather sniffed the air and picked up the scent of rabbit.

“I’ve got a good feeling about today,” Harespring announced. “I think the prey will be running well.” He sounded cheerful, though Crowfeather thought he had to be aware of the tension between him and Nightcloud, who was stalking along beside Hootpaw as if she was trying to pretend Crowfeather wasn’t there.

What’s her problem? Well, I’m not going to beg for her attention, if that’s what she expects.

The deputy had hardly finished speaking when a rabbit started up unexpectedly from a tussock of long grass and fled across the moor. Nightcloud raced after it; Crowfeather could not help admiring her strong, graceful bounds and the way her muscles rippled under her black pelt.

But she’s not my mate anymore, and that’s just fine by me. Life is easier now.

Suppressing a snort of annoyance, he turned to Featherpaw. “Watch Nightcloud,” he instructed her. “See how quickly she reacted? And when the rabbit changes direction, she doesn’t lose a step. Why is that?”

Featherpaw’s head tilted as she searched for the answer. After a moment she looked back at him with wide, questioning eyes. “I don’t know…”

“Because a good hunter is always thinking,” Crowfeather told her. “Always alert to a prey’s best route of escape. You can’t just follow it. You have to work out where it’s going to run. That’s what Nightcloud is doing now.”

Featherpaw nodded, her gaze fixed on the black she-cat. “She’s great!”

As she spoke, the rabbit vanished behind an outcrop of rocks, with Nightcloud hard on its paws. A shrill squeal of terror was abruptly cut off, and a moment later Nightcloud emerged from the rocks with the limp body of the rabbit dangling from her jaws.

“She got it!” Hootpaw exclaimed.

“Brilliant catch!” Harespring meowed heartily as Nightcloud padded back to the rest of the patrol.

“Yeah, good job,” Crowfeather added when her eyes briefly met his.

Nightcloud swiftly looked away from him. “Thanks, Harespring,” she mewed.

Crowfeather swallowed a rumble of annoyance, not wanting to look angry in front of the apprentices. How petty! She can’t even accept my praise.

When Nightcloud had finished scraping earth over her rabbit to collect it later, the patrol continued farther down the hill. Crowfeather was the first to spot the black-tipped ears of a hare poking up from where the creature was crouching in a shallow dip in the ground.

“Who can tell me what the problem is here?” Harespring asked the apprentices in a low voice.

Featherpaw waved her tail excitedly but had the sense to speak in a quiet murmur as she answered. “The breeze is blowing from us to the hare.”

“Right,” Harespring mewed, while Crowfeather felt proud that his apprentice had spoken first. “So it’s going to scent us long before we can get up close enough to pounce. What do you think we should do about that?”

This time it was Hootpaw who replied. “Move around so we’re in a better place?”

“Good,” Harespring praised him. “And this is one of the times when it can be better to hunt in a team, rather than alone. Crowfeather, I’m going to work my way around until I’m on the far side of the hare. When I give the signal, I want you to chase the hare over to me.”