A Late Night Hunt

[Yoko]

Oh the night in RiverClan was a lovely thing to see. It was so quiet, yet so loud and filled with cricket songs. Pebblepaw actually felt a bit lighter, just traversing the soft damp grasses of her territory. The half-moon was high and bright. It shone easily between the spacing of RiverClan trees. Ahead she could hear the smooth rippling of the river. But as she neared it, she was disappointed to see it so darkened by the night air. Even with StarClan Warriors reflecting their glory on the watery sheet, it was impossible to see the fish beneath.

"W-well, I guess," Pebblepaw mewed quietly. "We'll have to hunt land animals. Like squirrels and stuff..."

The small gray apprentice looked down at her paws. Disappointed to have brought her friends such a long way without good reason. And if they really decided to hunt land animals, Pebblepaw was no good at it! She scuffled her paws in the dirt, expecting Graypaw and Cloverpaw to head back or something.

[Amber]

Cloverpaw padded behind her friend, wishing she could take Hollykit out sometime. She would love this. Hollykit was the one that enjoyed night the most, but never experienced much of it, falling asleep before anything exciting happened. But she was still a kit, and the queens wouldn't like for her to stay up too late. The ginger apprentice had a feeling her sister would be one of those to go on late night patrols, and still be wide awake. Cloverpaw was more of a morning cat, she enjoyed waking up early and going on patrols then. She didn't mind the night, she just enjoyed the morning better. Her thoughts trailed to her other sister, wondering where Ivypaw was now. Had she already made it to Highstones? Did she fall flat on her face again? Looking at the half-moon she hoped her sister was safe.

It was a bit disappointing to see that the fish were a little too hard to see. Fishing was just so much easier, and required less pouncing and running. She lapped a little of the water up, refreshing herself and looking at Pebblepaw. "That's fine, it just means we will have to work harder."

Looking at her two younger companions she sighed. Cloverpaw was decent when it came to the land prey, she just wished she could fish. "Graypaw, have you had the opportunity to learn how to catch land animals, or have you just been taught how to fish?" she queried the other apprentice. Cloverpaw knew Pebblepaw knew how to hunt the prey of the forest, she wasn't much younger than herself.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Graypaw was simply happy as he padded through the territory with his two companions. The night was nice and warm, filled with the wonderful sounds of crickets and familiar smells of prey, and it was utterly peaceful. The half moon hung overhead, giving just enough light to navigate through RiverClan's territory and reminding him of the medicine cat meeting taking place. What did they go there to see and dream, Graypaw wondered? He hadn't yet had his apprentice journey to Highstones so he could only guess. However the steady sound of the river nearby reminded him that he was a warrior apprentice, and he was hunting. Being a medicine cat seemed cool but he would much rather be a warrior.

He peered into the water with the other two apprentices and was disappointed to see that they wouldn't be able to fish tonight. Even with all the light from the moon, it was still too dark to see the little creatures swimming underneath the surface. He supposed hunting land animals wasn't so bad, though.

"I've hunted land prey a bit, but not as much as I've been fishing." He replied to Cloverpaw, though not about to let himself get discouraged he added, "It's fine, I'm sure we can still catch lots of prey even if it's not fish. Right, Pebblepaw?" He glanced over to the quiet she-cat, again wondering why she was always so quiet all of the time.

[Yoko]

Pebblepaw looked down, shuffling her paws. The night air was much cooler than the humid, pressing days. Everything around her seemed more still. The river looked still and dark, though the gray apprentice felt certain that it was moving and fish were beneath it. Oh, if only the fish would jump up so she could hook them out of the air! But fish were smart, or else they were asleep, and invisible beneath the glassy surface of the water.

She was vaguely aware of her friend's words to Graypaw, and she even dared to glance up at them both, focusing on Graypaw a moment only to feel a shock go through her fur when he glanced back. She shuffled her paws a moment, then she realized he must have been talking to her and she wasn't paying attention! How awful!

What did he say? What did he say? Something about prey?

"Yeah, sure," she mewed quickly, not sure of what she had answered or agreed to. She went on hesitantly. "So...we're hunting, right? Umm...let's go then!"

She started off in any direction, not really caring which way, then glanced back at her companions with a small smile.