The mouse sat at the foot of the silver birch tree, half-hidden amongst the thick tangle of green-leaf undergrowth. Plump with a glossy brown coat and beady black eyes, it would be the perfect dinner for Dappledfur in the nursery. It lost in concentration, nibbling away at a pinecone. An easy catch. Theoretically.
Robinpaw dropped to a hunter's crouch. He studied the mouse carefully from a distance, calculating its movements and trying to plan the best way to approach it. He could feel his mentor's eyes burning into him and he took a few deep breaths to calm himself before going in for the kill. He had practised this a million times; it should be as natural as breathing by now. He could do this.
Carefully making sure to keep his belly from brushing the ground, Robinpaw emerged from his hiding place. So far so good. He could feel his confidence increasing as he crept stealthily across the forest floor.
Then his tail brushed against some pine needles.
The mouse looked up in alarm and began to scurry back to shelter. Robinpaw took chase but his paw got caught in a tree root and he fell clumsily, a pile of limbs and fur on the ground.
"You mouse-brain!" Owleyes hissed, lashing his tail in annoyance. "That was pathetic!"
Robinpaw felt his fur prickle with humiliation as he picked himself up, shaking the pine needles from his pelt.
"You're an embarrassment," Owleyes continued, his lip curling to show his teeth. "Can't even kill a mouse!"
"Sorry," Robinpaw mumbled, bowing his head in shame. The rest of the patrol had caught up by now and had gathered around to watch the scene that was unfolding. He could hear Sandpaw - one of the other apprentices - stifle a giggle and wished that the ground would just swallow him up now.
"Sorry doesn't catch prey," Owleyes snarled. He stalked closer to his apprentice, fur bristling and claws unsheathed. "I've been trying to teach you for months and you haven't learnt anything." Quick as a flash, the older warrior moved to pin the smaller tom to the ground. Robinpaw groaned under the weight of the other tom. He struggled to free himself but to no avail.
"Useless piece of crowfood," Owleyes spat in Robinpaw,s face, digging his claws into the other cat's belly before finally releasing him. The larger tom then stormed off further into the shadows of the forest, signalling for the rest of the patrol to follow him.
Robinpaw lay on the ground until he was sure that the rest of the patrol had left. He could feel his eyes pricking with tears and felt his whole body burn with embarrassment. His mentor was right; what kind of apprentice couldn't even catch a simple mouse? He had let his Clan down.
"Hey," the soft voice came from the other side of the hollow.
Startled, Robinpaw whipped around to find Ashcloud. The longfurred grey tom sat amongst a patch of grass, his tail tip flicking uncomfortably. The young warrior must have stayed behind from the rest of the patrol.
"Leave me alone," Robinpaw snapped, quickly turning to hide his face.
Ashcloud ignored him and padded over to sit beside the apprentice. The two of them had never talked much and Robinpaw did not know what to expect. He flinched away when the warrior's fur brushed lightly against him. If the other tom had to bully him with more taunts, he swore he would run away and become a kittypet.
But Ashcloud just flicked him gently with his tail. "Don't worry about Owleyes - he's just in a mood because Poppyflower won't be his mate. It took me ages to catch my first prey."
"That's not true," Robinpaw protested. "You caught a rabbit on your first moon of apprenticeship."
Ashcloud shrugged. "You'll get there soon."
"No I won't!" Robinpaw cried in dispair, twisting around to face the other tom. "I'm older than you - I've been an apprentice for twelve moons and I still can't do anything!" By now, he could feel hot salty tears stream down his face but he was past caring.
"That's not fai-" Ashcloud started to protest but the smaller ginger cat cut him off.
"Yes it is! I'm not cut out for being a warrior! Nobody wants me here. I'm going to leave ShadowClan and become a kittypet."
Ashcloud was full of sympathy as he leaned over to nudge the distressed tom. "No," he said firmly. "You're not. I'm going to take over as your mentor."
Robinpaw didn't understand why the young warrior was being so kind to him when the rest of the Clan treated him like dirt. They didn't even know each other. "I already asked Nettlestar to switch my mentor but he said no."
The long-furred cat sighed, and stroked Robinpaw reassuringly with his tail in an attempt to calm him.
"Meet me here at sundown and I promise you'll have your warrior name by next moon."