Hunting is Important

Rainheart crept out of the camp of reeds, heading towards the sound of rushing water. It calmed her just to hear that the river was all right. The water, oddly, was like kin to her; she couldn't imagine a life without it.

Her light gray pelt looked like a puddle against the grass as she sneaked closer and closer to the river. Her large paws caused more vibrations and made it harder to hunt since they were heavy enough that she couldn't aim as well as other cats, but she would try her hardest.

Honestly, she would have preferred staying in her den and finding shells and rocks to decorate her nest with, but that didn't contribute anything to the Clan, did it? She had to keep RiverClan's fresh-kill pile well stocked, otherwise her Clan woul starve.

Finally, she reached the stream, and immediately began looking for prey. There were many tiny guppies, but they weren't prey at all, and they were too small to catch anyway. Then, a silver fish slipped into view, and Rainheart took the chance to strike. Immediately, she swung a large paw out and tried to rake it, feeling her claws hook onto its skin. Suddenly, she drew it out of the water and slammed it down on the bank, holding the floppy fish with a paw. It took a while, but finally, it stopped struggling, and she took it in her mouth and bounded back to camp.

"Nice one." ShadowStar had padded up to the grey she-cat without a sound and took her place next to her. She swiped deftly at a guppie and flicked it onto the bank. She looked at it as it died. It was far too small to put on the fresh-kill pile and would scarcely feed a kit. She picked it up in her jaws, threw it up in the air, and caught it and swallowed it whole. She gazed at the fish that Rainheart had caught. "It's big." she noted, with a slight glint in her eyes.

Rainheart nodded, gazing into the water again. "Maybe I should catch another before I go back. It's best to be prepared, and there's no such thing as being too careful." Another flash of silver appeared, and she hastily lashed out at it, but it was traveling quickly and she missed. Abashed, Rainheart put her tail over her paws, looking down at the rushing river. She just wanted to listen to its sound. It calmed her when she was down. Carefully, she kept an eye out for more fish, but they seemed to be farther up the river. Picking up the fresh-kill in her mouth, she sneaked upstream, trying not to alert any fish. And again, she stared at the water, looking for prey. There was another fish, and this time, she prepared herself before launching her paw.

It was a perfect hit. Her claws hooked the wide fish right on its scales, and as she drew it out of the water, she tossed it right into her mouth, holding it there, waiting for it to die. This time, she looked back at Shadowstar.

ShadowStar nodded approvingly, padding along after her. "That was good!" she praised. "Well timed, and none of the fish saw you coming." she closed her eyes and smiled, her long fangs showing under her top lip. She licked her chest fur and looked at their shadows. It was almost sunhigh, and they'd need to organise some patrols for later. Plus they shouldn't be out of camp for too long - not with the scent of SnowClan lingering.

"Should I bring them back?" The large-pawed she-cat asked, blinking. She took the two fish in her mouth and lowered her head slighty, bounding back towards the camp. Once, she slipped on the reeds and lost her fish, rushing to pick them up. She was still within sight of Shadowstar, and looked back towards her before slowly padding into the camp entrance. The best thing was that RiverClan's prey source was close to camp, so it didn't take much energy to get there.

Once Rainheart dropped her fresh-kill on the pile, she took a fish for herself and brought it to the warriors' den, enjoying her favorite prey. The scales didn't bother her at all, so she ate it like a ThunderClan cat would eat a mouse.