"I want you to train harder than every apprentice in SkyClan. We can't have them thinking that I'll go easy on you because you're my kit."
Spottedpaw smiled. "Okay. Let's start!"
Leafstar dropped into a perfected hunter's crouch. "Do this."
Spottedpaw tucked her legs in and did the crouch. She felt her mother adjusting her legs slightly. Other than that it was perfect.
"Don't let your tail brush the ground. Better yet, don't move your tail at all."
Spottedpaw stiffened her tail. "Let it still be able to move." She relaxed it, letting it hover above the crunchy leaves.
"Good." Leafstar moved in front of her. She placed a leaf the size of a mouse a fox length ahead of her. "Jump on this."
Spottedpaw launched herself forward, her eyes staying on the leaf, imagining it as a mouse. She looked at her paws. No leaf. It wasn't behind her either. The red leaf was sitting tauntingly worm lengths away, uncrushed.
"Just as I feared," Leafstar murmured. She backed Spottedpaw up, seeing her legs correctly.
"Pounce a bit farther," the SkyClan leader said. "You nearly had it."
Spottedpaw focused on the leaf. It turned back into a fat mouse in her head. She wiggled her haunches and leaped, higher and father than before. She sank her jaws into it, until she bit her own tounge. Spottedpaw looked up at get mother, who was beaming with glory.
"I knew you could do it," she purred. Leafstar gave Spottedpaw a small lick on the head and ran back to the camp. Spottedpaw's heart swelled with joy. She turned around to walk back to the camp.
Maybe I can surprise them, she thought. She tasted the air. There was squirrel, vole, hawk, and something else. It smelled like a cat, but it wasn't from SkyClan. Spottedpaw dug her paws into the ground and prepared to battle. She saw a white tail barely poking out of a fern. "Come out," she snarled, "or I'll make you."
Spottedpaw heard a sigh as the tom stepped out of the bushes. He was completely white, except for his face, which was a mix of blue and red, with green eyes. "I was hoping you wouldn't catch me," he said, slightly hissing.
The tom looked about seven or eight moons old, like Honeypaw, Badgerpaw, and Emberpaw. He was fit, and his eyes were full of curiosity. "Were you stalking me?" Spottedpaw says with distain in her meow.
He hung his head down. "I wanted to learn from watching you." Then he added, "I'm Flame. Who are you?"
"I'm Spottedpaw. And I can do this." She sniffed and looked around, deciding to hunt a rabbit. It was eating leaves. Spottedpaw for a badger length away from it and went into the hunter's crouch. She pounced, and the rabbit saw her. But before it could run away, Spottedpaw clawed the neck and killed it. Flange looked impressed.
"Teach me!" He put himself in a clumsy crouch. Spottedpaw went to assist him.
"Spottedpaw!" Leafstar's call rang through the forest. Spottedpaw bit her lip.
"Meet me here tonight at moonhigh," she whispered. "I'll teach you."
Flame nodded and backed into the ferns. Spottedpaw ran to Leafstar, carrying her rabbit.
"Wow," Leafstar gaped. Her eyes were huge. "This is amazing. Good job." She purred to her kit and they walked into camp.
Lichenfur stopped in the middle of a story as she plopped the rabbit in front of him. "Thanks. You know who got this? Tell them I says thank you." He looked at her expectantly.
Spottedpaw smiled. "I'll accept your thanks."
Badgerpaw, who had airway been looking at Spottedpaw, purred. "Who knew that you, the smallest kit in the nursery, would be ahead of all the apprentices?" He rubbed against her.
Soon Patchfoot praised her, then the whole Clan. Then Mintflight and Plumwillow said, "You're not the only one with fabulous news."
Nettlesplash, Plumwillow's brother, perked his ears. The two she-cats, who were very close friends, looked at each other and giggled.
"Frecklewish inspected us today," said Mintflight.
"And we're both expecting kits!" Plumwillow finished.
Harveymoon and Bouncefire purred and snuggled against their mates. Everyone was joyous and celebrating. Only Spottedpaw and Featherpaw sat down to eat.

Spottedpaw yawned at sunset. "I'm tired," the cat said.
"But it's only sunset!" cried Skypaw. She was going to stay up for a long as possible, because she was quote-unquote 'celebrating'. But Spottedpaw had something important to do.
Flame was waiting. And she needed rest.