[lone]

Originally Posted by reddykins

Much time had passed since Redpaw had first heard the gentle scuttling from deep within the undergrowth. Her tail lashed as she dug her claws into the mushy soil, frustrated. "Pray to StarClan it wasn't something big, like a squirrel," the apprentice bitterly murmured to nobody but herself, sighing. It wouldn't have been anything like a squirrel - they hardly strayed over to RiverClan territory, and the noises that were made were much too silent to be anything as plump as a squirrel.
It could've just been a really scrawny one, a voice in the back of Redpaw's mind tried to convince her. She shook the thoughts away - nothing would get done if she decided to dwell on the missed prey. Besides, Redpaw had left the land-hunting to Gannetpaw, after seeing his spectacular performance with the vole. The thought made her whiskers twitch in amusement, though the apprentice managed to turn tail and pad quietly back to the riverside. She loomed over the rushing waters, her shadow cast over the harsh ripples.
This was the complete opposite of everything Honeypool had taught her regarding hunting fish. The technique was to not let your shadow loom into the river and alert the fish you were there; it was one of the first rules of hunting fish. Though at this point, Redpaw was getting frustrated and impatient, ears picked and listening for any sign of a carp in the water.
Maybe, Redpaw began to daydream, just maybe, if I stare hard enough at the water I'll spot a carp! ...Yeah! That sounds fair enough. And I'll drop it on the fresh-kill pile with my other fish, and those ShadowClan scum will be all, "Oh, Redpaw! You're truly a selfless cat! First, being oh-so kind to us ShadowClan cats taking refugee, and secondly, sharing your prey? Why, they 'ought to give you your warrior name right no-"
The apprentice's greedy thoughts were interrupted by a sudden splashing coming from the river. Redpaw flinched at first, though regained her cool, the fur flattening along her spine. O-oh! She thought, amber eyes growing wide as her claws unsheathed instinctively. A carp! A-a-and it has to be a big one for it to be splashing this loudly! Licking her lips in anticipation, Redpaw got into proper position (or something at least a little closer to it), diverting her shadow from looming into the river. Her ears flattened against her wet fur, paw raised as she tried to spot the location of the carp. Suddenly, a sleek figure flashed in the corner of her eye, to the right, though when Redpaw struck the water, only one of her claws struck a scale as the carp fled in the water.
"You won't get away from me that easily!" Redpaw growled beneath her breath, recoiling from the water and giving her thick coat one last shake to free the excess water from earlier. The calico narrowed her eyes, leaping into the river in pursuit of the carp. She'd covered basic swimming maneuvers with Honeypool, and luckily, Redpaw was much too stubborn to even think of drowning, even if stubbornness wasn't what measured her swimming skills. The apprentice was just lucky that the river wasn't gushing water as roughly as it could've been during a storm, and Redpaw's calico-colored head bobbed up above the waves. Her fur was damp and plastered against her skin, though the river wasn't as deep as she'd thought, allowing her to stand on the tips of her paws if she tried hard enough. Redpaw glanced back at the water going downstream towards her, holding her breath as a wave consumed both the young she-cat and the carp she was pursuing. Opening her eyes beneath the murky riverwater, Redpaw blinked as she caught sight of the sleek carp that had escaped her earlier.
She paddled through the water, extending her foreleg as far as it would go in an effort to snag her claws beneath one of the scales. It felt her many vibrations, however, and with a flick of its huge tail, fled deeper down the river. Redpaw grit her teeth, irritated. She felt her throat tighten with the lack of oxygen and resurfaced, breathing in heavily. Bitter, the young apprentice managed to drag herself to the side of the river, panting and dripping wet. Redpaw hoisted herself out of the riverbed, shaking off all the liquid that covered her body. A shiver ran down her spine, but the feline was much too irked to be bothered with the cold. She would survive, anyways - the worst thing to happen was that she would develop a little cold and have to visit Geckoleaf and Juniperpaw. Digging her claws into the mud, Redpaw stormed off further down the river in an effort to find more carps that were hopefully less clever.

Since catching the shrew, Gannetpaw hadn't had too much luck. There had been a close call with another vole (or was it the same one?) and another shrew caught, but other then that, not much had happened. Now, if only he could catch a vole, then he would be set! Part of it was pride. He honestly didn't want to back down. And the other part was the bubbling anxiety - what if everyone started laughing at him, thinking he was a fool? What if Redpaw thought that? What if his warrior ceremony was delayed, because it was thought that he was incompetent? What if- stop that. Stop that now. Anyone who was close to Gannetpaw knew that he very much cared what others thought of him. It might be why he was so boastful. Why he threw off personal, verbal attacks with either a nonchalant "your call" manner, and then would ignore you for days afterwards, or would say nothing and just stare as though he couldn't believe you would say something like that. It explained why he had blown off his trip as a joke, because he wouldn't want to look like more of a fool then he already was.

Anxiety... caused his pride. Pushed it to the limits. It was something that Gannetpaw hated, he hated it more then anything else. Technically he almost hated himself. Waiting for something, anything to come out of the bushes and hopefully cause some excitement, the black and white feline thought he had never been more bored in his life. A light splash coming from the river made his ears pick up, but he was nervous to go investigate - just in case it was the sound of his companion catching something, and he distracted her. Never once did the thought that Redpaw might have had trouble in the river. A vole! A new sound caught the tom's attention. His ears picked up and he crouched down, getting ready to spring. This time, he wouldn't miss the vole. The two shrews he had caught were shrimpy and they wouldn't feed enough cats, no matter how optimistically Gannetpaw tried to look at it, in the end he came back to the same conclusion.

He wasn't an optimist anyways! He was a realist. And no matter how much he had tried to change that, to look at the world through positive eyes, all he saw was what it really was. Or at least - the most likely outcome of what it really was. The Clan wouldn't be able to support ShadowClan as well, and from what Gannetpaw had seen, not many of those apprentices were doing much hunting. For RiverClan, anyways. Whatever they caught was given to their own Clan and they took some of RiverClan's prey as well. Even if they seemed to hate the "stinky fish" they were generously offered. The black and white tom sprang, and his claws nicked the vole's hide this time - but it escaped. For the third time! Though that was only if this was the same vole, which was very highly doubtful. Still, Gannetpaw's frustration knew no boundaries.

"Mouse dung!" He snarled, tail lashing as the vole slipped away. It wouldn't get far. Swimming was a strong point of the tom's, and that, plus his frustration and overwhelming surge of desperation, combined to make the recklessness that had him leaping into the water. The vole was swimming away, a trail of crimson making it easy to track. Gannetpaw swiftly swam after it, the water swaying him off course and making it hard for him to keep on the vole, but eventually he caught up to the animal. It's injury, courtesy of the tom himself, had slown it down enough for Gannetpaw to catch the small rodent. And now his frustration had been taken out on the animal. A much messier kill then he had been planning, but at least now he had the vole after three missed attempts. Or maybe it hadn't been a single missed attempt!

Still, it was too close to not be considered a coincidence. This vole could feed two, or maybe even three cats! It was a big animal, much to Gannetpaw's surprise - yes, he had finally caught something that would be a worthy contribution to the Clan he loved so much! "Take that, you sneaky rodent!" He laughed with a smile on his maw. I really hope... things are going as good for Redpaw as they are for me. Gannetpaw thought as he went back to where the other two shrews were buried. This might be enough - it might be.