"I am tired of living this soft life, I want to catch my own prey." meowed a silver she-cat.
"Well I heard there are savage cats out there Silver. They kill any cat who goes near their territory." Toby warned.
Silver laughed, "Oh I don't believe in that story. Cats just say that to scare other cats, but today Toby, I am going to go into the forest and I will be hunting."
Toby's like a father I never had, but still, why does he treat me like I am still a kit?Silver was thinking. "I hope nothing bad happens."
She bounded off into the forest and crouched when she spotted movement. So she started stalking it, then she saw a nice sized vole. She got ready to pounce on it, but all of a sudden she felt tons of weight on her. She could not move and her breathe was kicked out of her. She went limp in submission and when he loosened his grip she jumped up and heard a gasp of surprise.
Then he purred, "Nice moves for a kittypet."
Silver looked warily at him and replied, "Thanks, are you one of those wild cats?"
He nodded, "I live in Thunderclan and my name is Graypaw. So what is a kittypet doing out here? They usually never leave their nest?"
"I wanted to see what it was like, I have dreams of hunting, feeling that wind on my fur, that's why I came into the woods. Sorry that I trespassed." Silver meowed.
"Oh that's alright, but if you ran into a patrol you wouldn't have been as lucky. I started my apprentice training today, so I wasn't able to do as much damage as our warriors." he warned. Graypaw lifted his muzzle and hissed. "Hurry hide! A patrol is coming!"
Silver ran into a thorn bush and waited for the patrol to pass by. Then these two cats walked out of the bushes, one was a ginger she-cat and the other one was a big muscled tom. "Graypaw! You know better than to leave the camp like that!" the ginger she-cat growled.
"I wanted to explore Brightstar…" he started to say.
The tom growled "That's no excuse! What if you ran into trouble?"
Graypaw looked down at his paws in submission, "Sorry."
Brightstar's gazes softened "Just don't do it again and come on out of the bushes. We know you are there kittypet, we were watching you two. The reason you caught scent of us was because the wind changed direction." Silver walked out from behind the bushes "We are short on apprentices for our warriors, I don't usually do this, but would you like to join Thunderclan?"
Silver's eyes grew wide, "Yes!"
"Fine, tomorrow at highnoon, Icetail will take you there" she said flicking her tail towards the tom. Then Silver watched as they retreated into the bushes.
"Hey Silver! Over here! Are you done exploring the forest?" asked Toby.
"About that Toby… I am going to go live in the forest with the other cats. I met them while I was out there and they offered..." Silver was saying.
"What! Silver don't even trust those wild cats! They are dangerous!" Toby exclaimed.
Silver meowed "Don't worry Toby. They won't hurt me. Trust me, I know you care, but you need to let me do what my heart tells me to."
He shook his head "Alright, but will I ever get to see you again after you go?" asked Toby.
"I don't know. They may have rules, and visiting you might be against it and I can't look like a traitor to my new clan." Silver meowed sadly. She knew she wouldn't be able to come back here ever again after highnoon. So she rubbed against Toby "You know I will always love you Toby.""I know, but it will still hurt to watch you go, but you have to grow up sometime. Promise me you'll become strong and loyal. Make tons of friends." Toby meowed.
"I promise Toby." Silver promised him.
"Alright let's get some sleep." Toby said before they headed off to their nest. He flanked her side all the way to her bed and curled up beside her and fell asleep instantly. Silver listened to Toby's breathing, she started to drift off.
Silver woke up the next morning she climbed out of bed and stretched. Toby came over from the food dish and licked her ear and said "Goodbye Silver."
Silver said sadly. "I will miss you."
"I will miss you too Silver." Toby meowed before turning around and walking off.
Silver headed outside and went to the spot she met the Thunderclan cats and waited for highnoon to come. When highnoon came, she caught sight of Icetail.
"Are you ready?" asked Icetail.
Silver started to shake with excitement and then sat up calmly and said "Yes Icetail, I am ready."
"Alright now follow me." Icetail told her "Now try to keep up."
Silver said "I will Icetail." She stood up and followed him into the forest.
By dusk Silver and Icetail made it to camp. She was exhausted from trying to keep up with Icetail. She didn't think he was so fast. Soon as she walked through the thorn barrier all the cats in the clearing looked up from what they were doing and gave her a curious and a hostile look. Then they started to whisper to the others and kept glancing at her.
"Why is everyone staring?" Silver asked.
"Don't worry, just ignore them." Brightstar meowed when she walked over to them. "Its time for your apprentice ceremony." Then she walked away and jumped onto highstone and yowled "Clan cats that are old enough to catch their own prey gather under the highstone for a clan meeting."
Silver was amazed, all the cats started to gather. She saw so many cats. Icetail interrupted her "Now go in the center"
Silver went over there and heard Brightstar say "I know this is against the warrior code and we have not done this before, but we need as many cats as possible for this leaf-bare. So I have gone against the warrior code and asked a kittypet to join our clan."
Yowls of protest started up and a ginger she-cat hissed "What! A kittypet? You break the warrior code for a kittypet!"
"Yes Speckleheart" Brightstar said calmly "She has already proved herself to be strong."
"Well I am not caring for that kittypet!" spat Foxfur.
"Will you stop being so moused-brained! She is a very nice cat!" Graypaw defended Silver.
"Thank you Graypaw. Now let's begin the naming ceremony. Will you uphold our warrior code? Will you protect your clan even at the cost of your life?" asked Brightstar.
"Yes!" stammered Silver.
"Good, I say this in front of Starclan so they can approve my decision. From now on till you get your warrior name you will be known as Silverpaw." Brightstar jumped down and she whispered "Now lick my shoulder." Silverpaw did as she was instructed.
"Silverpaw!" yowled Graypaw and Icetail. Then the rest of the clan started to chant her new name.
Brightstar waved her tail for silence "Now Lionclaw step forward. Silverpaw, from now on, Lionclaw will be your mentor. Now touch noses with your mentor." Silverpaw touched noses with her mentor and everyone started to cheer for her and her mentor. "Alright now we have a warrior ceremony for Mistypaw. It is time for her to become a warrior. She has proven that she is ready to become a warrior of Thunderclan. Now Mistypaw do you promise to continue to uphold the warrior code and to be loyal to your clan and to defend you clanmates even at the cost of your own life?"
"I will" promised Mistypaw. Mistypaw's mentor Longfoot looked proud for his apprentice finally becoming a warrior.
"Then I say your warrior name in the eyes of Starclan and to have them approve of my decision. Mistypaw, from now on you will be called Mistypelt." Brightstar announced. Mistypelt went over to Brightstar and licked her shoulder.
"Mistypelt! Mistypelt!" chanted the clan.
Brightstar waved her tail for silence. "The meeting is over."
Brightstar headed over to Graypaw and Silverpaw. "Graypaw, I want you to show Silverpaw around the camp and introduce her to everyone."
"Alright then, lets get started Silverpaw." Graypaw said. "Now follow me. Right here is the elder's den. The apprentices have to take care of them. The elder's are always cranky. This is Speckleheart. Don't mind her, she is our oldest elder. Also these two elder's are Mintpelt and Longclaw. Mintpelt's the brown and black she-cat and Longclaw is the one with a white and gray pelt." Graypaw stopped to catch his breath. "Now the medicine den is over here in the cleft. Our medicine cat is Mudpelt. He cares for cats and read prophecies from Starclan."
"Wow. I only knew twolegs could heal" Silverpaw said.
"Twolegs? They are too mouse-brained to do anything right. Mudpelt has an apprentice, she is Spottedpaw, she is my sister. Now over here under the brambles, is the warriors den." Graypaw meowed.
"Wow it's pretty big." Silverpaw stated.
"Well it needs to be with all the warriors we have." Graypaw said sarcastically. "Now Swiftclaw, Icetail, Lionclaw, Brownfur, Foxfur, Puddlejumper, Goldenpelt, Spiderpelt, Longfoot, and Mistypelt are all our warriors. I know that's a lot, but we need to have a strong clan to survive out here with the other three clans. This is the apprentices den. There's Blackpaw, whose mentor is Foxfur. There is Shadowpaw, her mentor is Puddlejumper. Next to Shadowpaw is Firepaw, his mentor is Icetail. Over here is Squirrelpaw, she is energetic, and her mentor is Brownfur. My mentor is Swiftclaw."
"Wow." Silverpaw meowed.
"We still have the nursery, that's where two queens are, they are warriors, but until they are fit to come back to the warriors den they stay in here with their kits." Graypaw explained. "This golden she-cat is Dawnflower. She has one kit, her other one died from greencough. The kit's name is Stormkit. Over here is Heatherpelt. She has two kits. This one here is Poppykit and this little tom is Crowkit. Well that's all of Thunderclan. Let's go and eat."
"Alright, I am tired. I never pictured a clan being so big." Silverpaw said.
"Well you'll get used to…" Graypaw started.
"Brightstar! Come quick! Bring some warriors with you! We have a wild dog in our territory and I think it killed Spiderpelt! He isn't moving. When we went out on our patrol we ran into it. Come on! Hurry!" finished Foxfur.
"Alright, Icetail and Goldenpelt, go help. Mudpelt, go and get Spiderpelt." Brightstar demanded.
They all nodded and headed out of the gorse tunnel. Silverpaw couldn't believe what was happening. Her first day and already a cat might be dead. What if that was me? Would any of these cats care?
"I hope Spiderpelt is alright." Graypaw meowed sadly. Then he beckoned Silverpaw to the apprentices den and helped her make a nest to lay in. She curled up to Graypaw and fell asleep with hunger gripping at her belly. She wondered what Toby was doing now that he didn't have her there. Did her twolegs get a new cat?