Larkrose sat in the silent VolcanoClan nursery. The whole camp was very calm on this new-leaf day. The warriors and warrior apprentices were training, the Volcano watcher and the single volcano watcher apprentice, Lilypaw, were out at the volcano, and the medicine cat was collecting herbs. The clan leader, Darkstar, was in his den. The kit-mothers and kit mother apprentices were either here asleep with the kits, or in the apprentices den sleeping.
Larkrose knew that the camp was safe and empty, for now. There had been no danger in many moons. It was very unlikely that danger would come right now. But if it did, the cats in camp could get rid of the danger once and for all. VolcanoClan was strong. The strongest that it had ever been.
Larkrose was a kit-mother. She hadn't been a kit-mother for long. She had just finished her training, and was expecting kits anytime now. Suddenly, a wave of pain came and Larkrose knew that her kits were coming. Now. "Get Rosesong!" she screamed. Rosesong was the VolcanoClan medicine cat.
That day, Larkrose had six kits. Three toms, three she-kits. The she-kits were Lavakit, Seasonalkit, and Sunsetkit. The toms were Riverkit, Salamanderkit, and Sparrowkit.
FIVE MOONS LATER…..
Lavakit, Seasonalkit, Sunsetkit, Riverkit, Salamanderkit, and Sparrowkit were just hanging out in the nursery. Darkstar was watching them talk and play closely. It was no surprise. The kits were nearly six moons old. Darkstar had to decide what they would train as. Warriors, Kit-mothers, Volcano watchers, Medicine cat, or most importantly, leader.
Darkstar did not have a deputy. He just had a leader in training. Darkstar was at the age where he needed to pick a leader in training. But it wasn't immediate. But he needed to watch for a leader apprentice.
The six kits were talking about what they wanted to be apprenticed for. "I want to be a kit- mother apprentice." Mewed Sunsetkit. That was possible. Sunsetkit was kind and caring, and she loved kits! "That could happen. I want to be leader!" exclaimed Riverkit. "That would never happen. Just settle as being a warrior. Your stupid, Riverkit." Mewed Slamanderkit. "I wanna be medicine cat apprentice. I'd like leader, also. Salamanderkit, it's possible." Mewed Lavakit.
So Lavakit wants to be medicine cat apprentice, Salamanderkit probably wants to be a warrior apprentice. Riverkit wants to train as a leader. Sunsetkit wants to be a kit mother. Sparrowkit wants to- well; I'm not sure. He keeps changing his mind. I don't know either. Thought Seasonalkit.
She glanced at Sparrowkit, who was playing with a moss ball closer to Darkstar. Sparrowkit would be a good Volcano watcher. He's brave and curious. Thought Seasonalkit.
But she was slightly worried. Sparrowpaw was careful and easily distracted. Where would his place in the clan be? Seasonalkit didn't know.
One moon later, it would finally that time. The six kits were standing close to the front of the crowd, near Darkstar, who was on the Highrock. The clan was Gathering for a meeting. The six kits already knew that they were becoming apprentices. This was their defining moment. This would predict the rest of their lives.
"I wonder what I'll be…." Mewed Sunsetkit nervously.
"You'll like whatever's picked for you. Darkstar doesn't let cats down. He picks what he thinks we'll like" mewed Sparrowkit absentmindedly.
"Sunsetkit, come forward." Darkstar mewed loudly. Sunsetkit nervously came forward. "Sunsetkit, you will now be known as Sunsetpaw. You are now a kit-mother apprentice. Your mentor will be Peachblossom. Peachblossom, do you agree to pass on all you know to this apprentice?" Darkstar asked. "I do" Peachblossom mewed mewed.
Peachblossom was 19 moons and expecting her first litter. She was hardly finished her training! But she was very nice, and would be a good mentor for Sunsetpaw. Sunsetpaw went to stand next to her new mentor.
"Riverkit, come forward" Mewed Darkstar. "Riverkit, you will now be known as Riverpaw. You will train to be a warrior. Your mentor will be Icestorm. Icestorm, do you agree to teach everything you know to this young apprentice?" Darkstar asked. "I do" Mewed Icestorm. Riverpaw stood next to his new mentor.
"Lavakit, come forward. Lavakit, you will now be named Lavapaw. You will train as a medicine cat. Rosesong will be your mentor. Rosesong, do you agree to pass on everything you know to this apprentice" Darkstar mewed. "I do!" exclaimed Rosesong. Lavapaw ran over to sit with Rosesong.
"Salamanderkit, please come forward. You will be known as Salamanderpaw. You will train as a volcano watcher. Stormwind, do you agree to pass on everything you know to this apprentice?" Darkstar asked. "I do." Mewed Stormwind. Salamanderpaw proudly walked over to Stormwind.
"Sparrowkit, please come forward. You will be known as Sparrowpaw. I will train you as a leader apprentice. I agree to pass on everything I know to you" Darkstar mewed.
"Seasonalkit, come forward. You will be known as Seasonalpaw and train as a kit-mother. Heatherpelt will be your mentor. Heatherpelt , do you agree to pass on everything you know to this apprentice." Darkstar mewed. "I do" mewed Heatherpelt.
A leader! I can't believe I'm going to train to be a leader. Thought Sparrowpaw as he followed Darkstar to his den.
In Darkstar's den, Darkstar motioned him to sit down. Sparrowpaw did.
"What do you think about your littermates placements?" Darkstar asked Sparrowpaw.
Sparrowpaw wasn't sure how Darkstar wanted him to answer, so he decided to be honest. He was nervous, and he thought that his judgement may be wrong.
"Lavapaw's and Sunsetpaw's placements are perfect. I don't know about the other three…" Sparrowpaw decided.
Darkstar purred. "Think about it. Salamanderpaw couldn't be a kit-mother. He doesn't have the right leadership qualities. He didn't want to be a medicine cat. He would make a good warrior, but I think his intelligence would help the clan better with him as a volcano watcher. Riverpaw couldn't be a kit mother either. He'd be too scared to be a good leader or a volcano watcher. As a medicine cat, he would probably forget supplies and things like that. Right now, he's not a good warrior, but he will be. Seasonalpaw was very hard to choose, and I still don't know that I made the right choice" Darkstar explained.
Seasonalpaw must have been hard to choose, decided Sparrowpaw. She had many good qualities, but he thought she would be a warrior apprentice. But he nodded, for he understood.
"Do StarClan help you place cats?" he asked.
"Sometimes they do. Not if it's easy, like Riverpaw or Sunsetpaw or Lavapaw. But they helped me place you." Darkstar mewed.
"When will I learn to place my clanmates?" Sparrowpaw asked.
"Well, if your training goes well, you'll help pick Petalkit or Mudkit." Darkstar mewed.
He's got to be kidding! Petalkit and Mudkit were three moons, and their ceremony was only in three moons! Sparrowpaw thought, thinking that he wouldn't be any help at all. He hardly even knew those kits! But maybe that wouldn't matter so much.
"What all will you teach me?" Sparrowpaw asked.
"I will teach you what you will need to know to be a great leader" Darkstar replied.
All I need to know to be a leader. And one day, I'll be leading the clan. As Sparrowstar. Sparrowpaw thought.
Sunsetpaw padded after Peachblossom into the nursery. She found herself thinking about her siblings. They had never been apart! But now they would be apart a lot, since they were training as different things. They would have new friends, she hoped. Sunsetpaw knew that she would be a friend with the other kit mother apprentices. Since Seasonalpaw was training as a kit mother also, Sunsetpaw would still be able to be good friends with her, and she was glad, because Seasonalpaw was a good sister to her.
Seasonalpaw. She was walking behind her. She didn't look very excited about training as a kit mother. After all, Sunsetpaw had always thought that Seasonalpaw would train as a warrior. Oh well. Seasonalpaw would live. Sunsetpaw hoped that she'd learn to be happy.
Heatherpelt and Peachblossom lead their new apprentices to a corner in the nursery and all four cats sat down. Sunsetpaw wondered what they would do first. They surely wouldn't stare at each other all day, it would be a huge waste of time.
"What will we do first?" asked Sunsetpaw.
"I'll tell both of you about what we're going to learn." Heatherpelt mewed. Both Heatherpelt and Peachblossom looked nervous. They both hadn't been kit mothers for very long, and Sunsetpaw and Seasonalpaw were their first apprentices. Sunsetpaw felt sympathetic.
"First, you'll get to know kits and kit mothers and kit mother apprentices. We will first cover the basics. What being a kit mother is. That won't take very long. Then we'll talk about picking a mate, a tom that you'll have kits with until you are an elder. Then we'll have our pregnancy unit. After that, we'll go through a unit of what it's like to be a kit mother. That's rather short. Then we learn about caring for kits. Before you become a full kit mother, you'll take care of some different aged kits." Heatherpelt explained.
Sunsetpaw and Seasonalpaw exchanged a look. This would be interesting. Now, Seasonalpaw was looking excited. Sunsetpaw was glad and excited, too. She just hoped that she would do well!
"You'll have some assessments, and you'll probably go on different speeds. We'll start by introducing you to the other kits mother apprentices. Tomorrow or something we'll introduce you to kit mothers and kits." Peachblossom mewed. "Stay here for a minute" she added.
Peachblossom and Heatherpelt walked away to another part of the nursery, and Sunsetpaw didn't bother watching them..
"What do you think?" Sunsetpaw asked Seasonalpaw.
"This will be better than I thought it would! What do you think?" Seasonalpaw replied.
I think it'll be neat. Pick a mate? Wow! I'll miss being with our siblings all the time, but the kit mother apprentices are nice. We met some of them before. Sunsetpaw thought.
"It'll be cool! We'll have our own kits one day. I'll miss being with our siblings all the time, though, and mommy, but at least she's a kit-mother, too." Sunsetpaw exclaimed.
Seasonalpaw nodded. At that moment, a she-cat came over to the two, quite a bit older than the siblings..
"Hi! I'm Oceanpaw. Remember me? I watched you two once or twice. What do you think?" Oceanpaw asked.
Sunsetpaw thought it was cool that she'd be on the same level as cats who had been more important than her as a kit.
"It'll be cool. I can't believe we'll be picking mates! Who's your mate?" Seasonalpaw asked.
"It's Blackpaw! He's great! I love him." Mewed Oceanpaw.
"Oh, he's nice! I wonder who I'll pick as my mate." Seasonalpaw mewed.
Sunsetpaw walked away. Obviously, Oceanpaw and Seasonalpaw would be good friends. They were both outgoing and friendly. Sunsetpaw wandered over to another young she-cat.
"Hello. I'm Sunsetpaw, one of the new kit mother apprentices" Sunsetpaw mewed shyly.
"Hi. I'm Graypaw. Congratulations! " Graypaw mewed equally shyly.
Sunsetpaw was very glad that she wasn't the only shy apprentice. Sometimes she hated her own shyness, but she mostly didn't mind too much.
"Thanks! What are you doing in training?" Sunsetpaw asked.
"Right now we've just started mating. Featherheart's real nice." Replied Graypaw.
Yay, I've made a friend! I wonder how Seasonalpaw's training will work out, since her mentor has kits. I wonder when Larkrose will get pregnant with her next litter. Sunsetpaw wondered.
Salamanderpaw followed Stormwind into the volcano watcher den. A she-cat, about 10 moons, was putting dirt in piles, each pile in front of a special marking. To Salamanderpaw, it didn't make the least bit of sense, but he decided that he'd probably learn it. He better. That she cat would not be better than him.
"What's Salamanderkit doing here?" asked the she-cat coldly.
Uh, duh, dumb kitty, I'm an apprentice! Thought Salamanderpaw.
"He's Salamanderpaw now, and he's going to be training with you" Stormwind explained calmly, ignoring the she-cat's rude tone.
"Now I'll have to learn the lessons all over again…" complained the she-cat.
"No, you won't. Salamanderpaw, meet Lilypaw. You'll be training with her" Stormwind mewed.
She's horrible. Worse than my whiny sister Sunsetpaw! I'll hate her! In fact, I already do! She'll be so annoying! And I'll have to train with her! This will SUCK! Salamanderpaw decided, glaring at Lilypaw.
"As a volcano watcher, you must eat your herbs." Stormwind began.
"Oh no. Not THIS again! I hate this. Yeah, we'll eat our herbs. Just please don't make the same old speech again! It's so stupid!" Lilypaw mewed.
I hate to think this, but I agree with her. I'll eat my herbs, if that's what you're going to say. They always taste bitter, but if you want me too…I'll do everything else, blah, blah, blah Salamanderpaw thought."Lilypaw, be nice. As I was saying, you must eat your herbs. Volcano watchers have to be strong in case danger comes. So if you're getting sick, feeling bad, whatever it is, eat the herbs! It's mandatory. I hate this speech as much as you both do. But you must eat them! No matter how horrible they taste! You need them! EAT THEM!" Stormwind exclaimed, leaving Salamanderpaw staring at him with questioning eyes. "Anyway, let's show Salamanderpaw the volcano. Salamanderpaw, can you go fetch traveling herbs from Rosesong and Lavapaw?" Stormwind asked.
Lavapaw, she'll be much better than speeches about eating herbs. Stormwind's a bit weird… I can't wait to climb the volcano. Or whatever we do to it. At least he tried to shut Lilypaw up. Seems impossible to me. Yes, I get to climb the volcano!
Salamanderpaw ran to the medicine cat den, where Lavapaw and Rosesong were. " Hi. We're going to the volcano. We need traveling herbs." He mewed.
"The volcano? Already? Well, if he says so" Rosesong mewed, placing some herbs in front of Salamanderpaw.
"Don't fall down the volcano! Bye Salamanderpaw!" exclaimed Lavapaw as Salamanderpaw left with his herbs.
Nice job. Very encouraging words Thought Salamanderpaw.
Salamanderpaw and Lilypaw and Stormwind ate the herbs, then left camp quietly. The adventure was about to begin.