Chapter 2

5 moons later...

"Suntail, I look fine!" I ignore Dawnkit's yelp. I keep on licking her. Today my kits are becoming apprentices! I hear Patchkit. "I can't wait to learn how to do a poultice!" I lead my kits out into the clearing. I hear Bramblestar's powerful voice. "Today is one of the most important day of a clan. The day of new apprentices! Talonpaw, your mentor will be Wavefoot. Squirrelpaw, your mentor will be Hazeltail. Dawnpaw, your mentor will be Sandstorm. Shinepaw, your mentor will be Blossomfall. Reedpaw, your mentor will be Cinderheart. Redpaw, your mentor will be Mousewhisker. Creekpaw, your mentor will be Cloudtail. Coalpaw, your mentor will be Lionblaze. Maplepaw, your mentor will be Dovewing. Duskpaw, your mentor will be Brackenfur. And last but not least, Patchpaw, your mentor will be Jayfeather. Mentors, I expect that you will teach your apprentices all their is to know." I swell with pride. My kits are apprentices!

Dawnpaw's POV

I hear all of my clanmates calling out our names, but I hear Suntail yelling the loudest. I pad over to Sandstorm. "So, when can we start hunting?" "Well, Dawnpaw, you are definetly eager to learn. Come on, let's go to learn how to hunt with Talonpaw and Redpaw." I hear her pause and start calling Wavefoot and Mousewhisker. "Talonpaw, I'm gonna catch the most prey. After all, I was already in a battle." Sandstorm pads up with Wavefoot and Mousewhisker. "Let's go." We pad out of camp and into the forest. We finally reach a mossy clearing and I see a vole scratching at the roots of a tree. "Sandstorm!" I whisper."I see a vole!" She practices the move on how to catch prey on a scrap of moss. I ace it on the moss and I try the Vole. I pad up sielently with my tail down and my hind quarters flat to the grass. I leap and catch it in my claws. I do a killing bite and pad back to the group. "Well Done Dawnpaw!" I swell with pride at Sandstorm's praise. I set it down and scrape dirt over the vole. When we start heading back, I grab my vole and pad back to camp. Redpaw caught a mouse and Talonpaw caught a bird. When we arrive in camp I drop my vole on the fresh-kill pile. I see Patchpaw taking a thorn out of Coalpaw's paw. I walk up to them. "What happened?" "Stupid Bird..." I hear Coalpaw muttering under her breath. I pad over to the Fresh-Kill pile and choose a thrush. I see Maplepaw, Squirrelpaw, Shinepaw,Reedpaw,Dovewing,Hazeltail,Blossomfall and Cinderheart padding into camp, all of them with prey in their jaws. Squirrelpaw drops her mouse on the fresh-kill pile, grabs Talonpaw's bird, and pads over to eat next to me. "Guess what? I caught a mouse! I heard you caught a vole." "Yeah! It was so amazing!" I finish my thrush and pad into the Apprentice's Den. I see that Coalpaw's already there. "Hey Coalpaw." "Hey." "I heard you almost caught a bird." "Almost. My tail was up." I curl up next to Squirrelpaw's nest. I tell my littermates about my patrol and start to fall asleep.

"Coalpaw! Wake up!" I wake up instantly. "What, Lionblaze?" "We have dawn patrol with Sandstorm and Dawnpaw." She groans as she gets up. I pad out of the den and find Sandstorm in the clearing. We go through the tunnel and into the forest. I hunt with Sandstorm. I catch a thrush, a mouse and a vole. As I am grabbing my prey I overhear Coalpaw and Lionblaze. "Coalpaw, you have to pay attention!" "I'm trying!" "Well, you aren't showing it!" "I'm hunting on my own." "No, Coalpaw! You have to stay here! Now, let's try again." "Fine." I hear Sandstorm call me over. "Come on, let's bring this back to camp." When we arrive I see Squirrelpaw eating a shrew. I put my catch on the pile and get a rabbit for Suntail and Stripepelt. Then I find a magpie for myself. I settle my self next to Squirrelpaw. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you Dawnpaw, we have a patrol in a minute. They're waiting on us." I finish my magpie and pad over to Sandstorm. She's with Cloudtail, Brackenfur, and Blossomfall. Soon Creekpaw pads out of the Apprentice's Den and sits beside Cloudtail. Then Duskpaw and Shinepaw arrive. Hazeltail gathers later than the rest. "Sorry I'm late, I had a scratch to be checked." We pad out of camp and towards the Abandon Twoleg Nest. When we arrive there we turn towards the Shadowclan border. I see Sandstorm sniffing the border. "Perfect. No Shadowclan cats have crossed." Then we head to the lake. I sniff it and water splashes my nose. I lap up some water, and catch up with the patrol. We reach the Windclan border and sniff it. "No cats have crossed!" I hear Blossomfall's confirm. We are about to pad back to camp when a new scent fills my nose. I look at the border and see a Windclan patrol. "What are you doing hear?" "We're checking the border,Crowfeather." We pad away and back to camp. When we arrive I hear Patchpaw. "So, with a mix of thyme and poppy seeds it will make a cat calm?" "Yes, you're doing very well, Patchpaw." I see Redpaw and Reedpaw cleaning out the Nursery. "Need some help?" "Well, that might be nice." I hear Redpaw's confirm and I start pulling out dirty moss when I hear Coalpaw. "Stop doing that, we all have a battle practice. All of the apprentices do." We stop immediatly and follow her into the clearing. We see our mentors and rush up to them. We head out of the clearing and into the forest. We go to the Mossy clearing. "Okay, this first move is how you leap onto your opponent's back." I see Sandstorm leap onto Brackenfur. She rolls him over and starts pretending to claw his belly fur. My partner is Squirrelpaw. I leap onto her back and roll her over, with my claws sheathed, and start pummeling her with my forepaws lightly. Then we stand up, signaling we're done. I look at Talonpaw fighting Shinepaw. Then I see that everyone's done fighting. We learn a few more moves for defense, and then we head back. When we're back in camp it's already dusk. I see Coalpaw in the entrance to the Medicine Den. I look for Lionblaze. "What happened to Coalpaw?" "Oh, she was about to catch this huge squirrel when she banged her head into the tree." I get a rabbit and pull it over to Shinepaw and Reedpaw and we all share it. I go to my nest and fall asleep steadily.

I wake up and see that Squirrelpaw isn't in her nest. sniff it, and her scent is fresh. She must be on the Dawn patrol. I stand up and stretch. I head outside and grab a vole to eat. I see Sandstrom padding out of the Warriors Den. "Oh! Dawnpaw! You're up eary for me. Finish your vole and find me. She jets off and comes back with Dovewing, Cinderheart and Blossomfall. I stand up and pad over to them. By now Maplepaw, Shinepaw and Reedpaw have joined us. We arrive at the Shadowclan border and check it. "No cats across the Border." I proclaim. On our way back I catch a rabbit and a vole. When we get back to camp we put our Fresh-Kill on the pile. I sit down in front of the Apprentice's den and start washing myself. I hear steps coming through the tunnel. I look and see Squirrelpaw carrying a thrush and 3 mice. She drops her catch on the pile and races over to me. "Guess what?" "What, Squirrelpaw?" "Blueclaw's having Wavefoot's kits." I stop licking myself for a second. "That's great! When?" "In a quarter moon." "Wow, that's fast." "Yup." We get called on a patrol to hunt the fox that's been coming dangerously close to camp. We're just about to give up when I see a flash of russet-red fur. My fur spikes in alarm. The rest of the parol notices it too. We get in attack forms when it charges at me. I roll and dodge it but it snaps at my tail, just missing the tip. I leap on it's back and scratch it's spine. He backs away but charges at me again. I duck under it's belly and scratch it's soft fur. It then bites my neck. I go limp. I see pools of blood under me. I see a flash of ginger fur leaping over me. My eyes are blurred and I can't see what cat it is. A little later I feel cats lifting me. I look at my shoulder and see my friend's trusting green eyes clouded with worry. I eventually see less and less trees and I realize we're in camp. I hear gasps coming from all the cats. I feel myself heading slightly uphill and soon I am lay down in a soft moss nest. I see the gray and white pelt of Patchpaw looking at me in horror. I see Jayfeather start putting cobwebs over my wound. A little while later I hear him again. "That's all we can do." I hear cats padding into the den. I realize the scents of my littermates. I hear Creekpaw's horror in his mew. "Is she okay?" "She's lost a lot of blood, Creekpaw." "You have to save her, Patchpaw!" That's the last thing I hear before I black out.

I wake up when Patchpaw is eating a mouse. "You're awake!" "Is it Dawn?" "Yeah. You were out for a long time." I try to sit up but a flashing pain pushes me back down. "Here Dawnpaw, have the rest of my mouse. I'm full anyway." I slowly eat the mouse and lay back down. I hear Jayfeather pad in. "She's awake! You're lucky, Dawnpaw, I knew a cat named Russetfur that died because of a bite to the neck. But, she was also very old." They start taking the cobwebs of my neck. "Well, your fur should hide the tooth marks, but be careful hunting. We don't want the wound to open again." I nod at Jayfeather and pad into the clearing. Sandstorm rushes up to me immediatly. "You're okay! I thought you might have not been able to become a Warrior anymore! So, are you ready for a Hunting Patrol?" "Yes." We pad out of camp with Brackenfur and Duskpaw. We come to the Sky Oak and I immediatly stalk a vole. I leap on it and make the killing bite. I also catch a rabbit almost two times as big as me! I drag my prey back to camp and put it on the pile. I go and lay down on the rock outside the Nursery. I start washing myself when I see Wavefoot jet out of the Nursery. He soon comes back with Jayfeather and Patchpaw. A while later Patchpaw comes out. "Four kits. The first born is Smokekit, a smoky gray she-kit, the second born is the only tom, Darkkit, a silver tabby tom with dark gray paws. The third born is a light brown tabby she-kit with tan paws named Fernkit. And the last born is a small, weak all black she-kit with light grey eyes named Streamkit. They're all so cute!" I go tell Talonpaw and he purrs. "I'm gonna go see my mentor's kits." I see his brown tail with the black tip dissapear into the Nursery. By now it's Dusk and I'm exausted. I curl up in my nest, the thought of new life in my head.

So, did'ja like it? I'm really confused on Warrior Names for the Apprentices. Please Reply! :)