It was sun high. Mistypaw, Sandpaw, and Rainpaw were excited about their first day of training. Millie, Rosethorn, and Moonfire had decided to take them out together. Squirrelflight had decided to take their mother, Tanpaw out hunting. Tanpaw's training was coming along well, and she was quickly becoming an efficient hunter and fighter.
"Well done!" exclaimed Squirrelflight as Tanpaw pulled down a huge wood pigeon shortly after catching a large rabbit and a fat mouse.
"Thanks! This Greenleaf there's been so much prey! It's so easy to catch it too!" purred Tanpaw.
"If you keep this up, you'll be a warrior in only another moon or two. Then you can spend more time with Mysticpelt." replied Squirrelflight.
"I can't wait! Can we go on a patrol with him tomorrow?" asked Tanpaw.
"Tomorrow you need battle training. You could use practice with your fighting moves. You should be able to fight a lot better than you can now. It's harder when you need to be in camp more for your kits, but you still need to learn before you can become a warrior." answered Squirrelflight.
"Can we do battle training with him? Mistypaw, Rainpaw, and Sandpaw can't really fight me yet, but he can." begged Tanpaw.
"We'll see. First, let's get this back to camp. We're done for today." replied Squirrelflight, picking up some of Tanpaw's prey. Tanpaw picked up the rest and they returned to camp together.
Firestar was sitting in the clearing eating his fresh-kill with Brambleclaw and Sandstorm when Daisy approached him.
"Hi, Firestar. I wanted to talk to you. Is this a good time?" asked Daisy gently.
"Sure. What do you need?" answered Firestar.
"Well, I know I've been here for a while. I've been thinking… I need to do more than stay in the nursery all the time. I want to train to be a warrior." declared Daisy.
"You do? Why now? What made you decide?" asked Firestar, shocked.
"Looking around camp, I see everyone proud to be able to catch their own prey, defend themselves, protect the cats they care about. I want to be able to do that. I keep seeing the kits born into the Clan, waiting until they're six moons so they can begin training. I've had kits, I've helped raise kits that weren't mine. Now I want to be able to help fight for them." answered Daisy. Firestar nodded.
"I'll find you a mentor. You can probably train with Mistypaw, Rainpaw, and Sandpaw. I'll make an announcement later today. Tonight you sleep in the apprentice den!" he meowed. Daisy ran off to be with Hazelfur's kits for the last time before she was an apprentice as Brambleclaw turned to Firestar.
"Any idea about who's going to mentor her?" asked Brambleclaw, "I haven't had an apprentice for a while. Neither has Sandstorm." Firestar looked at his deputy in surprise. Brambleclaw wouldn't normally be so obvious about his desire for a new apprentice.
"But Brook's never had an apprentice. She deserves one. And she's been a warrior for a while. Maybe I should give Daisy to her." answered Firestar.
"True, but wouldn't Daisy be a bit of a challenge for a first apprentice? She might do better with one of Hazelfur's kits when they're old enough. Daisy is still a bit softer than any other cat in the Clan… even her own kits. Shouldn't a more experienced warrior mentor her?" meowed Brambleclaw.
"You're probably right. Maybe I'll mentor her…" teased Firestar, "Or maybe Berrywhisker." He let out a mrrow of laughter, "Let's let her kit mentor her. He did well with Eaglewing." Brambleclaw sat up.
"That's not a bad idea. Berrywhisker would be a good choice. Of course, Daisy might not listen to him as well as another warrior. Let's give her to Eaglewing, her kit's apprentice. That would be interesting. Or her kit's mentor," Brambleclaw added, looking at Firestar hopefully.
"You're right. Spiderleg or Dustpelt would be good too." Firestar joked, still trying to tease Brambleclaw.
"Firestar!" exclaimed Brambleclaw.
"Ok, ok! You can have Daisy. Sandstorm, you can have one of Hazelfur's kits when they're ready. Maybe Amberkit…" replied Firestar. He had noticed Sandstorm had been paying more attention to Amberkit than the other three kits in Hazelfur's litter.
"You noticed I liked her then. She shows a lot of promise as a hunter. Definitely a lot of potential for fighting too. She's my pick for my next apprentice." meowed Sandstorm.
"Between us, she's yours." replied Firestar.