"Streamkit, Lionkit, step forward."
It had been three sunrises after Cloudkit's death. Even now, Streamkit's shriek continued to echo through his ears. He looked up at his leader silently.

"Go on," Pebbleflower urged her kit, nudging him onto his paws.

Lionkit stepped forward and below the rock his leader sat on. Streamkit stepped forward too, but sat away from Lionkit. Lionkit pretended to not notice, but he was forced to blink away the hurt in his eyes.

"It is now time for these two kits to move on in the ranks. Now, do both of you promise to uphold the warrior code, and train as an apprentice?"

"Yes," answered Streamkit, and Lionkit mimicked her.

"Than from now on, both of you will gain -paw and are now apprentices." Midnightstar's gaze flicked over to a black warrior. "Yellowstorm, you will be the mentor to Streampaw. May you pass on your battle skills and high spirit." She looked over to a dark gray warrior. "And Stormwhisker, you are mentor to Lionpaw. May you pass on your hunting skills and sympathy for others."

Streampaw leaned over to Lionpaw as the clan began cheering for them. "Cloudkit would have been a paw too, if it weren't for you," she spat. The words stung Lionpaw and he didn't dare look at her.

The cheers soon died down, and Lionpaw felt relief when his sister's scent faded. He checked to make sure, and was right.

"It's nice to see you are finally an apprentice!" A black she-cat greeted Lionpaw right away. He didn't fully know her, but at least remembered her name was Nightpaw. He walked away from the she-cat, and fought back the guilt he felt at doing so. He just wanted to be alone.
Lionpaw looked around the clearing, and held back a groan when he saw his mentor waving his tail at him. Lionpaw padded over to Stormwhisker and mewed a quick greeting.

"So," Stormwhisker began, "I'm guessing you want to be the best you can be?"

"Of course," Lionpaw mewed.

"Than we're going to start with the basics." Stormwhisker smiled, "Which is seeing the territory. Do you want to go now?"

"Yes," Lionpaw answered. Normally he wouldn't use such a plain response, but he didn't feel well. Maybe his mentor would forgive him and let him have a day off. Apprentices are always out so much that Lionpaw barely remembered his old denmates, so he was sure that being an apprentice was hard. Lionpaw suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he realized Stormwhisker was already leaving. Lionpaw dashed over to him before Stormwhisker noticed he had fallen behind.

Leaving the entrance of camp, Lionpaw was greeted by the same scent as before. Although this time, he wasn't as excited.

Stormwhisker abruptly stopped "I'm guessing you've already noticed the trees?"

Lionpaw couldn't help but think his mentor was mouse-brained. "Yes?"

"Well, I've decided to teach you to climb an easy one." Stormwhisker flicked his tail to a dappled white tree. "That's a birch tree. It'll be easy for a new apprentice to climb."

Lionpaw stepped toward the birch. He gazed up at it. Several trees were in almost the same exact spot, yet all seemed to soar up high. Lionpaw didn't know if it was really going to be that easy. Am I supposed to be a born climber? He placed a paw on the birch. What do I do now?
"You see the middle where the tree is closest to it's others? Unsheathe your claws and jump on there," Stormwhisker advised.
Lionpaw released his claws, springing onto where he was told. It was hard to stand, and the bark was scratching his pads.

"Good, now dig your claws into any base of the tree and climb to the nearest branch."

Lionpaw looked up. He decided to choose the part of the tree that curved as it went upward. It seemed easy enough.
Digging his claws into the the white bark of the birch tree, Lionpaw placed all of his claws in the same area. He began to move upward, his front paws going up first before his back. He felt almost like a squirrel as he scrabbled up.

Finally, he reached the branch. Yes! He sat himself on the branch feeling successful.

"Now climb down!" he heard his mentor shout. Lionpaw looked down, ready to return to Stormwhisker's side. He felt his heart stop.

I don't remember climbing this high! He whispered to himself as he stared down from where he sat. He dug his claws in deeper out of fear. Only when he heard the branch snap did he let go.

Lionpaw's paws flailed helplessly as he fell. Lionpaw could only see the blue, clouded sky as terror pulsed through him, and Cloudkit flashed into his mind. He didn't know what to feel when one of his claws latched onto the birch tree, he was too shocked to move. He closed his eyes. StarClan help me! he wailed. Was this punishment for killing his brother? He heard someone shout his name. They're coming for me! He heard it again. Something grabbed him, he tried to reattach himself. No! I don't want to go! I'm sorry! Then, Lionpaw felt his paws touch the soft mud. His name was called again, and only when he felt his fur being smoothed did he open his eyes.

He was on the ground again. His mentor was comforting him. I lived... he thought thankfully. His ears cleared up and he finally heard what his mentor was asking.

"Are you okay?" came Stormwhisker's worried voice.

Lionpaw nodded.

"I'm sorry," Stormwhisker quickly apologized. "I didn't think you would react that badly."

Lionpaw didn't say anything. He didn't want to, but out of curiosity he looked up. The branch was no longer where it originally was, but the stem of it showed Lionpaw hadn't fallen far. Did I really overreact?

"Do you want to go back to the clan?"

"N-no," Lionpaw mewed, finally saying something. He shakily stood up. "C-can you show me the territory?"

Stormwhisker examined him for a moment, but finally agreed. "Let's head left."

"This is IvyClan territory," Stormwhisker stated as they reached a part of the forest where a wall of ivy plants lay.

Lionpaw nodded. He wasn't fully recovered, but had gotten better. "What are they like?"

Stormwhisker flicked his ears. "A stubborn bunch. But that's all, really." Stormwhisker looked away from the ivy plants. "Next is StormClan's territory, follow me now." He took off in a small run and Lionpaw followed closely. They soon reached a part of the territory where a dip appeared that led to a river. As they headed onward, Lionpaw saw a darkened forest at the end of the river. Little sunlight filtered through the the large leaves of the many maple trees. Next to the darkened place, was a much brighter forest that was full of green oak trees.

"That dim forest is StormClan, and next to it is MossClan."

"Anything about them?" Lionpaw asked.

"Well, StormClan are kind, but can be as blind as moles. And MossClan... Well, I don't know. Their leader is very secretive." Stormwhisker turned back to Lionpaw and purred, "Now, I think you'll be glad to go back to the camp, won't you?"

Lionpaw nodded, feeling exhausted.