Chapter One – Becoming

A silver colored cat jumped onto the tree stump that stood in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by brushes and towering trees. "Cats of Sunclan, please let us gather to name our new apprentices." At first it seemed as if his call had gone unanswered but then there was a chorus of excited mews and the loud crash of snapping twigs. Three kits came dashing out of the undergrowth, fallowed by their delighted mothers. Others began to walk from the surrounding brush into the small clearing and gathered around the solo tree stump.

"Snowkit. Settle down." Smokefur purred.

"You won't be able to call me that anymore soon mom." The young she-cat replied. Smokefur licked her daughter's ear. "Where is Sootkit?" No sooner then the words left her mouth a blur of grey crashed into her side. "It's like you were sent by Starclan." Snowkit meowed to her friend.

"Alright you two. Quite." Smokefur flicked her tail to Silverstar, who was waiting patiently atop the stump. The rest of the cats sat quietly ready for their leader to speak.

"Sunclan, we gather here to assign Snowkit, Frostkit, and Sootkit their mentors and apprentice names." The three kits puffed out their chests with pride. Becoming apprentices was a key step to becoming warriors for the clan. "Snowkit," Silverstar gestured with the tip of his tail for the kit to step forward. "As you know you will be called by Snowpaw until you receive your warrior name."

"And my mentor?" She blurted out and received a stern but understanding look from Silverstar.

"For your mentor, I have chosen myself." Snowpaw's eyes widened with joy. Her mother purred proudly at the thought of her daughter being mentored by the leader of the clan.

"Frostkit." The silver tabby called. The young cat stepped forward. "You will now be known as Frostpaw. I have thought about this carefully and I have decided. As most of you know Frostpaw already has extensive knowledge about healing, so I'm sure you'll all agree when I say that Scorchedtail should take him under her wing as a medicine cat apprentice." A murmured agreement came from the crowd. Frostpaw crept back to his sister's side, his tail hanging.

"What's wrong?" Snowpaw whispered to her brother.

"Nothing." He snapped. Before she could say anything else Silverstar called for Sootkit to come forward. She pranced to the base of the stump holding her tail high.

"Sootkit, you shall now be known as Sootpaw. Your mentor will be Blackwhisker." The black tom's ears pricked as he heard his name. It would be his first apprentice. Silverstar leaped down from the stump and touched noses with the new apprentices before letting them go to their new mentors. The rest of the clan gave them gentle licks and flicks of their tails before breaking back into small groups to talk about the day.

"Blackwhisker!" Sootpaw ran up beside her mentor. "When do we go out on missions? I want to be a warrior as soon as I can!" Blackwhisker laughed.

"You can't become a warrior without the proper training first." He licked her ear and padded off toward the bush the warriors slept in. Sootpaw pursued him asking questions about the training. Snowpaw watched her friend go and turned to find her brother. He was walking across the clearing.

"Frostpaw wait up!" She mewed running after him until she was at his side. "Hey aren't you excited? You're going to be a medicine cat." She purred. He kept his pace and ignored her. "Frostpaw?" She bumped his side. "What's with you?" He stared at the ground still ignoring her words. "Frostpaw!" She jumped in front of him.

"What?" He hissed. She gave him a nasty look and padded away.

"Nothing." She mumbled under her breath once she was out of his hearing distance. "Why'd he have to go and ruin the day?" She said, lying down next to Sootpaw who was grooming herself. She looked up and asked what Snowpaw had meant by that. "Frostpaw, he doesn't seem all that happy about being a medicine cat."

"I knew he wouldn't be." Sootpaw replied between tongue strokes. "All he ever talked about was how he was going to be a great warrior for the clan. I told him, if you want to be a warrior then you better not show off and talk about all that medicine stuff. They will make you a medicine cat apprentice I said but does he listen? No." Snowpaw knew she was referring to the time when her brother helped their mother get a torn out of her paw and the time he brought her some plant to help her upset stomach.

"Oh. Well there is nothing he can do now I guess." Snowpaw yawned.

"Sootpaw. Snowpaw." Oakpelt called from the other side of the clearing. The two got up and walked over to meet him. "Now that you are apprentices you get to sleep in the apprentice den." He nodded to the hollow at the base of a tree. "Go on now. Tomorrow your training will begin and you're going to need all the rest you can get." They gave him a thanks and headed for the den. Frostpaw was already there. He still looked no happier.

"Do not take the spot in the corner. It's mine." He said gesturing to a corner of the sleeping area. "Plenty of other spots."

"I choose here!" Sootpaw jumped down onto a lump of grasses and moss.

"Get off!" She fell back as the pile raised up revealing another cat. "What's the big idea?" He hissed.

"Hey she didn't mean it." Snowpaw stepped in to her friend's defense. The cat gave a quick grunt before curling back up.

"Over here." The tabby mewed softly. She too was curling into a tight ball in a bed of grasses. Snowpaw came over and chose a spot next to her. "Night."

"Night." Snowpaw purred before slipping off into a restless sleep.