"Alright my little ones, it's time." A large grey tom with a white underbelly sat outside the Nursery, poking his head in. "Let's go!" A cream tom with black stripes purred, but was grabbed by the light cream Queen laying on her side. "I can't let you all go out there looking like you've just woken up! Whitebelly, get Rosekit and Littlekit and bring them here." She demanded, through licking her son's head, who groaned and frowned.
Applefur smiled, looking down at her three kits. "We are going to be Warriors!" Littlekit purred. The Queen and her mate exchanged glances, before Applefur gave an awkward smile. "Yes.. about that, Littlekit-" "It's time." A large grey tom stood next to Whitebelly, who nodded this head. "Right, Yellowheart says it's time, come on then." Applefur nudged her kits out before following them, walking beside Whitebelly as they charged toward the clearing. Applefur frowned, though Whitebelly gave her an amused smirk.
The newly made Leader, Bluestar, came out of her den, Yellowheart just below the Highrock. For some reason, Applefur didn't trust Bluestar. She seemed like she was never telling the whole truth when she spoke, and had many sercets she would never tell. Whitebelly smiled, seeing his kits stand in the middle of the crowd of cats, but his gaze moved toward his mate. "What is it?" He whispered, tilting his head. The she-cat shook her head, letting out a breath. "It's nothing." She looked down at her creamy paws for a moment, before turning toward Whitebelly, flashing him a smile. "Our kits are growing up!" She purred, her pale green eyes filled with pride, as were Whitebelly's dark blue eyes.
"Shadekit, Rosekit, Littlekit, come forward." The three kits did as they were told, padding slowly toward the Highrock as Bluestar looked down at them.
"Shadekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Shadepaw." Shadepaw smiled proudly, as his siblings did as well. "Your mentor will be Yellowheart. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you." Shadepaw's eyes widened as he was named the Deputy's apprentice, and looked up at the large grey tom as he walked toward him. "Yellowheart, you are ready to take on an appretince. You have received excellent training from myself, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and brave. You will be the mentor of Shadepaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to him." Yellowheart touched his nose against Shadepaw's and they sat down next to eachother, watching his siblings.
"Rosekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rosepaw. Your mentor will be Crystalwing. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you." The blue colored she-cat with the fluffy tail smiled brightly, walking over toward Rosepaw. "Crystalwing, you are ready to take on an appretince. You have received excellent training from Palenose, and you have shown yourself to be kind and honest. You will be the mentor of Rosepaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Rosepaw leaned up toward Crystalwing, as they pressed their noses together. She turned toward her brother, and smiled as him, nodding her head.
Bluestar did not speak as she looked down at Littlekit. He suddenly felt embarssed, as if he did something wrong. He watched as Barktail, the Medicine Cat, slowly climb onto the Highrock. What's going on? He thought, seeing the old Medicine Cat stand beside the young Leader. "Littlekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Littlepaw. Your mentor will be Barktail. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you." "Cats of Rainclan, as you know, I will not be around forever. So it's time I took an apprentice. I have chosen a cat who has shown patience and cleverness. Your next medicine cat will Littlepaw." The small creamy brown tabby tom's eye's widened. He felt as if he was about to fall into an endless hole. The Medicine Cat Apprentice?!
"Littlepaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Barktail?" Littlepaw glared up at the two cats. He narrowed his eyes. Of course I don't. He felt a growl raising in his throat, but he swallowed it down. "I do." He spat, his fangs slightly bared as he spoke. "Then at the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonstone to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats." Barktail coughed, nodding his head. "The good wishes of all RainClan will go with you." Littlepaw could almost tell Bluestar was trying to hold back a smirk, as well as Yellowheart. Barktail slowly walked down the Highrock, coming toward Littlepaw. He pressed his nose against Littlepaw weakly, as the small tom resisted the urge to bite him.
"Shadepaw, Rosepaw, Littlepaw! Shadepaw, Rosepaw, Littlepaw!" The clan cleared, though Littlepaw still couldn't believe what had just happened. He looked over at Shadpaw, who was talking happily with his mentor, and then over toward Rosepaw, who stood with Crystalwing. Littlepaw padded over from Barktail, walking over toward his parents. "Oh Littlepaw, we are so prou-" "The Medicine Cat Apprentice?!" He hissed, his fur raising. "I do not want to be the Medicine Cat Apprentice!" He growled, narrowing his amber eyes at the both of them. Applefur looked down at her son, sighing. "I'm so sorry Littlepaw. But Barktail is very old now, and he needed an apprentice." "Why not someone else?!" He groaned. Applefur let out a breath, and tilted her head. "Littlepaw, you know you are smaller than your brother and sister.. Bluestar and Barktail thought it would be best if you were a Medicine Cat, since your smaller size may be taken advantage of in battle.." She murmured, looking away from her son. "Well I don't want to the Medicine Cat Apprentice. I want to be a Warrior!" "But you shall be my apprentice if you like it or not."
Littlepaw felt hot under his pelt as he heard Barktail's rough voice behind him. "How can the clan live on if we do not have a Medicine Cat? Your size would make you weak in battle, and why train a Warrior if they will just die in their first battle?" Barktail coughed, padding around the young and small tom. Littlepaw closed his eyes, filling as if tears would come through. "Understood?" He murmured, walking away without an answer. As if he needed one.. Littlepaw swallowed down on his words, and looked up weakly at his mother. "I wanted to be a Warrior.. You knew that.." He cried, before jerking away from his cream colored mother, padding toward the Medicine Cat den.
He spotted Shadepaw and Rosepaw, sitting with the four other Apprentices, before they were called over by their mentors. The cream tabby heard Yellowheart speak about touring the territory, and his siblings were both overjoyed. It felt like StarClan was against Littlepaw, making him small in size, forcing him to be the Medicine Cat Apprentice.
"Congrats." A soft female voice spoke behind him. He jerked around, seeing a light brown tabby she-cat with cream splotches. He recongized her as Fawnpaw, his aunt, Willowbreeze's, Apprentice. "Oh.. thanks." He murmured, sitting down. "You know, I wanted to be the Medicine Cat Apprentice, and asked Barktail to be, but he refused. So I'm kind of jealous of you." She teased, smiling. Littlepaw blinked, gazing up at her. He smiled back, shaking his head. "Don't be. They only made me his apprentice because he is old and I'm too small to fight." He grumbled, and Fawnpaw shook her head. "Nonsense. Our mother is small as well, but she can still fight." Fawnpaw smiled, mentioning Smallfire. "Oh, right. But I have to be the one forced for this." He grumbled.
Fawnpaw placed her tail on his shoulder, shaking her head. "I think Barktail sees something in you that you don't. Perhaps StarClan says this is the path to your destiny." Littlepaw looked up at her, and nodded slowly. "I suppose." He murmured, though he didn't really believe her. "Come on you two, let's get going." Littlepaw turned to see his siblings walking out of the camp with their two mentors, ready to explore. He let out a sigh, looking down at his paws. "Fawnpaw, we are doing battle training with Bramblepaw and Foxpaw, come on." "Oh, coming Willowbreeze!" She called back to her mentor. "Sorry, I have to go!" She nodded, before hurrying toward the gray tabby. Littlepaw watched her go and he grumbled, turning around to the Medicine Cat den.
"It's not all that bad." Barktail mused, looking down at his herbs. "We can fight, we just choose not to." Littlepaw narrowed his eyes. "But I do want to fight. I want to provide for my clan!" "You are providing for your clan, Littlepaw." Littlepaw snorted, and gazed away. "You know what I meant." "I know." Barktail mumbled back, standing up to his legs. He stared down at the young and small apprentice before hissing. "Come on then, I have to show you the places where I find my herbs." He padded away slowly, leaving Littlepaw to slowly follow after.