Sparkkit's POV
"Sparkkit, wake up." A gentle shake causes me to blink my eyes open. Rosekit stands above me, ears straight forward with excitement. Sitting up, I yawn and stretch.
"Yah, Rosekit? Why'd you wake me up?" I meow cranking. She purrs happily, despite my bad mood. My ears flick in irritation. Why did she get me up, anyways? Is something happening? I don't hear any howls of anger to signal a fight.
"Today's a new moon." Rosekit mews softly, eyes shining a bright gold color. My own eyes widen in surprise. A new moon? We're six moons old now.
"We're going to be apprentices!" It hits me like a monster. Suddenly, I'm on my paws, jumping about. Rosekit steps back, ears flattening cautiously. It's probably best so I don't accidentally swat her with my tail or paws. Once I calm down, I'm panting quietly.
"Don't wear yourself out, Sparkkit." A warm, gently voice says. I flip around to see Hollytail smiling in amusement. Her tail curls happily as she looks at Rosekit and I. "My kits are all grown up." She pads forward and licks my head. Scrunching my nose, I swat her playfully.
"I can groom myself." I mumble. She just licks my head again and moves to Rosekit. I lick my paw and drag it over my head and ears. Rosekit bears through being groomed by Hollytail, unlike me. I don't want to look like a helpless kit when I become an apprentice. Like I said, I can groom myself.
"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under Highrock!" A voice howls from outside the Nursery. Looking towards Rosekit, I make a mad dash to make it outside. Warriors, apprentices, elders, pretty much every cat in the clan is standing below the high cliff on which Lightstar stands. With her chest puffed out and chin tipped up, she addresses the clan. "We are gathered here because two kits are now ready to become apprentices."
Rosekit bounds up behind me, her dark red fur smooth and clean. We sit close together as we watch Lightstar. I am bouncing in my fur, whiskers twitching. Rosekit has her head down and ears laid back, as if she's trying to disappear. She never likes being in big groups.
"Rosekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for your to be an apprentice." Taking a deep breath, Rosepaw steps forward as Lightatar leaps down from her perch. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rosepaw. Your mentor will be Desertstorm. I hope Desertstorm will pass down all she knows onto you."
"Desertstorm will be a good mentor. She's a bit of a Mouse-brain, but I think she can pull Rosekit out of her shell." Hollytail says thoughtfully. I glance back at her curiously.
"Desertstorm," Lightstar starts again. The sandy blonde tabby steps forward. "you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Bluefang, and you have shown yourself to be confident and determined. You will be mentor of Rosepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Rosepaw."
Rosepaw timidly walks up to Desertstorm who is smiling happily. She looks truly excited to have an apprentice. A calmness rests over me like a blanket of leaves. As long as Rosepaw is safe, everything will be ok.
"Sparkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for your to be an apprentice." My head swings so I can look at Lightstar. She watches me with bright eyes. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sparkpaw. Your mentor will be Nightflower. I hope Nightflower will pass down all she knows onto you."
I glance over at a she-cat who has a long, dark red Maine coon pelt. She has her head partially hidden in the shoulder of a tom with a sandy blonde tabby pelt. If I remember correctly, it's her mate, Goldenhawk. He is a very brave tom who I look up to greatly. Nightflower stands close to him, but she's still looking at Brightstar. You can tell her and Goldenhawk really love each other.
"Nightflower, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Wolfscar, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and thoughtful. You will be mentor of Sparkpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."
I bound over to Nightflower, tail waving viciously. She looks at me calmly, but smiles slightly. Leaning up, I carefully touch noses with her.
"Rosepaw! Sparkpaw! Rosepaw! Sparkpaw!" The clan chants. I pull away from my new mentor and leap over to my family, buzzing with excitement. Hollytail and Birchstorm stand proudly, Rosepaw in the middle of them. I play tackle her with a faux war cry.
"We're apprentices Rosepaw! Now we can go outside of camp and explore!" I flop on my back, paws sticking up in the air. She purrs happily, resting by my side. "We'll move into the Apprentice Den and go on adventures. It will be so much fun!"
"It will." She mews. I flick her with my tail and stand back up.
"Race you to the Apprentices Den!" With a challenging bow, I dash off. She's faster than I am, but I got a head start. Looking over my should, I'm just in time to see her leap past me. With a scowl, I speed up. We're neck and neck as we tumble into the den for the apprentices. Blinking, I look around.
It's weird. I would come in here several times while I was a kit, but it seems completely foreign now. I feel different as well. Like I'm some how older already, and stronger.
"Let's pick our nests." Rosepaw leaps to the back of the den, sniffing different moss beds. I follow her more slowly, my currently gold eyes scanning each and every detail of the den. Rosepaw stops at one of the last nests and settles down. I take the one next to her so we can still be close.
"Hello, newbies." A small but tough looking tom struts into the room confidently. There's two actually. The first is dark brown with black tabby stripes and bright Amber eyes. The second is a dusty brown color with fainter tabby stripes and hazel eyes. "I'm Tigerpaw."
"And I'm Dustpaw!" The second tom says in a more excited voice. His eyes travel from me to Rosepaw, stopping on her. I lay my ears back and stop myself from hissing. He better not get any funny ideas. Though he seems nice, I don't trust anyone with Rosepaw just yet. She's still young and shy.
"Don't be a bunch of mouse-brains guys." A light and dark brown mottled she-cat steps out from behind them. She gives them a nasty glare with bright green eyes. With a sigh, she looks over to Rosepaw and I. "I'm Leapingpaw by the way! It's nice to meet you, Sparkpaw and Rosepaw." She bobs her head in greeting, seeming much more joyful than her first sentence. I copy her motion, settling down into the nest. It was already getting to sun-down. I had taken a nap in the middle of the day and that is when Rosepaw woke me up.
"Aren't there two more apprentice?" I think aloud. The three cats who just walk in lay down in there nests. I had met them all before, but a fresh introduction was always nice.
"Yes, there are, well, besides me." A pure black tom pads into the den. His emerald eyes survey us. He walks over to a nest not far from mine and sits. "I'm Rowanpaw by the way. Hopepaw and Sunpaw are on late patrol." He flicks his ears.
"Nice to meet you." I nod.
"It's nice having another she-cat in the den. I have to say that I was getting tired of these mouse-brains." Leapingpaw meows to Rosepaw with a big smile. Rosepaw looks down shyly but nods. I mrow with quiet larger. "Now, we need to sleep. You two have a long day tomorrow!" She curls up in her nest.
I look over at Rosepaw. She curls up as well, head rested on the edge of the nest to look at me.
'This is going to be fun.' I think.
She dips her head in agreement as she looks at me. Both our eyes are a placid blue color. With a nod, we both close our eyes. After such a busy day, I'm tired. Sleep quickly over takes me.
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The sky is dark grey, clouded over. There's no thunder or lightning, just darkness. I look around, tail twitching in confusion. I feel like I'm awake, but how could I? I don't smell anything that resembles ThunderClan.
"Sparkpaw..." A quiet, almost pained voice calls out. When I look around, I now see seven cats standing at the edge of the dark most that surrounds me. It's all fuzzy, but I can tell that they are the ThunderClan apprentices.
"Rosepaw? What's going on?" I ask my litter-mate. She just stares at me blankly, eyes a strange mix of every color. A cold feeling settles over me. Something is not right here.
"Help me, Sparkpaw..." Rosepaw suddenly says, her voice soft and fearful. I blink, ears laying flat on my head. Out of nowhere, the fog dives down and covers all of them. It billows up around me like a cage. I yowl in terror as the fog comes at me. There's no escape.
The darkness soon swallows me. It feels like I'm being suffocated. There's no light, there's no anything. It's just one blank abyss that I can't stop falling through. I am consumed by darkness.
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My eyes fly open as I jolt up. Another nightmare. It felt so real, so terrifying. My bright orange eyes trail around my new den. They land on Rosepaw instantly. She's sleeping calmly, breath steady. Her nose is tucked into her tail which is curled around her.
"Thank StarClan." I mumble. Getting up, I pad over the short distance to her nest. Carefully, I curl up beside her. I don't want another nightmare to plague me. They're to painful.
Closing my eyes, I take in a deep breath. I hope I can have a better sleep now.