Chapter three The Apprentices

Bumblepaw and Slypaw enjoyed the fresh prey from the forest after a long day's work. They had started early in making the camp look more like a camp. The first den seen after coming out of the tunnel was for the warriors. From there, Bumblepaw had followed Slypaw put a sloping path. The whole camp was surrounded by a rock wall, Bumblepaw had noticed as he walked up the small path. The higher they went the more protection that Bumblepaw noticed. The apprentices' den was close to the warriors' den, but the path was needed to get inside of it. Beyond that, the elders' den and nursery were decided to be farther up along the path for more protection. The leader's den as at the end of the walkway if one were going straight, but by turning to the right there was a ledge where the leader could stand for meeting. Lastly the medicine cat's den was decided better off on the floor of the camp so that the medicine cat could quickly help cats.

"How about here?" Slypaw had asked. Bumblepaw looked at where she flicked her tail to indicate to a cave in the side of the rock wall. It was two tails away from the path. Bumblepaw walked passed Slypaw and peeked into the cave. It was dark but with a good amount of moss it would also be less cold.

"Good, I think it will work," Bumblepaw had said.

Bumblepaw finished his mouse and sat up to clean. How much longer would he and his new friend have to wait until a new cat joined? It seemed like a long time after half a moon of working on the camp. "So what will be the Clan name?" Slypaw suddenly put in. "I was thinking like SlyClan." Bumblepaw shot Slypaw a look from in between licks. She smiled at him.

"I don't know yet," Bumblepaw meowed. He had noticed the large amount of bracken in the territory, but he hadn't decided on where the terra would stop. "I have to think about it. Let's go hunting now so that we don't have to get up later to do it."

As Bumblepaw and Slypaw hunted, Bumblepaw couldn't stop thinking about how he was supposed to get more cats to join.

Bumblepaw jumped suddenly as a vole hit him right in the face. His fur was standing on end until he spotted Slypaw looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"Come on," she hissed. Bumblepaw covered the vole with earth before trotted up to Slypaw's side.

"Do you know any other cats that live here?" Bumblepaw asked just as he caught the scent of mouse. Slypaw nodded but didn't say a word as Bumblepaw was soon stalking the mouse. He caught it quickly and covered it to hear what Slypaw had to say. "Really, you do?"

"I've scented a few," Slypaw meowed. "But we keep away from each other."

"Well we could ask them to join….how old are they?" Bumblepaw didn't want warriors or elders to join because it would be easy for them to take the Clan over. Bumblepaw knew suddenly what he needed, what the Clan needed; apprentices. His heart fluttered in his chest at what Slypaw said next.

"About your age, but I think one is a little older." Bumblepaw nodded and then chose his words carefully so that Slypaw didn't mess them up to sound like something bad.

"Ok, you go back to camp and I'll try and track them-" Slypaw quickly interrupted him.

"I don't think so! I maybe younger but I'm not being left behind. Plus, you don't even know your way around the forest!" Bumblepaw nodded again and then stepped behind Slypaw to show that she was to lead. Slypaw snorted and tossed her head and tail into the air as she started to prance off. It wasn't long before Bumblepaw could smell another cat other then he and Slypaw. Slypaw's head was forward to listen to the sounds of the forest, her tail lower now. Bumblepaw suddenly froze as a molted brown tomcat caught his eye.

The tom wasn't looking at him, but flicked his tail in greeting. Between his paws was a thrush and he ate it without care that it was really Slypaw's and Bumblepaw's. Bumblepaw quickly noticed how long his legs were and thought ahead to when this cat could out run any other feline.

"Hey there," Bumblepaw called to him. The apprentice aged cat stopped gnawing on a bone of his catch.

"Hi," he meowed back. It was quiet for a moment. Bumblepaw moved forward to where he could sit in front of the brown cat. The tom looked at his with questioning eyes but was completely at ease.

"Can I talk to you?" Bumblepaw asked. Slypaw didn't come to his side like he thought she would. He turned his head and saw two more unknown cats coming out of the bushes. Slypaw was watching them as relaxed she could, but they seemed more afraid then she did.

"Sure you can partner," the brown tomcat then meowed. Bumblepaw flicked his tail to the other two.

"I need to speak with you two, can you come here?" The two new cats looked like siblings. One was a she-cat and the other a tom, both where younger then Bumblepaw, but older then Slypaw. Slypaw spoke something quietly to them before walking with the grey tom and his off white pelted sister to Bumblepaw. "I am Bumblepaw," Bumblepaw meowed to the three new cats. "This is Slypaw." He pointed to her with his tail. Slypaw dipped her calico head. "Slypaw and I are making a Clan, and we are looking for new cats to join. I was wondering if any of you wanted to join." There was silence. The molted tom spoke first.

"Why not," he meowed. "I would like a place where I could stay with others." Bumblepaw smiled warmly at the other two.

"What's a…Clan?" asked the she-cat.

"It's a group of cats that work together to keep each other healthy and safe," Slypaw said, blinking her golden eyes.

"Can both my sister and I join together?" the she-cat's brother asked.

"Of course," Bumblepaw meowed. "We'll feed each other and keep each other safe." The grey tom nodded and looked to his sister who also nodded.

After the joining of the three new cats in the forest, Bumblepaw had everyone find prey and bring it back. The brother and sister had no idea how to hunt, and Bumblepaw was sure that their thinness was due to that fact. The older brown tom, who said he had no named, tried to teach the siblings enough to catch a mouse or two. Back at camp Bumblepaw went over rules of the Clan.

"Rules?" the she-cat, known as Flower, fretted.

"Afraid so, but don't worry you'll learn them all in good time," Slypaw meowed.

"But to start," Bumblepaw broke in, "you all need apprentice names." Flower's eyes clouded.

"But my mother named us," she said. Her grey brother said nothing.

"Well, you are now an apprentice of this Clan, so you'll need a new name. We'll start with you." Bumblepaw turned to the long legged tom cat. "You'll be Longpaw." Longpaw nodded and smiled at his new name, happy with it. Bumblepaw turned to the grey brother. "You'll be Greypaw," he meowed. "And your sister will be Creampaw." Creampaw smiled and giggled left her mouth.

"I like that name," she mewed.