Chapter Two

"I'm six moons old Grayfoot and Oakstar hasn't made me a apprentice yet!" Burnkit reminded Grayfoot. She purred, gave him a comforting lick on the head, and went to find Oakstar to talk with him. "Morning Swamppaw! How come you're still an apprentice? You've been training forever!"

"I'm a medicine cat apprentice and have to be an apprentice for longer," Swamppaw explained patiently to the energetic kitten. The two medicine cats had grown attached to Burnkit and weren't eager to see him leave for the apprentice's den. Swamppaw could hardly remember how many moons ago he had questioned the kit's presence.

"I just spoke with Oakstar and he says he'll make you an apprentice tomorrow," Grayfoot declared. Burnkit's face lit up and turned to run to the nursery to tell Frostdawn's new kits. Grayfur purred and glanced at Swamppaw. "While talking with Oakstar, Wiseheart said he was concerned about Mousetail. She has been coughing. What would be good for a cough?"

"Tansy with some juniper berries to help with breathing but not nessecary," Swamppaw said. Grayfoot nodded in approval as Swamppaw grabbed the herbs and rushed off to the elder's den. Grayfoot watched from a distance as Burnkit went around to the warriors and Ashkit and his two siblings Amberkit and Stonekit and to Brackenpaw, another friend of his. Grayfoot wistfully watched in envy at his boundless energy.

"All cats old enough to catch prey gather here beneath the low branch!" Oakstar summoned, his voice reaching all the corners of the camp. Grayfoot padded out of her den with Swamppaw and Burnkit on her right and left flank. Oakstar flashed a glance to the ginger kit and then gave Grayfoot a hard stare. "Now is one of the most important duties of a leader, the making of new apprentices. Burnkit has reached his sixth month and it is time for him to become an apprentice. From this moment on, he shall be known as Burnpaw until he earns his warrior name. Stormtail, you were an excellent mentor to Swiftstep, you shall mentor Burnpaw."

Burnpaw ran up to touch noses with Stormtail, his pelt quivering with excitement. Oakstar ended the meeting and Stormtail led Burnpaw out of the camp. Grayfoot flashed an appreciating glance towards Oakstar and then returned to her den. Swamppaw had gone to talk with Brackenpaw and the other two apprentices, Sleetpaw and Floodpaw. Grayfoot looked fondly at them, playing freely.

"I snagged a claw on the dawn patrol, Grayfoot, and was wondering if you could help," Moonpelt explained as he padded up from behind. Grayfoot examined his paw and tugged gently on his claw. The silver tom flinched slightly and Grayfoot went quickly to her den to get him a few poppy seeds.

"Just eat a few of these and make sure you don't step on anything to sharp," Grayfoot told the tom. He nodded, obediently ate up the seeds then limped off to the warriors' den. As a medicine cat, she had no obligations other than to heal and to interpret. She had no worries of patrol or of hunting. She could observe her clan in peace, but there still were herbs to collect.

"Okay, attack me," Stormtail repeated for the fourth time that day, shifting her weight back and forth. Burnpaw looked at her, and took a running leap to jump squarely onto her back, but right before impact, he twisted his body so he bowled into her flank, knocking her to the side. She reached to rake her unsheathed claws over his exposed flank but not before he had batted her paws out of the way with his hind legs. In retaliation, she rolled to her left but Burnpaw was ready and leapt off. While recovering from her unsuccessful maneuver, he leapt onto her once again, easily attaining victory. Stormtail got up and shook the dirt and sand from her pelt and purred, "You have come a long way Burnpaw. You learn quickly. Let's see that hunter's crouch."

Burnpaw nodded and began to stealthily stalk across the clearing trying to balance his weight evenly. He'd only been training for a moon but he had developed into an already seasoned apprentice. With the upcoming battle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan, Burnpaw hoped to be included. He had even scented the first traces of Crowstar's warriors on their territory.

"Good, but you're still leaning on your left side," Stormtail told him. He nodded and tried again. She watched him for a few moments then got to her paws. Burnpaw stopped and sat down to listen to her. "As you know, ThunderClan have been on our territory. Oakstar is planning an attack, but we cannot take all five of you apprentices. Instead, we will hold a few mock battles and determine from there."

Burnpaw nodded seriously and when Stormtail flicked her tail in dismissal, he bounced back to camp hoping to have a few play battles with the other apprentices before they did the real thing.

"Hey Burnpaw," Brackenpaw called, "Come sit with us! How was training?"

"Fine. My hunter's crouch is still lob-sided though," he confided.

"Well, let's see it then," Brackenpaw meowed. Burnpaw stalked towards their den long enough to let him see then came back to the stump. Brackenpaw thought for a moment, then said, "Yeah. Stormtail's right, you're as crooked as a one-legged rabbit!"

Burnpaw playfully batted at his denmate and then shook his head, "Anyways, Stormtail told me that we're going to attack ThunderClan and that they're going to take a few of us. We're going to have a mock battle so they can asses us!"

"Really?" Floodpaw asked, suddenly interested on the plans of the ThunderClan raid.

"Yeah. I really hope I do well. Stormtail said I was pretty good," Burnpaw continued.

"For an apprentice," Sleetpaw growed spitefully. He was the oldest apprentice and the son of Smokepelt and so naturally he would expect to be allowed to go. "ThunderClan is fierce and there won't be any room for weaklings-" he said and glared at Burnpaw. "Crowstar is defiantly more aggressive that the normal ThunderClan warriors."

"And so is Scarfoot," Brackenpaw said, suddenly worried.

"What? You don't want to go on a ThunderClan raid?" Burnpaw exclaimed. Brackenpaw shrugged. "Well I wouldn't miss this one for anything. What does Rosefur think about your fighting skills?"

Floodpaw hesitated, then said, "She hasn't really done a lot of fighting techniques even though I've been her apprentice for a while…"

"You all best get some sleep. The assessment will begin early because we really want to get a sense of your fighting skills," Oakstar announced to the four apprentices. Burnpaw hadn't even scented his leader he was so engaged.

"Will you be there, Oakstar?" Brackenpaw asked, the nervousness suddenly very apparent in his voice. Oakstar nodded and walked away from them. Floodpaw and Sleetpaw went into the den to sleep like he had suggested but Brackenpaw just stood there in thought.

"If you clam up like that everytime Oakstar is around you're not going to get far," Burnpaw advised. Brackenpaw nodded, and walked into the den and settled into sleep.

So a lot of my chapter notes have been since deleted because I have gone back and edited almost all of these chapters for plot inconsistencies (as this was written over a three year span) and just like general spelling mistakes... so yeah. I don't particularly want to go back and re-write all of the author's notes so the majority of the chapters in this story will not have author's notes... I hope everyone sees this one.

Pretty much what they say is that I REALLY appreciate reviews :) Just tell me what you think about the writing and if you think something seems inconsistent (yes, I'm aware of a few issues that do need to be resolved -.- but that'll mostly be cleared up in Book the Second) So if you've got the time just to write, like, "hey I liked this chapter cuz *blank*" or like "*black character* was being a little OOC" or something, that'd be really appreciated :)

Marionettes