AN; Here is chapter 2. :D

Chapter 2

Saplingkit rolled over in the sunshine that leaked through the pine trees and into the camp. He was lounging with the elders, waiting for the dusk patrol to return to the ShadowClan camp. His brother were busy pestering their father about battle training and being a warrior and all that. Saplingkit could care less at the moment. He enjoyed being a kit, not having so many duties to do and rules to follow, though he would like to explore out side of the camp.

"You shouldn't be with us right now," one of the elders, a dark gray tom called Cedarheart, wheezed. "Why aren't you with your brother and Tigerheart right now? After all, Saplingkit, you will be an apprentice tomorrow. Aren't you excited?"

Saplingkit sighed. "I am, Cedarheart," he meowed slowly. "But I'm going to miss hanging out with you guys, and not having to do something everyday. Sometimes I just want to be lazy. Don't get me wrong, being a warrior is going to be great! But I don't exactly think I'm ready yet."

Snaketail rolled his amber eyes. "You, Saplingkit, are the first cat I have ever heard say that," he grunted. "Honestly, what have Pinenose and Tigerheart been teaching you? Being a warrior was great. Sometimes, you get lazy days, or just staying in the camp days. But the excitement of battle will always run in our blood, calling us forward to guard our Clan, and our honor. You'll see soon. Why, when I was younger like you, I couldn't wait to become an apprentice. Every day, I snuck out of camp, until I was eventually found out by Raggedstar. He was so mad. But then I became an apprentice, and now look at me! I survived Brokentail. What more could I ask for, but to become a loyal warior to Blackstar?"

Cedarheart rolled over onto his back, letting the warm sun warm his belly fur. "Don't listen to him, Saplingkit," he meowed happily. "Being a warrior is fun. Or not fun. It depends on what kind of a cat you are. Now, go and see your father. He'll be waiting for you by the camp entrance for a word."

Saplingkit nodded, standing up on shaky golden paws. "Thank you, Cedarheart!" he called, dashing over to where his father was talking to Lionkit by the camp entrance. They appeared to be speaking about patrols. "You will love the moonhigh patrols," Tigerheart told his son. "They're exciiting, because sometimes we get to sneak about on other Clans' territories. We cover our scent in their scent markers, or the river, and then they don't suspect a thing."

Lionkit was listening intently, while Saplingkit let his mind wander back to what Snaketail had said. The call of battles runs in a warrior's blood. Every cat feels the call of the wild in his whiskers, the feeling of the wind in his paws.

Saplingkit bade a curt good bye to his father and brother, then turned around and headed across camp to the nursery. He squeazed himself through the entrance and into the small, cozy den. Dawnpelt was grooming her son Flamekit, who was struggling beneath her rythmic tongue. Saplingkit glanced around before realizing that his mother was, in fact, not in the nursery.

"She's by the fresh-kill pile, dear," Dawnpelt managed the meow in between strokes of her toongue, which was even harder with Flamekit strugging so much to escape his mother. "Hurry up and go to her. She is eating a squirrel. Well, Flamekit saw her eating a squirrel, at least. They are a rare treat here in ShadowClan. A woodland animal. I've heard that those kittypets across the border eat them all the time. They are a stupid apology for a Clan, let alone cats. Now go an see your mother, dear. You'll be sleeping in the apprentices' den by tonight."

"I'm going to sleep in Littlecloud's den!" Flamekit mewed, finally managing to dart away from his mother. "I'm going to be the medicine apprentice."

Dawnpelt hissed in annoyance. "Oh, dear, being a warrior is so much better," she purred, worry laced in her voice. "And Littlecloud is probably going to wait. You can't just march into his den saying you want to be his apprentice."

Actually, that was exactly just what Saplingkit had done. He'd padded into the medicine cat's den, asked to be Littlecloud's apprentice, and gotten a happy yes as a reply.

He gave the creamy-furred queen a nod, then squeazed back outside throough the nursery entrance and padded over to where his mother was taking a few small bites from a squirrel. "Do you want some?" Pinenose asked when her son approached.

Saplingkit nodded and took a bite. It was touch and chewy, completely disgusting. Pinenose let out a noisily amused purr. "It's an aquired taste," she laughed. "I heard you in there with Dawnpelt and Flamekit, you know. Do what you want to do, Saplingkit. No cat can stop you from setting your own paws on the path you wish to take. Dawnpelt's problem is that she wants her son to only be a warrior, where he can pass on her blood to future generations. We all know Flamekit isn't happy with fighting or hunting. You have to have impulsive cats and calm cats to balance out a Clan. With too many warriors, the Clan will make bad choices. With too many calm cats, the Clan will seem weak. Do what you want to do. And let every cat around choose their own paths."

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Lowbranch for a Clan meeting!" Rowanstar called from up on his branch. Saplingkit touched his nose to his mother's cheek before racing to stand beside Lionkit in front of their Clan leader. They waited for the rest of ShadowClan to gather for the ceremony.

"By naming apprentices, we show that our Clan is strong," Rowanstar began. "Lionkit and Saplingkit have reached their sixth moon, and it is time for them to be apprenticed. Lionkit, from this moment until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Lionpaw. Redwillow, it is time you had an apprentice. Please pass on to Lionpaw all the skills that your mentor passed on to you."

Redwillow padded forward, and Saplingkit watched as he touched his nose to Lionpaw's.

"Saplingkit, until you have earned your full name, you shall be called Saplingpaw," Rowanstar continued. "Littlecloud, your last apprentice, Flametail, died in a horrible drowning accident in the us hope your new apprentice, Saplingpaw, does not suffer the same terrible fate as he did."

Saplingpaw felt excitement surge through his paws as Littlecloud padded over to him and they touched noses. He felt suddenly warm, and lifted his paw to glance at his pad. The swirl was glowing slightly, which was quite odd.

"Lionpaw! Saplingpaw! Lionpaw! Saplingpaw!"

Saplingpaw watched as Rowanstar dismissed the Clan and ended the meeting before following his mentor into the medicine cat's den. Rows of herbs lined the edges of a clearing, and two nests were set up beneath a large rock. Some of the herbs were underneath another rock which was hollowed out inside. This hollow rock was full of nests, one of which was occupied. Shrewfoot had recently been injured in a battle against ThunderClan, and was sleeping here until she had successfully healed.

Littlecloud picked up a pile of herbs and began to move in into the hollow rock. He placed them, then turned to his apprentice. "Saplingpaw, I need you to help me to move all the herbs under this rock," he grunted. "I sorted them outside, so now we must move them inside. If it rains, the herbs will be protected under the rock. If not, they will all be ruined."

Saplingpaw nodded and began to move piles of leaves and berries and seeds as well. When they finished moving all of the herbs, the sun ahd set and Saplingpaw was beginning to feel his new nest calling for him. Bidding Littlecloud good night, he padded underneath the other rock and curled up in a nest, quicly falling asleep.

The apprentice opened his eyes to see a black she-cat staring down at him. She had a white patch on his chest, which matched the swirl on his paw.

"Hello, Saplingpaw," she meowed. "I have been waiting for you. My name is Brookstone, and I was once a medicine cat in ShadowClan, like you are now. But I was different. Because of my Mark. This Mark gives you special abilities which have long been banished from the Clans. But you have returned. Work in your Clan well, Saplingpaw. I will see you tomorrow night."

And then she was gone, leaving Saplingpaw to wake up to the sun rising and casting a warm light in the medicine clearing. The image of Brookstone was still burned into Saplingpaw's mind as he stood up and stretched. Littlecloud was sitting beside Shrewfoot, applying more herbs to her wounds. He flicked his tail when he heard Saplingpaw, and the apprentice padded over to watch his mentor.

The small tabby tom was chewing up a golden-colored flower and was licking it now into Shrewfoot's wounds. "This is marigold," he meowed after a moment. "It is good for stopping infections. Shrewfoot has a cut on her leg here. Chew some marigold, Saplingpaw, and apply it to her wound."

Saplingpaw nodded, picking up some marigold in his mouth and chewing it into a pulp. He then proceeded to lick the pulpy flower into Shrewfoot's wound, and she winced when he licked it in. "It stings, but it will help," Littlecloud explained when Saplingpaw looked to him for help. Then, bending down to whisper in the apprentice's ear, he added, "And then we cn go into the forest and tke look at that there pad of yours."

The golden tom glanced warily at his paw, somewhat wishing his mentor hadn't caught a glimpse of it at the apprentice ceremony. It would have made him feel a lot less uneasy when he followed Littlecloud's instructions and gave Shrewfoot a poppyseed to ease her pain, then followed his mentor out of the camp and into the forest.

Outside the camp, the forest was nice and cool. Since the place where the ShadowClan cats resided was in a clearing, it got more sunlight than any other place on their territory, with the exception of the lakeshore, of course. Saplingpaw followed Littlecloud along a slightly visible forest path, marked with the scents of passing warriors and a flat way, trodden down by many generations of pawsteps. They soon emerged from the tree-line and onto the pebbly shoreline of the lake, where the small tabby tom sat down opposite of Saplingpaw.

"Now," he meowed. "Let's have a look at that paw, shall we?"

Saplingpaw gave a hesitant nod before gingerly lifting his paw so that his pad was facing his mentor. "I've always had this mark here," the young medicine apprentice admitted, looking nervously at the ground. "It's never glowed like that before, though."

Littlecloud snorted. "Don't act like you haven't seen that before," he meowed. "It was you, after all, who bent the branch of that tree down to free Flamekit from the tree."

The apprentice cocked his head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked uncertainly. "I just wished that would happen. Pure luck that the wind was blowing in just the right way."

Again, Littlecloud snorted in amusement. "Funny thing, there," he told his apprentice. "There wasn't any wind that day. And your mark glowed just like it did at the ceremony when that branch moved. Saplingpaw, tonight is the half moon. We'll go to the Moonpool, and I'll ask StarClan about it. Then you can meet Amberpaw and Dawnpaw. They're the RiverClan and ThunderClan medicine apprentices. Not in that order. Actually, Amberpaw is apprenticed to Jayfeather of ThunderClan, and Willowshine is Dawnpaw's mentor in RiverClan."

Saplingpaw nodded before padding away from his mentor to sniff at a patch of herbs farther along the shore. "We've got enough mallow!" Littlecloud called after him. "You can just explore the shore today. We'll go back and look through the forest at sunhigh. Who knows? Maybe we'll even run in to Redwillow and your brother."

The apprentice nodded before padding along the edge of the lake. It was very hot here by the water's edge, where the sun hit the shore directly. Saplingpaw guessed it would be even hotted at sunhigh, when the sun was directly above the shoreline. He padded in the shallow part of the water so he only got his paws wet, then padded along the stand on the top of a rock and let the wind coming off of the lake buffet his fur.

Saplingpaw's mother told him about a cat name Grizzwald once. He was a fisherman's cat, who would stand on these rocks and feel the wind, or go onto his twolegs' boat and eat all the fish he could ever want. The thought of eating fish was horrible to Saplingpaw. Only those dumb RiverClan fatties over the border at fish, and they only ever ate fish.

The golden tom lay down on the rock and closed his eyes, only to wake up back in the place he had seen that night. Brookstone was there again, but she was growling at a large white tom with a fluffy golden neck. "Liontuft, you must leave!" she snarled.

The tom lifted his head to the sky and laughed a mighty laugh. "Brookstone, you have grown weak in your resting days here in our stars," he meowed, his voice deep and loud. "You can not train him in the ways of the Marked."

Brookstone's hackles raised and she hissed at Liontuft. "He is a medicine cat!" she snapped back. "Saplingpaw does not need to understand how to use his powers to fight. As a kit, he saved another cat from a tree. Is that not proof enough that he will use his powers for good?"

"Speaking of Saplingpaw," Liontuft growled, turning his head to look Saplingpaw right in the eyes. "I believe we have a listener."

Brookstone's head snapped around to look at Saplingpaw. "Go home," she hissed at him. "It is almost sunhigh. Littlecloud will be waiting for you."

Saplingpaw nodded and closed his eyes, surprised to find himself soaked to the bone. He opened his eyes and saw that while he had been sleeping, the tide had come in and almost completely covered his rock.

"Saplingpaw!" Littlecloud called from the shore. "Come back here!"

The golden tom leapt into the water and was surpsied to find himself coughing and spluttering until he eventually reached shore. Looking back into the waves, he saw a small black face stare back at him, as though it were part of the water itself.

"Stay out of the water, Earth-cat," it meowed. "You will not survive in here."

And then it was gone as Littlecloud raced over to Saplingpaw, splashing in the face and leaving Saplingpaw to stare at rippling water. "Saplingpaw, let's go. A storm has started. We must get home."

Saplingpaw reluctantly nodded, following his mentor and taking one last look back at the waves. What had that mysterious cat meant? And why was another cat threatening Brookstone like that?