Mistlepaw yawned, stretching out her front legs. It'd been just around a moon since she'd become a medicine cat apprentice, and Mossyflight had said that she was coming along well as a medicine cat. Last night had been the half-moon Gathering for medicine cats, and she was quite tired.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Longrock for a Clan meeting!" A familiar voice called from the right of the medicine den. Mistlepaw purred, remembering Adderpaw, Spiderpaw and Tigerpaw. It was probably their warrior ceremony today. She peeked outside, seeing cats of all colours gather beneath the Longrock. Mossyflight was already out there, and Sparrowsong seemed to be fine, even with his one blind eye. The two medicine cats had been tending quite carefully to the CaveClan deputy.
"Spiderpaw, Adderpaw and Tigerpaw, come forth." Russetstar commanded once every cat had gathered. The three apprentices in question did so with nervous and proud looks in their eyes.
"Amberpelt, Shellflower and Thistlefang, are these apprentices ready to become a warrior of CaveClan?" The ginger leader looked at the three warriors, and they nodded in unison. Russetstar turned his gaze back towards the three apprentices, and cleared his throat.
"I, Russetstar, leader of CaveClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn," Russetstar paused. "Spiderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do." The gray apprentice's eyes were sparkling as he answered.
"Very well. Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Spiderpaw, from this moment you will be known as Spiderwhisker. StarClan honors your cleverness and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CaveClan." Russetstar announced, and rested his muzzle on the new warrior's head. After licking the leader's shoulder, Spiderwhisker dipped his head before taking a step back. Adderpaw took a step forward, and Russetstar urged him on with his gaze.
"Adderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Adderpaw, from this moment you will be known as Adderstrike. StarClan honors your strength and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CaveClan." Adderstrike licked Russetstar's shoulder in a different spot than Spiderwhisker had, and walked towards his brother. Tigerpaw bounced forward, her eyes sparkling with eagerness.
"Tigerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!"
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Tigerpaw, from this moment you will be known as Tigerfang. StarClan honors your energy and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CaveClan." Tigerfang puffed her chest out as Russetstar rested his muzzle on her head, and she licked his shoulder. She stepped back, standing next to her brothers.
"Spiderwhisker! Adderstrike! Tigerfang! Spiderwhisker! Adderstrike! Tigerfang!" The Clan chanted, and Mistlepaw noticed that Whitepaw chanted Adderstrike's name the loudest.
"Remember, you must sit vigil, all of you." Russetstar reminded the new warriors, and they nodded before they were swarmed over by the apprentices and their parents. She noticed that Spiderwhisker shot her a look of something she couldn't see before Smokewing blocked her view.
"Wait! I want to announce something, too!" Rosefur yowled, leaping onto the Longrock. Some cats looked up in surprise as they stopped in their tracks. "I'm expecting Bramblefang's kits, and I'm going to move into the nursery." Rosefur announced, jumping down from the Longrock. As she did so, there were murmurs of happiness at the news of new kits. Mistlepaw felt excited; it would be her first time helping a queen birth kits!
"Can I make you a nest?" Ravenpaw practically shoved her muzzle in Rosefur's face, and Rosefur nodded, purring.
"I wanna join, too!" Whitepaw and Swiftpaw exclaimed, running towards the medicine den, where Mistlepaw was waiting.
"Can we have some moss?" The apprentices asked, and Mistlepaw nodded towards the huge moss pile in the storage room. Swiftpaw ran the fastest to the moss, Whitepaw being second and Ravenpaw the third.
"Thanks, Mistlepaw!" Ravenpaw's muffled yell came into Mistlepaw's ears as the black tabby apprentice ran out of the medicine den, jaws full of moss, running after her siblings. Her tiredness disappeared as she stepped into the storage den, stuffing her nose with the scent of herbs. Mossyflight had gone out right after the ceremony, claiming that she needed to collect some herbs. Mistlepaw started sorting the herbs, noticing that they were running out of tansy and hoping that Mossyflight had gone to harvest some tansy. She lay down in her nest, and remembered the last Gathering and half-moon Gathering. Gingerpaw had become Gingerfern, Oaktail and Beechleaf had given birth to their kits, Wildsong and Petalbird's kits had become warriors, Squirrelfall, Gingerfern's sister, had become a warrior, Mottleflight had given birth and Sedgetail was expecting. The Clans were thriving, and she was glad for that. Then, she started wondering what Rosefur's kits would look like; they'd be here in another moon or so, or she assumed. Most queens got into the nursery after a moon of being pregnant.
"I see that you've sorted the herbs. Good." Mossyflight nodded as she walked into the storage den, mouth full of tansy and marigold. The black and white medicine cat put the herbs into their respective holes before looking at her apprentice. "You're free to do anything today. You've spent the past moon working hard to be a proper medicine cat apprentice." Mossyflight flicked one black ear and walked away, tail swishing. Mistlepaw purred quietly, and stepped out of the medicine den and into the clearing. She spotted her brother play-fighting with Swiftpaw at the edge of the clearing, while Whitepaw was chatting with Adderstrike by the fresh-kill holes. Ravenpaw came panting out of the nursery, her fur covered in moss. As soon as she did so, her mentor, Splashwhisker, came bounding towards her. The black tabby sighed and rolled her eyes before following him out to the forest, Swiftpaw, Briarheart, Sparrowsong and Leafwind tailed them. It must be the noon patrol, Mistlepaw thought. She turned her head to see Rosefur talking with Goldenstorm, Bramblefang and Beetlefern, and Mossyflight heading into Russetstar's den. Emberleaf was leading Yarrowblaze, Skyfeather, Amberpelt and Silvertail out of the camp - a hunting patrol, Mistlepaw guessed. She saw that her brother was heading towards her, and she straightened up.
"Hey sister! What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Mossyflight said that I can have the day off." Mistlepaw added, sighing.
"Ah. Do you want to go hunting?"
"I don't know how to hunt."
"I'll teach you, then. I'll also teach you some combat and defense moves - you need to defend yourself in battle, and be prepared to fight if you need to!" Sorrelpaw chirped, skipping out of camp, and Mistlepaw hesitantly followed. When they were quite deep into the pine forest, they spotted a wide clearing with bushes around it.
"Perfect! We can train here first." Sorrelpaw meowed, stepping into the small field.
"I guess. So what are we practising first?"
"Do you remember the heavy lift and the front paw blow?"
"Kind of."
"Try it on me, then!" Sorrelpaw exclaimed, turning around and away from Mistlepaw. So she did, and Sorrelpaw helped her perfect it.
"Great! Now, let's try the shadow charge, burning claws, and sharp fangs." Sorrelpaw purred, and they trained until early twilight.
"You're doing well. We should train your hunting until evening, and then we'll go back. Mistlepaw nodded, and Sorrelpaw smiled and crouched. "This is the hunting crouch." He said, and stuck his tail out just above the leaves on the ground, his rump down and head lowered. Mistlepaw tried to copy him, and Sorrelpaw chuckled. He pushed his sister's ears down, and told her to lower her hindquarters a bit more.
"Now, let's say that the branch over there is a mouse. I'll show you how to pounce on prey." Sorrelpaw got back into the hunting crouch, and slowly moved toward the stick, his tail barely skimming the leaves so that he didn't make a single sound. When he got to about a tail length and a half away from the branch, his hind leg muscles tensed up and as quick as lightning, he jumped a few mouse lengths in the air, landing neatly on the branch and twisting his head to give the imaginary mouse a swift killing bite to the neck. Mistlepaw had watched very carefully, and she was sure she could do it. Sorrelpaw got off the stick, and Mistlepaw was doing fine until - swish! - she'd accidentally swung her tail to the side, churning up the leaves underneath her. Sorrelpaw shook his head, and embarrassed, Mistlepaw tried again. This time, she succeeded, and she felt quite proud as Sorrelpaw nodded in approvement.
"You still need some work, but let's stop here for now. It's moonrise; they'll be wondering where we are." Sorrelpaw said, and Mistlepaw flicked her ears in agreement. As they headed back to the camp, Mistlepaw saw a movement in the bushes. She cracked open her jaws and scented squirrel. She darted to where the scent was coming from, her paws hardly touching the ground. She spotted the squirrel a few heartbeats later, while it was chewing on a nut. Mistlepaw got into the hunting crouch, and silently slithered through the undergrowth towards the squirrel. After a moment of absolute silence, she tensed her hind legs and pounced on the squirrel. She pinned it down, and sunk her fangs into its small neck. The creature immediately went limp, and Mistlepaw tried to get rid of the taste of blood from her mouth. She hated it.
"Mistlepaw, where have you - wow! Great catch!" Her brother came rushing through the forest, complimenting her squirrel as soon as he saw it. Mistlepaw dipped her head, and picked up the squirrel. And without a word, they returned to camp as the moon slowly made its way to the top of the sky.