"Dovewing! Wake up!" I blinked open my eyes to find not the camp, but the splashing water and cool breeze blowing around me. Brackenfur was leaning over me. I got up slowly, stretching each leg in turn. "Where are the others?" I asked. "They are already back at camp. I stayed behind to find you." I picked up my cold vole and walked beside Brackenfur back to camp. We arrived just in time to hear Bramblestar calling the clan together for the apprentice ceremony.
I quickly gave myself a quick grooming. I was going to be a mentor! I thought proudly, going to sit at the side of the crowd with the other two mentors. "Amberkit, step forward." Bramblestar summoned the small kit to him. She walked quickly to stand beside the leader. "Amberkit, from this moment on you will be known as Amberpaw. Your mentor will be Thornclaw." Amberpaw raced up to her new mentor as they touched noses and went to stand at the side of the crowd.
"Dewkit, step forward." The strong kit walked up to the leader steadily, and waited beside him calmly as he received his apprentice name. He will make a strong warrior, I realized. "Dewkit, from this moment on you will be known as Dewpaw. Your mentor will be Dovewing." My heart raced. The new apprentice walked up to me happily, and as we touched noses, I felt a sudden bond between us. Don't worry, I won't let anything harm you, I promised as if he was my own kit.
"Snowkit, step forward." Bramblestar called over the last kit remaining, who happily bounced over to the leader. Bramblestar purred before announcing, "Snowkit, from this moment on you will be known as Snowpaw. Your mentor will Ivypool." The small excited tom ran up to my littermate, who purred as she touched noses with her new apprentice.
"Amberpaw! Dewpaw! Snowpaw! Amberpaw! Dewpaw! Snowpaw!" the clan cheered the three glowing apprentices. Bramblestar then announced, "This meeting is over." I waited until Dewpaw had finished being congratulated by his parents, and wondered what to do as his first apprentice task. He raced up to me.
"Hi! What are we going to do?" he questioned me excitedly. "Let's explore Thunderclan territory. " I decided. I led him out of camp and took him to the ancient oak. "This is the ancient oak. It's very dangerous to fall from so never climb it too high unless you are confident you won't fall." He nodded and gazed up at me enviously. "You seem to know a lot."
"And I will teach you all of that knowledge, and when you are a warrior and get your first apprentice, you can teach them all I taught you." I told him. His eyes glowed happily before turning back to the ancient oak. Suddenly I heard something in the tree above. Dewpaw looked at me confusingly. "What? Oh yeah! You can hear farther than any other cat!" he realized with admiration in his eyes.
"But if you can't hear it, than it must be at the top, and we're not going to risk catching a piece of prey that high, especially if you might get badly injured in the process. " I warned my apprentice. "While we are here though and there might be more prey hiding, I'll teach you how to hunt." Dewpaw's eyes lit up once again.
"Ok, so what Thunderclan do is they stalk their prey first by creeping through the undergrowth like this." Dewpaw watched me, wide eyed, as I demonstrated. I got up and flicked my tail at him. "Now you try." I watched him as he got into a good stalking position and waited for me to say something. "Not bad. But don't keep swishing your tail. It might brush a leaf and scare off prey." I informed him.
He held his tail still and waited silently, his face full of determination. "Perfect!" I meowed. "Then what do we do?" Dewpaw asked eagerly. I got back into the stalking position. "Then we creep forward to the prey, and when we are at the right distance, we pounce!" I told him as I jumped perfectly onto a leaf.
"Wow!" he said. "I want to try!" I purred. "Go ahead! This leaf can be a mouse. Now remember, a mouse will hear you and sense you, so always make sure the wind is blowing towards you, otherwise it will be gone within a heartbeat." I informed the determined apprentice. He focused on the leaf, silently crept forward, and then without a warning, pounced squarely onto the leaf. "Excellent!" I congratulated him.
"Now see if you can sense any real prey." I told him. His face full of determination, and his mouth slightly open, he closed his eyes, but after a while he said, "No, I can't sense anything. Sorry." he meowed apologetically. "That's ok. There might be some prey on the way back anyway. We still need to see the rest of the territory." I comforted him. His face brightened up a bit as I led him to the Windclan border.
"This is the Windclan border. Windclan mostly eat rabbits, and they live on the breezy moorland where they can run a lot, as Windclan cats are faster than most cats. That's an advantage. Just looking around you, what do you think is a disadvantage?" Dewpaw looked around for a while before saying, "Um, there aren't many places to hide?" he asked nervously. "Right!" I congratulated him. "Windclan territory is all open so it won't be very protective from predators, but normally predators don't go out on the moor. " I informed him.
Dewpaw's face was full of concentration as he tried to take everything in. "Wait, I smell someone." I told him while I cast out my senses. I recognised Lilypaw having the usual argument with Jayfeather as they were out collecting herbs. I let out a sigh of relief. "Try and see if you can work out who it is." I told him. He opened his mouth and concentrated for a while before announcing, "I can sense fresh herbs, and I think Jayfeather... And Lilypaw!" he looked nervously at me. "Don't worry, you got it spot on." I comforted him.
I had taken him down to the lake and the old thunderpath, and now we were going to visit the Shadowclan border. "This is where Tigerheart was born and first grew up." Dewpaw wrinkled up his face. "Uuurgh" It smells yucky!" he complained. "I agree, but they probably think we smell yucky too." I purred. He nodded but his face was still disgusted.
"I think I smell a mouse! Can I go find it?" asked the excited apprentice. "Sure." I told him, as I settled down in the soft grass. I cast out my senses to see if anyone was in trouble, but then a sudden stench hit my tongue. A stink I wouldn't forget. The stench of a cat who was so evil he had been exiled from his own clan. He had trained in the dark forest, but now that the dark forest was destroyed, he had nothing.
Dewpaw came rushing up to me. "I found the mouse!" He was near Windclan and Thunderclan territory! "There is no time to hunt!" I snapped. His eyes widened as he raced after me. "What's wrong?" he asked confusedly. "I scented an evil rogue near Thunderclan and Windclan territory." I told my curious apprentice. "Who?" he asked nervously. "Breezepelt." I spat out.
