A/N: Once again, I am sorry for the length of time it has taken me for this story to be updated, and with about seven other stories also needing updated, and only a couple days of break before my summer classes begin, it will likely be the only one for a while yet. I hope I haven't lost anyone, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

CH. 34: First Apprentice

Nightfog returned to camp, four months later, with a haul of prey. Now that Newleaf was just around the corner, prey was becoming greater in number. As she placed the prey on the pile, Icestar appeared, flicking her tail, "Nightfog." She gestured for her previous apprentice to follow her.

With a frown, Nightfog padded over, following her mentor and leader into her den, "Yes, Icestar? What do you need?"

Icestar gestured for her to sit down before she began, her gaze calculating, "You have still not been accepted by certain members of our Clan."

Nightfog lowered her gaze with a sad sigh. Here it comes… she thought, Now's when I get banished…

"And as it seems that we have a kit who has recently reached six moons, I believe that the best thing for all, you, him, and the entirety of the clan, is if you take him on. Will you accept this?"

Nightfog blinked, surprised, "Wh-what?"

"I would like you to mentor Poisonkit. He is closest to you and Sagebrush, and because of this I believe you would be the best choice."

"But…" Nightfog shook her head, "Like you said; the clan doesn't like me."

Icestar's gaze hardened, "That has nothing to do with your ability to teach. And as it is, the clan is more likely to trust and accept you if you make a good warrior out of one of our young. Now come, it is time for a ceremony."

"Yes, Icestar." She padded outside behind her leader, slipping beside the trunk as she leaped onto the branch. Sagebrush padded over, a smile on her face, and behind her she could see where Poisonkit was struggling to get out of a bath.

"It's time for his apprentice ceremony! I wonder who he'll get as a mentor?" Sagebrush wondered.

Nightfog was about to tell her when Icestar's call flowed out. "Shh! Let's hear!" She rumbled a laugh as her mate shifted, nearly as excited as her brother. She tried to pay attention, but she was listening more to her brain as it raced along, wondering what she would have the little bug do, until she heard the exciting part.

"Poisonkit, from this moment you will be known as Poisonpaw. Your mentor will be Nightfog." She heard gasps from around the clearing, half in surprise and the other in anger. She smiled at Sagebrush as she stepped forward to meet her new apprentice, "Nightfog, it is time you trained your first apprentice, and I trust in you to teach him all he needs to know."

As she touched noses with Poisonpaw, she could hear angry muttering around her. Stingtail, especially, was making a fuss.

"She'll teach him to be an abomination! You should have given him a real cat to train him!"

"Oh, quiet, Stingtail!" Mintfur muttered, her eyes rolling as she joined Sagebrush and Palewing in calling out the new apprentice's name.

"I'm glad it was you, Nightfog." The gray apprentice smiled, "What are we gonna do first?"

Nightfog smiled, remembering her own first day as an apprentice, and looked down at him, "Well, nothing too exciting, I'm afraid. The nests are getting old, so we'll be collecting pine needles and moss."

"That's alright! Let's go!" He waved his tail excitedly, and Nightfog couldn't help but smile as her brother joined her.

"Now we've both had apprentices." He laughed, "I'm glad you got one. And who better than this spunky little bundle?" He grinned, "I've nothing to do, so I'll join you."

Nightfog blinked in surprise, and then smiled with a quick nod, and they headed out.

"Poisonpaw." Nightfog frowned at her apprentice, drawing him back from the early-season butterfly he had gotten distracted by, "Pay attention."

"Sorry, Nightfog! Everything's just so amazing outside of the hollow!"

"Be as that may, we are training, not playing, and you best remember that. Get over here and collect this moss."

The little gray apprentice padded over, ears down, "Sorry. But… How do I collect it?"

Nightfog rose an eyebrow, "You tell me. Do it."

"But I haven't done it before!" He squeaked, "I don't want to do it wrong!"

"How will you know the right way if you don't try it first?"

"You could show me?" He shot her a hopeful sidelong glance, and Nightfog couldn't help but give a barely-perceptable purr of amusement.

"Nope. Have at it." She flicked her tail at the roots of the pine, "Put it over there as though you were making a nest."

Poisonpaw frowned, flicking his tail in concentration as he thought about his problem, and then flicked forward, dragging out a bunch of the moss, along with some pine needles, thorns and branches. He placed it in the clearing she had pointed out and looked up at his mentor.

"Lay on it and tell me if it is bedding material." She said, sternly, and he nodded, pushing it out and plopping down on it. He squealed shortly after and hopped up.

"It hurts!"

"Yes. Because you have more than just moss in that pile. What is wrong with your technique?"

The kit frowned, eyebrows creased, and then shrugged, "I don't know. I pulled it out. I don't know how to make it so that there isn't any pokey stuff…"

Nightfog gave his paws a pointed look, where he was shredding grass with his exposed claws in his frustration. He looked down, "Oh! My claws?"

"Try it." She stated, and watched as he did. It took him a couple tries, but eventually he figured it out. Once he had collected enough for the three of them to carry, they headed back.

"Interesting way to teach, sis." Shadestep stated after they had deposited the moss and she had set her apprentice to cleaning the elders' nests.

"It's how Icestar taught me. It made me learn quick, and he seems independent enough. It's the best way, in my opinion. And it had to have worked." She gave him a smirk, and he laughed as they headed over to pick up some lunch.