Mosskit

Shellpaw. Now his name was even worse. After he and his sister Rosepaw were apprenticed the day before, he'd become absolutely insufferable.

Finchpelt, his new mentor, was already showing how exasperated he was. When he took Shellpaw out to harvest moss, he complained the entire time, asking to go look at the territory or learn to hunt or something, but Finchpelt had just shook his head.

Well, he wasn't the only one who'd become an apprentice. Today was my - I mean, me and my littermate's - ceremony.

But everything since the battle with ShadowClan had rubbed me the wrong way, and Shellpaw only added more fuel to the fire. And I was sure I wasn't far from exploding.

"So far, being an apprentice isn't all it's cracked up to be," Shellpaw grumbled as he slumped in the corner of the camp. Daisykit and Cloudkit watched him complain with increased interest, while Graykit and I sat back and watched him and Rosepaw describe their experience. "It's just collecting moss. Nothing exciting at all, so don't expect it to be anything great."

Daisypaw sighed next to him and scooted closer. "Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience, Shellpaw. It's really nice of you."

Shellpaw scooted farther away.

"Don't listen to Shellpaw. He doesn't know anything," Rosepaw scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's really fun once you get to see the territory!"

"You're only saying that because Fishsplash took you out on a sun-high patrol."

"Well, duh. You're just jealous you didn't get to go."

"Oh yeah? Well, Finchpelt promised to show me the territory today, so there."

"Are you sure you're an apprentice, Shellpaw?" Everyone turned to face me. I'd finally snapped. Someone needed to put him in his place. "Because you're still acting like a kit."

Shellpaw stared at me for a long time. Daisykit glared with him, although with less intensity. Cloudkit sucked in a breath. Rosepaw smirked, and Graykit sighed.

Finally, he walked toward me and stopped so that his muzzle was just a mouse-length from mine, and whispered, "You're one to talk, Mosskit."

"At least I have an excuse. What's yours?"

He stared at me again. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to challenge him to his face. I took a step back. Shellpaw opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Gathering all of my courage, I spat, "Huh. I thought so. Real mature, Shellpaw."

And I walked away with my head held high.

Mosskit

"Mosskit." Hearing my name, I stood up straight. Cloudkit gave me a reassuring glance from his place next to Berryheart, his mentor. I was a little surprised when he'd said he wanted to study medicine, but he was overjoyed. They had yet to go to the Moonstone for his apprentice ceremony. Next to them, Graypaw sat with Cinderlight. To be honest, he looked bored.

Beyond them were Daisypaw and Brambletail. I was happy for her that the Clan deputy had chosen to mentor her, but she wouldn't look me in the eye. Was she still mad about how I burned Shellpaw? That's dedication.

"From this day until you become a warrior, you will be known as Mosspaw. Your mentor will be Lilypool."

The overexcited she-cat bounded up to stand next to me, whispering, "How exciting!" We touched noses, and we sat to the side.

Branchstar went on to make Sharppaw, Grasspaw, and Mothpaw into warriors. The three of them beamed proudly, but I was more distracted.

Although Lilypool was full of positive energy and she was one of the sweetest warriors in RiverClan, let's just say Lilypool didn't have the best track record when it comes to responsibility, not to mention the fact that I was her first apprentice.

Also the fact that Shellpaw was snickering at me from the audience.

"Congratulations, Sharpwhisker, Grassfire, and Mothfur, and to Graypaw, Daisypaw, and Mosspaw, and to Cloudkit when he earns his name. May StarClan light your paths."

Next to me, Lilypool squealed. "I'm so excited! What should we do first?"

"Lilypool." Finchpelt, her much more mature brother and Shellpaw's mentor, waited patiently for her to calm down. "Having an apprentice is a lot of responsibility."

"Come on! I'll just teach her everything I know about hunting and fighting."

"We both know there's a lot more than that." Sighing, Finchpelt suggested, "Why don't you two come with us. You can show Mosspaw the territory and I can teach you a little about what it's like to be a mentor."

"Thanks, Finchpelt! That will help a lot."

Shellpaw laughed behind me, "Oh yeah. You and your mentor are the picture of maturity."

"Are you mad about the fact that I got to see the territory on my first day and you didn't?"

His smirk turned into a scowl. "Don't remind me. And stop acting so high and mighty."

"I should ask you to do the same, but it would just go in one ear and out the other."

Again, Shellpaw was at a loss for words. I grinned and ran ahead to catch up with Finchpelt and Lilypool.

Mosspaw

"On our right we can see Sunningrocks. Cats from both RiverClan and ThunderClan have been at odds over this territory for as long as the Clans have been in the forest. Even though it's on their side of the river, we still sneak over there sometimes to relax and enjoy the sun."

As Lilypool gave her speech, Shellpaw yawned. Loudly. Finchpelt shot him a look.

"I thought this was all you wanted to do, but you don't look like you're having very much fun," I pointed out. Shellpaw glared at me.

"Well, I didn't expect to be exploring the territory with the Clan's worst tour guide."

"Come on. I think this tour is absolutely riveting."

Which wasn't true, but it wasn't as bad as Shellpaw thought. Lilypool really knew the territory well, and Finchpelt chimed in and added his own thoughts sometimes.

"And if we look to our right… again, we can see the Twoleg bridge! We use it sometimes to get to the Gathering when the water level in the river rises too high to swim safely."

Then again, she wasn't the most compelling speaker.

Shellpaw walked over to the river, clearly not paying any attention whatsoever. "Hey Mosspaw, check this out."

Now, in hindsight this wasn't the best idea, but I knew whatever it was that Shellpaw was about to do, he'd most likely fail and I'd have more ammunition to tease him about, and that was enough for me.

He stuck his paw in the water and moved it around. Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell in.

I burst out into even more laughter as I strolled to the edge of the river. I wasn't worried that he'd drown, because we'd been swimming since forever. Shellpaw floundered around for a little under the water, but as he surfaced, he clutched a small fish in his jaws.

"Ha. Beat that."

"Tempting. But as much as I want to, we should probably get back to our tour…"

But Lilypool and Finchpelt were out of sight.

I knew I shouldn't have followed him. Instead, I should have continued with our mentors and let him catch his darn fish for an audience of none.

"Shellpaw! You lizard-brain! We're lost!"

He climbed out of the river and dropped his fish, letting it flop on the ground. "What do you mean, lost?"

"I mean, our mentors walked away without us while you were showing off."

"Wait. What?" He peered into the distance on either side of him. "What do we do?"

I meowed, "I think we should stay put. Sooner or later Finchpelt and Lilypool will realize we're not with them, and they'll retrace their steps."

"We're not that far from camp." He dragged the fish away from the riverbed. "If we start now-"

"Don't even think about it. You'll only get us even more lost."

I sat down. Shellpaw hesitated, but he followed suit. We waited. And waited. Were they really that absorbed in their own tour that they forgot to notice us for this long?

But our mentors raced toward us, their excitement abandoned.

"What were you thinking?" Lilypool asked. "Wait. I don't want to hear it."

Finchpelt started, "We probably should-"

"Look, Finchpelt, I know what I'm doing." He huffed and rolled his eyes. Lilypool continued, "You two need to pay a little visit to Branchstar."

Mosspaw

Shellpaw paced in front of the den. I sat off to the side, trying to eavesdrop on Lilypool and Finchpelt as they explained what happened. But the pawsteps… I turned around and glared.

"Shellpaw! Can you walk any louder?"

He ignored me. "What are they saying?"

"I can't hear over the sound of your paws!" Rolling my eyes, I leaned closer to the den. Shellpaw huffed.

Before I could comprehend anything I was hearing, Finchpelt left the den. He chuckled when he saw me, and told me and Shellpaw, "Bramblestar wants to hear your side of the story."

Shellpaw and I looked at each other. He looked at the ground, slightly ashamed.

As we went in, Bramblestar stared at us. To be honest, it made me a bit uncomfortable. "What do you think happened?"

I beat Shellpaw to it. "We were taking a tour of the forest. When we were walking along the river, Shellpaw decided to jump in and try to catch a fish. I watched him, distracted, as he managed to pull one out of the river. By the time that happened, our mentors were so far ahead, we couldn't see them, so we stayed put."

"I see. So Shellpaw, where is this fish that you caught?"

Shellpaw looked at the ground. "On the fresh-kill pile."

"Very good. But unfortunately, you both disobeyed your mentors. Mosspaw, I know you didn't do anything, but even if Shellpaw was distracting, you needed to stay with Lilypool. You'll spend the rest of today learning about how to collect, change, and dispose of moss for the elders' den. Shellpaw, I understand you've already learned that lesson, but since your offense is greater, you'll change out the bedding today, tomorrow, and the day after that."

"But-" Shellpaw started, but Bramblestar silenced him with a stare.

As soon as I was outside, I let out a snicker I had been holding in. Infuriated, Shellpaw swatted me with his paw.

And you know what? Sometimes you just can't handle things maturely.

To make a long story short, Shellpaw and I will have matching notches in our ears for the rest of our lives.

Mosspaw

Later that night, when all of the other apprentices were asleep in the den, Daisypaw leaned over and whispered, "You attention hog."

"Excuse you?"

She scoffed, fuming. "You literally spent all day with Shellpaw."

"It's not my fault that Finchpelt wanted to help his sister mentor me, and that he decided to bring his apprentice along."

"Yeah, well…" Daisypaw leaned over even closer. "He's off limits."

"Go ahead and take him," I seethed, struggling to keep my voice low. He constantly gets on my nerves, and I can't stand it anymore. If you take his attention away, I'll be very grateful."

Daisypaw went silent for a while. "Still. Don't engage with him. And if you have to, steer him towards me."

Yawn. "Goodnight, Daisypaw."

"We're not done with this conversation!"

"Yes we are." Behind me, Daisypaw huffed, and I heard the rustling of moss as she rolled over.

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