Chapter 2

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around highrock for a Clan meeting!" Wingstar yowled.

"Any clue what this is about?" I asked quietly.

"I'd assume Darkkit and Meadowkit's apprentice ceremony," Silentstorm answered.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," I said.

"It is time for the naming of two new apprentices. Meadowkit and Darkkit, step forward," Wingstar said ceremoniously. "Meadowkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Meadowpaw. Your mentor will be Silentstorm. Silentstorm, you have proven yourself ready for an apprentice. You received excellent training from Sparrowheart and have proven yourself to be intelligent and strong. I know you will pass on all you know to Meadowpaw."

I felt Silentstorm stand up beside me and walk toward her new apprentice. The molly definitely deserved to become a mentor. After all, she was a great help to me relearning how to do things without sight.

"Darkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Darkpaw. Your mentor will be Silkshade," Wingstar said, taking me by surprise. "You also are ready to take on an apprentice. You received excellent training from me and have proven yourself hardworking and forgiving. I know you will pass on all you know to Darkpaw."

I walked up to my new apprentice, excitement buzzing up in me. I touched noses with my apprentice. "Kittypet," Darkpaw muttered. I ignored it.

Wingstar dismissed the Clan. "Okay, you two. Are you ready to see the territory?" I asked the two new apprentices.

"Maybe, if we didn't have a kittypet with us," Meadowpaw stated.

"That kittypet is a warrior and your superior so you best learn some respect before you get stuck caring for the elders on your first day as an apprentice," Silentstorm told her.

"Let's go," I said.

Silentstorm took the lead and I took the rear, making sure neither apprentice got left behind no matter how much they hate me already. It shouldn't be a surprise their mother being who she is.

"Can the kittypet even teach us anything?" Darkpaw asked. "I mean, she's literally blind. Shouldn't she be in the elders den instead or something?"

"Well, believe it or not I worked very hard and am now as able as any other warrior. And I'm not a kittypet, but call me as you wish. I've dealt with more advanced insults," I said.

"So, if you both are done acting like kits over the whole matter, we can begin actually learning. As you travel through the territory you should pay close attention to the scents and sounds around you, those senses can be more important than sight, especially in this environment. You can tell if prey or enemies are around using those senses," Silentstorm explained. "Which using such senses is how Silkshade can continue to be a warrior. She relies fully on her other senses and can use them to know what and who is around her. Sight can be the easiest sense to rely on sometimes, but the others also need to be trained to be as alert as they can."

"How much you wanna bet she's just saying that because they're friends?" Darkpaw whispered to Meadowpaw.

"I wouldn't bet a lot considering I just heard you," I remarked.

The day wore on, the apprentices becoming more and more unbearable. Flurrytail had to talk bad about me to them and that was going to make this a nightmare, I was sure of it. Deathpaw may have been a bit of a chaotic apprentice, but she wasn't plain out mean to her mentor. She tried her best to be as easy to work with as possible. She thought she was a troublesome apprentice, but I could certainly prove she wasn't that bad now.

"Darkpaw, can I have a word with you for a moment?" I asked.

"Fine then," she agreed, falling back and matching my pace. "What do you want, kittypet?"

"Darkpaw, you and I both know you hate me, but we'll have to put up with each other for six moons. Can you please try and get along with me so this is less miserable for both of us?" I asked.

"My skills are what is going to suffer through all of this. You probably suck at everything I need to learn," Darkpaw told me. "I'm going to be as much of a failure as you when I'm a warrior! Or maybe even worse! Like Deathfire!"

"Okay, insulting me is one thing, but you are not saying mouse-dung about my friends. Got that?" I asked. "Because if you do we will have some problems."

"Why? Even the leader allows it. Maybe you need to ditch a friend," Darkpaw said indifferently.

"That's all I needed to talk to you about," I told her, needing time to calm down.

I kept mostly silent, still afraid I'd end up going off on someone. I was happy to get back to camp. I headed straight for Deathfire who was sitting outside the nursery watching the kits play.

"Hi Silkshade," Deathfire greeted.

"I just wanted to let you know I love you a whole lot and you're amazing and anyone who says otherwise is a fox-heart," I told her.

"Okay," she said, sounding slightly taken aback. "One of the apprentices said something about me, didn't they?"

"Let me tell you, even if you did cause a little trouble as an apprentice, you are nowhere near as bad as either of them who could use a lesson about respect," I told her. "They're a couple of nightmares. Though it's probably Flurrytail's fault they hate us."

"I would have never guessed. I was seriously glad after their ceremony because they aren't in the nursery with us any more," Deathfire admitted. "They were rude to me and the kits."

"Silkshade! Deathfire! You wanna play with us?" Songkit asked. "We're playing Clans and we need more warriors!"

"Can you please?" Puddlekit asked.

"I don't wanna be the only warrior in a Clan," Tigerkit told us.

"Alright," I agreed.

"I'll play too," Deathfire told them.

"I call Silkshade on my team!" Puddlekit exclaimed.

"No fair," Songkit complained. "You already got to be NightClan. That means I have Deathfire on my team. She's small."

"Life isn't fair, Songstar," Puddlekit told her.

"If you need another clanmate, I'd join Songstar," Boulderfang offered.

"That's not fair!" Puddlekit exclaimed.

"Life isn't fair, Puddlestar," Songkit responded.

"Well, if you need help I'm here," Tallblaze offered.

"You're even taller! Perfect!" Puddlekit exclaimed.

"But he's a boring medicine cat. I have two actual warriors," Songkit told her.

"Whatever, SunClan scum! NightClan attack!" Puddlekit shouted.

I could hear Puddlekit and Songkit play fighting together. Tigerkit was against Gravelkit, but the two of them weren't throwing taunts like the she-cats.

"Tallblaze! Put me down!" Deathfire shouted.

"No," Tallblaze responded.

"Tallblaze!" Deathfire shouted again. Deathfire was occupied. Which means the only cat on the other team left was Boulderfang.

Before I could even figure out where he was I was pushed over and pinned down. "Well then. This is why you don't get a little distracted," Boulderfang told me.

"Since I was doing nothing the smart thing to do would be help Deathfire," I stated.

"She's fine," Boulderfang said.

"Put me down before I actually claw you!" Deathfire yowled at Tallblaze.

"Yup, she's fine," Boulderfang repeated.

The weight was suddenly removed from me as Boulderfang was knocked off. "Looks like reinforcements have arrived, Puddlestar!" I told Puddlekit.

"You do realize this is a game, Silentstorm, and you didn't have to ram into me so hard," Boulderfang said.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in not ramming into you full force?" Silentstorm asked.

I walked over to where Puddlekit and Songkit were fighting. "It's over, Songstar. We outnumber you and are stronger," Puddlekit told her sister.

"You won this time, Puddlestar. SunClan retreat!" Songkit announced.

Songkit, Tigerkit, and Boulderfang all retreated to the edge of camp.

"Tallblaze, my team retreated. Set me down," Deathfire told him.

"No, I don't think I will," Tallblaze said.

"Tallblaze!" Deathfire shouted. "You're so annoying!"

"Having fun up there?" I asked Deathfire.

"Not funny," Deathfire told me.

"It is to me," I said.

"Next time we take turns picking who's on our team," Songkit said. "I got the smaller and the worst team."

"Rude," Deathfire said.

"Okay, but I'll still win," Puddlekit told her.

"Even if you had the same team I had?" Songkit asked.

"Maybe not," Puddlekit admitted. "Deathfire isn't good at this game."

"It's not my fault Tallblaze just picked me up!" Deathfire defended.

"Yeah, it's the fact you're short," Tallblaze said.

"I am really tired of you," Deathfire stated.

"Deathfire is a good teammate!" Tigerkit said. "She's just small like us against a cat that's a whole lot bigger! We'd all lose against Tallblaze!"

"I wouldn't lose against him! He's not even a warrior!" Songkit bragged.

"You couldn't win against him!" Puddlekit told her.

The two bickered back and forth while Deathfire was still angry and not on the ground. Being a mentor was going to be tough, but at least I could have some fun with my friends in my free time.

Author Note: Wouldn't expect Silentstorm to play a game with kits, but then again, violence. I had fun with this chapter, mainly the part with the kits but whatever. Darkpaw and Meadowpaw are brats, but we really can appreciate the kits. After all, fictional children are the only good type of children. In good news, I've been writing the next book and having a lot of fun with it. Whether that's a good sign or a bad sign is up to you. Anyway, sorry for the late upload, it's almost midnight where I live so technically still Monday. I've had a really rough day with mental health, but got it under control and spend most my day watching Netflix so… Almost forgot. Anyway, review if you'd like, it is always appreciated. I will see you all next week!

-Rowan W.