Chapter 2: The Naming Ceremony

Blurry movements of twolegs in a bustling twoleg place was scary to the young kit, because she had heard how dangerous twolegs were, but there was a strikingly beautiful twoleg that always was with some sort of clan or group of some sort. "Beaverkit, Beaverkit!" shouted a light brown tom kit. "What is it, Sparrowkit?" grumbled the sleeping dark brown she-kit. "Wake up, I want to go to the elders' den to listen to the rest of Grayfur's story, but Stripekit is more interested in mooning over toms," replied the kit. Beaverkit opened her eyes, looked into Sparrowkit's lakewater blue eyes and sighed. There was no point in trying to sleep and dream those strange twoleg dreams that she had for three moons now. "Alright, lets go," Beaverkit mewed. As Beaverkit shook the scraps of moss off her she heard Squirreltail ask her son, "Where are you going?" Sparrowkit replied, "I'm going to see Grayfur in the elders den with Beaverkit," Squirreltail cocked her head, but before she could reply to her kit, he scampered out of the nursery, waving his little fluffy tail in excitement.

Squirreltail sighed and whispered something to the dusty brown queen, "He's so full of care towards Grayfur, isn't he Dustflower," the dusty brown queen nodded in agreement and whispered back, "I wish Stirpekit would be more like him, because all she does is moon over toms all day." A purr rose from Squirreltail's throat.

Beaverkit walked on the cool dirt path leading out of nursery, and noticed that Sparrowkit could not be seen anywhere in the clearing. 'He must be in the elders den' thought Beaverkit as she headed towards the den. The elder's den was made of brambles and reeds woven together, on the inside of the den there were many pretty shells and rocks outlined, and decorated nicely and neatly. A few of them were woven into the wall to make the den seem pretty. "Ah, Beaverkit, good of you to join us," said a gray furred tom. The gray tom looked so fluffy, and soft. "Grayfur I told you she would come," said Sparrowkit, who was sitting near Grayfur, having his tail neatly placed over his little paws. A purr rose from Grayfur, and one of the other den residents, a tabby with black stripes and a light brown coat also purred. "It's good to see you again, Beaverkit, what story would you like to hear today?" asked the tabby. Beaverkit replied, "Can you tell us about Firestar and his legacy?,"

Sparrowkit was about mew something then shut his mouth, because he knew that once Beaverkit asked the light brown tabby for a story, you couldn't change her's or the tabby's mind. The tabby chuckled and began the story of Firestar, "Firestar joined Thunderclan when he was about six moons old, he was a kittypet before he came to live with Thunderclan but had the heart of a warrior. When he was still a paw he defeated Brokenstar leader of Shadowclan, and drove off his followers, and was made Fireheart upon his return to Thunderclan after the battle. But he couldn't have done it without Graypaw who was made Graystripe for his bravery in battle. But the story doesn't stop there. The friends brought Windclan back home after Brokenstar and his followers were out of clan territory. Windclan ever since Onestar became leader has been not accepting help from Thunderclan. But that's not the only clan Fireheart and Graystripe helped. Due to his kindness Fireheart gave Riverclan food while the river was poisoned and flooded. He had the help of Graystripe of course. Fireheart believed that the clans should help one another in a time of need or of ciris, but some thought that he was just being that way so that Thunderclan could make the other clans do what Thunderclan wanted. Which isn't true. He died in the great battle against Tigerstar, standing up for what he believed in. Which was that the clans should help one another and not expect anything in return. Since we all fought and helped one another in the great battle. He was a great leader, and thought that peace was better over bloodshed. Which I agree, bloodshed means the loss of warriors, while peace brings full bellies and happy families," ''But, don't words make us seem weak?" asked Beaverkit.

Grayfur answered her, "To some cats yes, but why should we waste our battles on other clans, while we can use our skills for the actual threats, like dogs, foxes, and badgers," Sparrowkit nodded in understanding, but Beaverkit didn't understand at all. 'Battles prove to other clans that we are strong, why waste words on them when they don't get it. We should just force them to understand that we are strong,' thought Beaverkit. She asked, "Then why do the other clans always want to battle us, when all we want is peace?" The tabby answered, "Because they are prideful, they don't want to ruin their pride by accepting help, or showing what they think is weakness, which is negotiating and talking to the other leader of a clan about their problem to try and solve it. That's why Firestar was such a great leader, he only battled the other clans when necessary and was always trying to find evidence for problems that could've started with their own clanmates or foxes and badgers instead of the other clans and to try to talk to the other clan with peace instead of hostility, to work things out with them,"

Grayfur and Sparrowkit seemed to understand what Bramblethorn was talking about, but Beaverkit didn't seem to get any clear answers about why talking was better than battling another clan. Suddenly a voice yowled, "All cats that can swim, gather around the highrock for a clan meeting!" Grayfur, Bramblethorn, Sparrowkit and Beaverkit trailed out of the elders' den and went around to the clearing near the highrock.

The soft grass tingled Beaverkit's paws and flank as she sat down beside Grayfur, Bramblethorn and Sparrowkit. Three squeals of excitement came from the nursery, the littermates Stormkit, Ravenkit, and Nightkit, came running out of the nursery, their mother Creekwater, a dark gray she-cat, with brown eyes and their father a black and brown tom, Blacksky scolded their kits for making a big commotion. "But mother, father, it's the time when Sparrowkit, Stripekit and Beaverkit become paws," speaked Nightkit, a black tom with sky blue eyes and dark gray paws ``Fine, but don't make a sound until they receive their apprentice names," growled Blacksky, but you could tell that there was nothing but love in his voice for his kits.

A blue gray she-cat with a gray paw purred and mewed, "I'm glad that Blacksky and Creekwater's kits are here to watch what will happen once they reach their sixth moon. Beaverkit, come forward," Beaverkit walked through the path of warriors, the soft grass making her paws tingle, she tried very hard not to run up to the highrock. Once she reached highrock, the gray blue she-cat yowled, "Beaverkit, to you want to train to be a noble warrior of Riverclan?" Beaverkit replied with a surety in her voice, "I do," "Then by the power of our warrior ancestors, I give you your apprentice name Beaverpaw. Your mentor will be Tigerstripe," meowed the blue gray she-cat.

Beaverpaw walked to an orange tabby tom, with thick black stripes, and touched her pink nose with his. The blue gray she-cat yowled once again, this time Stripekit came forward, Beaverpaw could tell that she was also trying to hide her excitement, as the blue gray she cat gave her her apprentice name and her mentor was named as Spottedpelt, the calico who is sitting near her mother Robinfeather. Pride lit up in Spottedpelt's amber eyes. Stripepaw bounded towards her mentor and they both eagerly touched noses with one another. Last to be called was Sparrowkit, he seemed to not have any excitement to hide and no emotion showed in his lakewater blue eyes.

His mentor is Spikefur, Beaverpaw's father. The tom looked pleased to have Sparrowpaw as his apprentice. Beaverpaw noticed that Sparrowpaw's eyes looked pleased to have Spikefur as his mentor, which Beaverpaw didn't understand. Her father was a fool when it came to battle strategy and tracking down cats, the only things her father was decent at was catching prey and fighting enemies in the clan started to yowl their new names, Beaverpaw lifted her head proudly, as she did so, she noticed Stripepaw was also showing her proudness through the way her eyes were sparkling. While Sparrowpaw looked indifferent, he was just sitting and talking with her father. After the yowling died down Beaverpaw looked at Stripepaw, her and her mentor were talking about what they would do for the rest of the day.

Her mentor walked over to her and whispered, "Me, you and Stripepaw are going on a tour of Riverclan's territory after you two get some food," Tigerstripe then bounded off to meet his mate, Duskflower, and they started to share a trout between them, meanwhile Sparrowpaw was mewing something to her father. She angled her ears to hear what they were talking about, "Please, I want to get new bedding for Grayfur's and Bramblethorn's nests," pleaded Sparrowpaw. Spikefur looked at his apprentice and sighed, "I guess it's got to be done sometime, so sure. I'll show you how to collect moss, are you ready to leave?" Sparrowpaw meowed, "Yes, we can leave now," Spikefur and Sparrowpaw padded to the bramble tunnel, and left. Beaverpaw sighed 'Why does Sparrowpaw want to spend the day cleaning dens?'

"Beaverpaw, want to share a vole!" yowled Stripepaw, who was sitting near the patch of grass that led to the apprentices' den. "Sure!" replied Beaverpaw as she padded towards her friend. "So, Beaverpaw, who do you like?" asked Stripepaw as Beaverpaw took a bite of the juicy, watery vole. "Isn't too early to start thinking about taking a tom as a mate?" asked Beaverpaw when she finished her bite of vole. "Nope!" replied Stripepaw as she dug her teeth into the flesh of the vole. After they finished their vole, their mentors came towards them.

The calico Spottedpelt asked, "Are you ready for your tour of the territory?" "Yes!" replied Beaverpaw and Stripepaw at the same time. "Good," mewed Tigerstripe. The four cats walked to the exit/entrance to the camp. Beaverpaw noticed how the bramble tunnel had tons of brambles woven together, and a bunch of leaves to make sure no cold wind came through the barrier, unless it's from the exit and entrance into the camp. The ground was oddly cold while walking through the bramble tunnel. Though Beaverpaw guessed it might be caused by the sun that hardly shines into the tunnel. The tunnel path was short and it led them to a lush forest. There were oak,birch, and a little bit of pine, surrounding the four cats as they walked in Riverclan territory.

The ground underneath Beaverpaw's paws felt like it had been walked on for generation after generation. The sound of the river dividing the camp from the rest of the territory, sounded peaceful somehow. They crossed the stepping stones leading to more birch and oak forest. "Beaverpaw what can you smell?" asked Tigerstripe as they stopped at the treeline looking out onto the moor. "I smell the faintness of the river, I also smell different herbs, I smell prey, I can smell a strange scent, it's close to a rabbit, but also smells like a cat," answered Beaverpaw. Spottedpelt meowed, "That's Windclan, don't let their lithe bodys fool you, they can fight just as well as we can," Stripepaw flicked her tail, "But aren't they considered the weakest clan?" "Stripepaw, every clan has its strengths and weaknesses. We shouldn't assume they're the weakest just because it looks like they're fragile!" growled Tigerstripe. "Sorry, Tigerstripe," muttered Stripepaw.

"I should think so. You have a lot to learn, the clans aren't just enemies, there's a reason why medicine cats can freely cross the border to help the other clans. It's because every cat deserves to live, no matter who they are or where they came from. We should head back, the sun is close to setting," mewed Tigerstripe. Stripepaw seem annoyed throughout the trip back to camp. Beaverpaw noticed and mewed, "It's okay, I'm sure I would've said that Windclan was the weakest too," Stripepaw's leaf green eyes looked into Beaverpaw's and mewed, "You're right, any cat could make that mistake," They reached camp just before the sky went black. "You can eat something from the fresh kill pile," meowed Spottedpelt to Beaverpaw and Stripepaw. Beaverpaw took a minnow, while Stripepaw chose a trout.

Sparrowpaw padded over and in his jaws was a juicy looking mouse, he dropped it and sat beside Beaverpaw. "So, how was the tour of the territory?" asked Sparrowpaw. Beaverpaw opened her mouth to speak but Stripepaw beat her to the punch. "It was great, although we didn't see the whole territory. We only saw the forest that led to our border with Windclan," Beaverpaw gave Stripepaw an annoyed glance. "What did you learn about Windclan?" asked Sparrowpaw, this time Beaverpaw answered him, "Don't underestimate them, just because they look fragile doesn't mean they can't beat you up," Sparrowpaw nodded understandingly with a bite of mouse in his mouth.

"Anyway, how was cleaning the dens?" asked Beaverpaw. "It was great, I got to listen to stories from the one queen and her kits and the elders, and I helped the warriors get fresh moss for their bedding. I also caught a mouse. My day couldn't have gotten any better," mewed Sparrowpaw.

"How'd you catch a mouse?" exclaimed Stripepaw. "Well, it was after Spikefur taught me how to fetch moss, which helped me get this mouse on the way back. Spikefur was completely surprised, because it was such a clean catch for my first day out as an apprentice," Sparrowpaw mewed. "You're not boasting are you?" asked Stripepaw. "Nope that's how it happened, because you remember when the last apprentices taught us how to stalk for dryland prey, well that helped me win my catch." explained Sparrowpaw to the bewildered she-cats.

They sat in silence for the rest of their meal, Stripepaw retired to the apprentices' den first, then a few moments later Sparrowpaw retired, leaving Beaverpaw alone in front of the apprentices' den. Beaverpaw thought 'I'll ask my father if what Sparrowpaw said is true, but he didn't lie saying that when Gingerfur and Hopeheart were apprentices that they did teach us how to stalk to catch mice' Beaverpaw shook her head, and retired to the apprentices' den. The seashells woven into the den walls were a little bigger than the ones in the nursery, they also looked blue, whereas the ones in the nursery were pure white. Beaverpaw wondered why Riverclan did such a thing, but shrugged it off as tradition, and that maybe these shells mark a milestone in a cat's life. She looked at her sleeping friends and chose the last nest to the left. Beaverpaw curled up in the soft moss, and let the blackness drift her to sleep.