A rustling sound awoke Bluepaw from a dream in which she'd been stalking a pigeon near the Great Sycamore. Grumbling to herself in annoyance, she sat up in her nest and looked around the apprentices' den to see which of her denmates had woken her up. To her bewilderment, however, she saw that the other nests were completely empty. She glanced toward the entrance to the den, wondering if someone was trying to play a prank on her.

"Hello?" Bluepaw called out tentatively. "Snowpaw? Rosepaw? Sweetpaw? Thistlepaw? Lionpaw? Goldenpaw? Are you guys out there?"

There was no response at first. Then, just as she was about to go outside and investigate for herself, Bluepaw found herself being knocked onto her back as something–or rather, someone–came crashing into her. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Bluepaw was about to swipe at her attacker's face when she realized it was Lilykit. Quickly letting her paw drop, she growled good-naturedly as she struggled to free herself from her sister's grasp.

"Lilykit, get off!" she protested. "Just how big have you gotten lately?"

"Bluepaw, guess what? It's today!" Lilykit meowed excitedly, completely ignoring her older sister's request.

"What is?" Bluepaw asked in confusion.

"Pinestar told Moonflower that I'm going to be an apprentice," the white molly meowed, bouncing up and down. Bluepaw winced in pain and she quickly stopped. "Oops, sorry."

"That's wonderful," Bluepaw purred, reaching up with her tail to flick Lilykit affectionately over her ears.

Lilykit nodded and opened her mouth again when the familiar call from Pinestar sounded from outside the den. Squealing in excitement, the white molly jumped off of Bluepaw and raced outside, leaving her sister alone in her nest. Shaking her head in amusement, Bluepaw got out of her nest and pushed her way out of the den, heading toward the throng of cats gathered beneath the Highrock. Moonflower was seated beside Sunfall, both of them looking on at Lilykit with pride shining in their gazes. Rosepaw and Sweetpaw were sitting with Lionpaw and Goldenpaw. The four apprentices appeared to be whispering about something, and Bluepaw wondered what they were talking about.

As she went to take a seat by her parents, Bluepaw was displeased to notice that Snowpaw and Thistlepaw were sitting together on the opposite side of the clearing. Her littermate was looking excitedly at Lilykit, but Thistlepaw's sneer was clearly visible even from her vantage point. Bluepaw fought back a growl as the gray and white tom leaned over to whisper something in Snowpaw's ear, glancing meaningfully at Lilykit. If Thistlepaw wanted to ruin this day for her little sister, he was going to have to answer to Bluepaw first. She felt a flicker of satisfaction when Snowpaw shot him a reproachful look and whispered something back that caused Thistlepaw to flatten his ears apologetically.

Good, Bluepaw thought. Now we know who is better.

"ThunderClan, it brings me great joy to announce that one of our kits will begin her training as a warrior today," Pinestar announced from the top of the Highrock. "Lilykit has reached her sixth moon, and as our Clan's tradition states, it is time for her to become an apprentice. Lilykit, please step forward."

Bluepaw watched as her younger sister stepped forward, a proud tilt to her head. Thistlepaw glared, if possible, even more intensely, but Lilykit didn't even seem to notice as she waited for Pinestar to speak the words that would signal her transition from a kit to an apprentice of ThunderClan.

"Lilykit, from this day forward until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Lilypaw," the reddish-brown tom meowed. "Thrushpelt, you will be Lilypaw's mentor. You received excellent training from Windflight and I trust that you will pass on everything he taught you onto this apprentice."

Thrushpelt dipped his head respectfully and padded over to his new apprentice. Lilypaw practically bounced over to him and the two cats touched noses, completing the ceremony.

"Lilypaw! Lilypaw!" Bluepaw began cheering for her sister.

Moonflower and Sunfall joined in as well, followed by Snowpaw and the rest of the Clan. Even Thistlepaw managed to put aside his dislike of Lilypaw long enough to at least growl her name halfheartedly. Bluepaw winced as she realized that her little sister would have to share a den with Thistlepaw for at least a couple of moons. She sent a silent word of thanks to StarClan that at least she wouldn't have to put up with the spiky-furred apprentice for much longer. Sunfall had told her the previous day that she was ready for her warrior name, and Pinestar had agreed to hold the ceremony within the next few days.

Actually, he had originally offered to make Bluepaw and Snowpaw warriors today, but the two littermates had politely declined. Lilypaw had been looking forward to becoming an apprentice and they didn't want to take any attention away from her. Besides, if they waited a few days, it meant they would get to share a den with their sister for at least a few days.

"Congratulations," she purred when Lilypaw raced over to her.

"Thanks, Bluepaw," Lilypaw meowed happily.

Snowpaw walked over to join them and touched her nose to the younger white molly's ear. "Well done," she meowed warmly.

Lilypaw nodded and was about to respond when Moonflower and Sunfall approached the three sisters, giving her a gentle lick over her ears. She purred happily, bumping her head against her mother's shoulder affectionately. Sunfall tapped her on the shoulder with his tail, his amber eyes full of warmth.

"We're so proud of you," Moonflower meowed, brushing her nose against her daughter's cheek. "You're going to be a wonderful warrior, Lilypaw."

"Now remember, make sure to listen and do everything Thrushpelt tells you," Sunfall told her. "And the same goes for other warriors as well."

"I will," Lilypaw promised, staring at her father with earnest amber eyes.

"Lilypaw, come on! We're going to explore the territory today," Thrushpelt called over from the gorse tunnel.

"Coming!" the white molly called back.

She bounded over to Thrushpelt, tossing a quick farewell to her family over her shoulder. Bluepaw watched as the sandy gray warrior walked out of the camp with Lilypaw following close behind. The blue-gray apprentice chuckled to herself; it was easy to see how excited Lilypaw was to finally be able to start her warrior training. She hadn't stopped talking about it for at least a quarter moon. Lilypaw had even started planning more ways to prevent Pinestar from naming her Lilyflower or Lilypetal. Bluepaw wasn't entirely sure what she had against those names–they sounded perfectly fine in her opinion–but she figured her sister had her reasons.

Snowpaw flicked her tail against Bluepaw's ears. "Come on, let's go find some moss so we can build a nest for Lilypaw," she meowed enthusiastically.

Bluepaw nodded, then stiffened as Thistlepaw walked over to them. The gray and white apprentice brushed his muzzle against Snowpaw's cheek, not even bothering to spare Bluepaw a glance. She glanced over at Moonflower and Sunfall to see what they thought of Thistlepaw's behavior, but her parents had already left.

"Adderfang said he wants me to go hunting. Want to come with me?" Thistlepaw asked, looking at Snowpaw hopefully.

However, Snowpaw shook her head. "Sorry, I can't," she meowed apologetically. "I'm going with Bluepaw to gather moss to make a nest for Lilypaw. Maybe we can go hunting together later."

Thistlepaw, however, did not take kindly to being rejected and for a moment, Bluepaw wondered if he was going to attack Snowpaw for turning down his offer to hunt with him.

"You're choosing that pathetic white cat over me?" he spat, his claws digging into the ground.

"What's her fur color got to do with anything?" Bluepaw asked.

"Stay out of this!" Thistlepaw growled at her. To Snowpaw, he added, "Why can't you just let Bluepaw gather the moss herself? I thought we were supposed to be friends!"

"We are!" Snowpaw protested. "Thistlepaw, wait, I–"

But Thistlepaw had already spun around and stalked off toward the gorse tunnel, his fur bristling and his tail held stiffly. Bluepaw padded forward and touched her tail-tip gently to Snowpaw's shoulder, who was staring despondently after the gray and white apprentice.

"Come on," she murmured. "Let's go gather moss now."

Snowpaw just nodded and followed her to the gorse tunnel, passing by Tawnyspots and Rosepaw on their way out of the camp. Bluepaw knew she should feel more sympathetic than she did, but a small part of her, one that she felt ashamed of, couldn't help feeling pleased that her sister had argued with Thistlepaw. She felt bad that her sister was upset, but that was as far as it went. Perhaps now Snowpaw would start to realize that Thistlepaw wasn't as perfect as he tried to make himself out to be.

The two sisters spent nearly all afternoon gathering moss for Lilypaw's nest. By the time they started to head back to the camp, the sun had already started to set. To Bluepaw's relief, Snowpaw seemed to have forgotten about her argument with Thistlepaw, and the white-furred molly was talking excitedly about their upcoming warrior ceremony.

"Can you believe it? We're really going to be warriors!" she meowed excitedly.

"I know," Bluepaw agreed, her spine prickling with anticipation. "What do you think Pinestar will name us?"

"I'm not sure," Snowpaw answered, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"I just want a simple name," Bluepaw admitted. She didn't like the thought of having a name that would draw too much attention to her. Not that there was anything wrong with unique names, but she had always believed that being simple was the best way to go. "Maybe he'll give us the same one."

"That would be cool," her littermate agreed. "But if we don't get the same name, I want mine to be Snowstorm. It sounds awesome, don't you think? Nice and fierce, just like a warrior name should be."

"You would also be named after the weather in that case," Bluepaw pointed out in amusement. Snowpaw rolled her eyes playfully.

"I wish we didn't have to leave Lilypaw so soon, though," she added a bit sadly.

"Yeah, me too," Snowpaw agreed. "But she'll be fine. Thrushpelt will teach her everything she needs to know and she'll have the other apprentices to keep her company."

Bluepaw nodded in agreement. Privately, however, she thought that sharing a den with Thistlepaw wasn't exactly something for Lilypaw to look forward to. Never mind the fact that Thistlepaw was even more arrogant than a RiverClan warrior, Lilypaw disliked him almost as much as Bluepaw did.

When they arrived back home, Lilypaw was nowhere to be seen. Bluepaw didn't think much of this, however, since it usually took a while to tour all of ThunderClan's territory. One cat she did see, however, was Thistlepaw, who was sitting by the mossy stump where the apprentices shared their meals, a half-eaten mouse at his paws. As they passed by him to start fixing up Lilypaw's nest for her, Snowpaw glanced hopefully in his direction, but the spiky-furred tom refused to meet her gaze. Snowpaw's tail hit the ground sadly and she walked the rest of the way to the den with her head bowed.

"Hey," Bluepaw meowed quietly, nudging her sister gently. "Don't worry about him. He'll get over it eventually."

"I guess," Snowpaw agreed, sounding as though she wasn't too sure about it herself. She shook her head. "Come on, let's just work on building Lilypaw's so she'll have something to rest in when she gets back."

Fortunately, it didn't take the two littermates long to finish building the nest. When they were done, Lilypaw had finally returned to the camp with Thrushpelt. She looked exhausted, as Snowpaw had predicted, but her eyes were bright with excitement. Bluepaw purred to herself; it looked as though her little sister's first tour of ThunderClan territory had gone well.

"How was your first day?" she asked when Lilypaw had reached them.

"It was great!" Lilypaw replied enthusiastically, her eyes shining. "Thrushpelt is so cool. I got to see everything. The Great Sycamore, Snakerocks, Sunningrocks, Fourtrees, everything. And he told me that I get to learn how to fight tomorrow!"

"That's wonderful," Bluepaw meowed, brushing her nose against Lilypaw's ear. "Snowpaw and I built you a nest. You'll be sleeping next to me and Rosepaw."

"Really? Thanks, Bluepaw!" Lilypaw purred. "And you too, Snowpaw."

Bluepaw flicked her younger sister affectionately over her ears, but Snowpaw just nodded sadly and pushed her way back inside the den. Lilypaw looked after her, a concerned expression on her face.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked, sounding worried.

"No, no, nothing like that," Bluepaw quickly reassured her. She let out a sigh. "Thistlepaw and Snowpaw had a fight earlier."

Lilypaw looked stunned. "Why? What happened?"

At that moment, Thistlepaw happened to walk past them on his way to the den. Bluepaw guessed that he must have heard Lilypaw's question, for he spun around and glared at her with more anger and resentment than she had ever seen from him before. She didn't think he had ever looked at her with that much bitterness before, and that was saying something.

"If you must know, your sister saw fit to choose you over me," he snarled. "So this is all your fault, actually."

"Excuse me?" Lilypaw meowed, her eyes narrowing in anger. "My fault? How is the fact that you're an entitled, spoiled, arrogant, stuck up, conceited piece of fox dung whose only purpose in life is making everyone who has the misfortune of speaking to you long for death in any way my fault?"

Thistlepaw's glare intensified. "You'd better watch yourself, or else–"

"Or else what?" the newly named apprentice challenged. "What are you going to do, Thistlepaw, make me listen to you talk?"

Bluepaw stifled a snicker as the spiky-furred tom let out a growl, his claws sliding out. Rather than being intimidated, Lilypaw just gave him a bored look, which only served to aggravate him even further.

"If you don't shut up, I'll make sure that you regret it," he spat.

"That's really cute of you," Lilypaw replied, making a show of yawning in Thistlepaw's face. "The thing is though, you'd be wasting your time. Nothing you could ever do to me will ever cause me as much suffering as the knowledge that I will have to see your hideous excuse for a face every day for the rest of our lives."

Thistlepaw's jaw dropped open in shock and for a moment, Bluepaw was convinced that he was about to burst into flames from anger. Before he could collect himself enough to speak, Lilypaw took advantage of his momentary lapse of motor control and brain function to march past him into the apprentices' den, looking perfectly cheerful now. The spiky-furred tom snapped back to reality, shooting Bluepaw a dirty look.

"What are you staring at?" he growled. "Just go to your nest and mind your own business."

Bluepaw happily complied and curled up in her nest next to her little sister, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. The next few days and moons were going to be entertaining ones indeed.

Little Lily is an apprentice now! For anyone who wants to know why her eyes are amber, they changed from blue when she was a moon old.

Thistlepaw needs to get off that jealousy train.

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior