Chapter One: Unwanted Apprentice
Snowkit purred softly as she walked into the warm elders' den. Two elders sat inside. They held an empty space between them for her. With a bounce in her step, she quickly padded over and sat in-between Bigheart, a very small gray tom with lean muscles under his worn scarred pelt, and Ambernose, a large golden tabby she-cat with a white-patched chest and graying muzzle.
It was the beginning of Greenleaf and she was going to be made a 'paw' today.
"You only become a 'paw' once in your life." Bigheart mewed softly as he shuffled his paws around and mentioned, "It's a beautiful day for a ceremony as special as this."
"Are you excited?" Ambernose whispered.
"I'm so excited that I can't calm my paws!" Snowkit wiggled to show her paws kneading the ground, sheathing and unsheathing her claws. "What if I can't stay still when Foxstar makes me an apprentice?"
"You will," Ambernose grumbled with laughter. "You're excited now in here but you'll be nervous in front of him and the whole clan. He's a magnificent cat and you get to be the center of attention in his first apprentice ceremony!"
Bigheart nodded sadly. Petalstar, his sister, had just passed away leaving Foxstar with big paws to fill. "I'm sure you both will be fine."
Snowkit glanced shyly at Bigheart and asked, "Can you tell me one more story. It will be my last time here as a kit and I don't want the other apprentices teasing me about listening to stories."
Ambernose snorted, "Apprentices could learn a lot more from us than their feather-brained mentors if that's what they think! Our stories are the Clan's history!"
Bigheart pushed Ambernose's muzzle softly, "You were the feather-brained mentor once!" Ambernose hissed crossly at Bigheart but he just purred and turned back to Snowkit. "Snowkit will be too busy to stop by for stories. She's going to train in order to be a warrior. You'll want her hunting instead of visiting if your stomach starts growling."
The golden tabby narrowed her amber eyes but said nothing else.
Bigheart began, "I told you of Riverstone and Coalstar?"
Snowkit nodded, eyeing his scars.
"Mapleshade?"
"You scared her with that story when she was two moons old," Ambernose grumbled, still cross. Snowkit fluffed to show she wasn't a scared kit anymore and was much bigger now.
"How about Firestar?"
Snowkit mewed respectfully, "You told me of the two Great Battles he led the Clans through. It's my favorite. I'd like to hear a new story though."
Bigheart sat up and thought for a moment. Ambernose watched through narrow eyes as seconds passed. Suddenly, Bigheart's tail rose and his eyes widened with an idea.
"Birdpelt had saved Greenclaw from a fox when they were apprentices," he mewed, excited.
Snowkit's eyes widened as Bigheart mentioned her late mother but remained silent as Ambernose, forgetting about her anger, began talking, "There were two foxes that hunted the warriors of RiverClan and ShadowClan at night. Vicious foxes with dark hearts that clung to the night like shadows under trees. They were smarter than average foxes. They hunted like a pack, trapping lone hunting warriors and eating them with two bites between them!"
Snowkit felt a shiver of fear as she imagined the shadowy faces of the vixens sulking through the night leaving behind the remains of warriors who crossed their path. She quickly shook it off reminding her, I am going to be a fearsome warrior!
"ShadowClan and RiverClan joined together the night after a full moon and chased the two foxes down. They were no match for two Clans of warriors! Their pelts were tattered and tails tucked as the two Clans split them apart. Separated from each other, the foxes ran away in opposite directions.
"Rainstar, ShadowClan's leader, warned us the next morning that one fox was chased away near our territory. He was worried it might wander back looking for its mate. ThunderClan warriors and apprentices were already out by the time Rainstar's warning came. So Petalstar sent two patrols to warn all the cats of the danger. Birdpelt was a seasoned apprentice on the patrol that was sent to the two-leg nest."
Bigheart interrupted, "Greenclaw was a brand new apprentice at the time and was collecting moss for Featherwhisker when the fox saw him and attacked. Its giant fangs crunched down on his hing-leg and tossed him high in the air! He landed on his good three paws-
Ambernose added, "As any sane cat would."
"-but the fox had dived for him again before his weight had settled and knocked him right on his back for the killing bite!"
Snowkit had started to wail under her throat as she imaged her father being eaten by a fox.
"But then Birdpelt tackled the beast!" Ambernose yowled, excited. "She knocked the startled fox clean on its side, off its paws, and raked her claws at its foul muzzle! Every time the fox attempted to get paws back on the ground, she'd swiped them out from under it, and knock it back on its side before it could rise! Birdpelt hissed with all the venom of an adder and swiped with the power of TigerClan at her claws. She made the terrified fox yip for its life like it was a kit again! Finally she released the fox. It scurried far away from Birdpelt and the forest."
Bigheart finished, "She saved Greenclaw's life that day."
Warmth flooded through Snowkit as the elders talked about her mother with such high praise. Birdpelt took on a fox all by herself as an apprentice and won! My mother was fearless! She was strong! She had the power of TigerClan at her paws!
"I helped a little too," a deep voice rumbled with amusement.
The three cats jumped with surprise as a very large jet-black tom padded in and crouched in front of them. "But Birdpelt did most of the work." Greenclaw swiped the ground in front of Snowkit as he boosted, "I was more of a side-supporter by yowling loudly and swiping at its ears when she knocked it down."
Bigheart and Ambernose mar-rowed with laughter. Snowkit fluffed her fur up with pride, "My mother was brave!"
Greenclaw straightened and meowed proudly, "She was. I have no doubt that you took after her bravery. Are you ready for your apprentice ceremony?"
Snowkit purred, "Yes."
Greenclaw purred back and followed with a note of sadness, "Straighten your whiskers. Don't make me embarrass you by doing it myself. Birdpelt would swoop down from StarClan and have my tail twisted if you went out looking like a mess today."
Quickly, Snowkit wiped her whiskers with a licked paw and jumped up on her toes. "Goodbye Bigheart! Goodbye Ambernose!" Snowkit called as she raced outside with straight whiskers.
"Goodbye Snowkit!" Ambernose yowled after her affectionately.
"We'll be there to watch your ceremony!" Bigheart called but Snowkit had already left. Greenclaw bowed his head respectfully and followed his kit outside.
The sun was beginning to set when Foxstar called the Clan gathering beneath HighLedge. Once every cat finally started to choose their spots, Snowkit's restless paws calmed as her nerves surfaced. My mother faced a fox with no fear. I can face Foxstar and my new mentor with the whole Clan watching.
Scanning the settling crowd from HighLedge, she wondered who her mentor would be. Moonpelt, the gray silver-striped deputy, appeared from the entrance. She would be great, as Bigheart's daughter, she was the best fighter in ThunderClan. The elders have shared several stories of her fierce battles. A light brown and white-streaked tail cat, Froststripe, caught her attention as he sat down next to his dark brown mate Duckmuzzle. Both Clanmates were highly respected and wonderful warriors. A whispered laugh from Creekbreeze, a light gray tom, made her stomach tighten. Please don't let it be him! Snowkit remembered the time he tried to show her how to properly crouch for hunting. He'll be too busy showing off!
"We gather here today, under the ancestors of StarClan, to welcome a new apprentice among us!" A giant dark gray tom with black legs and ears along with deep amber eyes interrupted Snowkit's wandering thoughts. The Clan mumbled in respect as they suddenly understood why Foxstar held the ceremony so late in the day. Snowkit felt a warm respect toward the new leader.
Are you watching Birdpelt?
"Snowkit," Foxstar faced her now. "Do you promise to learn the ways of the warrior code and listen and train to better help and defend your Clan?"
Snowkit didn't skip a beat, "I do."
"Then by the power of StarClan I grant you your new name. From this moment on, you will be known as Snowpaw. Willowdrift." A tabby tom with a white tail and hind legs jumped to his paws as though startled. His piercing yellow eyes wide and shock splashed plain across his face. The Clan began to mumble as tension rose in the air. "Will you mentor your sister's daughter?"
A small lump rose in Snowpaw's throat. Willowdrift never acknowledged Snowpaw as his kin. He was furious at his sister's untimely death and blamed it unjustly on the kits she bore. Snowpaw remembered moments where Willowdrift hissed and sometimes batted her away when she was younger and stumbled across his path accidently.
Snowpaw looked nervously at Greenclaw. He had unsheathed his claws and stared with fierce, angry green eyes at Foxstar. He then turned to Willowdrift as though he was daring him to deny being his daughter's mentor. They were once best friends not too long before Birdpelt's death, but now Willowdrift's eyes narrowed back at Greenclaw menacingly as he hesitated to answer.
Snowpaw suddenly felt very small. All the excitement she had about being an apprentice smoldered. "Why him?" she whispered softly. Foxstar's white tail-tip twitched making Snowpaw wonder if he heard her.
Suddenly, Willowdrift landed on HighLedge in a single pounce and answered Foxstar reproachfully, "I will mentor Snowpaw."
Foxstar nodded in approval. "I trust you to pass down all of your knowledge to young Snowpaw. Teach her to take after your swift hunting and unforgiving fighting techniques…"
As Foxstar went on praising his warrior status, Willowdrift lowered his head to touch Snowpaw's nose. She rose to meet his acceptance. As soon as the skin on their noses touched Willowdrift recoiled sharply with disgust and leaped down from HighLedge as the Clan began to cheer Snowpaw's new name.