It took all of Emberkit's willpower to stop himself from bouncing around with pent up energy. Nettlestem was grooming him fiercly, getting him ready for the ceremony that was about to start. Blazestar had visited her yesterday, softly meowing the words Emberkit was waiting for. And now he could see the leader making his way up the great rock. "Thanks Nettlestem!" He cried, quickly bounding away to join the gathering clan.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!" Blazestar yowled, his voice powerful and commanding. His red-brown fur shone in the sunlight, and the muscles under his pelt were easily discernable. He was a powerful warrior, and Emberkit could hardly imagine anyone would try to go against him.
"We have a kit who has reached six moons of age," Blazestar said, his amber eyes meeting Emberkit's. Emberkit sat up tall, and felt Redshade and Nettlestem come to sit behind him, also holding their heads up high. "And who is more than ready to become an apprentice." The rest of the clan murmurred in agreement. Blazestar climbed down from the rock to stand in front of the kit, giving him an approving glance. "From this day forward, you shall be known as Emberpaw. We all know the hardships Nettlestem went through to have her kit. And I think we can all say that her hard work was worth it." The clan mrrowed in amusement and Nettlestem nodded, pleased. "For an only kit, I think it's appropriate to give you a mentor that can hone your skills to make you into a great warrior. Aspenleaf, it is known throughout the clan how courageous and cunning you are. You are a great deputy, and I know you will pass on your skills to this apprentice."
Emberpaw felt like he would burst. The clan deputy as his mentor! Aspenleaf's pale blue eyes glimmered as he touched noses with his new apprentice. "You ready to begin training as soon as this is over?" He asked, voice serious.
"Yes!" Emberpaw yelped.
The clan soon dispersed, and after getting congratulated by his parents and old denmates, he headed out of the camp with his new mentor. Emberpaw gasped at how different the forest looked from outside the camp. The trees towered over him and blocked out the sky. Gusts of wind rattled the top branches together, and the background noises were so much louder. The leaves twirled down gently to join the others on the leaf covered ground. The sunlight dappled the fallen leaves, almost like a cat's pelt. Emberpaw thought it must be the most beautiful place in the world.
"The first thing we are gonna do is explore some of the territory. Then I'll access your skills and decide exactly where to start." Aspenleaf's voice was brisk, and his pace was fast, making Emberpaw have to work his legs to keep up. "First lesson, keep up." And with that, Aspenleaf bounded into the forest.
Emberpaw only paused for a moment before dashing off, determined not to lose his mentor. But his legs were too short, and brambles caught at his paws and scratched his sides. On more than one occasion, he tripped on a root and tumbled over. Soon Aspenleaf was gone, completely swallowed up by the trees. Emberpaw sat down, confused and slightly nervous. He was in a completely new territory. Even though it was ThunderClan's, it was completely foreign to him, and he had no idea what could be lurking in the shadows. He remembered Nettlestem's and Fogcloud's stories of snakes and deathberries and shivered. "Aspenleaf?" He called. Nothing answered except for the chirp of birds.
Either Emberpaw could make his way back to camp using their scent trail, or he could continue on and try to find Aspenleaf. And that was when he realized that this was a test in itself. His mentor was testing his courage. Emberpaw straightened, and continued on, this time more carefully and managing to avoid most of the brambles that tried to snag his pelt. The apprentice opened his mouth, scenting for his mentor and following the trail as best he could. It went on for a long time, and Emberpaw lost the trail a couple times. But soon he made it into a small clearing, and a giant oak tree towered above everything in the center. Aspenleaf was at the base, grooming his pelt. At the noise of leaves under paws, he looked up.
"You made it. Good job."
Emberpaw got the feeling that it was hard to earn praise from this brown tom, and felt warmth well up in his chest.
"This is the Sky Oak," the deputy meowed, gesturing behind him with his tail at the giant tree. "An owl lives up at the top. If you look around, you can see the bones of mice and other small prey."
Emberpaw frowned. "Owls eat our prey? But how do we have enough then?"
"Food is always plentiful in Greenleaf. Once the leaves fall from the trees, however, food does grow short. The owl here will take some needed food from the clan," Aspenleaf explained, continuing to groom his pelt.
"Then why don't we catch the owl?" Emberpaw said, his tail twitching indignantly. A dumb owl shouldn't be stealing prey from that kits and queens needed.
Aspenleaf mrrowed in amusement. "Be my guest and climb the tree to catch it. Just to warn you though, it will probably hear you coming and fly off, if you do manage to get up there in the first place."
Emberpaw sat down, confused why his mentor was just talking casually about this, and not something important. He looked up to the highest branches, and shivered as he thought of trying to climb that.
"I'm telling you this because it's an important lesson," Aspenleaf mewed, reading his apprentice's mind. He stopped his grooming and suddenly looked very serious. "There will always be things that effect the clan that we can do nothing about, but persevere. As of earlier today, you were a kit and sheltered in the nursery. But now, you are an apprentice. You will be expected to perservere with the rest of us. And hard times will come. They always do."
Emberpaw blinked, understanding. "Why are there always hard times? Couldn't StarClan stop bad things from happening?"
"I don't know," Aspenleaf admitted. "But if nothing bad ever happened, we would become fat and lazy like a kittypet. And then how could we say we are any different from them? Our claws and minds would become dull. I'd rather live free than be controlled."
Emberpaw nodded. "Me too."