It was six moons later when Sunkit, Moonkit, and Starkit were exploring the camp on their own.
"Be safe!" Stormdancer meowed worriedly. The kits ambled off, into some mischief, no doubt, their mother thought. Sunkit is just like Dawnwing was, Stormdancer mused, And Starkit was like Flowerpelt. But Moonkit is like a combination of them in some odd, odd way. They wandered out of sight of their mother, and she worried. But she knew that no guard in their right minds would EVER let a kit, let alone three, enter into the forest by themselves. Then she dozed off. But it is no use in explaining the soon-to-be surprising turn of events that would happen through her eyes.
Moonkit batted at a falling leaf. "Come ON, Moonkit," her brother whined, "I want to get a glimpse of the forest!" Moonkit raised a white eyebrow.
"You mean, go INTO it?" His familiar devilish grin lit up his face.
"Yup. C'mon, let's go!" The trio walked up casually to the guards. "So, how's the weather today, Mousepelt?"
"Not today, Sunkit," he growled, "I wasn't born yesterday, you know." Sunkit's emerald green eyes widened.
"But-but…"
Mousepelt spat, "Ha! Kits think they're smarter than anyone else. Especially those kits of the daughter of Skystar and the Clan deputy." Moonkit and Starkit howled with laughter. "See, Sunkit? I told you it wouldn't work!" Starkit exclaimed cheerfully, long, long after they had gone out of the earshot of the tired, grouchy warrior.
"Hmphf!" Sunkit grunted. "Well, I dunno what else to do! Let's go to the Tall Tree Clearing. Y'know, where secrets are made." All three kits giggled. Tall Tree Clearing was the place where warriors, kits, apprentices, elders, and the like went to hear the latest gossip. It was also where they helped groom each other three hours after Sunpeak, when it was hot. But it was mostly used for gossip. Three pairs of eyes caught Treejumper and Mistflower speaking together, rubbing against each other in an awkward, yet affectionate, way.
"Oh, Treejumper, I like this, but what if the others find out? You know what THAT would mean..."
"But they WON'T find out! That's the point!"
"But still, they could-"
"SHHHH, don't speak." They sat together and entwined tails.
"Oh, Treejumper," Mistflower purred, "I haven't felt this way about… a cat since before… before what happened to Dawnwing."
"Same here, Mistflower," he mewed back affectionately. They twined their tails again. "Mistflower, we have been doing this much lately. I have my feelings for you as I once did for Flowerpelt. Mistflower, will you, can you, be my Mine?"
Mistflower thought for a moment, "I don't know, Treejumper. You mean a lot to me, but-"
"Please, Mistflower, do this for me! For… for Flowerpelt." She thought again, looked serious, then sighed. A smile came on her face.
"In that case, yes, Treejumper. I WILL be yours. Yours until I die… or you do. Whichever comes first." They rubbed noses.
"Yuck!" Sunkit whispered. His two sisters agreed.
"Yeah," Moonkit meowed, "And I thought that healers weren't supposed to have mates! Right?"
"Right!" her siblings mewed. They scrambled off to see what else new was going on.
Treejumper's ears perked up at the rustling that the kits had made when they left.
"Mistflower, did you hear anything?" she rubbed against his chest.
"Mmm," she purred, "No, Treejumper. What could have overheard us?" Treejumper broke free from her purring grasp. She tumbled over into a tortoiseshell heap on the ground. "Hey! What was that for?" Mistflower noticed him smelling the ground where the kits had been just a second before.
"Just as I worried. Those nosy kits were here. Can't two cats get a few moments in peace?" he growled. Mistflower giggled. "What? What's so funny?"
"You look so cute when you look mad." They paid no more attention to the three little furry intruders that had been there moments before. Meanwhile, the kits were getting into more mischief.
"C'mon!" Sunkit yelled to his sisters. They ambled off to the apprentice den. They smelled the den from the entrance.
"I smell lots of cats, but the scents are old," Starkit observed.
"Even a newborn kit would know that!" Sunkit sneered, "Anyway, let's go inside. See what we can do." Moonkit looked nervous.
"But what if they come back? You know that they aren't always away all day!" she said. He waved her suggestion away.
"Yeah, but they almost always are." He ventured inside with his youngest sister. Moonkit kept anxious watch from the doorway. "Let's have some fun!" Sunkit whispered. Moonkit looked inside, and a ball of grass, moss, and leaves hit her in the face.
"Hey!" she hissed, "They're going to see this!" Sunkit looked at her as if she was crazy. "Well, whaddya think we were going to do? And don't tell!" Moonkit's sapphire blue eyes narrowed into slits.
"Why NOT, Sunkit? It'd be the right thing to do-"
"WHAT are you DOING?" a voice thundered. All three kits turned to meet the stormy green eyes of Shadowpaw.
"Uh, umm, h-hi Shadowpaw, I know this sounds funny but-" Sunkit spat out a bit of moss from his mouth.
"LEAVE."
"But-"
"NOW." The three kits filed out, with Moonkit leading triumphantly in the front, and Sunkit trailing behind with a defeated look on his face. Starkit was in the middle, with a slightly chagrined look on her face. "WHAT ON- ?" they heard Shadowpaw exclaim. The trio ran to the medicine cat den. There, Mistflower was placidly sorting herbs, muttering to herself.
"Now, this is chervil, found in-"
"Hello!" Starkit meowed cheerily. Mistflower jumped.
"Huh? What? Oh, It's YOU three. I heard Shadowpaw screeching at you from the other side of camp! What did you do THIS time?" Moonkit nudged Sunkit.
"Well, this genius over here decided to have some fun at the apprentice den. Now he's paid for it." Mistflower turned to look at him.
"Shadowpaw's been up patrolling the whole night! Why in Creator's good green forests would you do a thing like that?" Sunkit hung his head.
"Well, I thought it would be fun-"
"To annoy others no doubt, now go away you three! And leave me in peace!" They turned to go. Except for Starkit.
"Mistflower, what does it take to be a healer?" the inquisitive kit asked. Mistflower sighed.
"Starkit, it takes courage, you have no cat which you should not heal, you must heal those that come to you. You must have a strong heart to face the fact that when the one you love is dying, you can't do anything to save them. It's too late."
"Then I'll never fall in love!" Mistflower smiled wearily.
"I thought that way too, and yet I still did. You will always love, no matter what. You can't have life without love. Even if all of the mortal beings on the Earth hated you, the Creator still loves you." Starkit looked at her, puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"That is for you to find out. Now run along, and don't bother me anymore!" The little kit ambled off to find its siblings. They were at the fresh-kill pile. Moonkit took out a mouse and tossed it at Starkit.
"A WHOLE mouse, just for me?"
"Mmm, do ya see anyone else? 'Cause I sure don't." The fresh-kill pile was usually low, and today, it was lower than ever. Skystar trotted over to them.
"Hmmmm, what do we have here? Three little kits. Move aside please." They did so. Skystar took a woodpigeon from the pile. Then turned to go back to the high rock. Many cats came to collect their share from the fresh-kill, because it was about Sunpeak. Moonkit finished the mouse, then licked her paws.
"Mmm, that was good. Now, what do you want to do?" Moonkit asked lazily.
"Ugh, I hate vole! Why does it have to be vole?" a new voice mewed.
"Oh, hello, Lightkit," Starkit said.
"Hi," Lightkit muttered grumpily, "Why vole? Why?"
"'Cause it's the only thing we could catch, now eat it, or starve. More for us," a voice growled. Sunkit turned around.
"Oh, hello, Berrystorm," he meowed in greeting.
"You kits! You think that everything in the forest comes to you! Well, just you wait and see when you become apprentices! Ungrateful-"
"What's gotten his tail in a knot?" Mistflower inquired. The four kits jumped, because she had silently padded up during the commotion.
"Oh, y'know, just being Berrystorm. Grumpy."
"Tonight you are all going to be apprentices. Who do you hope your mentor's going to be?"
"Well, I hope it's Mousepelt," Moonkit piped up.
"I think that Emberbriar would be an awesome mentor," Lightkit meowed.
"I hope it's you, Mistflower," Starkit whispered, "I want to be a medicine cat just like you."
Mistflower nodded at this. "I will tell Skystar that you wish to be my apprentice. And you, Sunkit?"
He thought for a moment. "I want it to be Skystar himself!"
"You are ambitious, little one," Mistflower giggled, "But it could be arranged." The kits nodded sleepily. They dozed off until the time of Sunpeak began.
"Oh boy! Time to catch the latest news!" Sunkit mewed.
"Ha! Too bad no one will believe your story, Sunkit," Moonkit purred sleepily. He hung his head.
"Why?"
"They'll say that you're making it up! Well, let's go anyway." The foursome padded off to the huge cedar tree glade.
Four pairs of eyes scanned the cats in the clearing, who were split off into groups of two. Moonkit spotted Mistflower and Treejumper set apart to one side, ignoring all of the other cats. The kits paired up, then Moonkit and Sunkit moved together closer to the two cats, just in earshot. The, they started grooming each other, and pretending to talk about other things when Mistflower and Treejumper thought they were being listened in on.
"Can we go off tonight, beloved?" Treejumper whispered.
Mistflower sighed. "I wish we could, just the two of us, but Starkit has requested for me to be her mentor. She wants to be a medicine cat."
"Can't you just skip the ceremony? For an hour with me?"
She shook her head, "No, Treejumper. Maybe after the ceremony."
"I can't. I'm on patrol tonight."
"Then now?"
He paused. "Now is a good time. A VERY good time. But won't someone notice we're gone?"
"Mmm, no. C'mon, let's go." So the two cats snuck off into the forest.
"Ugh, more romance," Sunkit whined, "Why would Starkit want HER to be her mentor?" "Oh be quiet, Sunkit," Moonkit snapped. They walked around the camp, their spying done for the day.
"It will be sunset soon," Sunkit observed.
"Yeah, sunsets are beautiful, aren't they?"
"Mhmm. Let's go nap. Spying makes me tired."
"Nap? But we just did!"
"Three hours ago! And besides, do you want to be tired when Skystar says who our mentors will be?" Moonkit saw the logic in this. They slept under some thick bushes, waiting for the ceremony.
Hours later, they were shaken awake.
"Wha-? Huh?" Moonkit groaned.
"It's starting! Hurry!" Lightkit hissed. They both woke up Sunkit, then hurried to the High Rock, where all meetings took place.
"Let those old enough to swim gather around the High Rock!" Skystar trumpeted. The cats were there in an instant, seeming to have melted from the trees, shrubs, and logs. He glanced around the group. "Alright. Now, today we are gathered here to witness the journey of life! We are here to open a new chaper and close an old one in these kits' lives. Sunkit, step forward." He did so. "Sunkit, do you promise to train well, so that one day, you may be able to defend other's lives?"
Sunkit gulped, then meowed in a steady voice, "I do." Skystar raised his head to the sky.
"Then, by the power invested in me, until you are one day a true warrior of the Lightning Clan, you shall no longer be called Sunkit, but Sunpaw! Your mentor will be me, Skystar! All hail Sunpaw!"
"Sunpaw! Sunpaw! Sunpaw!" the crowd roared.
Then, with a steely gaze, he fixed his eyes on Moonkit. "Moonkit, step forward." She obeyed. "Moonkit, do you promise to train well, to one day help defend the helpless?" She didn't flinch.
"I do."
"Then, by the power invested in me, you are no longer Moonkit, but Moonpaw! Your mentor will be Starpelt! All hail Moonpaw!"
"Moonpaw! Moonpaw! Moonpaw!" the cats thundered.
"Lightkit! Step forward!" She did. "Lightkit, do you promise to finish your training, to someday protect the lives of the helpless?"
"I do."
"Then, by the power invested in me, you are no longer Lightkit, but Lightpaw! Your mentor will be Whiteclaw! All hail Lightpaw!"
"Lightpaw! Lightpaw! Lightpaw!" the crowd shouted. Then, they all started to break up.
"No! Do not go just yet!" Skystar commanded. "Today, I have some grave news to announce. We have no more food to keep us from dying out. We can live on the moor no longer. Though we have been here thousands of moons, I believe that the Creator wants us to live here no longer. We shall move to the forest." Many murmurs and groans rose from the crowd. "The forest teems with prey! And no Clan has dared to call it home. We must be brave! We have no kits, and these four apprentices are the youngest of us. We leave for the forest tomorrow!" And on this somber note, the meeting was concluded. The four apprentices went off to the apprentice den, excited, joyful, and scared of what tomorrow would bring.
