Wolfkit slid out of the nursery, careful to not disturb her littermates, Gorsewing, Gorsewing's kit Aspenkit, or Briarwind, who had moved to the nursery three moons ago to give birth to Brambleheart's second litter. (A/N: Briarwind and Icefeather, I hope you don't mind, I changed some of the ages so there wouldn't be an insane number of apprentices later on.) She lifted her head to face the rising sun, the first rays bleeding over the WindClan camp. She fluffed up her fur to avoid the dawn chill.
Wolfkit glanced over to the camp entrance. She and her littermates were almost five moons now, and she was growing impatient. She wanted to leave the camp and explore the territory.
Especially the gorge. If she had heard the elders right, which she couldn't be sure of, as it was quite obvious they had tried not to let her hear, her parents had dropped her and her littermates there when she was only a kit. Wolfkit was determined to one day find the rest of her family, and perhaps clues had been left behind at the gorge.
She glanced over to the camp entrance to see who had been on duty the previous night. Finchflight stood there, facing away from her. Wolfkit's paws prickled with excitement. Now was perfect!
"Wolfkit!" Wolfkit inwardly groaned as she heard her name. She turned to see Breezepaw padding towards her, eyes glimmering with amusement. "Not thinking about sneaking out of camp, are you?"
Wolfkit bristled, but forced herself to keep her fur flat. "No, I wasn't! And if I don't remember correctly, you were only a kit five moons ago too!"
Breezepaw sat down, casually licking one paw and drawing it over his ear. "You weren't alive then. And I don't blame you, it's tough being stuck in camp," He added sympathetically.
"I wasn't..." Wolfkit spluttered. "Fine, I was thinking about it. So what?" She mewed defiantly.
Breezepaw shrugged. "Just don't even think about going to the gorge."
"Why not?"
"It's dangerous. Most apprentices aren't even allowed near the gap."
Wolfkit glared. "You do!"
"I said most."
Hollypaw, the black apprentice from four moons ago and Breezepaw's denmate, padded out from inside the apprentice's den, shaking scraps of moss from her pelt. She picked a rather scrawny rabbit from the fresh-kill pile and called over to Breezepaw, "Want to share?"
Breezepaw nodded and flashed another concerned glance at Wolfkit before padding away. Wolfkit lifted her tail with indignation and sniffed as more and more cats began emerging from their dens and filling up the hollow. I don't need his concern! I'm going to be leader of WindClan one day! Leaders don't need apprentices looking after them.
"Wolfkit!" What now? She sighed. She turned to see Aspenkit sitting beside her mother, wriggling with excitement as Gorsewing scolded her quietly, licking a tuft of fur between her ears. Aspenkit shook her mother off and bounded over to Wolfkit.
"It's my apprentice ceremony today!" Aspenkit squealed, working her claws in the clumps of grass between her paws.
She looked so excited, Wolfkit felt a twinge of jealousy in her stomach."That's great!" She mewed, trying to sound glad for her denmate and best friend.
Aspenkit could hear the sadness in her voice and laid her tail on Wolfkit's shoulder. "It's only going to be a moon," she mewed sympathetically.
Wolfkit nodded. "Yeah."
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Tallrock for a Clan!" Aspenkit let out another squeal and dashed towards the center of the clearing. Wolfkit padded to the edge and met up with Smallkit and Runningkit.
"Where were you?" Smallkit hissed, his eyes fixed on the ceremony. "I woke up and you weren't in your nest."
"I wanted to-"
"Shut up!" Runningkit whispered furiously.
Wolfkit turned her attention back to the ceremony.
"Aspenkit, from this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Aspenpaw."
Aspenpaw gave a little skip of delight at the sound of her new name.
"Your mentor will be Cloudfoot. I hope Cloudfoot passes down all he knows to you."
Cloudfoot, a gray and white tom Wolfkit had met once or twice before, stepped forward, amber eyes calm. Only a flick of his tail portrayed his excitement. A moor-runner, Wolfkit observed wryly. Good thing. Aspenkit's built for it.
"Cloudfoot, you are ready to take on your first apprentice. You received excellent training from Mudnose, and have shown yourself to be quick-thinking and loyal. You will be the mentor of Aspenpaw, and I trust you to pass down all you know to her."
Aspenpaw's eyes flashed with anxiety as Cloudfoot touched noses with her. Her new mentor murmured some comforting words in her ear, and Aspenpaw's excitement and energy returned.
"Aspenpaw! Aspenpaw!" Wolfkit cheered.
Wolfkit waited until the cheering faded. She turned to her brothers. "I wanted to go to the gorge."
Smallkit's eyes flew open with shock. "But that's dangerous!"
"No kidding," Runningkit snorted with laughter.
Wolfkit opened her jaws for a stinging retort, but shut up as she heard Cloudfoot say to Aspenpaw, "Come on. I'll show you the territory." She watched enviously as they left through the entrance to camp.
Runningkit nudged her. "You wanted to go to the gorge. Now's your chance!" For once, even his eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Wolfkit's paws shook with excitement. "I'm in."
Runningkit flicked his tail happily. "Me too."
Their smaller brother scowled at his siblings. "You both have bees in your brain." He sniffed.
Wolfkit rolled her eyes. "Shut up, we all know you're coming anyways."
Smallkit huffed, glaring at the ground between his paws. "What are we waiting for again?"
There! Extra long chapter for you guys (Even if most of it is just a ceremony)! I'm so happy so many people reviewed, you have no idea how much this means to me.J J Winter break started, so the next chapter will come soon. It should be a fun one to write, cause SPOILER the one after that is when everything goes down. Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes! I did have a great birthday, thanks, and it was even better with your help to the story. What is a story without the readers?
Reply to Reviews
xXJayfeatherRocksXx- It didn't go that well. We lost 42-7- Only our first game though. Thanks for waiting; I thought I was never going to get this chapter up. Also, its not a one-time thing, with Smallkit. I wanted to work that in with Wolfkit this chapter, but I couldn't fit it in. The end of Chapter One is a tiny clue, though. ;)
Tansyheart- Thanks for the names! I'm a big fan of yours, especially the Yellowfang and Nightcloud Show. I also stalk Warriors Wipeout on the forums as a guest, cause my parents won't let me get an account. :(
Clearflight- Thank you, I used Finchflight in this chapter. You and Tansyheart both suggested the name, so I made sure I included him.
Icefeather- Thanks! I hope you don't mind that I changed Aspenshade's age, I wanted to make an excuse for the kits. And yeah, that's DEFINETLY enough names. xD
Briarwind- Thank you! It's an idea I've had for a while and FINALLY decided to use, despite the 3 pages of story ideas I keep in my L.A binder. xD I hope you don't mind that I split the litter in half, I wanted some younger friends for our three protagonists when they get older, and some helpful older friends for early apprenticeship.
Feralclaw of MorningClan- Thanks for the name!
For our disclaimers, I would like to introduce my RL friends, Raintalon, Brambletail, and Blackshadow!
Rain: Silver, what the heck are we doing in your fanfiction?
Bramble: AAAAHHH! RAINY! *hides*
Black: -.- Seeing as this authors note is getting long, I will do it now and you can see our randomness later. Silver does not own anything you recognize. OR THE CATMINT! GET AWAY!
Read and Review!