Sunkit:
"Brightkit, Icekit, Sunkit, from this moment onward, until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Brightpaw, Icepaw, and Sunpaw." Sunpaw puffed out her chest, accepting to the clan's gazes on her and her littermates.
I'm finally an apprentice! Sunpaw's eyes glowed with pure joy as she caught Silvershine's proud gaze.
"Stormheart, you received excellent mentoring from Flowerstream," Streamstar continued. "Pass on all you know to Brightpaw." Sunpaw watched, blinking, as her sister padded over to touch noses with the gray tom.
"I will do my best, Streamstar," Stormheart mewed, looking satisfied that he had gotten an apprentice. He had also been Reedfur, her father's, mentor, and Reedfur had become a brilliant warrior, in Sunpaw's eyes.
"Darktail, this will be your first apprentice, but no doubt you will do well with Icepaw," Streamstar mewed, letting out an approving purr as the white tom bounded over to touch noses with the black-furred she-cat.
"Icepaw will learn everything he can from me!" Darktail mewed.
"Finally," the light gray leader mewed, her tail flicking, "Silversplash, you were mentored by myself, and I trust you will do your best with Sunpaw."
Sunpaw searched out the small silver she-cat's gaze, and let out a relieved breath to see that her blue eyes were encouraging. Swallowing a purr, she padded over to Silversplash and touched noses with her. "I'll do my best!" she promised, under her breath.
"Me, too," Silversplash whispered, making Sunpaw purr. Silversplash's voice raised as she spoke to Streamstar. "I will make Sunpaw a warrior the clan will be proud of." She turned back to Sunpaw, her eyes bright. "You bet I will!" This made the cats within earshot purr in amusement.
Sunpaw puffed out her chest and held her head high, her flaming ginger fur sleek and smooth as the cheers of her clanmates warmed her to the heart. "Brightpaw! Icepaw! Sunpaw! Brightpaw! Icepaw! Sunpaw!" Sunpaw looked at her mentor, surveying Silversplash carefully. She had never really met the silver she-cat before, except for seeing her going on patrol. Silversplash was a little small for a senior warrior, she was about the size of Rainblaze, who had received her warrior name barely a few nights before, along with her brother, now named Cloudpatch.
As the cheers died down, Sunpaw turned to Silversplash. "What will we do first?"
"Let's hunt!" Silversplash suggested.
Sunpaw nodded. "Great!"
"Follow me. Stay close," Silversplash growled, padding through the arching trees that signaled the edge of the RiverClan camp. "RiverClan are the only ones who get access to the fish in the lake, so if you see any cats stealing fish, you should alert me."
Sunpaw nodded. "All right!" Silversplash, Rainblaze, and Cloudpatch were probably the only ones who made her feel welcome. But even with the three of them, Sunpaw didn't feel right, in the place she was meant to be.
The two padded along in silence, until Sunpaw opened her jaws, scenting water, most likely from the lake.
"Here we are," Silversplash announced. "This is the lake."
Yes, I know that, Sunpaw bit back a retort. "How do you fish?" Her green eyes widened as she spotted the little creatures under the water, scuttling along with the waves of the lake. How do they breathe? She reached a paw inside, aiming for a fish that looked gray under the water, but when she lifted her paw back up, it was empty, and the fish had dispersed under the water.
"Not like that!" Silversplash mewed. "You lean away, so your shadow doesn't fall on the water. Then, you reach in quickly." As she spoke, she demonstrated, her paw flashing into the water and returning immediately, scooping out a blue-gray trout. "Try it."
Sunpaw leaned back a little, her tail twitching as she studied her target, a pale gray minnow. She reached in as quickly as she could and felt her paws hit the water, and pulling it out, she watched, awed, as the minnow she had struck landed on the ground beside her.
"Great catch!" Silversplash called, though her voice was a little muffled by a pike in her jaws. Sunpaw simply nodded and tried again.
Sunpaw, her gaze wandering, caught sight of a black she-cat who stood at the edge of the lake, unmoving, her green eyes wide as their identical green gazes met. Something unspoken passed between them, but Sunpaw couldn't tell what. The black she-cat seemed to be the same size as Sunpaw as well, but other than that, they appeared very different. Their pelt, for a start.
Suddenly, the she-cat moved, and she turned away, padding away. Before Sunpaw completely lost sight of her, she turned to Silversplash. "What clan is that?" she asked, interested.
"That's ThunderClan," Silversplash replied. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the retreating figure of the black she-cat. "That cat you see there is Shadowpaw. I met her on a border patrol yesterday. She was apprenticed three days ago."
Sunpaw simply nodded, shrugging. Her eyes flickered back toward the lake, and she scooped out another fish, this time, a carp. Her eyes widened as she held it in her jaws for Silversplash to see. "Well done!" her mentor exclaimed.
"Thanks," she mewed, dropping the fish.
It was getting darker, and Sunpaw and her new mentor had caught quite a lot, enough to make up half the fresh-kill pile. "Silversplash?" Sunpaw asked.
"Yes?"
"Is this enough?" Sunpaw asked, her ginger fur standing out against the dark red sky. "I think we should go back to camp now." Her tail twitched as she let out a yawn that she thought would split her head in two.
"I think so," Silversplash mewed. She paused. "We really think alike. I was about to say the same to you in a couple of heartbeats."
It was really getting obvious that we should stop, Sunpaw thought. I mean, hunting patrols don't normally stay after sunset, except for night hunting. "Right. How do you plan on us carrying all this back?" She motioned to her three catches, and Silversplash's five.
"Need some help?" a voice asked.
"Cloudpatch?" Sunpaw asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I was taking a walk," Cloudpatch mewed. "It looks like you could double the fresh-kill pile!" he exclaimed, surveying their catches. He pressed closer to Sunpaw, and instinctively, couldn't pull away. "Well done!"
He picked up two of Silversplash's catches in his jaws, and held another under his chin. Sunpaw purred in amusement as she saw Cloudpatch, who gave a muffled sound of protest. "It's the only way, you know," he mumbled. Shrugging, Sunpaw picked up her two minnows in her jaws, and hesitantly held her carp under her chin. Cloudpatch rolled his blue eyes. "You don't look so great, either."
Soon enough, the three of them padded back to camp, reeking of prey. "I think that's enough for today," Silversplash mewed. "Go and get some fresh-kill and some rest."
Sunpaw nodded and padded through the reeds and into camp. Rainblaze bounded over to her, her blue eyes gleaming as her gaze landed on her and Cloudpatch. "Sunpaw!" she called. "Can we talk?"
Sunpaw started. She hadn't be expecting for Rainblaze to ask that, for normally, it was her who would ask. "Sure!" she mewed, her voice muffled by her prey. She glanced at Silversplash, who nodded.
"Your first catches!" Rainblaze exclaimed. "Well done!"
Sunpaw dipped her head and dropped the carp at Rainblaze's paws before leaving her remaining two catches on the fresh-kill pile and selecting a small blue fish for herself and heading back toward Rainblaze, near a clump of reeds. "Well?"
"All right," Rainblaze mewed, looking a little uncomfortable. She glanced around to check that no one was watching. "So... how was your first day as an apprentice?"
Sunpaw rolled her eyes. "You didn't call me here in private just to ask me that. Spit it out, Rainblaze."
"So... the thing is... Cloudpatch... he really likes you," she admitted. "I mean, he loves you."
"What?" Sunpaw paused in her chewing.
"It's true," Rainblaze mewed, sighing. "So if you don't like him, just please be nice to him!"
"All right," Sunpaw mewed. "I don't know. So far, he's just a really close friend. But today's just my first day as an apprentice!"
Rainblaze nodded. "True. I'm just telling you."
Sunpaw dipped her head to her friend. Then, she paused before speaking. "About how I feel... I mean, I don't know if this is the right place for me!" Her voice rose to a low wail, which made Rainblaze flick her tail over her mouth.
"Hush..." Rainblaze whispered. "I don't-"
"Have you ever noticed," Sunpaw snapped, "how I am a ginger she-cat with green eyes, and none of my kin have either?"
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"I don't even feel that Silvershine is my mother," Sunpaw admitted, her head hanging. "I mean, she's not really too close to me... and I don't even know if I belong in RiverClan."
"Don't say that!" Rainblaze mewed.
"No, it's all right. It's not your fault. I've always felt this way, even when I was a kit." Sunpaw's voice hardened. "And I'm going to figure out why."