Redkit slipped into the medicine cat den, creeping past the rows of empty nests to the back of the den, where Cherryshade kept the herbs. He inhaled deeply, sniffing at all the leaves and berries. He let out a happy sigh and started pawing through the dried leaves.
"Redkit!" a voice scolded.
Redkit squeaked and turned around to face Cherryshade. "I-I was just looking!"
"With your paws?" Cherryshade purred.
Redkit laid his ears back, head hanging low. "I'm sorry, Cherryshade…"
"It's alright, Redkit. But you know better than to go pawing at herbs."
"I know, I just… Roseheart says my apprenticeship ceremony is today so I wanted to…" Redkit trailed off, looking down at his paws.
"Redkit," Cherryshade sighed.
"Cherryshade, please!" Redkit mewed, looking up to his aunt with tear-filled eyes. "Please, I want to be a medicine cat!"
"I know, Redkit, but it's your destiny to be a warrior."
"Says who?!" Redkit cried.
"You know who, Redkit, Roseshade and I have told you the story a thousand times; Mistystar came to Roseshade in a dream and told your mother that it was your destiny to save the Clans."
"But… But…" Redkit whimpered and started to sob, tears soaking into his fur.
"Oh, Redkit," Cherryshade sighed, pulling Redkit close.
Cherryshade let Redkit rest against her, crying into her fur. She threw a paw over his back and wrapped her tail around them. "Being a warrior won't be so bad. You'll get to fight to protect your Clan, and hunt to feed your Clanmates…"
"I don't want to fight!" Redkit cried. "I don't want to hunt!"
"Redkit!" a voice called outside the den. Redkit's sobs immediately stopped and he curled into Cherryshade, whimpering and shuddering in fear.
Cherryshade looked down at Redkit, then looked towards the entrance do the den. She opened her mouth to call out to Puddlefoot, but Redkit shook his head.
"No, please!" he begged, softly.
"I'm sorry," Cherryshade whispered back.
"No," Redkit whimpered.
"Puddlefoot!" Cherryshade called. "He's in here!"
A large black tom pushed into the medicine cat den and smiled widely when he saw Redkit curled up under Cherryshade's tail.
"There you are, Redkit!" he purred. He picked Redkit up by his scruff and dragged him out into the clearing.
"It's time to get ready for your apprenticeship ceremony!" Puddlefoot said, setting Redkit down.
"Yes, father," Redkit whispered.
"Go to the nursery and find your mother," Puddlefoot purred, nudging Redkit in the direction of the nursery.
Redkit got to his paws and raced across the clearing to the nursery, glancing back over his shoulder to see his father watching him go. There would be no slipping back into the medicine den today.
Redkit found his mother in their shared nest, and she pulled him close, licking his fur smooth. Redkit considered worming away from Roseheart and trying to hide, but he knew that his mother knew the camp much better than he did, and that his apprenticeship ceremony would come eventually, no matter what he did.
"Let all cats old enough-"
Redkit didn't hear the rest of the call, his heart beating so loudly he was sure his mother could hear it. "Mother, please," he whispered.
"Don't worry, Redkit. You'll like being an apprentice." Roseheart mewed, rising from her nest and nudging him out ahead of her. The two cats slipped out of the nursery and crossed the clearing, Roseheart walking behind Redkit to keep an eye on him.
Redkit approached Fuzzystar, his paws shaking as he gazed up at her. She motioned for him to stop just a few pawsteps away.
"Redkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Redpaw. Your mentor will be Blacktalon." Fuzzystar meowed loudly, so the whole gathered Clan could hear.
Redpaw turned to face the Clan's deputy, a huge black tom and his uncle, as he approached. Blacktalon dipped his head in greeting.
"Blacktalon, it is time for you to have another apprentice. You have received excellent training from Patchysky," Blackfoot glanced at Roseheart and Cherryshade at the mention of their father, "and you have proven time and time again that you are strong, brave, and loyal. You will be the mentor of Redpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him. With your guidance, Redpaw will be more than ready to embrace his destiny when it comes."
Blackfoot lowered his head and Redpaw hesitantly stepped forward, stretching up so Blackfoot could touch his nose to Redpaw's. As they pulled away from each other, their Clanmates called out Redpaw's name.
Redpaw stood still, staring down at his paws while he waited for the shouting to trail off. He heard pawsteps and glanced up to see Puddlefoot and Roseheart approaching him.
"We're so proud of you, Redpaw," Roseheart purred, nuzzling between his ears.
"Mother-" Redpaw started, but his father throwing a paw around him and pulling him close cut him off.
"You're going to make an amazing warrior, son!" Puddlefoot purred.
Redpaw hesitated before letting out a sigh. "Yes, father," he mumbled.
Blacktalon pushed past his brother to properly greet his apprentice. "Are you ready to go out and see the territory?" Blacktalon meowed.
Redpaw looked desperately to his mother, and she nodded in encouragement, smiling. Redpaw sighed and gazed up at his mentor, who towered over him.
"I-I guess," Redpaw mewed softly.
Blacktalon turned, gesturing with his tail for Redpaw to follow, and started towards the entrance to camp. Redpaw followed after him, quickly realizing he had to take three steps for every one of Blacktalon's, and he raced to catch up. He met Blacktalon at the stepping stones heading out of camp.
"The stones aren't too hard," Blacktalon mewed, bunching his muscles to jump to the first rock. He quickly leapt to the second rock, then looked back at Redpaw. "Go ahead!"
Redpaw gulped and bunched up his muscles, crouching. He hesitated a long moment before jumping, paws reaching out for the stone. He'd over done it, however, and his front paws slammed into the water. His back paws hit the stone hard, but it was wet, and his paws slipped out from under him, sending him crashing fully into the water.
"Redpaw!" Blacktalon called.
The water wasn't very deep, and thankfully, Redpaw was able to simply stand up in the water. He shook out his fur, although it didn't help much when he was standing belly-deep in the stream.
His ears laid back in embarrassment when he realized what had happened and he let out a helpless cry, "I'm useless!"
"No," Blacktalon soothed, from where he stood on the second stone. He slipped off the rock and into the water. The stream was belly deep where he stood, a few tail-lengths out from Redpaw. Belly deep for Blacktalon and belly deep for Redpaw were not the same thing, however, and Redpaw imagined if he waded out that far, the water would reach up to his ears. "No apprentice can swim before he's learned how," Blacktalon meowed. "Why don't we try that?"
"Swimming?" Redpaw asked, already feeling nervous at the idea.
"You're not a drypaw, are you?" Blacktalon teased.
"No!" Redpaw meowed insistently. The water wasn't what made him nervous- it was the idea of failing that made his paws quake.
"It's a lot like walking. Just paddle your feet! Swim out to me and I'll catch you."
Redpaw nodded slowly and waded deeper into the water. When it came up to his shoulders, he found that his paws didn't quite reach the bottom anymore and he churned his paws. With his eyes shut tight, Redpaw couldn't see if he was doing it or not. He put all his focus into paddling and keeping his head above the surface. Suddenly he felt teeth in his scruff, and he blinked open his eyes to see Blacktalon standing over him. The bigger tom pulled him, helping Redpaw across the part of the stream where he had no chance of reaching the bottom. When his churning paws were kicking up rocks again, Blacktalon released him, and Redpaw waded out of the water.
On the opposite shore, he gazed back to camp, eyes wide. He had swam across the stream! Sure, not completely on his own, but he must have swam the tail-length from where his paws didn't reach the ground to where Blacktalon had stood. Redpaw held his head high, proud of himself for finally achieving something.
"Good job," Blacktalon purred, shaking water from his fur.
"Thank you," Redpaw purred back, also shaking the water from his fur.
Blacktalon flicked his tail and started off toward a thin line of trees. Redpaw ran to catch up and tried to keep pace with Blacktalon.
"I'll show you the borders first. This way is to the ShadowClan border," Blacktalon explained as they walked. It didn't take long until Blacktalon stopped at the edge of a wide clearing. Redpaw could see the lake shore to the left, some twoleg thing stretching out over the water's edge.
"What's that?" Redpaw asked, flicking his tail toward the twoleg thing.
"That's the half-bridge. Twolegs like to stand on it. They come to this place every greenleaf."
"What do they do here?"
"They fish. They hold onto sticks with a long, thin web attached to it, and throw the web into the water, then they pull fish out."
"Whoa," Redpaw whispered. "And where's the ShadowClan border?"
Blacktalon nodded towards the clearing. "Across the twolegplace. They don't pass over it or the thunderpath, so we don't see much of them. Can you smell them?"
Redpaw took in a deep breath, his mouth open to taste the air. "I-I don't know," he admitted.
"You'll recognize the stench better after your first gathering," Blacktalon said, turning away from the border. The two toms followed the edge of the lake, walking on the grassy hill above the pebbly shore.
"Can we go down to the water?" Redpaw asked.
"Maybe on the way back to camp," Blacktalon mewed.
They were quiet the rest of the walk, and soon found themselves at the edge of a river. It was much wider and deeper than the stream they crossed to get off the camp's island. Blacktalon nudged Redpaw to get his attention and nodded toward the lake. Redpaw followed Blacktalon's gaze and saw, out in the water, an island with large pine trees. From where they stood, he could see a fallen tree that acted as a bridge to cross the lake between the shore and the island.
"Can we go there?" Redpaw asked excitedly, looking to his mentor.
Blacktalon purred and shook his head, meowing, "Not today. That's the island where we hold Gatherings. You'll get to see it soon enough."
"Do you mean- I get to go to the next Gathering?" Redpaw asked. The Gathering was only a few days away- Redpaw never expected he'd get to go so early.
"Of course you get to go! You're going to save the Clans, Redpaw, and that means you need to meet cats from other Clans as soon as possible." Blacktalon explained enthusiastically.
"Oh," Redpaw sighed, the excitement draining from him. Right, of course. Redpaw got special treatment because of his destiny.
"We'll have to cross the river to get to the WindClan border," Blacktalon said, ignoring Redpaw's disappointed tone.
"Okay," Redpaw meowed.
"We won't be able to swim here, the current is too strong. You don't want to get swept out into the lake."
"How will we cross?" Redpaw asked, a little more interested now.
"We'll have to use the stones," Blacktalon said carefully.
The stones. Redpaw swallowed thickly and followed Blacktalon down to the bank. Blacktalon leapt to the first stone, then the second, and turned back to watch Redpaw, just like he had before. "Come on, Redpaw, you can do it!" Blacktalon called.
Redpaw took in a deep breath before crouching. He let the breath out slowly before leaping. His paws landed squarely on the stone. He looked excitedly to Blacktalon.
"You did it!" Blacktalon called, purring.
Blacktalon jumped to the next stone, and Redpaw leapt after him with a little more confidence. He landed squarely on the second stone as well. They continued like this until Redpaw leapt from the final stone to land beside Blacktalon on the opposite shore.
"Seems like you've mastered the stepping stones," Blacktalon purred.
Redpaw was feeling better about being an apprentice as they crossed the marshy part of RiverClan's territory. They eventually came to what Blacktalon called the Horseplace. There was a tall structure that looked to Redpaw like thin trees crossing over each other.
"What is that?" Redpaw asked, approaching the structure and sniffing at it. It smelled like trees…
"That's the fence. Twolegs can't smell borders so they build them. WindClan is on the other side of the Horseplace."
"Do we ever see other Clan cats on our territory?" Redpaw asked.
"Not very much, no." Blacktalon purred. "But we may see medicine cats from time to time."
"Medicine cats? Why?" Redpaw asked excitedly.
"Well, the medicine cats share herbs with each other. If ThunderClan is in need of something we have, their medicine cat may come to us."
"Who is ThunderClan's medicine cat?"
"I believe it's a tom named Fernleaf."
"What does he look like?"
"I don't know, Redpaw. You can ask Cherryshade those questions."
Redpaw frowned and let out a soft sigh. "Okay."
"I can tell you about the other leaders, though," Blacktalon offered as they headed back towards camp.
"No, that's okay," Redpaw sighed softly.
The two toms walked in silence instead.