"Mapllekit, from this day forward, until you have earned your Warrior name, you will be known as Maplepaw. Silverfur, you are a wise and noble cat. Pass these traits on to Maplepaw," Fishstar meowed.
"Stormkit, from this day forward, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Stormpaw. Ambertail, you are ready for your first apprentice. Pass on your positivity and kindness to Stormpaw," Fishstar called.
"Maplepaw! Stormpaw!" chanted the clan.
Stormpaw knew he should be happy, but all he could think about was how Maplepaw got the deputy and how he got a young warrior who had never mentored.
"What's wrong?" Ambertail asked.
"I'm fine," Stormpaw told her.
"You want Silverfur to be your mentor, right?" Ambertail asked, her ginger coat glowing in the setting son.
"Did you read my mind?"
"Every kit wants the deputy as their mentor," Ambertail said.
"Oh," Stormpaw mumbled.
"I'm here for you, Stormpaw. Put forth your best effort in training, and I'll put forth mine in mentoring," Ambertail meowed, not gently but not sternly either.
"Everyone likes Maplepaw better than me!" Stormpaw exploded.
Ambertail's eyes widened in shock. "It's not that," She mewed.
"What is it then?! Everyone's like 'Poor little Maplekit. We know your brother's a big meany, but we're here for you.' Then to me they're all like 'Stormkit! Be nice to your sister! You're always so mean!'" Stormpaw hissed in his mentor's face.
"I'm going to tell you something and don't interrupt. When we see you, you often start yelling at your sister for things she didn't do and act like she's the worst thing that's ever happened to you, or go stalking around with a scowl. You need to come out of your shell and show the clan what you can do. You must also work on the way you act toward Maplepaw," Ambertail meowed in the same tone.
"If you understood why I'm like this, you wouldn't be so fond of her either! She's a monster!" Stormpaw knew he'd said too much.
"I know what I need to know. It's time for you to find yourself a new nest and get some rest," Ambertail meowed, heading towards the Warriors' Den.
The memories filled Stormpaw with dread. They were vague, but they were there, and that was enough. Enough to tell Stormpaw that Maplepaw could do terrible things. His dreams were filled with Maplepaw's sharp claws and harsh words. His waking hours held visions of Maplepaw telling him to fight harder as her fangs sank into his flesh. If any other cat knew, they would be frightened.
Stormpaw entered the Apprentices' Den.
"Hey Stormpaw! You can sleep here!" meowed Fernpaw, a light gray tabby she-cat with clear blue eyes as she flicked her tail to an empty nest.
"Thanks," meowed Stormpaw.
"Any time," Fernpaw meowed.
As Stormpaw lay down he looked at all the cats in the den. Fernpaw had curled her tail over her nose and was well on her way to being asleep. Maplepaw was giving her pelt a quick wash. Applepaw was a snoring heap of red fur. Webpaw, a dark gray tabby tom with a white chest, belly, and neck and large ears, sat talking with Mousepaw. Stormpaw curled up and closed his eyes.
The forest was beautiful. The trees were tall and green. Flowers grew among ferns and brambles. Stormpaw could smell forest prey, or he could guess that was what it was, seeing as he'd never smelled any kind of food but fish. A path stretched ahead of the young tom, and he walked along it. The ground was soft and springy under his pads. He entered a clearing. The ground was covered by soft, tall grass. The moon floated overhead, and a warm Greenleaf breeze blew Stormpaw's fur.
"Welcome to StarClan's hunting ground," came a soft meow.
"I'm in StarClan? Am I dead? I hope I'm not dead!" Stormpaw cried.
"You are not dead," meowed the voice.
Stormpaw turned to see a white she-cat. "My name is Whitepelt, and StarClan has sent me to tell you an important message," Whitepelt said.
"What is it? Will I be leader?" Stormpaw asked eagerly.
Whitepelt ignored the question, but Stormpaw was sure he had seen a flicker of amusement in her eyes.
He was given no more time to think or speak because Whitepelt had started to talk again.
"Love was won and love was lost. Revenge was sought and lives were taken. In one's death they met and grew to hate. An unforgettable grudge was held by one. It still haunts and only a storm will break it."
"What do you mean?" Stormpaw asked, but the dream had faded.
Stormpaw woke up the next day. He wished he had more time to think about what Whitepelt had told him. However he was excited to see the territory. The other apprentices were already gone. Stormpaw regretfully left his soft nest and headed out into the camp.
Outside the sun shown, but a cool breeze reminded the clan that Leaffall was not far off.
"Are you ready to explore?" Ambertail asked, her fur was freshly groomed, and her amber eyes shone with excitement.
"Yes!" Stormpaw meowed, his mentor's enthusiasm rubbing off on him.
"Do you want to eat first?" Ambertail asked.
"I'll eat when we get back," Stormpaw responded.
The two cats entered the Thorn Tunnel that lead out of camp. Stormpaw looked around. A huge river slid passed to the left. To the right was a forest. Ambertail lead Stormpaw into the forest.
"We usually don't hunt here, but if there aren't enough fish, we hunt birds here," the ginger warrior meowed.
"What's passed the forest?" Stormpaw asked.
"That's what I'm showing you," Ambertail told him.
They walked for some time. After a while, they got to a grassy clearing.
"This is the Great Clearing where gatherings are held," Ambertail meowed.
Stormpaw looked forward at this place he had been told so many stories about. It was a large circle. All four territories bordered it, and in the center was a huge stump that must be the Great Stump that the leaders stood on to address the clans.
"I didn't just bring you here to see the Great Clearing. You can also sent the other clans here," Ambertail meowed.
"Show me!" Stormpaw cried.
"Come to the right a ways and keep your paws in the clearing," Ambertail told him.
Stormpaw did as he was told.
"Now take a big sniff of the ground ahead of you. You'll smell ThunderClan."
It smelled like forests and mice, a rather unpleasant combo.
"What are you doing?" meowed a black and brown tom, who had appeared out of the forest.
"I'm sorry. I'm showing my apprentice the territory, and I thought this would be the best way to show him the other clans' sent. We meant no harm," Ambertail explained calmly.
"I understand. The apprentice should learn sooner rather than later where he can put his paws," The tom meowed.
"Thank you, Darkpelt," Ambertail said, and dipped her head to the tom.
Darkpelt headed away without another word. "That's the deputy of ThunderClan, right?" Stormpaw asked, and when Ambertail nodded, Stormpaw was thrilled that he'd seen the ThunderClan deputy on his first day out of camp.
WindClan and ShadowClan smelled just as bad, but at least none of their cats came out to question them. Ambertail and Stormpaw walked back through the forest. Then they walked along the river bank to a large open space.
"This is where we do battle training," Ambertail meowed.
"Can we do that now?" Stormpaw begged.
"No. It's getting late. I'll show you more tomorrow, but let's go back now," Ambertail said.
Stormpaw curled into his nest that night, and thought happily about tomorrow.
A/N: Let's do some review replies!
Subwayguy: Thanks for your thoughts.
Booklady1017: Your welcome, and thanks!
Pebblewish: Thank you!
Mooneyes of Moorclan: Saddly, I don't have the time to be in forums. I wish I did, but I'm just way too busy.
Sassy: As you can tell from this chapter that is not all true, but I did make it seem like that before. Thanks for the nice review!
Creekrunner: Thank you.
NightmareTheFoxWitch: Thanks for telling me.