Chapter 1:

"Flamekit!" Flamekit's sleep was interrupted when Sunpaw nudged her. "Time to get up, Flamekit," she meowed, nudging her again. "Okay, Sunpaw… I'm getting up!" Flamekit growled at her. Flamekit scrambled to her paws as Sunpaw left the den. She wondered what Rockpaw and she would be going to do together on this day.

Flamekit sat up and washed myself slowly. As she left the den, Flamekit saw that the whole Clan was up.

Flamekit watched with wonder as Rockpaw padded over to to meet her. "Hi, Flamekit, are you ready to meet everyone? You should learn a few of their names." he purred. "Okay Rockpaw, let's go." Flamekit meowed.

Rockpaw was a brown tortoiseshell tom with blue eyes. He was Flamekit's brother but was a moon older. When he was standing under the moon his pelt looked a golden brown in the light.

"I'll introduce you to the warriors first since they're already up so we don't have to wake up anyone." he meowed. "This is Sandclaw," Rockpaw flicked his tail at a ginger she-cat with dark amber eyes. She was leaving camp to get prey, Flamekit guessed as she sped through the bramble covered tunnel.

"And this is Saturn, you might remember him," Rockpaw continued as he flicked his tail to a jet black tom with two pink eyes and a smudge of gold under one of his eyes. He nodded and continued to walk over to the nursery.

"That is Stormtail and this is Leafstorm." Rockpaw nodded his head toward two cats sharing tongues with each other. Flamekit could tell which one was Leafstorm and which one was Stormtail. Stormtail was a large white tom with a dark brown and black tail. Leafstorm was a white she-cat with leafy green eyes. "Hello, Flamekit, out of the nursery already? I remember when you were just learning how to play-fight with Rockpaw here," she meowed calmly to Flamekit.

She suddenly had a dim memory of her; she had come in to keep an eye on us. Dawnflower had gone somewhere and Leafstorm had volunteered to look after us. I remembered she played hide and seek and taught us how to play-fight a little.

I hope she is my mentor, Flamekit thought suddenly.

"This is Ashpelt, my mentor," he pointed at a black tabby tom with dark green eyes. Ashpelt yawned as he stretched his gray paws. Rockpaw and Flamekit padded over to the warrior's den. "And this is Snowclaw and Webnose." He flicked his tail over to two cats sitting next to each other. Flamekit barely knew Snowclaw. He was a white tom with gray paws which glowed in the moonlight. Webnose was a golden tom with amber eyes and paws.

She looked at his muzzle, which had web-like marking on the sides. Snowclaw and he were too deep in conversation to notice us. "Sorry to interrupt, you two, but Rockpaw and I have to learn to stalk." Ashpelt meowed as Rockpaw blushed. "Sorry Flamekit," he mewed. "Gotta go!" Flamekit watched as Ashpelt and Rockpaw dash into the forest.

At first, Flamekit wondered what she should do. She thought about seeing her mother in the nursery but then thought better of it.

Flamekit went over to the nursery to see if Saturn was there telling his stories. When we were younger, Rockpaw and Flamekit always listened to Saturn's stories of his life. They were interesting, but they could tell that some of it was fake.

As Flamekit passed the nursery, she saw Saturn's tail swishing side to side. So she padded inside and sat next to Snowkit. Snowkit was a white tom with golden paws.

"So there I was," Saturn meowed to them darkly. "Surrounded by Tree-eaters in the dark forest. A lone Tree-eater sat eating a nearby tree." Saturn's ears were flat against his head as he spoke. "I whirled around, just in time, mind you, to see three giant TwoLegs advancing towards me. I ran around them and climbed up the nearest Tree-eater. Then, as the Twolegs started running towards me, I jumped and.." Saturn never got to finish his sentence.

Suddenly, Icestar's yowl rang across the air. Rockpaw and Ashpelt just got back from hunting and stalking so Flamekit went up to them and told them to gather at Highrock.

Rockpaw and Flamekit raced across the clearing and skidded to a halt in front of the rock. Ashpelt trailed behind.

"I'll introduce you to everyone later and I think that you are getting a mentor and becoming an apprentice!" Rockpaw whispered in my ear, quickly. "I loved it when Wetstar made me an apprentice!"

"It is time for Flamekit to become an apprentice." Icestar meowed calmly. Flamekit's heart skipped a beat.

Icestar motioned to Flamekit to step up on the rock. Her heart wanted to break out of her ribcage as Flamekit leaped up.

"Flamekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed." Icestar meowed. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw. Your mentor will be Leafstorm. I hope Leafstorm will pass down all she knows onto you." Yowls of approval met Icestar's words. Icestar beckoned to Leafstorm to step up on the rock.

"Leafstorm, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Cloudheart," the old elder blushed. "And you have shown yourself to be brave and loyal. You will be the mentor of Flamepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Flamepaw."

"FLAMEPAW! FLAMEPAW! FLAMEPAW!"

Leafstorm padded up to now Flamepaw and touched noses with her. Then she purred kindly in her ear, "I will teach you a lot of things that no cat knows except me that I taught myself. Don't tell anyone, okay? It our little secret." Flamepaw slowly nodded her head.

"Can we go to the training area then go hunting?" Flamepaw asked her. "Sure, but after that we need to explore the territory, " she meowed.

Flamepaw dashed over to the training area and waited for Leafstorm to come over.

"Alright, Flamepaw," Leafstorm began. "I'm going to teach you a few of the basics first. We'll start with the back kick," Leafstorm looked at Flamepaw as she explained what to do. "First, you turn around and wait until your enemy gets close enough that you can kick them. Judge the distance carefully; if you kick too soon, your enemy might see what you are doing and dodge it. Then," Leafstorm continued, "You lash out and take your weight on your front paws." Leafstorm finished. "You try." She mewed.

"Okay."

"Ready?"

Flamepaw nodded slowly and turned herself around, ready to kick Leafstorm. She imagined herself kicking a real enemy in a important battle over SunningRocks against GrassClan.

When Flamepaw finished judging her distance, she lashed out quickly at Leafstorm. Flamepaw heard her hiss in surprise.

"I didn't even know when you were going to kick!" Leafstorm purred as she recovered from the blow. "Now, for the front paw blow..."

A few minutes went by. Soon Flamepaw was batting and swatting Leafstorm with a hard front paw blow and back kick.

When they were out hunting, Leafstorm taught Flamepaw some of the secret moves that she told her about. The first move she taught Flamepaw was climbing up a tree to find the eggs of a bird. "Watch this and stay quiet," she meowed. She slowly and quickly climbed up the nearest tree. There was no nest up there so she jumped to another tree. Soon Flamepaw couldn't see her anymore. So she pictured Leafstorm climbing from tree to tree until she finds the perfect nest with a few bird eggs inside of it.

Flamepaw waited.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the leaves and Leafstorm's head popped into view. Flamepaw purred as she meowed, "I got the eggs and the finch!" She climbed down and then mewed, panting. "All you do is hide the eggs in your mouth, kill the other bird, and climb down." She paused. "Then you wash off the eggs in a puddle or something," Leafstorm then buried her prey. "I'll get those later," She murmured.

Leafstorm blinked when Flamekit asked, "May I try now?"

"Yes, you may." She meowed. Flamepaw stealthily climbed up a tree and hopped to another.

The branches swayed under her weight and the breeze ruffled her ginger fur. Soon Flamepaw found a nest with a few eggs inside. She scooped the eggs up in her mouth just as the wagtail saw her. It squeaked with surprise and attacked Flamepaw. Flamepaw jumped over it and landed on its back. She pinned it down, and killed it by cutting off its windpipe with a paw. Flamepaw climbed down the tree with the wagtail and eggs in her mouth. "Good job, Flamepaw! You hunted like StarClan themselves!" Warmed by the older cat's praise, Flamepaw and her mentor headed back to camp.

At first, Flamepaw thought she saw enemy warriors. Then Flamepaw was sure she saw CloudClan warriors. "LOOK OUT!" Flamepaw howled with my mouth full of wagtail and eggs. Flamepaw almost choked. Leafstorm and Flamepaw raced back to the camp and Leafstorm yowled as loud as she could, "ICESTAR! ICESTAR! ICESTAR! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY CLOUDCLAN!"

Flamepaw gave my eggs and wagtail to Leafstorm so she could clean them and put them away in the fresh kill pile. "Be careful out there," She told Flamepaw. "Use the moves I taught you when you were a kit and the ones I taught you earlier today. They are good for your first battle. We'll explore later. I promise." Flamepaw nodded and posed myself carefully.

If Leafstorm thinks I can do it, Flamepaw reminded herself. Then I can. Suddenly, cats dashed into the clearing after a loud battle yowl.

Oh, StarClan, Flamepaw thought. What are we in for now?