I hope you all had some happy holidays. Have a great new year, as well!

Disclaimer: *Sigh.* I'm already bored of this disclaimer thing. Why would I post this stuff on here if I could just sell it? Because I would if I were Erin Hunter.

G R A Y P A W ' S

P O V

Graypaw couldn't bear to leave the Sky Oak, for he was waiting for it. After not long of time, a small silver pelt flashed at the edge of his vision, and then it was gone. It keeps falling, he thought. Why?

"Alright, Graypaw," a tom's voice rumbled. "What have you caught?" Graypaw looked back to his mentor, crestfallen.

"Nothing." Dustpelt sighed, annoyed at his apprentice's absent-mindedness. Even the young apprentice himself knew he'd be able to go on for weeks just staring into space . . . or mainly at that silver light. Instead of hanging his head in shame, Graypaw opened his ears in case of a noise from its return, but there was nothing.

"You know, Dustpelt," Graypaw said, his head having finally left the clouds. "I was thinking . . . when I'm a warrior, could you tell Firestar to name me something cool? Like Graytalon, or Grayclaw?" Like any apprentice, he was eager to earn his warrior name. "Just as long as it's not Grayfur, 'cause that one's boring."

The brown tom gave his apprentice a glare. "You won't become a warrior anytime soon if you keep spacing out like you did just now." His hard amber gaze softened a bit. "Is everything alright? You never acted this way as a kit." Dustpelt would know, after all, as he had often visited Ferncloud in the nursery.

"Everything is fine," Graypaw said. "Just . . . stop worrying about me! You're treating me like a kit." A sly look crept upon Dustpelt's eyes.

"I'll stop treating you like a kit, when you start acting your age." Graypaw sighed. "Deal?"

"Okay," the gray tom miserably replied. Dustpelt just didn't understand. Graypaw was the one with the visions of the silver light, not him! He scented the air around him, hoping to detect a stray squirrel, but there was nothing. "I don't smell anything, Dustpelt. It's too hot to concentrate on anything." A thought struck him. What if the silver was just an illusion? They did tend to happen often if one happened to stay in the heat too long. Graypaw made a mental note to go see Jayfeather about it later.

"That's no excuse," Dustpelt sniffed the air himself, wavering a bit in disappointment, "but you're right. I can't smell anything at all."

"Then can we head back to camp?" Graypaw asked hopefully. "I was going to hang out with Rosepetal later . . . "

"We can," Graypaw's ears pricked up in excitement, "after we do some more battle training. We should be doing something productive in this time of no prey." He let his ears droop slightly. Graypaw already knew all the moves Dustpelt had taught him, so why did he have to learn them again? "I hear that Featherpaw and Bumblepaw are training, as well," Dustpelt continued, probably hoping Graypaw's mood would perk up with this news. "I'm sure they would love for us to join them."

"Not really." It was common knowledge among Graypaw and his brother, Sunpaw, that their sister, Featherpaw, was head-over-heels in love with Bumblepaw. As long as he was there to moon over, she'd pay no attention to any other cat. Bumblepaw, of course, was completely oblivious to this, spending more time in the nursery playing with Dovekit and Ivykit, rather than merely noticing Featherpaw's existence, and that was saying something. Bumblepaw was hardly ever in the nursery. Dustpelt gave the tom a stern look, and Graypaw gave in. "Fine. Let's go."

By the time the two had gotten to the clearing, Featherpaw, Bumblepaw, and their mentors were getting ready to head back. ("I just don't understand," Birchfall was telling Mousewhisker. "She just can never concentrate when your apprentice is around.") As predicted, Featherpaw had failed yet another session of battle training while mooning over Bumblepaw.

"Why do you like him, anyways?" Graypaw whispered to her, so the others wouldn't hear. "What's so special about him?"

"He's like a shining star. Can't you see him glowing?" As far as Graypaw could tell, Bumblepaw was his normal dull gray self, but for some reason, Featherpaw kept insisting it was somehow shiny. Then again, you do see silver pelts flash around at Sky Oak. Maybe the two had inherited some sort of crazy genes from their parents, Cinderheart and Lionblaze, though it didn't seem likely, seeing as they were both trusted and noble warriors of Thunderclan. If Ferncloud had been their mother . . . well, let's just say that any cat who'd stayed in the nursery as long as Ferncloud had was bound to be insane.

"Yeah," he said. "Sure."

Dustpelt padded forward towards Birchfall. "Do you mind if we join you?"

"Not at all. We were just leaving, but . . . " The brown tabby glanced at Featherpaw with anxious amber eyes. "We could stay longer." The four cats said their good-byes to Mousewhisker and Bumblepaw, and almost immediately, Featherpaw snapped out of her daze.

"So, Graypaw," Featherpaw said. "Did you catch any prey? I heard that you'd been hunting."

"No." It was Dustpelt who had spoken. "The heat has sent away all the prey back into their dens, so we decided to do some battle training instead."

Graypaw nodded. "What Dustpelt said. He said that we should do something worthwhile while we're out."

"Okay. Let's fight!" Featherpaw let herself to a low crouch, and bared her teeth. Her claws were sheathed, but it didn't take away from the intensity of her mew. Graypaw got in the same position, and launched his first attack.

"Remember what I told you, Featherpaw," Birchfall was saying. "Aim for the throat." The tabby gray she-cat nodded slightly, giving no other sign she had acknowledged his instructions.

Just as Graypaw landed on Featherpaw's back, she rolled over and got on top of him. Graypaw kicked her off so as not to expose his soft belly to her claws (if this were a real battle,) and gave her a swipe to the muzzle. Featherpaw flinched at his agility, but jumped right back into the brawl. Hissing and spitting, the two apprentices fought until they were exhausted.

"I don't understand this apprentice," Birchfall yowled to Dustpelt. "First she's horrible, then she's great. How is that?" The other tom simply shrugged.

"Alright, you two," Dustpelt said to them after a while. "Let's head back." Graypaw and Featherpaw nodded their heads, and followed their mentors to Thunderclan camp. When they got there, Bumblepaw greeted the two, and Featherpaw shifted back to her usual dreamy state. Graypaw sighed at his sister. Could Bumblepaw really be that dashing?

"Hi, Graypaw!" he said, ignoring Featherpaw. "Guess what? I heard that Dovekit and Ivykit are going to become apprentices soon." Graypaw watched his sister, who appeared to be unfazed by Bumblepaw's rude behavior towards her.

"I wonder who their mentors will be," Graypaw wondered aloud.

"You know, Bumblepaw," Featherpaw said, finally plucking up the courage to talk to the tom. "You'd make a great leader."

"Erm, thanks?" The bee-patterned tom looked a bit confused at Featherpaw's random comment. He turned back to Graypaw. "And it kind of makes you start to wonder about what their warrior names will be, right?" Graypaw nodded.

"Dovenose for Dovekit," Graypaw decided, "and Ivyleaf for Ivykit."

"I've never thought of those names!" Bumblepaw replied, his eyes glimmering in amusement. "I was going for Dovepelt and Ivyfur."

Just as he said this, the three heard Firestars call, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath Highledge for a clan meeting!" The clan gathered, and Graypaw could see Dovekit and Ivykit licking themselves excitedly. "I've called you together for one of the most important moments in the life of a clan,. Dovekit and Ivykit have reached their sixth moon, and it's time for them to become apprentices." The large ginger tom beckoned them forward with his tail. "Come forward," he mewed.

"Dovekit," Firestar announced, "from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Dovepaw." The clan chanted the new apprentice's name. "Starclan, I ask you to guide this new apprentice. Set her paws on the path she must follow to become a warrior." Graypaw watched as the leader called for her mentor. "Lionblaze. You will be mentor to Dovepaw. You are a loyal warrior and your battle skills are outstanding. I know that you will pass these qualities on to Dovepaw."

"Ivykit," he continued, "from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Ivypaw. May Starclan watch over you and guide you in your journey to become a warrior." Firestar gazed over to Cinderheart. (That's my mother! Graypaw thought excitedly.) "Cinderheart, you have shown courage and endurance in your apprenticeship, and I trust now that you will teach Ivypaw to follow in your path."

Graypaw and his clanmates all repeated their names. "Dovepaw! Ivypaw!" He was excited at first, but then began to realize what had happened. There are no more kits in the nursery, he wondered wildly. Poppyfrost and Ferncloud will have to get a move on, then. The new apprentices left to search the borders, while Graypaw went inside to his nest to catch up with some sleep.

That night, he dreamed of the silver light.

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