Here it is! Chapter Three! Yay! I hope you like it. This is where they become apprentices. :) And then Echomint... READ AND YOU SHALL SEE! :) Please review!
Chapter 3:
There hadn't been a battle since the small but harmful border skirmish that ThunderClan and RiverClan had. The cats had come back with minor wounds, but they were still bleeding. That was all the battles that there had ever been in the past three moons, except for the kits' play battles.
The play battles, for some reason, were very entertaining to the elders, queens, and the non-working warriors. The kits were glad to have the attention, and they made the games more special for every cat that watched.
Littlepaw and Meadowpaw seemed like they missed those games, but they were always heard muttering, "You're a warrior now, not a kit. Warriors don't play games."
The next day, Littlepaw and Meadowpaw went out for hunting.
"Tell us what you learned!" Firekit had said.
"Yeah, don't forget us!" Redkit had mewed after them.
"Teach us everything!" Minnowkit had called after them.
That had been the crack of dawn. Right now, it was sun-high.
Minnowkit, Firekit, and Redkit were bored out of their minds. They had tried to do a battle but the winds of leaf-fall were too harsh for them. They had always blown their small paws the other direction and their fur, especially Minnowkit's, got in their faces and they couldn't see. There had been a few minor injuries when the wind caused claws to unsheathe and accidently hit a kit or two, but that was it. Now, since the kits were tired of being out-witted by the wind, three kits were awake and the other four had decided to take a nap with their mother, Ivymint.
Minnowkit raised her head with a jerk. She had the greatest idea in ThunderClan history!
"Guys!" Minnowkit mewled with excitement. "I know what to do!"
Firekit and Redkit raised their shining eyes.
"The wind is strong, right? So kits can easily be blown away right? Let's pretend that we're being blown away!" Firekit and Redkit yowled with excitement.
They started their game of "Big Winds". They began to yowl for help and claw at the ground and roll around and leap high into the air. Eventually cats stopped looking at them with worried eyes when they realized it was just a game and they went back to their warrior duties.
Then, the kits started to grow louder and louder and they awoke the sleeping elders on the other side of the camp. I was no surprise when Streamkit, Dawnkit, Snowykit, and Bluekit started to walk out of the nursery with huge yawns escaping their mouths.
"What are you play-" Dawnkit was cut off by a huge yawn. "What are you guys playing?"
"We're playing the best game in the history of games!" Redkit squealed.
"It's called…" Firekit paused for a dramatic effect. "BIG WINDS!"
Streamkit and his littermates still looked confused and annoyed to be woken up.
"It's where all of the big winds make us blow away! Watch!" Firekit rolled on the ground, tearing up dirt with her tiny claws and wailing and yelling for help.
Streamkit's littermates looked excited now, and less annoyed with their game and their eyes shining as if they were to say, "Let's get started!" with squeaking voices.
"LET'S GO!" Bluekit yowled, apparently more outgoing than the others and more prepared to say what he was thinking.
All seven of the kits started to wail and yowl with pain and helplessness. They tore at the ground with the thorns that were their claws and they jumped with massive leaps into the frosty air. In the middle, Redkit came up with a plan. All the kits were exited to use it.
After a while, the kits were really exhausted. Streamkit and Bluekit were lying panting on the ground, saying that Windbreeze, which is what the kits called the wind, had killed them with ferocious moves. Minnowkit had pretended that the wind was blowing them into a river and was lying on the ground saying that she had drowned along with Snowykit. Redkit and Firekit said that they were too tired to fight the wind, and it had eventually destroyed them. Dawnkit said that it blew her into a tree and she had been crushed when it fell on her.
All of the kits were lying on the ground with their eyes closed, half-asleep. They were so limp that it looked like they were all dead, which was the plan that Redkit had thought of. All of them tried their best to breathe very shallowly.
"We have to tire ourselves out, then it'll look like we're dead. Next, we'll wake up in the nursery and pretend to come back to life! The queens will be so scared and surprised! Remember, you are dead."
Apparently that plan had worked. Both of the queens ran over to them and started to wail. They called for Pinesong, who took them to the medicine-den to be prepared for burial. Riverstar called a clan meeting and all of the kits woke-up.
"Wait," Snowykit whispered fearfully. "We're in the medicine-den!"
All of the kits looked at her with sleepiness and fear in their eyes.
Pinesong started to rub sap and honey in their fur, and all of the kits wrinkled their noses at the sweet and woody smell.
Oh, Redkit, you've done it now! Minnowkit thought to herself. What's going to happen to us?
Minnowkit just relaxed her muscles and stayed as still as possible when Pinesong came nearby.
Suddenly, the game would get more interesting as her mind popped an idea to her. She opened her eyes so they were the tiniest slits and caught Streamkit's eye. She saw his eyes twinkle as he recognized her great idea expression.
Minnowkit made her body still and just barely breathed; making sure that no one could see that her belly was still pumping up and down.
"Hey," Minnowkit said in a tiny voice. "It's me, me, me, Minnowkit," She said again in a faint voice, pretending to be StarClan. "I can't show my body, but what I can do is talk, talk, talk to anyone I want. I have a very important prophecy on my paws, paws, paws that I will tell, tell, tell you! You have to hear, hear, hear it."
Pinesong pricked his ears.
"Tell me, little one," he whispered. Minnowkit could see faint amusement in his eyes, because of her repeating the words. She could barely hear him mutter, "Once a kit, always a kit."
"Today, a miracle will happen. 5 will become 6, and soon the warrior will be named and apprentices shall be born in the black dawn of Thunder."
All of the kits mewed with laughter, but very quietly.
"You mean, there will be new apprentices? But how? All of our kits are dead. You're one of them, you should know!"
Minnowkit dipped her head very slightly.
"Yes, but remember, before that, a miracle will happen. First, the miracle, then the warrior, then the miracle will show that apprentices are yet to be born."
Minnowkit gave a tiny tail signal and all of the kits, getting the message, waited for Minnowkit's lead.
"Yet to be born, yet to be born, YET TO BE BORN!" Soon after all of the kits started to yowl yet to be born, and then, Minnowkit signaled to stop with the smallest tail flick.
Pinesong rushed out of the medicine den and streamed to the leader's den.
"That was hilarious, but one question," Streamkit said. "What's the miracle, and why did you repeat the words?"
"We come back to life!" Minnowkit said proudly. "That's the miracle. Then, we become apprentices! And, I like repeating things, plus it made the prophecy sound more mysterious. It was also funny with Pinesong. He said this: Once a kit, always a kit!"
Dawnkit looked unhappy.
"I don't want to be an apprentice yet!" she yowled, clinging on to the first answer that Minnowkit gave.
"Shhhh!" Firekit stuffed her tail over Dawnkit's mouth. "You don't have to be an apprentice if you don't want to. It'll be hard to leave this life, but we want to. So we'll be apprentices, and you'll be our awesome kit friends. Minnowkit knew this because she said 5 turns to 6, and you guys are 3 moons old."
Everyone seemed happy after that. Firekit's answer was very logical.
Suddenly, a soft paw step sounded just outside the medicine den.
"Quiet! He's back! When I flick my tail, you're alive!"
Minnowkit rushed the words out of her mouth then lay limp on the ground. She flicked her tail and started to groan a little. Pinesong gasped.
"You're alive!" he stared at Minnowkit. "Just like you said!"
He looked around his den.
"This must be the miracle!" he gasped as he saw the raising kits. They were all moaning and groaning.
"Five turns to six," he muttered. "Five moons into six moons, apprentices are made when kits are six moons; Roseberry's litter is five moons, so they must be apprentices now! Ivymint's kits are three moons, so they're not going to be apprenticed. But black dawn of Thunder?" he paused for a moment, then burst, "Nighttime! The night for ThunderClan is evening, so at the evening the apprentices shall be born. This is wonderful!"
Once again, Pinesong rushed out of his den, joy and relief filling his gaze. Tonight was the half-moon, and it looked like he would have the most intriguing news that StarClan had sent for the other medicine-cats. As far as Minnowkit was concerned, "StarClan" gave her and her littermates their dream come true.
All of the kits started to mew with laughter.
"That was a good one, Minnowkit!" Firekit said, her eyes shining with excitement. "Now, we're apprentices earlier than we're supposed to be!"
All of the kits headed outside and they started to head towards the nursery, but Roseberry blocked their way.
"I have to make sure that my kits are ready for their ceremony!" she mewed desperately.
All three of her kits glanced at each other uneasily.
"Run!" Snowykit urged.
The kits quickly ran away to a secret place that they discovered when they first explored the camp. It was squished even for them now, but there was a bigger one next to it that they would use when they got older. They started to frantically wash themselves.
"It's too squished in her!" Redkit complained. "I'll stay here, and you two can go into the other one."
The two she-cats squished out of the mini-den and then they started to quickly pad into the other den before Roseberry could spot them again.
They rapidly washed themselves, making sure that every piece of scrap moss was out of their fur.
Minnowkit headed towards the entrance, looking farther well-groomed than usual, with her long black fur licked slickly back, hanging down a little around her belly. Roseberry saw them and raced up to get a closer look at her two kits. Then Redkit came out, and he was something to look at. His russet fur sleekly pulled back, showing off of his muscles underneath his skin. His cheek fur was not kit-poofy as it used to be, but it was short and made his eyes stand out more. He followed the trail down, his muscles rippling as he leaped. Firekit soon followed, her russet fur sleekly pulled back, and like Redkit, showing off her emerald green eyes. They sparkled in the sunlight along with her fur, especially her soft, waving tail. Minnowkit followed Firekit down, and every time she jumped the fur on her back was blown by the wind. Her fur shimmered like the darkest night lit up by moonlight, reflecting the sun's fading rays. Her grayish eyes were twinkling like a cloud that was lit up by the stars of Silverpelt on a full moon.
Redkit and Firekit had waited at the bottom for her, and they soon padded over to the Rocky Boulder shoulder to shoulder, their paw steps even. Cats from all around stared at the three yet-to-be apprentices. Streamkit was staring at Minnowkit with the strangest look in his eyes, all dazzled and moony. His littermates were whispering to each other, and Minnowkit heard Snowykit say to Dawnkit,
"When we're apprenticed, that's what we're looking like. No exceptions. And do you see Streamkit? He's gonna flip out when she's a warrior! Mrrow!"
Riverstar jumped on top of the boulder and called a clan meeting. Relief shined in his eyes, too.
Are they just glad that we're out of the nursery, not causing any more trouble, or is it something else?
Minnowkit thought.
"Today, there is yet more apprentices that we'll be given. This ceremony is for the kits that have survived death, so I think that it is fair that Roseberry's litter becomes apprentices. Minnowkit, Redkit, and Firekit, please come up here."
The three kits went to the flattest part of the boulder, not wanting to mess up their fur. When they reached the top, Riverstar continued.
"I, Riverstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these three kits. They are fi-, um, six moons old, and are ready to become apprentices. Redkit, from this moment forward until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Redpaw. Your mentor will be Eagleheart. He has trained Tanglepaw well, and I'll deal with him after this ceremony."
Tanglepaw quickly realized what was going on for him after the apprenticeship, and he started to groom himself fiercely.
"Eagleheart, you are also Roseberry's brother, and I expect you to teach Redpaw how to control his muscles and intelligence, and his humor."
Redpaw raced down the rock and touched noses with his new mentor.
"Firekit, from this moment forward until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Firepaw. Rabbitstone, you have taught much to your apprentice, Mousewing, and your littermates, Barkfrost and Robinwing. You have shown great courage, and I hope you pass on these skills to your new apprentice, Firepaw."
Firepaw raced down the rock and ran to Rabbitstone, who bent down to touch noses with her.
Minnowkit was scared. What if she stayed a kit until she was really six moons old? She was afraid but she stood tall, remembering what it felt like to be a warrior from when she had her play fight with Redpaw.
"Minnowkit, from this moment forward until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Minnowpaw. Starface? You have great wisdom and playfulness and you are there when other cats need you most. Minnowpaw has these same skills, and I hope you can teach her how to control her skills and I hope that you can teach her new skills as well. This is your first apprentice, but I know that you will do well with her."
Minnowpaw raced down the rock and set a beeline for Starface, who was eagerly bending her head, ready for her new apprentice. Littlepaw and Meadowpaw entered the camp with their mentors right behind them.
"What's going on?" Robinwing meowed with curiosity as she eyes the crowd gathering around the three new apprentices. Minnowpaw was the closest, so she was the one who heard her.
"Oh," Minnowpaw mewed. "So, all of the kits almost died, then my spirit gave Pinesong a prophecy, and then we were apprenticed. Next, Tanglepaw is becoming a warrior!"
All of the newly entered cats looked baffled at Minnowpaw's summary. They went to congratulate them anyways, chanting their names. Riverstar looked down at the cats.
"We aren't done yet!" He mewed. "Tanglepaw, please come up here."
Tanglepaw lifted his light brown head and quietly walked up the rock, his fur neat, but not as neat as Minnowpaw, Redpaw, and Firepaw's fur. He gazed down at the clearing below, gulped, and turned to Riverstar.
"I, Riverstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Eagleheart?"
Tanglepaw's former mentor raised his head.
"Does your apprentice understand the warrior code? Has he learned the way of a warrior and has he learned to respect ThunderClan's warrior ways?"
"Yes, he does and he has," Eagleheart replied with no doubt in his deep mew.
"Tanglepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," the young warrior replied firmly.
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Tanglepaw, from this moment forward you will be known as Tangleclaw. StarClan honors your fierce loyalty and your skill in battle. We welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
Riverstar rested his muzzle on Tangleclaw's head, and Tangleclaw licked Riverstar's shoulder, then he padded down to a crowd of calling cats.
"Tangleclaw! Tangleclaw!"
Minnowpaw, Firepaw, and Redpaw picked out their favorites from the fresh-kill pile. Redpaw had rabbit, Firepaw was searching for lizards underneath rocks, and Minnowpaw made a quick trip to the river and returned with her regular meal, trout or any other type of fish.
Minnowpaw and her littermates fell quickly asleep in the apprentices' den with their bellies full. After arranging their nests, the apprentices den was comfy and clean and, believe it or not, roomy. It was large and sandy, perfect for more than seven apprentices. Minnowpaw fell into the grasp of dreams where she chased mice all day long.
~O~_~O~
In the middle of the night, Minnowpaw was awakened by someone shoving her in the side. When her eyes were cleared from sleepiness, she saw Echomint.
"What are you doing here?" Minnowpaw asked sleepily.
Echomint didn't answer. She signaled with her tail to follow her, so Minnowpaw got up and followed her.
They went out of the camp and into the woods, and they stopped right at the RiverClan border, a small but defensive river.
"Why are we here?" Minnowpaw asked.
"Remember how I told you that I was sent as a spy?" Echomint mewed. Minnowpaw nodded. "Well, that's part way true. I was sent to find a minnow in Thunder, for a prophecy, and then to bring the minnow back, although I don't know what for. When you were born, I told Kestrelstar that I wanted to wait until you were an apprentice. So, now that you're an apprentice, I am taking you to the RiverClan camp. I know that you love fish and that you love to pretend to swim, so I know that you are able to live in RiverClan."
Echomint started to swim across the river. Minnowpaw put her paw in, and it wasn't that bad. It was shallow. She walked across and followed Echomint into the RiverClan camp.
Review! :)
-Petalsteps