I should probably mention that the Clan this takes place in is IceClan.
"Has anyone seen Darkkit?" Moonpelt, the missing kit's mother, wailed. Darkkit's brother, Mothkit, pressed himself against his mother. Scarredkit watched from the shadows of the nursery as the camp warriors and apprentices split up into search patrols.
"Come on, Ravenpaw!" Owlwing, a dark gray tom with bright amber eyes, called to his apprentice. "There's no time to lose!" The black pelted apprentice sprinted after his mentor. Soon, the camp was void of warriors. Moonpelt was currently being comforted by the other queens, and the rest of the kits were being held in the nursery. Scarredkit turned around and whisked into the nursery, eyes narrowed in a cold glare that would be unexpected of cat as young as he. Mothkit was unusually quiet, and lay curled up in his mother's nest. The other three kits, Cloverkit, Thistlekit, and Flowerkit were sleeping peacefully. The newest litter had only been born four days ago, and had yet to open their eyes.
"Scarredkit." The gray tom turned around at the sound of his mother's voice. "Do you have any idea where Darkkit could be?" Lightfur growled, her eyes cold and calculating. Scarredkit shook his head, indicating he didn't know. And, to be truthful, he didn't know where Darkkit was. The current had most likely stolen the drowned kit's body and pulled it downstream. Looking up at his mother, Scarredkit held the light pelted she-cat's gaze evenly. Holding his gaze for a few more seconds, Lightfur turned away and padded out of the nursery. Scarredkit was stalked to his nest and curled his tail over his nose, intending on having a fulfilling nap. But that goal was shattered when a shriek pierced the air. Scarredkit jumped, startled from the ear shattering noise, and stumbled to his paws. The small gray tom kit poked his head out of the nursery entrance to see a patrol of warriors returning, one of the warriors holding the sodden body of Darkkit.
"My kit! No, not my Darkkit!" Moonpelt wailed, sprinting towards the patrol of warriors. Scarredkit rolled his eyes; Moonpelt over-exaggerated everything. Scarredkit stumbled forward as Mothkit pushed him to the side, running towards his mother. The gray kit righted himself, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"What happened?" Moonstar, the leader of IceClan, padded forward.
"He drowned." The warrior carrying Darkkit's body, Badgerpelt, gently placed the body of the kit on the ground.
"How?" The white leader with pale gray markings mewed.
"The creek outside the camp, we believe." Badgerpelt explained, his eyes sad. Scarredkit padded closer, wanting to know what else the warriors said. But he was stopped when Moonpelt whirled around, eyes blazing.
"You!" She snarled at Scarredkit. "You were the last to see him last, weren't you!? You two never got along, and you drowned him!" The white she-cat accused.
"Moonpelt! How could you say that? He's just a kit!" Streamfall, a silver she-cat, meowed in disbelief.
"The evidence is right in front of everyone's eyes!" Moonpelt's blue eyes blazed in a fury that made Scarredkit flinch.
"He's just a kit. He could have no part on this." Riverrush, a large silver tom, said quietly. "You know Darkkit was always trying to get out of camp. It's entirely possible he snuck out and fell into the creek-" The tom was interrupted.
"How dare you!?" Moonpelt shrieked. "You believe Darkkit's death was his own fault!?"
"Moonpelt. We share your loss. Darkkit would have made a promising warrior." Moonstar comforted the queen. Scarredkit held in a snort at the leader's words.
"Come on, Moonpelt. Mothkit needs you." Barkpelt, the medicine cat, laid his tale on Moonpelt's shoulders. Mothkit was staring at his brother's dead body in a frozen horror. Moonpelt grabbed her remaining son's scruff and padded after Barkpelt into the medicine cat's den.
"Alright, some of you go and fetch the rest of the patrols. There's no need for them to be out after dark in the cold since we found him." Moonstar ordered. Three warriors nodded and filed out of the camp, each one going to find a patrol. Scarredkit yawned and turned away from Darkkit's body, bored. But the gray tom stopped when he felt the sensation of being watched. He turned to see Coldclaw, the deputy, watching him strangely. Scarredkit held the tom's gaze and shivered lightly; the deputy seemed to hold Scarredkit stuck in place until the older gray tom looked away. Shaking himself like he had been in a trance, Scarredkit turned and trotted into the nursery. The small gray kit curled up in his nest, wrapping his tail over his nose and letting the dark wave of sleep wash over him.
*\./*\./*\./* Two Moons Later
Scarredkit jumped awake as he felt a sudden pressure on his side. The gray tom kit rolled over to see Lightfur staring down at him.
"Your apprentice ceremony is today." His mother said, eyes cold. Scarredkit stood to his paws and Lightfur grabbed his scruff, starting to wash him roughly. Scarredkit made no noise of protest, not wanting to make his mother aggravated. When Lightfur was finished, she nosed Scarredkit out of the nursery. The Clan was already gathering for the ceremony, and Moonstar had just finished calling the Clan together. The white she-cat with gray dapple markings looked around the crowd, and her gaze settled on Scarredkit.
"Cats of IceClan, we have gathered here today to celebrate the naming of a new apprentice." The IceClan leader jumped down from her perch on the Ice Rock. "Scarredkit, come forward." The Clan silenced for a few moments at the name of the gray tom. Scarredkit padded forward proudly, his tail erect, until he stopped in front of the she-cat. "Scarredkit, do you promise to protet and defend the Clan, even at the cost of your life?
"I do." Scarredkit said strongly, eyes narrowed.
"Until you earn your warrior name, you shall be known as Scarredpaw." Turning to the Clan, Moonstar continued. "Fadedfoot; you are ready for an apprentice. You shall mentor Scarredpaw." The black tom with one white paw padded forward, green eyes glinting in excitement.
"Of course, Moonstar." Fadedfoot nodded to his leader. The black tom then turned and touched noses with Scarredpaw, as was customary for apprentice ceremonies.
"Scarredpaw! Scarredpaw!" The Clan chanted, before the cats began to break up into groups.
"So, what do you want to do now, Scarredpaw?" Fadedfoot asked. Scarredkit shrugged.
"You're my mentor. What do you think we should do?" Scarredpaw answered back. Fadedfoot was a little taken back, but then he nodded.
"Of course. Let's go on a patrol of the territory." The black tom led the way out of camp, tail twitching happily. Scarredpaw padded behind him with a neutral look on his face. The sooner he learned the territory, the sooner he could learn how to fight. Soon, both toms came to a large black expanse.
"This is the Thunderpath!" Fadedfoot yowled over the roar of a huge shiny being as it sped fast. "That's a monster! They're driven by Twolegs, who are an enemy to the Clans! Do not cross over the Thunderpath! It's too dangerous and on the other side is RainClan territory." Fadedfoot's voice lowered to normal volume as the monster faded away.
"Why can't we go into their territory?" Scarredpaw asked, interested about the other Clans.
"It's their territory, not ours." Fadedfoot shrugged and began to walk back into the forest.
"So…we can't just take their territory?" Scarredpaw followed his mentor.
"StarClan, no!" Fadedfoot turned to Scarredpaw, eyes wide. "That would cause a whole war!" Turning back around, Fadedfoot started walking again.
"Hmph." Scarredpaw sulked after his mentor, disagreeing with the older tom. "Fadedfoot? What different Clans are there?"
"Well, there's us, IceClan. There's RainClan, which you just saw. There's also HailClan, who lives on the other side of RainClan territory. There's FrostClan, the Clan that lives diagonally from our territory. SnowClan lives across the gorge that creates the border between our territories. MistClan and BlizzardClan live beyond SnowClan territory. MistClan lives in the mountains, and BlizzardClan lives in the hilly territory next to them. GlacierClan lives beyond our boundaries. And SleetClan lives alongside BlizzardClan." Fadedfoot explained.
"That's a lot of Clans…" Scarredpaw muttered.
"Yes, but at the moment, we're all living in peace." The ever-cheerful Fadedfoot continued. Fadedfoot soon led Scarredpaw to the gorge that separated SnowClan and IceClan territory. "Always be careful around this gorge. No cat has ever survived falling into it." Fadedfoot warned. The gray apprentice shrugged; he wasn't stupid enough to fall into water, like Darkkit had been. At the memory of the black kit's death, Scarredpaw's eyes flashed with dark glee. He remembered Darkkit's wails as the kit begged Scarredpaw to save him…
"Scarredpaw?" The gray apprentice jumped out of his reverie as his mentor spoke. "Come on, let's go." Scarredpaw padded after his mentor, Darkkit's last moments still echoing through his thoughts. The pine needles on the ground softened the sound of Scarredpaw's footfalls. "Alright, do you want to learn how to hunt or how to fight first?" Fadedfoot asked.
"Learn how to fight!" Scarredpaw immediately answered, flexing his claws in excitement.
"Alright, alright, calm down. Don't get too excited; we're only learning the basics." Fadedfoot laughed. Scarredpaw followed eagerly; it didn't matter how basic it was, as long as he learned how to fight. The apprentice training area was a clearing covered in pine needles, which would soften a cat's fall if they were beat in training.
"What will I learn first?" Scarredpaw asked his mentor, eyes gleaming.
"First, you'll learn the basics of fighting a cat bigger than yourself." Fadedfoot stood opposite of Scarredpaw. "Charge me." The black tom ordered. Scarredpaw shrugged; if Fadedfoot wanted him to attack him, who was he to refuse his mentor? The gray tom launched himself at the black tom, eyes narrowed in concentration. But Fadedfoot dodged to the right and, when Scarredpaw landed, shot out one of his forepaws and hooked Scarredpaw's feet out from under him, sending the tom to the ground.
"You have to surprise your enemy; they'll watch where your eyes go and pinpoint where you're going to jump. Try again." Fadedfoot ordered. Scarredpaw stood to his paws, gritting his teeth. Looking at his mentor, Scarredpaw's eyes went to Fadedfoot's shoulders, but instead, the apprentice decided to leap at the black tom's feet. Scarredpaw launched himself into the air, and Fadedfoot ducked, as he had seen Scarredpaw's eyes go to his shoulders. But Fadedfoot's eyes widened in surprise when Scarredpaw's jump sent him at Fadedfoot's paws, and the force of the apprentice against his legs sent Fadedfoot tumbling to the ground.
"Like that?" Scarredpaw slightly smirked. Fadedfoot scrambled to his paws, nodding.
"Well done. We'll try a few more times, and then that will be the end of your first day as an apprentice." Fadedfoot said. "Now, again."
*\./*\./*\./*
Scarredpaw sat outside the apprentices' den, feeling proud of himself for besting his mentor in fighting. Though Fadedfoot had gotten the upper paw at times, Scarredpaw matched him at others. Smirking as he entered the apprentices' den, the gray tom ignored the others in favor on his nest. He curled up in a ball, and Scarredpaw ignored the quiet chatter of the other apprentices as he fell asleep.