A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! :) Now on with the story . . .

Mentors, Apprentices, and Hawks

Mama and Papa of course were frantic when I came through the door. Then again who wouldn't be after seeing their daughter comes home a mess after not seeing her for a whole night?

The two were on the couch, when they saw me, they ran up to me, yelling at me like they've never yelled before, with why did you do this, and what is wrong with you. Suddenly, their screams were muffled. My insides tingled and next thing I knew, I burst into tears, and ran into my mother's arms. "Oh Mama I'm so sorry!" I clutched her sari with my hands and drenched it with my tears.

Mama looked at my father in confusion. Papa just shrugged. He petted my black hair gently and with care. "I think you have some explaining to do." His strict tone calmed me down. I settled down on the couch and told my parents the story I had thought up on the way back here.

"Well, David," I began. "Wanted me to help him a little on the ranch, so I went riding late."

"I know, called to tell us that," Mama pointed out. "Go on."

"So," I continued. "When I went riding, I went on a different route-I know it was stupid, but I did it anyway. Whiling on my ride, the horse got spooked by the night sounds so he bucked me off. I guess I must've gone unconscious, because when I came to, the sun was almost out. That was it, I swear! Mama, Papa, I'm so sorry! I'll be more careful next time."

I hugged Mama again. She wrapped her arms around me in a comforting way. It was rare she ever did, only when I was really down. Papa began to pet my hair again, running his hand down it over and over again. That was his only way of showing affection.

Mama rocked me back and forth, cooing me with a smooth voice, yet another rare thing I ever see her do. "There, there Jani," she said. "You made a few bad choices . . ."

Yes just a few, yet enough for a witch to curse me to walk the nights as a cat and talk to animals.

". . . But the important thing is that you're safe. That's all that matters now. You're father and I were worried sick last night. We prayed to Krishna all night that you return safely." She hugged me tight. "He answered our prayers."

I felt like tears would come out again. Happy and sad tears. Yes I was happy to see their faces light up at the sight of me being safe. But why couldn't their faces light up every time they saw me? Not even every time, at least if I get a good grade on a hard test, get back a good report card, or when I dance (people pay a lot of money for Bollywood dance entertainment). I guess the only reason they every really showed their love for me, expect for when I'm hurt or ill, is because, well, they would feel guilty if I died. And they would feel guilty because, well, in a sense, I was never really wanted here in the first place . . .

Since it was Monday and I had had a rough night, Mama and Papa let me stay home from school and rest. Strange though, I wasn't really tired. I took probably an hour nap and that was it. Huh. Weird. I was up all frickin night, running into witches, then cliffs, then clans, and yep I felt like a spring chicken. Is this part of being a cat? No sleeping? Nah. I'm pretty sure that's part of being dead.

Mama kept me in the house all day. She made me tea and some of my favorite chicken curry, and as a special treat, some ladoos. I love ladoos! Mama usually makes it only for holidays and birthdays. But she figured today was an exception.

As I popped another sweet ladoo into my mouth, the doorbell rang. I peered through the eyehole and saw thick red hair that was parted in the middle. Good, Mary got my message. I called Mary's house earlier in the morning. I called her because I knew her family got up early every morning to do prayers to their gods or spirits or whatever exactly they prayed to. I asked her if she would bring me my homework and stuff.

Mission complete. I opened the door and there she was, standing with my textbooks and notebooks. Smiling, I took then from her and gave her a hug.

"Hey watch it, I'm sitting here!"

"What?" I said in confusion.

Mary furrowed her brows. "Huh? I didn't say anything."

"No, you dumb no-tails, I did. Not that you would understand anyway-"

"Hush Jaspar. Enough with the barking!"

I looked down. Mary pulled the leash of her Smooth Fox-Terrier. Wait! He was the one I heard? But how did-Oh, that's right. Witch. Curse. Now I remember. Dang, I never thought I would be able to hear them this clearly. I thought it was another human that was talking.

I looked down at the dog. Petting behind his ears, I said to him, "And how are you enjoying your day Jaspar? Better than mine?"

"No!" he snapped. "I haven't gone to the bathroom in ages, I think I have fleas, and frankly my chew toys are getting old. You wanna talk bad day?"

I bit my bottom lip. Wow. Humans truly were ignorant of other animals. Mary tugged on his leash again.

"Jaspar stop with the barking!" She sighed. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what's gotten into him lately. He's been cranky for the past few days and we can't figure out why."

"Um . . ." Again I bit my lips. Finally I said it. "Have you let him go to the bathroom lately?"

Mary looked at me in confusion for a second, then she slapped her forehead. "Oh my heavens, I haven't! I forgot to take him this morning! Thanks for reminding me Jani."

I smiled. "No problem. Also, he seems to be twitchy, maybe he has fleas? Just saying. And maybe you should get him some new chew toys, just in case."

Mary opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "O-Okay, I'll do that."

Jaspar stared up at me with wide eyes. "How did she-" But Mary pulled back on the leash, shutting him up. "He's getting cranky, I better take him for a walk."

She turned, about to leave, then suddenly she turned back. "Oh Jani . . ." She looked distraught. With a sigh she spoke. "Look, I really didn't want to tell you this, especially because you're sick-By the way, how are you feeling?"

"Good thanks," I said reassuring her. "Very bad cramps, that's all. Anyway, continue."

"Jani, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but . . . People at school have been saying stuff . . ."

I arched an eyebrow. "What kind of 'stuff'?

"Bad stuff," Mary answered.

I choked on air. "Huh? Like what? Tell me Mary!"

"There's been rumors at school saying that you made out with some guy at that party you went to Friday night."

I breathed a small sigh of relief. Make-out rumors are nothing. They're just simple news that kids tell each other to keep them from dying of boredom. I would be able to file down this rumor like a long nail.

I patted Mary's arm. "Oh Mary, sweet, sweet Mary. Thank you for delivering that piece of news, but don't worry about it. It'll die down by tomorrow. If not, I'll handle it myself."

As we hugged, I quickly asked Mary, "By the way, who are they saying I made out with?"

Mary shrugged. "Sorry, I heard was that you made out with someone at a party. You know me, I'm more of a background person."

"Ah, to busy reading the cat books?" I joked.

Mary didn't pick it up. She nodded with a wide smile. "Yes! I finished the latest one today during lunch today."

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Didn't you just buy that book?"

Mary nodded. "I just couldn't put it down Jani. It was so good, I was on the edge of my seat!"

She began to babble on about it. I sort of zoned in and out, though caught a few things. Lionblaze, Jayfeather-which sounded familiar-, Dovepaw, and something about beavers. I zoned more out as Mary continued to blab on.

"And as much as I like him, I really wish they would just kill off Firestar."

My head snapped up so quickly it hurt. "Wait! Did you just say Firestar?"

Mary nodded. "Yeah. He's good and all, but honestly, he's getting a little too old for the books. Why you ask?"

There was no possible way. No, there simply wasn't! Could it be possible . . . Of course not! It was just a coincidence. A big-ass coincidence, that's all.

Mary and I said good-bye only last time before she left. Firestar. How strange. Even the Firestar I met seemed old. But as I said before, it was all just a huge coincidence.

My phone on my dresser vibrated. Ah, good old Rachel texted me.

How u feeling? Missed u at school today :( Btw, Mark and Bill say hi and get better. Tom's sorta in detention so he can't say much.

I smiled. I was happy to see that they cared about me. I quickly texted them back.

Thx! :) To all of you. Tell Tom to stay out of trouble and I'll see you all tomorrow.

Once the message was sent, I checked my home screen. I gasped. It was six! Oh crap! Just another hour before the sun was going to set. Crap! What was I goanna do? There was no way I could just turn into a cat then go to the clans. I had to think of something; something good and something fast. Then, an idea clicked into my head like a light bulb. I grabbed my stomach and staggered out into the hallway. Once I was in the living room, I let out a loud moan.

Mama came rushing to me side. She felt my head with her hand. "Jani, what's wrong priya?"

I collapsed on the floor in fake-pain and let out another moan. "My stomach Mama. It hurts!"

Mama gathered me in her arms and took me to my room. She helped me climb into bed and tuck the sheets. "It's probably from eating too many ladoos," she suggested.

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right probably," I moaned. Boy, I should win an award or something for this acting.

Mama left the room, and came back with from tea and good old-fashion, tastes-like-plastic pharmacy medicine. I took the medicine, which was foul, and sipped a little of the tea.

Mama brushed my hair back. Then she kissed my forehead. "You rest. I'll be back in a while to check on you."

As soon as she shut the door. I sat up and waved my hands in the air. It worked! When Mama comes back to check on me, probably in a half an hour, I'll pretend to be asleep. Then, she'll leave me alone for the rest of the night. Just in case, I was going to stuff a few pillows in the blanket just in case she checks up.

The plan worked. She came back, ten to when the sun was going down. I pretended to sleep soundly in my sheets, curled up like a cat (ironic huh?). With a finale kiss on my forehead, she was gone.

I was about to get out from my bed, when I heard footsteps outside my door. Five to sunset. Crap!

"Don't go in there!" I heard my mother's muffled voice say.

"But she's sick. How am I suppose to ignore my sick daughter?" That's defiantly Papa. He probably got home from work early today.

The doorknob turned. Four to sunset. I began to sweat.

"No!" Mama's voice was stern. "She needs her sleep. You can say good-bye to her in the morning."

I heard my father sigh in defeat. I could tell by the stillness in the air that Mama was standing proudly with her arms crossed over her chest. "Come on," she said. "I made diner, and there are some leftover ladoos that I made for Jani that you can have."

At the word ladoos, my father rushed to the kitchen. Two to sunset.

I quickly and quietly stuffed some pillows under my blankets. As I stood, waiting to transform, I realized I would have no way out. Then I saw the window by my bed. I could make an easy jump from there to the ground. Thankfully this was a one-floor house.

I opened up the window. And just in time. Glowing white swirls surrounded me and I felt myself getting smaller. Next thing I knew, I was on four legs and had a swishing tail.

Alright, it's show time.

It was an easy commute from here to the clans. When I went through the entrance of the camp, I was surprised to see everyone was gathered at the other side of the camp. Standing on a rock that towered over the other cats, Firestar stood strong with two cats next to him. There was a stronger looking orange cat, who sort of looked like Firestar, expect younger. And the other cat, who looked like a female, with jet black fur and green eyes.

The two cats looked proud. The pride in their eyes shone greatly like it was contacts.

Suddenly all the cats started shouting, "Lionblaze! Hollyleaf! Lionblaze! Hollyleaf!"

Aw, now that's nice. It's a little celebra-Wait, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf? Hollyleaf defiantly sound familiar. And then I remembered Mary, when she was blabbing on about her cat book, she mentioned the name Lionblaze. Could-No! It was all just a coincidence. A big one, but nevertheless.

Firestar looked like he was ready to jump off the rock, but stopped. His eyes fell on to me. And eventually, so did the whole clan's. At least two dozen eyes were staring at me. Awkward.

I sort of waved my paw. "Hello . . . friendly cats . . ."

Some had soft stares, others curious, confused, and a few hostile. Hm. I guess there were a few bad seeds in ThunderClan after all.

"Hey, it's the flying she-cat from yesterday!" someone called from the crowd. Immediately whispers began to erupt among them. Well it wasn't obvious at all that they were talking about me when they stared and whispered at the same time. Some were even stupid enough to point tails at me.

Firestar hushed them all. He beckoned for me to come up on the rock with him. I felt all eyes on me as I quickly rushed to the rock. Once I seated next to him, he spoke.

"ThunderClan, I present to you, Violet."

The cats looked at each other for a second, then back up to Firestar.

"It is her wish that she join ThunderClan and eventually become a warrior and live among us as a normal clan cat. I have decided to grant her wish. She will receive an apprentice name and mentor, train and work hard to eventually earn her warriors name." He turned and faced me. "Violet, do you promise to train hard, protect the clan, and honor the warrior code with your life?"

I lost him at warrior code. Cats had codes? Was it like the Ten Commandments or something? But I nodded my head anyway.

"Do you promise to stay loyal to your clan always?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Firestar smiled. "Then from this day forward, you will be called, Violetpaw."

"Violetpaw! Violetpaw!"

I was surprised that cats were cheering my name. Well, most of them anyway. A few just gave me hostile stares. Somehow a smile slipped onto my face. There were butterflies in my stomach. Happy ones. The ones that you would get after getting a high score on a test or scoring a touchdown at a football game. It was proud feeling. I don't know why I had it, but it was there.

Firestar led me down. Brambleclaw was sitting there waiting for us. He greeted me with a kind smile. "Congratulations."

A cat walked up behind me and smiled at me too. "Yes, congratulations." She was a female-er-she-cat by the sound of her voice and appearance. She had beautiful pale ginger fur with forest green eyes. A lovely creature.

"My name is Squirrelflight," she said.

. . . . Okay this was getting ridiculous. How could this possibly-You know what, I bet it was the Witch! I'm sure she had something to do with this! Oh, I'm goanna talk to that woman-thing!

I smiled back at her. "Thank you, um, Squirrelflight."

Squirrelflight laughed. "It'll take a while, but you'll get use to our names. Speaking of names, yours is beautiful. Violet. A very gentle, graceful name. Whoever named you choose wisely."

Aw! What a nice she-cat! I like her already.

"Why thank you!" I said. Squirrelflight smiled back and dismissed herself. It was then that Brambleclaw got my attention. "You can introduce yourself to other cats tomorrow. For now, follow me."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He smiled. "We're goanna do a little exploring."

ThunderClan territory was practically my childhood playground! I had to push back the tears that were rising from the memories of these grounds. The familiar sights and smells. It was all beautiful! There was just one thing that was different: Borders.

Now according to Brambleclaw, there were two types of patrols: Hunting patrol and Border patrol. Hunting patrol was simple enough, you hunted prey (which, according to him, you weren't allowed to eat until the clan had been fed first). Border patrol was a little more work. You re-scented the borders and check for scents of other clans, rogues, or animals. Oh, speaking of clans, turns out there were four clans. ThunderClan (the friendly ones), ShadowClan (the evil ones), RiverClan (the clueless ones), and WindClan (the obnoxious ones). That's exactly how he described them; I had nothing to do with it. Brambleclaw also showed me the other clans' territories. Turns out the moorlands I love to ride on is WindClan territory. Huh. Such a small world.

I was hyper up after Brambleclaw's little tour of the clan and told me the clan ways.

"So do you know when I can go to the next Gathering?" I asked excitingly. Gatherings were kind of like peace meeting. Due to lack of internet, chat rooms, and Facebook, the Gatherings are sort of a way for all the clans to get together and ask what's up. I really wanted to see the other clans, so I wanted to go.

Brambleclaw laughed. "You are an interesting one. Well it's not up to me, it's up to Firestar. But, if you work hard, I'll put in a good word for you."

"Sweet." I did a semi-happy leap.

Brambleclaw let out a yawn. He was tired, I could tell. Strange. I wasn't even sleepy. How? Probably too excited. I thought this whole clan thing would be crappy, but turns out its really cool. That's the last time I misjudge.

I padded Brambleclaw's shoulder with my tail. "There, there big cat. You go get some sleep; I'll start to head out now."

He nodded. "Very well. Good-night Violetpaw."

Violetpaw. I'm sure it would improve eventually. "Night Brambleclaw."

"Violetpaw, wait!"

I turned to him "Yes?"

"Why is it exactly that you can't come during the day?"

The excitement faded. The adrenaline was gone. Everything just washed away. Damn. It didn't matter how hard I worked, or how well I trained, I would never truly be faithful to this clan. How was I remain fully loyal when I was there only half of the day?

I looked down at my paws, kicked the dirt a little. "I um . . . have business that I have to take care of," I answered.

"What kind of business?" he pestered me on.

"Difficult business," I said back.

"How difficult can it be? I mean, can't you at least come a little earlier-"

"I can't! I just can't! Okay!"

I immediately wished I hadn't snapped like that. It's just, I was so sick of cats wondering why I could only come at night. I wanted to tell them, I really did. But then I remember their hostile stares. Some will just call me crazy. Others will probably chase me out of the clan before I can explain. No, there was no way I could tell anyone.

"Brambleclaw, I'm . . . I'm sorry." My voice was gentle and calm.

He stared at me for a minute, then padded up to me. There was an awkward half-smile on his face. "You're probably a little tired that's all. I'm sorry for asking."

"No it's okay. I was the one who overacted. You're right, I should probably get some rest. Hey, if I catch any prey, can I leave it by the camp entrance?"

He nodded. "Sure. Thanks." And he went off.

Before heading home, I walked down to the lake. It was a breathtaking sight. The dark water truly did mirror the stars. The water was still, not a ripple in sight.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

I jumped, my heart racing. I whirled around and came face-to-face with a pair of ice blue eyes. They belonged to a sort of dark brown furred male. How the hell did he end up here? I didn't even hear him. In fact, I don't even remember seeing him in the camp when the cats were gathered.

I stepped back, stupidly, and tumbled backwards, but something caught me and pulled me up. It was the dark brown cat. I just stared in confusion.

He simply smiled. "Careful now."

I slowly stepped sideways, walking away from him. "Who are you? You don't look ThunderClan, or smell."

Again, he smiled. "I'm simply a rogue, passing through. I live near the Horseplace. Sometimes with the Twolegs. If I'm lucky enough I find a nice cave to snuggled up in."

"Quite the traveler I see."

He shook his head. "Not really. I just can't really find a stable home." He sat down and looked around him. "I like this place however. Though I don't come here during the day, when those vicious clan cats are out, I prefer the night, when it's just me and nature." He stared out at the lake. "This is my favorite spot. I sit here and look at the lake."

I stared at this cat. He didn't seem so bad. Just a rogue. Not much of a threat. So . . .

Crap! I saw the sky begin to lighten. I looked at the cat quickly. "Sorry, but I really have to go. Good-bye . . . Sorry, but I didn't catch your name."

"You can just call me Hawk," he answered.

I nodded. "Well. It was nice meeting you Hawk. Bye!" And I was off. It seemed with every breath I took, the sky was getting lighter and lighter. I quickened my running, faster and faster.

When I reached my house, light began to shine everywhere. Once it hit me, the glowing swirls formed and I was regular Jani again. I quickly raced to my room. Thank God the window was still open. Now I just simply climbed in, and touchdown!

I still wasn't tired, so I went to take a quick shower. My parents were still fast asleep. Once out of the shower I got dressed. As I went to get my shoes from my closet, I tripped over something. What the? No! My textbooks! Oh my God how could I forget?

I looked at my clock on my dresser. Five in the AM. Okay, still had an hour and a half. That was about enough time to do most of the work.

As I scribbled down endless answers in my notebooks, I thought back to this night. Oh my God that was just awesome! And Brambleclaw said we would start training tomorrow night. I could hardly wait!

Finishing up my work, I heard a scratch at the window. I let out a screech. An ugly hairless cat was standing outside my window. I picked up something to throw at the window. But as quickly as I saw it, it was gone.