CH 4- The next day
Phoenix awoke to a bright ray of light seeping in the den. Lifting her head, she looked around. Ivy was still sleeping in a curled ball of gray fur. There was another gray cat nearby. Next to the gray cat, there was a silver cat. On her other side, where Kestrelpaw was, there was no one there.
He must be out early, Phoenix guessed before laying her head down again. She wanted more sleep. Trying, she couldn't manage to fall asleep again, so she sighed and padded out of the den without managing to trip over the others.
Kestrelpaw was at the top of the rock. Finding nothing to do at the moment, she crawled onto the rock too and sat on the rocks as well. They were cold and gray, but would soon warm up to the morning sun.
"You're up early, like me." Kestrelpaw mewed, glancing at the golden she-cat.
"Yeah, I like to wake up early." Phoenix yawned a little.
Kestrelpaw nodded. "I do too."
After enjoying the sun for a few more minutes, Phoenix decided to wake up her sister so they wouldn't be late for anything. They were supposed to get their mentors.
Phoenix hopped down the rocks and headed to the den.
"Ivy, wake up." Phoenix patted Ivy with a paw. Ivy opened one blue eye and stared at Phoenix's gold ones.
"Okay," Ivy yawned and stood up. Both then walked out of the den to wait for all the others to wake up.
The sun rose higher as gradually all of the other cats woke up. Before that, the morning patrol set off. Some cats she didn't know about set off, out of the tunnel that led cats out of the camp, and went around their territory.
Nightstar padded up to them. "Soon, I'll be calling everyone up to a meeting," he meowed. "That is when you'll be getting a mentor."
The two nodded and waited.
The morning patrol finally came back, after scouting the territory. The cats were all awake and stretching in the morning sun, when Nightstar climbed up the big rock on the other side of camp.
"All cats, please come." He ordered, sitting down.
Within a minute, all cats were gathered below. Ivy and Phoenix were among the crowd.
"Today, our two new cats here, Phoenix and Ivy, will officially become apprentices. Please do come up, Phoenix and Ivy."
The two siblings climbed up the rock and Nightstar led them forward.
Nightstar whispered to them, "Would you like apprentice names or not? You don't really have to if you don't want it."
Ivy thought for a while. "I'd like one."
"I think I'd like one too," Phoenix pondered for a while before deciding.
"Alright," Nightstar resumed his speech to all cats. "For now on, Phoenix, you will be known as Phoenixpaw. Your mentor will be… Mapleleaf."
Mapleleaf hopped onto the rock and touched noses with Phoenixpaw, as in tradition.
"Ivy, you will be known as Ivypaw. Your mentor will be… Pinecone."
Pinecone dipped his head and then hopped onto the rock too, touching noses with his new apprentice.
"After six months of training, we will test you two to see if you are ready to be a true Warrior. When you do, you will have Warrior names." He looked around and motioned for Ivypaw and Phoenixpaw, with their mentors to come down the rock. After that, he jumped off the rock as well, signaling that the meeting was over.
Mapleleaf stepped closer to Phoenixpaw. "We shall begin training soon." Phoenixpaw nodded in understanding. "I believe that you will become a fine Warrior."
In a sandy hollow surrounded by trees, Mapleleaf waited for Phoenixpaw to come. Her apprentice came after a short while. Surveying the surroundings she finally glanced at Mapleleaf and hurried over.
"Have you had training before you came to MoonClan?" Mapleleaf mewed.
"I have had some basic training." Phoenixpaw nodded.
Mapleleaf nodded. "Alright then. We'll start off by… hunting. Show me what you can hunt. We'll go off into the forest."
Phoenix sniffed around for prey and came upon a scent trail in the forest. "I smell prey," she murmured to herself and followed it, with Mapleleaf creeping behind to make sure she wouldn't disturb Phoenixpaw when she would hunt for prey.
She found that the prey she was tracking was a rabbit trail.
The scent became more fresh, and spotted the rabbit on a root, looking around for something tasty.
It finally saw some tender shoots of grass, which it hopped towards.
Phoenixpaw instantly lowered her tail slowly and crept forward, without making a sound in the dense undergrowth. When she came close enough to her prey to jump, she bunched up all of her muscles and leaped square on the rabbit, who struggled faintly before she snapped it on the spine, the way she had been taught be her mother to kill prey.
She picked up the rabbit and turned around to see Maplepaw. There was a hint of surprise in her eyes, but she shook it away.
"That was great!" Mapleleaf encouraged. "You've had good training so far. There's no so much to work on more with your hunting techniques."
They returned to camp to drop off the prey. The small silver cat she had seen earlier in the den widened her eyes when she saw the killed rabbit in her jaws. Some others turned to look. Nervously, Phoenixpaw placed the prey into the prey pile and left quickly before it became too awkward.
"They're all so surprised you could catch prey so easily," Mapleleaf explained to her nervous apprentice. "Don't worry."
Phoenixpaw relaxed.
"Let's see your battle moves though. The rule is that during training, we sheathe our claws. We do not want to hurt any cats in the process." Mapleleaf instructed. "Ready?"
"Ready," Phoenixpaw responded as she got ready. Her fighting skills weren't as good because she never had to fight. She would just have to hunt everyday in her life before she joined the clans, so her mother ended up teaching her all about good hunting techiniques.
She had learned only the basics of fighting. Starting, she and Mapleleaf circled around each other, waiting for each to make a move.
Suddenly, Mapleleaf leaped and on instinct, the apprentice rolled swiftly, pushing Mapleleaf back with her hindpaws so her mentor would fall sideways.
The tawny cat fell on her side, which was what Phoenixpaw needed. She leaped on her mentor and pummeled her with here sheathed paws. Mapleleaf summoned up her strength and threw her off. The golden cat lay, dazed, as Mapleleaf leapt on top of her and pinned her down.
Knowing that the practice fight was over, Mapleleaf stepped off of her apprentice and both stood up, resting a bit.
"That was some good instincts for defense. I think what you need to work on most is attacking your enemy," Mapleleaf nodded at her apprentice. "For tomorrow, we will practice fighting more. I guess you can join the hunting patrol later. You are quite skilled at hunting for your age."
Phoenixpaw nodded and smiled from the praise.
Mapleleaf continued. "For now, you can eat and rest."
Both headed back to the camp and had a break, eating a bit.