Apprentice Days
Snowkit woke to Spiritpaw nudging her.
"Wake up! You're becoming an apprentice today!" Snowkit was instantly awake. She nosed Spiritpaw, and he was taken by surprise. She jumped round him with a huge smile on her face.
Then Pepperstar called, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here under the HighLedge for a Clan meeting!" Snowkit ran outside from her mother grooming her for the last time. She stopped in the middle of the gathering. All the cats were smiling at her, her heart soared. "Snowkit please step forward!" Pepperstar called. Snowkit cautiously stepped forward. "From this day forward, until you have receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Snowpaw! Your mentor with be Turtletail. I hope Turtletail will pass all she knows onto you." Snowpaw watched as a brown she-cat with a strange tortoise shell tail stepped out. How strange? she thought. "Turtletail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Dovestreak, and you have shown yourself to be gentle, but brave. You will be the mentor of Snowpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her. Snowpaw touched noses with her mentor and the clan cheered.
"Snowpaw! Snowpaw! Snowpaw!" Then Pepperstar stood up for silence.
"Today we also have a warrior naming Pearlpaw and Tatteredpaw step forward!" Snowpaw watched from next to Turtletail as a cream she-cat with amber eyes and a grey tom with a tattered pelt ran forward. "Oakwater has Tatteredpaw completed all his training?"
"Yes!" Oakwater replied.
"Shadedust has Pearlpaw completed all her training?" Pepperstar asked.
"Yes!" Shadedust replied.
"Then, Pearlpaw from this day forth you shall be known as Pearlshimmer!" Pepperstar exclaimed, "Tatteredpaw from this day forth you shall be known as Tatteredpelt!" Then the Clan cheered,
"Pearlshimmer! Tatteredpelt! Pearlshimmer! Tatteredpelt! Pearlshimmer! Tatteredpelt!"
After the gathering Snowpaw quietly followed Turtletail to the fresh kill pile. Turtletail grabbed a vole and passed Snowpaw a mouse.
"Thankyou," Snowpaw said. "What are we going to do today?" she asked, munching on the mouse.
"Because of the new warriors and meeting we'll start tomorrow." Turtletail replied. Snowpaw nodded she knew how much meetings and new warriors meant, as her father was deputy.
"Snowpaw?!" Spiritpaw was looking for her, she ran up to him,
"Hi!" Snowpaw exclaimed.
"Hi," he smiled. "Are you excited?"
"Are you kidding? I am so excited!" she exclaimed, jumping around. Spiritpaw smiled. She lowered to the ground she was tired.
"Come to the apprentice den and lie down," he offered. Snowpaw had forgotten about sleeping in the apprentice den. She nodded and they walked to the apprentice den. "It's going to get cold without Pearlshimmer and Tatteredpelt," Spiritpaw observed. All the apprentices, Snowpaw, Spiritpaw, Goldenpaw and Dewpaw curled up next to each other and slept through the cold leaf-fall night.
The next morning Spiritpaw woke to a refreshing cold morning breeze blowing through the door. He was surprised to see that Snowpaw wasn't next to him like when he went to sleep. He creeped out through the brambles of the apprentice den to find Snowpaw sitting in the corner of the clearing chewing on a vole.
"Why are you out so early?" Spiritpaw asked.
"Um…," she thought. "I…I,"
"Never mind," Spiritpaw shrugged. Snowpaw smiled, she liked Spiritpaw.
Then suddenly the dawn patrol started to assemble.
"You're out early?" Dawncloud, her mother, noticed. Snowpaw smiled a nervous smile. She noticed her mother didn't seem worried. Snowpaw wondered why her mother wasn't worried. After all, Snowpaw was her only kit. The dawn patrol moved out as the clearing filled with cats.
Turtletail came out the warriors den, she smiled at Snowpaw. Snowpaw was excited. Whitefrost then called Spiritpaw. After Turtletail finished a crow she called Snowpaw,
"Snowpaw!" Snowpaw ran towards the entrance to the clearing, where Turtletail was waiting. "Snowpaw today Spiritpaw has offered to show you round the territory!" Turtletail smiled. Snowpaw's eyes glimmered.
Spiritpaw padded up to her, "Let's go!" He exclaimed. He showed her through the thorn barrier and out of the clearing. They padded through the forest whilst the mentors meowed behind them. They past a large clearing,
"That's the training ground," Spiritpaw explained. Snowpaw nodded, she gazed at the sandy hollow with wonder, realizing she would train here. Then they padded beside a strange dark gray path. "This is the old Thunderpath," Spiritpaw explained noticing her confused expression.
"Thunderpath?" Snowpaw breathed. Spiritpaw nodded,
"The twolegs used to use it, but now it's abandoned." Snowpaw was amazed, one of their elders Dovestreak had told the kits about twolegs. She shuddered at the thought of them. Just then Dawncloud padded up behind the mentors,
"Pepperstar asked if you four could hunt, the fresh kill pile is empty." She panted.
"Of course." Turtletail nodded smiling at Snowpaw. Snowpaw's eyes glimmered. My first hunt! They walked down beside the old Thunderpath to the abandoned twoleg nest as Turtletail had said. Snowpaw's nose twitched, Mouse! She crouched down, looking at Turtletail. Turtletail nodded, crouching and putting her tail flat on the ground, Snowpaw copied. She crouched, and stalked slowly and silently towards the spell of mouse. She found the mouse and stalked up behind it. HA! She jumped on the mouse, claws unsheathed. Fox-dung! She watched as the mouse wriggled and ran from her paws.
"It's ok," Spiritpaw said sympathetically "I didn't catch anything on my first day," What! How dare He! She lifted her nose and huffed. Spiritpaw looked sadly at her. Whitefrost's nose twitched. He crouched down and went into the abandoned twoleg nest. He came back carrying a mouse. No fair! That was her mouse! She looked sadly at the ground, Spiritpaw stood beside her, and she allowed his pelt to comfort her.
"We should probably go now," Turtletail said, "It's getting dark." Whitefrost nodded, they all padded back to camp.
When they arived at camp Dawncloud came up to Snowpaw,
"How was your first training?" She asked,
"It was…" Snowpaw started,
"She missed a mouse," Spiritpaw said unsympathetically,
"Say that again," Snowpaw challenged, as she crouched down.
"She missed a mouse." Spiritpaw said competing her challenge, as he crouched. Snowpaw jumped at him he whizzed out of the way, perfect! She waited for him to come closer then she ran round him and jump on his back holding him down with sheathed claws. Spiritpaw wriggled and struggled, but was stuck.
"Ha!" Snowpaw exclaimed, her tail waving happily, as she jumped off Spiritpaw.
"Snowpaw? That was amazing, especially since Spiritpaw has already done battle training." Whitefrost exclaimed. Spiritpaw looked shattered.
"Sorry," Snowpaw said sarcastically. He stared at her evening her sarcasm.