Chapter 3

"Mother we're clean enough!"

"You're about to be an apprentice! You need to look good on your first day," Tigerfang was busy cleaning her kits, today was the day they became apprentices!

I wonder who my mentor will be... I hope they're not too strict. Jadekit couldn't help but be nervous a bit for the upcoming ceremony. Will I have to do some kind of test to prove myself?

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highbranch for a Clan meeting!" Sagestar called the familiar summonings.

"Ok are you all ready?" Blazeclaw poked his head in the nursery. His eyes shined with pride at seeing his kits grow up.

Jadekit and Russetkit walked smoothly beside their parents when they were brought out to the meeting, trying not to look too excited. Jadekit wanted to prove that she was more than ready to be an apprentice.

Sagestar flicked his tail for her brother to come forward, "Russetkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Russetpaw. Your mentor will be Foxshade. I hope Foxshade will pass down all she knows on to you." He then signaled Foxshade forward.

"Foxshade, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Cedarmist, and you have shown yourself to be brave and loyal. You will be the mentor of Russetpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Russetpaw." Foxshade came forward and touched noses with Russetpaw.

Sagestar then beckoned her forward. "Jadekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Jadepaw. Your mentor will be Leafstorm. I hope Leafstorm will pass down all he knows on to you." Sagestar seemed to have a weird gleam in his eye, not something he had when he apprenticed her brother. What's that about? Did I already do something wrong? He signaled Leafstorm forward.

"Leafstorm, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Fallenstep, and you have shown yourself to be quick and cunning. You will be the mentor of Jadepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Jadepaw." Leafstorm then came toward her and bent his head to touch noses with her. Jadepaw stood there as she listened to her Clan call her new name, along with her brother's. She looked around and saw her mother purring while Blazeclaw looked ready to burst with pride, his chest puffed out.

When the Clan settled down and the cats went back to the rest of their duties, Jadepaw immediately turned to her mentor. "What do we get to do today!"

"Well first, let's make sure you still know not to go into the Warrior's den," his eyes gleamed with amusement as he remembered her first day out. Her pelt burned with embarrassment, Leafstorm was the warrior she woke up when she stumbled into their den.

"But, I think first we'll explore the territory. You'll get to smell the different Clan scents and even see the where the clans meet every full moon. "

"Can Russetpaw come too?"

Foxshade answered instead, "Yes, we'll be doing the same thing so we can just join together, if that's ok with you Leafstorm?"

"Of course." With that, Leafstorm and Foxshade trotted toward the fern tunnel.

Jadepaw was finally feeling the excitement of what just happened. She felt like she had so much energy, she could run through the whole forest and never get tired. From one glance at her brother, he looked about as excited as her, if not more.

Once at the top of the ravine, both warriors stopped to scent the air. It was Leafstorm who spoke first, "I think we can take them around to the border with IceClan first, and then we'll sweep around and end with the border with DuskClan."

Foxshade nodded her agreement and took off in the direction of the sun. The warriors pelted through the forest, not slowing down much for the apprentices. Their legs were too small to keep up and the warriors ended up pulling far ahead.

"Wait.. I can't see them anymore.." Russetpaw stopped in front of her.

Jadepaw noticed the warriors always use their sense is smell for direction, "We might not be able to see them, but maybe we can follow a scent trail?" She gave the air a good sniff and started to follow the direction that the cat's' scent was strongest. She pointed her tail in the direction, "I think they went that way."

Just as she was about the pelt forward, she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. Russetpaw jumped up beside her, both of their fur on end, before they realized it was Leafstorm and Foxshade.

"That's a good nose your apprentice has there Leafstorm."

"Yes, very well Jadepaw. Sometimes sight isn't everything, your nose can lead you to where you want if you follow the right scents," his voice rumbled deeply. Leafstorm gave her a look of approval before bounding off again, in the direction Jadepaw had been about to go.

This time the warriors went slower for the apprentices, no longer trying to test them. Then they abruptly stopped close to a river, beside a big pile of rocks. "Use your nose, what do you guys smell?"

Jadepaw could smell many different scents, but after passing their first little test, she decided to wait and let her brother answer this one.

"I smell a very strong scent of our Clan, and another strong smell, like more cats, but different from us, more yucky." Russetpaw wrinkled his nose at this new scent.

"Very good Russetpaw. Your smelling our border markers. The other cat scent you smell is IceClan, their territory is beyond that river, but the border is just around here and that," Foxshade signaled with her tail toward the pile of big rocks, "is Baskingstones. The sun shines on them all year, keeping them warm, and great for sunning yourself. JadeClan and IceClan have fought so many pointless battles over them. Currently JadeClan have them."

Foxshade remarked the border markers and the cats moved along the border. It took quite a long time until they slowed down and eventually came to another stop. Jadepaw was shocked to see what was ahead.

There was upward a slope just outside of the forest, and beyond the slope was a huge, deep hollow in the ground. It looked difficult to be able to get in and out, but with closer inspection, she could see there were ledges and trails that led down to the center, one single oak tree stood in the middle.

"What your looking at is Deephollow, the place where the Clans gather every full moon in peace, and exchange news with each other," Leafstorm told them as they stared in awe at the huge hollow. It looks like a giant cat just scraped a paw full of dirt out of the ground, and just a single tree grew in the middle, how strange.

Foxshade broke her from her thoughts, "The tree in the center is where the Clan leaders sit to look down on the Clans and share their news."

Jadepaw wanted to explore but she was again smelling another big group of cats, though more faint, coming from the opposite side of Deephollow. She asked about it.

"You seem to have a sharp nose Jadepaw. That scent is GustClan, their territory is beyond the hollow. Long fields of grass hills, perfect for running and chasing rabbits." Leafstorm explained before they moved on, this time in the opposite direction of the sun, which was almost at sunhigh.

Again, the warriors pelted through the forest, being mindful of the new 'paws' short legs. Jadepaw's earlier energy was started to wear off and her paws were starting to ache. Soon enough she thought she was hearing the sound of something loud up ahead, almost like thunder, but the sky was perfectly clear today.

"That noise up ahead," Leafstorm began as if reading her thoughts. "Is the Thunderpath. Fast moving monsters run along them so don't get close, or they'll come after you."

Jadepaw heard about the terrifying monsters, and that Twolegs ride in their bellies. She was also reminded of how dangerous they are when she remembered Stumpleg, a young cat retired of his warrior duties after losing a leg from getting hit by a monster. When they got closer and she was finally able to see what monsters looked like, the thought of getting hit by one terrified her. She stayed as far away from the Thunderpath as possible.

She also noticed that acrid tang on her tongue, noting that it smelled horrid. How would any cat be able to scent any intruders or prey with this stench in the air?

"You probably won't be able to smell it now, because of the Thunderpath, but DuskClan's territory is inside those pine trees. They are the darkest and most sneaky Clan out of all four Clans." Foxshade drew her lips back in the beginnings of a snarl of a memory, "A couple moons before your two were kitted, DuskClan ambushed our Clan in the middle of the night. Two of our cats, Berryfern and Sandfrost, died from the battle."

"I know you're still angry about the battle Foxshade, but the past is the past. I'm sure we'll get our revenge someday," he put his tail over her shoulder and lead her away. "That was the outside boundaries of our territory, now we will go back to camp and you two can eat and get a good rest."

Jadepaw was relieved to finally be going back to camp. All she wanted to do was curl up in her nest and sleep. I almost forgot I sleep in the apprentice's den now! Just the thought gave her the last boost of energy she needed to get back to camp.

"Be sure to be up by dawn tomorrow," Leafstorm threw over his shoulder as he headed to the fresh-kill pile.

Jadepaw and Russetpaw went over to the fresh-kill and both chose a squirrel each. Once they were full fed, they walked into the apprentice den to find two nests already beside each other. Thunderpaw must be out training and Amberpaw was washing her orange and black tabby fur before going to sleep for the night.

"You two can take Scorchfoot's and Blizzardspeck's old spots. I've put fresh bedding and moss for you two." Amberpaw stopped washing to inform them.

They both murmured their thanks before settling down, with Russetpaw curled around her, and Jadepaw was swept into a world of dreams.

Screams. That's all I hear is screams... What's going on, is my Clan in trouble? The sound of fighting cats was all around her. She couldn't make out distinct cats, and she couldn't see. No matter where she turned to, it was just black.

"Help!"

"StarClan why are you doing this!"

"This is the end for us, we're going to perish!"

Jadepaw stopped trying to look around and froze in her spot. That first yell for help sounded like Mother, but what am supposed to do? She seemed unable to move and desperately wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and cover her ears.

"No! Stop! You can't kill her!"

Jadepaw's whole body turned to ice. That was Russetpaw. I couldn't be more sure. Stop this dream, I can't take this anymore!

Jadepaw was still unable to move, and stood there listening in agony to the sounds of battle in the background.

A/N: So I added Cedarmist to the elders list in JadeClan just because I didn't want both of those cats already dead. And after gatherings I'm also gonna put up new allegiances lists just so it makes it easier to keep track of the cats. Also, I'm going to put up a description for the 3 cats that are already in StarClan.

Berryfern- light orange tabby she-cat with black spots and pale yellow eyes, former JadeClan medicine cat

Sandfrost- sandy yellow she-cat with white splotches of fur and blue-gray eyes

Fallenstep- small, wiry pale gray she-cat with short legs and yellow eyes