Hey guys! Chapter two is here. Sorry it took longer than expected to update. I've been busy. I ended up getting sick on monday, on sunday an saturday my brother made me watch batman with him, and yesterday I got a new game (pokemon mystery dungeon :D) so I haven't been able to write as much. But this is a long chapter, so it makes up for it. Well anyway, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!

Chapter 2: Apprenticeship

"All cats old enough to hunt their own prey gather here beneath the leader's rock for a clan meeting!" came a summons from the clearing. Cats who had just returned from morning patrols gathered around the ledge above the leader's den, as well as those who were sharing tongues around the clearing after eating their share of fresh kill. Badgerkit and Maplekit sat in front of the gathered clan, well groomed with shining eyes. Maplekit sat unmoving with her tail wrapped around her front legs and her back erect, while Badgerkit couldn't sit still, his front paws kneading the ground in excitement. It was the day of their apprentice ceremony. Badgerkit had forgiven Maplekit like Leafberry and Honeyear said, but not until a quarter moon after she had told him. He had refused to let Maplekit play with him and Rowanfield, saying that medicine cats didn't fight, so she couldn't play wrestle, so Maplekit had spent the time helping in the medicine den. Now they were back to being best friends, and all quarrels were forgotten on this day of their apprentice ceremony. Foxstar sat on the ledge, her deep orange fur gleaming in the sunlight. "I have summoned you all here to make these two kits apprentices," Foxstar began once the clan had settled. "Badgerkit, step forward." Badgerkit stood and walked forward a few pawsteps, his green eyes shining. "Badgerkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Badgerpaw. Your mentor will be Hawkstrike. I hope he will pass down all that he knows to you." She turned to the calico tom, who was sitting under the leader's rock. "Hawkstrike, you were my apprentice at one time. I believe you are ready to take on another apprentice, for you have shown yourself to be loyal and honorable. I expect you to pass down these traits to Badgerpaw." Hawkstrike stood with a proud gaze and padded to Badgerpaw, bending down to touch noses with the black and white apprentice. Badgerpaw had to stand on his toes to touch noses with the huge warrior.

"I will teach Badgerpaw everything I know," Hawkstrike promised, letting his amber eyes sweep across the gathered cats. He and Badgerpaw went to the front of the crowd and sat down. Foxstar looked down at Maplekit.

"Maplekit, step forward." Maplekit obeyed, quivering in excitement. "Maplekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Maplepaw." Snowbreeze, who had also been sitting under the leader's rock, stepped forward to address the clan.

"Cats of ForestClan, as you know, I will not be around forever. So it's time I took an apprentice. I have chosen a cat who has shown a great interest in healing and medicine, who wishes to be a medicine cat. Your next medicine cat will be Maplepaw."

"Maplepaw, do you accept the post of being apprentice to Snowbreeze?" Foxstar continued.

"I do," Maplepaw vowed, her voice a whisper.

Snowbreeze spoke again. "Then at the half moon, you must travel to the Star Shard to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats."

It was Foxstar's turn to speak. "The good wishes of all ForestClan go with you." Snowbreeze and Maplepaw touched noses, then went to take their place beside Hawkstike and Badgerpaw.

"Badgerpaw! Maplepaw! Badgerpaw! Maplepaw!" chanted the cats of ForestClan, who gathered around to greet the new apprentices with their new names. "Congratulations, Badgerpaw and Maplepaw." "Our next medicine cat!" "You'll make a great warrior!" Maplepaw and Badgerpaw sat with their eyes shining and chests puffed out in pride. Foxstar leaped down from the ledge and the cats scattered around the clearing. Hawkstrike looked down at his new apprentice.

"Hurry and eat a piece of fresh kill, and we'll go tour the territory," the senior warrior said, his deep voice a rumbling purr. Badgerpaw nodded and ran over to the fresh kill pile, grabbing a finch and scarfing it down as fast as he could.

Snowbreeze's whiskers twitched in amusement, then she turned to Maplepaw. "Let's go to the medicine den and get started," she mewed. She stood and began walking to her den, Maplepaw close behind. The pair of medicine cats reached the medicine den and went through the entrance tunnel into the small cave. The hole in the ceiling let in the sunhigh light, and the two cats sat in the center of the room. "Let's start with the basics. You already know some of the herbs from your time helping me. Why don't we quiz you to see what you remember." Snowbreeze walked to the far wall and slipped inside a smaller room. She returned with various herbs in her jaws. When she reached Maplepaw, she laid them all out in front of her. "What's this?" Snowbreeze mewed, placing a paw on a bright yellow flower.

Maplepaw squinted in concentration. "Marigold," she said after a moment.

Snowbreeze nodded. "Very good. It is used for preventing infections." She placed her paw on a thin stalk with small leaves on it. "And this?"

"Thyme," said Maplekit almost immediately.

"Yes," purred Snowbreeze. "We use this for shock and anxiety. What is this called?" The two carried on doing this for some time, eventually ending with the last one. Maplepaw had known almost all of them, only missing yarrow. "Very good," said the medicine cat. "Now, how would you like to go and see the best place for picking these?"

Maplepaw stood and bounced on her paws. "Oh yes! I want to see the territory!" Snowbreeze purred and put away the herbs. When she returned, they left the medicine den to go on a tour of the territory.

Badgerpaw and Hawkstrike left the camp soon after Maplekit and Snowbreeze entered the medicine den. Finished with his meal, Badgerpaw raced up to Hawkstrike, who's whiskers were twitching. "Can we go now?" he asked eagerly.

Hawkstrike nodded and stood, turning to the entrance with Badgerpaw by his side. Badgerpaw's paws were quivering with excitement as he exited camp for the first time. The tunnel opened up into a vast forest. The trees were covered in red, orange, and yellow leaves, and the leaf-fall air was brisk and chilled. Badgerpaw gasped in amazement. A leaf tumbled in front of his face, and he jumped up and swatted at it with his front paws. However, he caught himself and fell back onto all fours looking at the forest floor, ears hot with embarrassment. You're not a kit anymore, mouse brain! he rebuked himself. Hawkstrike pretended not to notice. "Let's start near the MarshClan territory," he rumbled. They turned to the right and began walking. Badgerpaw glanced around at his surroundings in awe. Everything is so big! he thought. He had been able to see glimpses of the forest from camp, but the view was always obstructed by the stone walls of the quarry. Now he could see every detail of the territory: the thick undergrowth, the towering trees, the flowers; it was amazing! Eventually the sound of running water could be heard. "Do you hear that?" Hawkstirke asked.

"Yeah," Badgerpaw said. "What is it?"

"That's the creek. It separates our territory from MarshClan's," Hawkstrike told his apprentice. The farther they walked, the louder the sound grew. It wasn't a loud sound, just a quiet rushing sound as the water slowly ran through the territory. Finally, they arrived at the creek. The ground around it was lush with vegetation. "Now tell me what you smell," Hawkstrike said to Badgerpaw.

Badgerpaw took in a deep breath with his mouth open to taste the air. There was a cat smell, but different from what he was used to; this scent was sour, overpowering, and disgusting compared to the comforting scent of ForestClan. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yuck!" Badgerpaw exclaimed. "What is that?"

"That is MarshClan's scent," Hawkstrike said. "Now, look at their territory. Can you see how it is different?"

Badgerpaw squinted his eyes and looked into MarshClan's territory. "There aren't many trees," he said. "And there are different plants. And the ground is wet it looks like."

"Very good. They live in a marsh, which is why they are called MarshClan. They are ForestClan's greatest enemies. They're the sneakiest, most devious cats in all of the four clans. Never trust a MarshClan cat," growled Hawkstrike. "They always cause trouble." There was something unfamiliar in Hawkstrike's voice as he spoke that Badgerpaw couldn't put his paw on. He had heard cats speak about MarshClan in camp before with the same hatred, but never had it seemed so...personal to them.

"Hawkstrike," Badgerpaw mewed carefully, "did..did you ever trust one?"

Hawkstrike turned to Badgerpaw, his eyes furious. "No. Never ask me that again." At that he stood and turned abruptly, and began walking along the creek. His fur was bristling and he seemed very tense. "Let's move on to CloudClan." Saying this, he began walking downstream along the creek. As they walked, Hawkstrike gradually calmed down. His muscles loosened and his fur laid flat. After they walked a ways, the trees opened up into a massive clearing with a gigantic stone in the middle.

"Wow," breathed Badgerpaw. "What is this place?" There were no trees in the clearing, so the sky was open, easily seen from the ground. "You must be able to see all of Silverpelt from down here."

"That's the idea. This is where we gather at the full moon: the Great Stone," Hawkstrike informed. "Cats from every clan come here every full moon under a truce. We share tongues and tell each other of recent events. And if anyone breaks the truce, StarClan gets angry and covers the moon." He padded onward, toward the Great Stone. Badgerpaw stood for a moment in awe before racing to catch up with his mentor.

"Where are we going?"

"To see CloudClan territory. It's on the other side of the stone. All territories meet here. This clearing is neutral territory; it doesn't belong to any single clan. So we can cross it to see other territories," Hawkstrike said. The went around the stone and to the opposite edge of the clearing. Where they stood opened up to a vast moorland, with hills and some trees that dotted the landscape. Hawkstrike sat down, looking out over the land. "This is CloudClan's territory. They like to hunt and sleep out in the open, where they can see enemies coming easier. They claim they are closer to StarClan because they can always see the night sky. Also, they are fast runners, so they can catch faster prey easily. But they don't just catch rabbits, they catch field mice and birds as well. Let's move on to MoonClan now." Hawkstrike stood and turned around, heading to the side of the clearing where they hadn't yet been, and re-entered ForestClan territory on the other side. Now they padded next to a pine forest. "MoonClan lives in the pines," said Hawkstrike. "They are nocturnal: they hunt at night. However, they do have border patrols during the day so that no clan can sneak an attack on them while they are sleeping. They focus on mainly hunting at night, when every other clan is sleeping," he told Badgerpaw as they walked. "MoonClan cats always try to settle things peacefully if possible. But beware, they are incredibly fierce in a battle." They padded on in silence for some time before Badgerpaw spoke up.

"Can we go hunting now?" he said.

"Not today. I need to teach you something else."

"Oh, like what?" Badgerpaw whispered. "Fighting? Patrolling?"

Hawkstrike shook his head. "You'll see." He turned right so that they were walking deeper into their territory. Soon they approached a ginormous oak tree. It was way bigger than any tree in the territory, towering over them all by several fox-lengths.

"Woah! That tree is huge!" Badgerpaw chirped. "Are you going to teach me to climb?"

Hawkstrike chuckled. "No, and even if I was, I wouldn't start you on the biggest tree in the territory. This is called the Great Oak." He padded to the base of the tree with Badgerpaw in his wake. "See how much moss is here?" Badgerpaw nodded, seeing tons of moss growing on the roots of the tree. "We're going to collect some and bring it back, then you are going to change the bedding in the elder's den."

Hearing this, Badgerpaw's tail drooped. "What?" he whined. "But I want to hunt! And fight!"

"You will do as your mentor tells you," growled Hawkstrike. Badgerpaw shut up after this. "Now when you collect moss, you want to hook your claws as far in as you can and pull your paw back gently to get the most and finish quicker." He demonstrated, sticking his claws deep into the moss and pulling downward with his paw, collecting a big strip of moss. "Try it."

Badgerpaw placed his claws in the moss and stretched them out as far as they could then brought his paw down, just as Hawkstrike had done. When he had finished, he had a strip of moss hanging off of his claws. "There," he said. "I did it!"

Hawkstrike nodded. "But we will need more for the elder's den. Let's collect some more, then we can return to camp." They spent several minutes stripping moss off of the tree and placing it in a pile. Soon they had a small heap. "This should be enough," rumbled Hawkstike. He and Badgerpaw placed their last strips onto the pile, then Hawkstrike rolled it into two balls. "Now we need to get the water out of it." He picked up the bigger ball of moss, squeezing it with his jaws, causing water to drip out of it."You take the smaller one." He gestured with his tail to the ball of moss that was slightly smaller than the other. Hawkstrike picked up the bigger ball in his mouth and waited for Badgerpaw to dry his moss before padded in the direction of camp, Badgerpaw following him. They arrived at camp with their load and padded over to the elder's den, dropping the moss at the entrance. "Just take out the old bedding first and bring it out of camp through the dirtplace, then put the fresh moss down," instructed Hawkstrike. "When you finish you can get a piece of fresh kill. You've had a busy day," he purred. With that, he turned and went to the fresh kill pile, sitting to eat with Rowanfield and leaving Badgerpaw to his work.

Badgerpaw entered the den. "I'm here to clean out your bedding," he said with all the politeness he could muster.

Honeyear glanced up. "While thank you, Badgerpaw," she mewed as he started clawing up bedding in her nest. She stood and moved so he could get to it easier. "How was your first day as an apprentice?"

"It was great!" Badgerpaw said, his eyes shining as he remembered the day. "I saw most of the forest, and all of our borders. And I learned about every single clan, and I got to see the Great Stone!"

"Sounds like fun," Honeyear mewed. "I remember when I was an apprentice. Me and my littermates always had contests to see who could catch the most prey..." She trailed off, lost in memories. Badgerpaw sighed. If only Maplepaw had become a warrior apprentice. We could do that too. He hurried to finish, clawing up the moss in Twigfall's nest as well. Twigfall moved grumpily.

"Hurry up so I can finish my nap," he murmured.

"Come on Twigfall, why don't we go get some fresh kill?" Honeyear said. She lead the grumbling elder out of the den so that Badgerpaw could finish in peace. He brought all of the old moss out of the camp through the dirtplace tunnel, then returned and placed the new bedding.

"Done!" he said to himself. He walked over to the fresh kill pile and chose a vole to eat before padding over to join the other apprentices who were eating.

"How was cleaning out the elder's den?" teased Thunderpaw, a sandy tom with deep green eyes. "Good to know we won't have to do it anymore," he sneered.

"Yah," mocked a light brown tabby. "Leave the more important things to the older apprentices."

"Leave him alone, Nookpaw," said a slightly younger white she cat named Icepaw. The tip of her tail was a silvery light gray. "Don't mind them, Badgerpaw," she said, turning to him. "They're just mouse brains. Why don't you eat with us?" Badgerpaw blinked gratefully and settled down to eat. "How'd you like the territory?" she asked.

"It was great! I got to see all of the other clans' territories and learn about them. Then I got to see the great stone and the great oak!" Badgerpaw said, ignoring the snickers from the two toms.

"Sounds like you had fun," Icepaw mewed. "When you finish, I'll help you make a nest in the apprentice den." Badgerpaw nodded and gulped down the last of his vole. Icepaw led him to a small bramble bush with woven branches and a small hole in the side for an entrance. They entered the den, and Icepaw helped him select a spot close to her. "Just ignore Thunderpaw and Nookpaw," she mewed again. "They're just show-offs."

"Thanks Icepaw," mewed Badgerpaw. "Really."

"No problem." She yawned. "It's almost time to go to sleep. The evening patrol should be getting back." As she spoke, Thunderpaw and Nookpaw padded in, talking loudly. "Good night, Badgerpaw," Icepaw mewed, settling down in her nest.

"Good night," Badgerpaw said. He stood for a second. I'm going to go see how Maplepaw's first day was. He left the den to find Maplepaw eating a mouse. Badgerpaw walked over to her. "Hi Maplepaw!" he greeted. He told her about his tour. "What did you do today?"

"I learned some new herbs," she said. "And I got to go see the territory and the best spots for picking them." She yawned. "I'm going to sleep. I had a long day." She licked Badgerpaw's forehead then padded away to the medicine den for the night. Badgerpaw returned to his nest and curled up in a ball. Icepaw was already asleep. I'm finally on my way to becoming a warrior! Badgerpaw thought as he slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! I hope to update again soon. Again, please review!