Warriors: The Power of One: Chapter Two
"Wake up, sleepy-head!"
With a start, Nightkit woke up. For a second she wondered where she was, but then she scented the familiar smells and saw familiar faces and knew she was in the ThunderClan nursery. Ferncloud and her two kits, Icekit and Foxkit were sleeping soundly as she had been. She got to her paws and looked over at her sister, Sunkit, who had woken her. "Is it time yet?" she asked.
Sunkit jumped from moss pile to moss pile anxiously. "Not quite, but Squirrelflight said she would tell us and clean our fur before it's time."
Today was the day that Nightkit and her siblings would be kits no longer. Today was the day of their apprentice ceremony!
"Where are Toadkit and Runningkit?" Nightkit asked Sunkit.
"Outside playing with Brook and her kits," Sunkit replied. "I was out there too, but I came to wake you up."
"Thanks," Nightkit said. "Let's join them."
They walked outside, and met their brothers, Runningkit and Toadkit. Toadkit was chasing Runningkit and one of Brook's kits, Thrushkit. Brook was giving Silverkit a washing.
"Why must you wash me now, mother?" complained Silverkit. "Can't we wait until later?"
"Absolutely not," Brook replied. "Squirrelflight's kits are having their ceremony today and you and Thrushkit are old enough to watch from the back of the clearing. I want you looking your best for the clan."
As she explained herself and continued to give Silverkit a washing, Squirrelflight padded to the clearing by the nursery. "Quickly, kits," Squirrelflight meowed, "We've got to get you washed before your ceremony."
Squirrelflight went to Sunkit and began to wash her, while Brook went to wash Runningkit. Before long, it was Nightkit and Toadkit's turn.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here!" called Firestar, the clan's leader.
"Hurry now, let's go," urged Squirrelflight, as she followed her kits to the main clearing.
Nightkit ran with her siblings to the clearing where she could see Firestar, high above the clearing on the Highledge. She recognized a couple cats. Brambleclaw, her father, and the deputy of ThunderClan, sat near the base of the cliff side. Brightheart, the medicine cat of ThunderClan and also soon to be Nightkit's mentor sat by her mate Cloudtail. A pair of golden brown tabby toms were sitting together, and a white she-cat padded over to sit next to a light brown tabby tom. As she was observing her clan, Firestar began the ceremony.
"I have called you all here today to witness the naming of new apprentices," Firestar proclaimed. "As our clan grows, we have the opportunity to train young cats to be loyal warriors in the clan. I have no doubt that my grandchildren will one day be brave ThunderClan warriors. So without delaying further, I will ask you four. Do you promise to obey the warrior code and serve your clan with all your strength?"
Nightkit waited for her siblings and in perfect unison they replied, "I do."
"Then it is my great pleasure to make you apprentices of ThunderClan," Firestar said. "Sunkit, step forward. Until you are a warrior you will be known as Sunpaw and Brackenfur will be your mentor. He is a wise and patient warrior, and will teach you all you need to be a warrior." One of the golden brown toms padded forward and touched noses with Sunpaw. Then they moved to the side of the clearing.
"Runningkit, step forward. Until you are a warrior you will be known as Runningpaw. I have chosen Stormfur to be your mentor. He has traveled far and become a valuable warrior to ThunderClan and I trust him to teach you all he knows." The two touched noses and moved to the side.
"Toadkit, step forward. Until you are a warrior you will be known as Toadpaw. Ashfur will mentor you. Ashfur has endured loss and suffering and come through as a loyal warrior. He will guide you as you strive to become a warrior." The two touched noses and moved to the side.
"Nightkit, step forward." Firestar said.
"It's finally time!" Nightkit thought. She stepped forward.
"You have chosen a different path, the way of the medicine cat. StarClan themselves approve of your choice, and I trust Brightheart to teach you everything that she knows. You will be known as Nightpaw, until Brightheart has decided that you are a full medicine cat."
Nightpaw stepped up to touch noses with Brightheart and together they moved to the side of the clearing.
Firestar announced that the meeting was over, and Nightpaw turned to Brightheart excitedly, "What will we do first?"
Brightheart purred and said, "How about we go to the den and work on herb identification?"
Nightpaw purred back, "Sounds great, but I might be out-growing that soon," she warned, "I've been doing that for this whole past moon!"
It was true. Nightpaw had known she wanted to be a medicine cat her entire life. When she turned five moons old, she had been allowed to help Brightheart and her apprentice Molepaw. At first, Firestar had told Brightheart that Nightpaw wouldn't be allowed to be a medicine cat, since Brightheart already had Molepaw for an apprentice. Then Brightheart had received a dream from StarClan that Nightpaw should become a medicine cat. They hadn't said why, just that she should be allowed to train under Brightheart.
Nightpaw and Brightheart walked into the medicine cat den to see Molepaw, the other medicine cat apprentice. "How was the ceremony?" he asked.
"It was great!" Nightpaw told him, "Toadkit, Runningkit, and Sunkit got great mentors!" She laughed a little and added, "And I did too, I suppose."
Brightheart smiled and purred, "Alright, that's enough flattery. It's time to get to work!"
Molepaw hobbled from where he had been sitting over to the storage cave that held all the medicine cat supplies. A narrow cave that could be mistaken for just a small crevice widened a small way after the entrance and was the perfect size for holding all the herbs, leaves, and berries that the medicine cats used for their work.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to come to your ceremony, Nightpaw," Molepaw apologized. "Brightheart said I shouldn't move much today."
"It's alright, Molepaw. I know you're my friend. You don't have to prove that, silly fur-ball," Nightpaw purred. She knew it bothered Molepaw that he couldn't move very fast. When Molepaw was a kit, he had almost died of a strange illness. It had made him weak, and unable to be a warrior. He wasn't unhappy as a medicine cat apprentice, but Nightpaw knew deep down that he had wanted to be a warrior. "Pity," she thought. "He would have been a kind and powerful warrior."
Then again, Brightheart had never really wanted to be a medicine cat either. She had been helping Cinderpelt, the last medicine cat with her duties when Cinderpelt was killed. Leafpool, Cinderpelt's apprentice, had gone missing around the same that Cinderpelt was killed. Brightheart was the only cat in the clan who knew anything about being a medicine cat, so she had trained with Littlecloud and StarClan to be the best she could be for her clan. Normally medicine cats weren't allowed to have mates, but since Cloudtail and Brightheart had been mates for many moons, and Brightheart had been a warrior before being the medicine cat, Firestar, with StarClan's approval, had made an exception.
The medicine cats dropped the conversation and focused on helping Nightpaw practice familiarizing herself with the different herbs. Tansy, poppy seed, catmint, mallow, Nightpaw recognized them all correctly.
Nightpaw wondered what her siblings were doing at this moment, and hoped that they were enjoying their first day of being an apprentice as much as she was.