One moon later.
"Foxkit, step forward."
Jaggedkit's tail brushed the ground behind him as he shivered with nervousness. Foxkit and Skykit were staring up at Chasmstar, panting, their eyes wide, gleaming, and excited, but Jaggedkit found it hard to be as enthusiastic about apprenticeship as his littermates were. He'd never left the camp before - kits weren't allowed to. What if his mentor made him fight? He'd surely lose. He'd always lost against Foxkit or Skykit; he hated to imagine how he'd do against older apprentices like Drypaw or - he shuddered - Tornpaw; he'd never seen Tornpaw lose a fight, and even though she was the oldest apprentice, her battle skills were an impressive thing to see. Or nerve-wracking.. How was she so fast?
He tried to reassure himself. By the time he would be old enough to fight, Jaggedkit thought, Tornpaw would be a warrior, and he wouldn't have to train against her. But he was still scared.
"At the age of six moons, you are now ready to train as an apprentice of DappleClan. Rainwillow!"
The grey tabby looked up, his face showing no surprise. He must have expected to be the mentor of at least one of the three kits; he was one of the more experienced warriors, on top of being Chasmstar's brother.
"You will mentor Foxpaw. Skykit, come forward."
The stocky tom bounded forward, eyes shining with anticipation. He stopped in front of the rest of the cats, tail lashing excitedly. "You will be mentored by Snowflower."
Finally, the leader said the words that Jaggedkit had been dreading all day. "Jaggedkit, come forward."
Shakily, he stepped forward, stopping beside Skykit. He could feel the eyes of the Clan on him, and he'd never wished harder for a hole to disappear into.
"Don't look so nervous," Skykit hissed. "Everyone's staring at you!"
Jaggedkit tried a serious expression as he stared up at Chasmstar, but he still felt as though everyone's eyes were burning into his pelt.
"Rippleclaw, we will never forget Darkpaw, killed in the flood seven moons ago, but we must move forward. You are ready for another apprentice; you will be mentor to Jaggedpaw."
Chasmstar dipped his head and stepped back, signalling the ceremony was over. Instantly, the Clan began to cheer. "Foxpaw! Skypaw! Jaggedpaw!"
Jaggedpaw closed his eyes and willed a hole to appear beneath his feet so that he could disappear forever, escaping the attention of his Clanmates, however congratulatory.
"Yes!" Foxpaw jumped up and spun in a circle.
"We're apprentices now!" Skypaw cried. He nudged Jaggedpaw. "Come on, don't look so scared. Even you'll have fun." He raced off and skidded to a halt in front of Snowflower.
"Are you all ready for a tour of the territory?" Rainwillow meowed, coming up beside Foxpaw.
"Yeah!" Skypaw purred enthusiastically.
"It's late, Rainwillow," Rippleclaw warned.
"Nonsense," Rainwillow retorted. "They look pretty ready, don't they? Let's go." He turned to walk toward the exit of camp.
"Wait," Jaggedpaw mewed. "Can't we go tomorrow? We'll get tired if we go now. We'll have all day tomorrow, too." He racked his brain for more reasons to stay in the safety of camp, but he didn't need to.
"Hm, alright," Rainwillow meowed agreeably, taking Jaggedpaw completely by surprise.
"I guess we can go tomorrow," Snowflower muttered.
Jaggedpaw turned and looked at Skypaw, who, to his surprise, also has a reasonable look on his face. "That's okay, too," he mumbled. "I was really excited for this, though." To Jaggedpaw's further shock, he turned out to be serious - Skypaw, followed by Foxpaw, turned away and headed for the nursery - then stopped, causing Foxpaw to bump into him with a hiss of annoyance. "Apprentice den," he laughed to himself, and started going the other way. Foxpaw glared at him, but followed.
What was that about? Jaggedpaw wondered. Even Skypaw agreed with him. He walked slowly toward his new den in a haze of confusion.