It was evening, and by now most of IceClan was settled down, sharing freshly caught prey, grooming each other and sharing the latest gossip. Patchkit and Dapplekit were parked directly in front of the elders den, listening to Mothflame, Echolight, and Glimmerwing talk about the days when they were warriors, young and strong.
Ripplepaw was sharing a mouse with her brother, Flamepaw, when she heard Dovestar's yowl from on top of the Highrock.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Dovestar said loud and clear. Ripplepaw and Flamepaw nodded to each other and patted over to join the warriors and apprentices underneath of the Highrock.
At the IceClan leader's summoning meow, cats began emerging from their dens and trotted over to sit at the base of the Highrock to see what was happening.
Dovestar waited until every cat was gathered, then started to speak.
"The biggest honor a leader can do is to turn an apprentice, or two in this case, into warriors. Snowpaw, come forth." Snowpaw then went to the base of the Highrock to meet Dovestar. "I, Dovestar, leader of IceClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked at Snowpaw, who raised her head. "Snowpaw," Dovestar continued, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?"
"I do." Snowpaw replied. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Snowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Snowfrost. StarClan honors your compassion and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of IceClan." When she was done, Dovestar then rested her muzzle on Snowfrost's head, who then licked the leader's shoulder. "Snowfrost! Snowfrost! Snowfrost!" the whole Clan cheered. Blizzardpaw and Whitefang chanted the loudest.
After Snowfrost stepped back it was Blizzardpaw's turn to step forward. "I, Dovestar, leader of IceClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked over at Blizzardpaw as she raised her head. "Blizzardpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?" Dovestar said. "I do." Blizzardpaw replied with determination. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Blizzardpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Blizzardsky. StarClan honors your positivity and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of IceClan." She then put her muzzle on Blizzardsky's head, who licked Dovestar's shoulder.
"Blizzardsky! Blizzardsky! Blizzardsky!" the Clan chanted Blizzardsky's new name.
The white-and-cream she-cat purred softly and patted over to sit beside her sister.
Once the noise had finally died down enough for Dovestar to speak, the dark gray she-cat leader yowled loudly to get her Clan's attention.
"As of tradition, Snowfrost and Blizzardsky will sit in silent vigil all night and guard the camp while the rest of us sleep. You are all dismissed." When Dovestar was finished a few cats went to the prey pile to get something to eat before going to sleep for the night.
As cats were heading toward their dens to sleep for the night, Ripplepaw saw Snowfrost and Blizzardsky being congratulated by their mentors, Frostglimmer and Walestripe respectively.
•••
The next morning Ripplepaw was awoken by a paw gently shaking her shoulder.
"Pssst. Hey, Ripplepaw wake up! Dovestar is calling a Clan meeting."
It was Sealpaw who'd woken her from her sleep.
Ripplepaw groaned and stood to her paws with a wide yawn. Why in the name of StarClan is Dovestar calling a Clan meeting so early? Ripplepaw grumbled silently to herself as she followed her friend out of the apprentices den.
As the two she-cats joined the rest of their clanmates at the base of the Highrock, Ripplepaw gazed around the camp.
But then a flash of white caught her eye and Ripplepaw's eyes popped wide open in realizations.
How could she forget? It was time for Frostlily's kits to become apprentices.
"Noble cats of IceClan! We gather here today for one of our most important announcements. The making of new apprentices!" Dovestar yowled. Mosskit squealed excitedly from beside her, and Hailkit bumped her flank playfully. Dovestar looked down at the four bouncing kits.
"Emberkit, Hailkit, Cinderkit, and Mosskit, please step up to Highrock." She mewed. Emberkit dashed up to the top, trying to be in the front, but Hailkit was faster than her and beat her to the top. Cinderkit was right after her, and poor Mosskit was last. Dovestar glanced down at the impatient Hailkit. She smiled at her large blue-green eyes, which were widened in both nervousness and excitement.
"Hailkit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she asked her, her voice steady and calm.
"Yes," she mewed, her fur fluffed up in anticipation. Dovestar smiled.
"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Hailpaw. Cloudflare," she meowed, pointing to the white she-cat, "will be your mentor." Cloudflare happily padded up to Hailpaw and touched her nose.
"I promise to train Hailpaw to my best abilities," she meowed seriously.
Suddenly, a wave of nervousness shivered over Emberkit. She was next in line! Please don't let me mess up! she thought, both praying and pleading to StarClan. As she looked up at Dovestar's fluffy dark gray face, she thought she saw a flicker of something in Dovestar's light blue eyes, but it flickered away far too quickly for her to judge.
"Emberkit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she repeated. Emberkit nodded.
"Yes." Dovestar then spoke the words, just as Emberkit had dreamed of.
"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Emberpaw. Frostfang will be your mentor." Dovestar mewed proudly.
Emberpaw expected to see hostility in the white cat's eyes, but she just saw kindness in their blue depths. He tapped her little soft kitten-petal-pink nose lightly with his rough pink-gray one. He looked up and nodded to Dovestar.
"I promise to teach Emberpaw everything I know," he mewed. Dovestar then named Cinderpaw and Mosspaw, giving them Creamfur and Blackwhisper as mentors. Emberpaw felt she might burst with happiness. I'm finally an apprentice! she thought with an excited skip in her step as she patted back over to join Frostlily and her littermates.
"Hailpaw! Emberpaw! Cinderpaw! Mosspaw!" the four young cats lifted their heads in pride, the amber sun behind them making the two young cats look like brands of flame in the new morning light.
The cheering died down.
Emberpaw ducked her head, modesty getting the better of her. She noticed though, how Hailpaw puffed her chest out and was basking in the other cat's praise, and she purred in amusement.
"Clan meeting dismissed," Dovestar meowed, leaping off the Highrock and patting into her den with Hailclaw.
After the excitement had finally died down somewhat, Frostfang patted over toward his apprentice and tapped her lightly on the shoulder with his fluffy white tail.
"Come along Emberpaw," Frostfang meowed, flicking his tail and patting out of camp. "I'm going to show you our territory."
The smaller she-cat smiled and bounded eagerly after her mentor.
•••
"And this is the gathering place where all four Clans gather for one night of peace, and the truce last's for as long as the moon is full." Emberpaw nodded, her jade green eyes widened in aw as she took in her surroundings.
The Gathering place was in the center of the four Clans. It was surrounded by one oak tree for BreezeClan, a misty pine tree for MistClan, an iceberg for IceClan, and a small rocky hill for StormClan. At the center, a big ancient birch tree sat there, with spots for all the leaders and deputies to sit.
"Wow! This place is so beautiful!" Emberpaw exclaimed, her fur fluffed up in excitement as she turned to face Frostfang.
"When is the next gathering?" she asked, her green eyes wide as she continued to stare at the BirchTree that was perched dead smack in the center of the clearing.
Frostfang purred and twitched his whiskers. "The next Gathering will be held at the next full moon, which is in two sunrises from now if I recall correctly."
A comfortable silence fell upon the two IceClan cats as they patted through the pine forest and back to their own camp.
A few more moments passed before Emberpaw spoke up in an attempt to break the ice.
"Is that all of the territory Frostfang? Or is there more that you still have to show me?"
Frostfang looked thoughtful for a moment before he finally spoke. "The last part of our territory that I have to show you is Beluga Rock, and then we'll call it a day and head back to camp."
The flame-pelted she-cat nodded and followed her mentor to Beluga Rock.
•••
it was nearly sundown by the time the two IceClan cats had finally returned to camp.
Frostfang purred softly and stared down at his apprentice with a warm smile. "You've done really well today, Emberpaw." He meowed, flicking one of his apprentice's ears with his tail.
Emberpaw smiled tiredly up at her mentor, her green eyes glowing like jade in the pinkish sundown light.
"Um hey, Frostfang?" Emberpaw meowed in a soft voice. "Is it alright with you if I go join my littermates near the apprentice den?"
"It's okay, you've been working hard. It's sundown, go share tongues with your clanmates." He meowed. Emberpaw dipped her head politely and dashed away, giving a quick nod of her head to her mentor as she left.
Emberpaw walked over to the fresh-kill pile to choose a fat red robin. She was patting over to sit with her littermates, who had just gotten back from their first day of training.
"Heya, Ember!" Cinderpaw and Mosspaw both meowed at the same time.
Emberpaw laughed and twitched an ear. "Hey yourself!" the flame-pelted she-cat purred back with a teasing grin and an amused twitch of her whiskers.
"So, Emberpaw, tell me! How did your first day as an apprentice turn out?" she mewed in a friendly tone.
Emberpaw replied with a small smile. "It was absolute amazing!" she purred, twitching her tail from left to right in excitement.
After a short pause, Emberpaw continued speaking with an excited wave of her tail. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to you guys that Frostfang took me out of camp and showed me the territory."
Mosspaw had just opened her mouth to start saying something when another voice joined in the conversation.
It was Coldpaw, one of the older apprentice's and one Tuskpaw's littermates.
"How did you like seeing our super cool territory? Wasn't it great?" Coldpaw chimed in, her white fur fluffed up and her blue eyes gleaming.
Emberpaw grinned widely, her ginger fur fluffed up and her green eyes shimmering with both amazement and aw. "It was absolutely awesome!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
"Hey, Milk! Come over here and join us!" Cinderpaw meowed, motioning with her tail for the white-furred apprentice to come over and join them.
Milkpaw smiled softly and walked over to the fresh-kill pile to choose a small black raven.
"So how'd training go today?" she asked, mainly directing her question towards Emberpaw and her littermates.
At hearing the question, Mosspaw's tail flicked from side to side in excitement. "It was super super cool!" she meowed, smiling and jumping up and down like a newborn kit.
The two older apprentice's laughed and twitched their whiskers in amusement.
"Well that's not all," Coldpaw mewed kindly, smiling brightly at the younger apprentices. "You'll be learning how to swim pretty soon, it's a big part of being an IceClan cat." She explained, flicking her ears from left to right as she spoke. "But that's not all, you'll also learn to hunt prey on land as well as in the water."
"But won't we get cold in the water?" Cinderpaw asked her, her smokey-gray tail swooshing gently from side to side and her blue eyes wide.
Coldpaw chuckled softly and shook her head. "Of course not!" she purred, laughing and tapping the apprentice over the ear with a paw. "We're IceClan cats, Cinderpaw, our pelts are made for the cold. No other cats could survive in weather like we can, they'd freeze before they even get within a fox-length of the icebergs."
"Wow! That's absolutely amazing!" Cinderpaw breathed, her eyes wide with both amazement and awe. "So no other cats can live here aside from us?"
Coldpaw and Milkpaw nodded in response.
"Yup, that's exactly why we live up here in cold places." Coldpaw meowed loftily. "Isn't it pretty cool how we can live in cold places like this!"
Emberpaw and her littermates nodded in agreement.