Mothkit woke with a start from her nap, hearing Runningstar's yowl from outside. Initially she groaned and tried to burrow back into the moss nest, but after a second she realized what was happening and jumped up out of pure excitement, accidentally knocking into Ashpelt's nest, where Sootkit and Scorchkit lay curled together, somehow still sound asleep. It was almost dark outside, the faded evening light creeping through the woven branches and leaves in front of the nursery to illuminate the ground in between shadows.
"I, Runningstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Runningstar looked at Petalpaw, the apprentice just about bigger than her. "Petalpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
From her vantage point, Mothkit could see the apprentice just barely stopping herself from moving out of excitement. "I do." Petalpaw stated calmly, her ear twitching.
Runningstar smiled at her excitement. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Petalpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Petalwind. StarClan honors your skill and compassion, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." She rested her muzzle on Petalwind's head, and Petalwind licked her shoulder.
Runningstar then turned to Stormpaw, whose tail tip was twitching as he kept the rest of his body entirely still. She began the ceremony for the second time - "I, Runningstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Runningstar looked at Stormpaw, who puffed up his chest with excitement. "Stormpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Stormpaw mewed loudly, practically yelling. "I do." Petalwind, still next to him, tapped his side with her tail tip and he straightened back up and gave a sheepish smile.
Runningstar's ear twitched. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Stormpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Stormwatcher. StarClan honors your initiative and warmth, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." She rested her muzzle on Stormwatcher's head, and Stormwatcher licked her shoulder.
As the two new warriors turned around, the clan erupted in cheers. "Petalwind! Stormwatcher! Petalwind! Stormwatcher!" The two new warriors looked slightly bashful but they kneaded the ground in excitement. Smokesplash and Frostfoot both purred their congratulations at the new warriors, while their father Jayfrost briefly nuzzled both of them, and even from afar Mothkit could see his eyes shining with pride. For a second Mothkit found herself imagining her own warrior ceremony - her sisters and her receiving their warrior names, their parents being proud of them, the clan shouting their new names - before she shook herself out of the daydream.
"It's almost night," meowed Runningstar, briefly interrupting the congratulating shouts and mews of the clan. "In the tradition of our ancestors, Petalwind and Stormwatcher will sit in silent vigil until dawn, and guard the camp alone while we sleep." Petalwind and Stormwatcher both nodded respectfully at Runningstar, and then as she padded off to her den. Mothkit licked her paw and drew it over her forehead, blinking her eyes, suddenly tired again.
"Wasn't that cool?" She startled as Echokit's voice suddenly rang out beside her. She swung her head around and looked at her sister. She was practically wiggling in place she was so excited, and Mothkit nodded at her.
"I can't wait until we're ready to be apprentices," Mothkit stretched, tail held high. "Only three more moons and we'll finally be out of the nursery!" She purred with excitement, and saw that same excitement reflecting in Echokit's eyes.
"I'll be the best apprentice ever, and then I'll be the best warrior ever! The other clans will be so scared to face me I'll be so fierce and powerful!" Echokit leaped into the air as if going after an imaginary piece of pray, and when she landed she kneaded the ground, her short claws digging into the dirt.
"I'm going to make my clan proud too. I'll be the best hunter ever!" Mothkit purred. "Whatever Ivykit wants to do, we'll be the best trio this clan has ever seen." She pounced on a leaf floating down from the nursery entrance, and then heard a slight laugh from behind her.
Mapleflower was padding towards them, looking amused. "Well I'm glad you two already know what you want to do for your clan - but do remember that you have quite a few moons left until you're there. Just enjoy your time in the nursery for now, when you have no responsibilities and can play and sleep all day." She brushed her tail over their backs and purred as she walked into the nursery and motioned for them to follow her. She sat down just outside their nest, looking at Ivykit, who was still sound asleep somehow. Mapleflower nudged Ivykit with her muzzle, the golden ball of fluff that was her sister groaning and slowly waking up. "Now," she mewed, "Wolfpelt is going to be bringing us some fresh-kill and then you three are going to go right back to sleep. You're growing kits, and you need to get plenty of rest, especially after you spent all afternoon playing mossball, reenacting battles between the clans, and bothering the apprentices and warriors."
Mothkit saw Mapleflower's eyes gleaming with amusement again as she mewed the last few words. "Alright…" she groaned, Echokit also agreeing, while Ivykit was still blinking the sleep away in the nest. Mothkit's ears twitched as she heard quiet pawsteps coming from behind her, and then her father's voice.
"Mapleflower, kits!" He said quietly, just barely peeking into the nursery. "Come on out here, I've got the fresh-kill." Mapleflower stood up, her golden pelt spotted with the last rays of sunlight peaking in through the small gaps. She herded Ivykit, Mothkit, and Echokit with her tail and one paw, and Mothkit slipped out of the nursery to see her father's fluffy gray and brown pelt just outside, with a large squirrel dangling from his mouth and three small mice at his paws. "Alright, Mapleflower and I are going to share the squirrel while you three get the mice. Enjoy!" He pushed the mice toward them and then settled down next to Mapleflower, their tails intertwined. Mothkit suddenly realized how hungry she was looking at the mouse, and she began to dig in.
Mothkit watched her sisters get increasingly more annoyed as Sootkit and Scorchkit both begged Echokit and Ivykit to play with them. She was sitting in a shady spot with a great point of view of the entirety of camp and was greatly enjoying just watching the coming and goings of the clan.
Sootkit and Scorchkit had been playing with a mossball together before they realized that Echokit and Ivykit were doing something far more fun, and had been begging the two to let them join the game ever since. Echokit, Ivykit, and Mothkit were all almost the size of Mapleflower now, and the queen had officially moved back into the warrior's den to give the three almost-apprentices more room. The five kits were still the only ones in the nursery - despite the warm greenleaf air and plentiful amounts of prey no mollies had announcing they were expecting kits since Sootkit and Scorchkit had been born when Mothkit and her sisters were 2 moons old. That meant there was plenty of room in the large nursery, so each of the kits had their own nest - Ashpelt was staying in the nursery for the time being to keep an eye on her kits, but in only two moons they would be out of the nursery as well.
Since she spent a lot of her time just relaxing and watching the camp, Mothkit had heard a lot of gossip - apparently the next pair that everyone expected to kits was Frostfoot and Creekleaf, which meant that the next litter of kits in the clan would be Mothkit's kin. She had hoped that nobody new would move into the nursery until she, Ivykit, and Echokit were out of it and it looked like her wish would be granted, since they were to become apprentices basically any day now.
The clan itself had gone through some changes in the past few moons - Mossdapple had retired to the elders den and joined her mate Foghaze, only for Foghaze to pass away due to a case of greencough that also killed Breezepool's father, Sootstrike. Thanks to his help in the two greencough cases and his quick thinking and excellent healing ability, Firepaw had returned from the medicine cat half-moon meeting with his full medicine cat name of Firelight. Owlpaw, Pouncepaw, and Sparrowpaw had also earned their warrior names, becoming Owlsight, Pouncestripe, and Sparrowheart. Mothkit had become distanced from Lionpaw and his siblings in the initial moon of their apprenticeship, but after they had become more confident in their abilities she found herself hanging around Nightpaw, Lionpaw, Badgerpaw, and Patchpaw anytime she wasn't with Ivykit and Echokit. Echokit kept begging the apprentices to show her some battle moves, but they always refused and told her to wait until she was an apprentice, which always made her huff and leave with an attitude that stuck around for the rest of the day and made her a horrible playmate.
Today the apprentices were all out doing individual assessments - Badgerpaw had told her they were just mean to evaluate how they were doing since they were halfway done with their apprenticeships. Despite being the deputy's apprentice, Badgerpaw got a lot of time with her mentor - Spottedheart always made sure to have time for her apprentice, and Badgerpaw was constantly bragging about how good her apprenticeship as going, even when her siblings and fellow apprentices were standing right there next to her.
Mothkit always acted annoyed whenever Badgerpaw boasted about her mentor, but secretly she hoped her own mentor was as devoted to her apprenticeship as Spottedheart was to Badgerpaw's. She had no idea who her mentor even would be - Wolfpelt and Mapleflower had both kept their ideas close and didn't even offer a single hint. Mothkit rested her head on her paws and took a look around camp, starting at the nursery.
Sootkit and Scorchkit were sulking at the nursery entrance, having given up on pestering Ivykit and Echokit. Soon enough, however, as Mothkit watched, Scorchkit pounced on her brother's twitching tail and the two began a playful mock fight. Her gaze moved on to the elder's den, where Mossdapple and Flowerwind were sharing tongues outside while Fawnpath napped besides them. The apprentice's den was totally empty, so Mothkit instead looked at the bottom of highledge, where Runningstar was speaking with Wolfpelt, Dappleseed, Brightcloud, Dusksong, Redflight, and Comfreyblaze. Mothkit felt a stab of excitement and raised her head - could some of those warriors be Mothkit, Ivykit, and Echokit's mentors? Was Runningstar going to do their ceremony soon?
'Well, no sense dwelling.' She thought. 'Either Runningstar will do our apprentice ceremony today or sometime in the next few days.' She laid her head back down and moved on to the medicine cat's den, only to see Breezepool looking intently at something in the camp. Tracking the medicine cat's gaze, Mothkit saw she was staring at Echokit, who was pinning Ivykit to the ground. Why was Breezepool staring at Echokit so intently? Mothkit frowned and tilted her head, but suddenly Firelight emerged from the den behind Breezepool and spoke to her. They both went back inside the den, and Mothkit looked between the den and Echokit for a couple seconds. 'Hmmm…' She thought, narrowing her eyes. Suspicion filling her, Mothkit moved her gaze over to the warrior's den only to see Wolfpelt slipping in there. A second later, Mapleflower slipped out of the den's entrance and briefly searched the camp, but hurried over to Mothkit when she spotted her.
"Mothkit!" She mewed, "Can you go get your sisters and come back over here?" Mothkit nodded and padded over to Ivykit and Echokit, who were still mock fighting, their fur dusty.
"Mapleflower wants us over there," she gestured to their mother with her tail. Echokit and Ivykit finally disengaged from their mock fight and trotted over to Mapleflower, Mothkit following behind.
"Oh, you two, you're filthy!" Mapleflower fretted over Ivykit and Echokit. "Runningstar is going to do your apprentice ceremony any minute now. Wolfpelt!" She called over Wolfpelt, who padded over seconds later. "I need you to groom Ivykit while I groom Echokit. Mothkit, you're not as dirty but try and get yourself looking as nice as possible."
Soon enough, the three sisters were practically gleaming. Just in time, it seemed, as Runningstar jumped up onto the highledge and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" Mothkit, Ivykit, and Echokit all exchanged excited glances. Runningstar hopped back down once all of the clan was gathered. She motioned with her tail towards the three, and Mothkit followed her sisters as they padded over and then sat down in a line in front of Runningstar.
She smiled at the three kits, and then turned towards Echokit. "Echokit, 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 Echopaw. Your mentor will be Dusksong. I hope Dusksong will pass down all she knows on to you."
Runningstar looked at Dusksong as she padded forward from the crowd. "Dusksong, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You are an excellent warrior, an excellent mentor to Foxfeather, and you have shown yourself to be strong and skilled. You will be the mentor of Echopaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."
Dusksong touched noses with Echopaw, and Mothkit could see her sister's excitement at having the skilled Dusksong as her mentor. The warrior had been in countless battles throughout her years as a warrior and most of the clan looked up to the molly for her intelligence and strength. They both stepped towards the side, waiting for the next two ceremonies.
Runningstar then turned towards Ivykit, who was practically vibrating with excitement. She touched her nose to Ivykit's shoulder to calm her before continuing. "Ivykit. 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 Ivypaw. Your mentor will be Redflight, and I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you."
Redflight stepped forward from the crowd where he had been sitting with Ashpelt, Sootkit, and Scorchkit. "Redflight, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You received excellent training from Ebonyheart and you have shown yourself to be determined and resilient. You will be the mentor of Ivypaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."
Redflight leaned forward and touched noses with Ivypaw, murmuring something Mothkit couldn't quite hear. Ivypaw looked back at her with shining, happy eyes, her golden pelt gleaming in the sun. Mothkit smiled at her sister but then looked straight at Runningstar, who had moved on to her. She felt an odd mixture of excitement and nervousness, and her tail tip twitched on the ground where it lay.
Looking Runningstar straight in the face, Mothkit took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had looked forward to this moment for moons and then stilled her body once again. Runningstar gave her a quick smile to help calm her before speaking - "Mothkit, 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 Mothpaw. Your mentor will be Comfreyblaze. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you."
Mothpaw felt a sting of worry - she didn't know anything about Comfreyblaze! The molly was a very solitary warrior, having not been born in Thunderclan but instead joining as an apprentice. She was a skilled warrior, but hadn't had an apprentice yet and so Mothpaw didn't know what to expect from the molly. She gave a minute shake and focused back onto Runningstar's words. Comfreyblaze had stepped from the crowd, her ginger patches shining from between her otherwise black pelt.
"Comfreyblaze, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You are an excellent warrior, and you had received excellent training from Flowerwind, and have shown yourself to be courageous and skilled. You will be the mentor of Mothpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Comfreyblaze padded towards Mothpaw and gently touched noses with her, but said nothing. Mothpaw sat down next to Ivypaw and Echopaw and listened to the cheers of her clanmates as they celebrated the three kits becoming apprentices.
"Mothpaw! Echopaw! Ivypaw! Mothpaw! Echopaw! Ivypaw!" The clan cried out, and Mothpaw bathed in their admiration. She looked at her sisters to see Echopaw looking out over the clan with a deep satisfaction reflected in her eyes, while Ivypaw had her eyes closed as if to soak in the words. Mothpaw looked in the crowd to see Mapleflower and Wolfpelt calling out the loudest, their tails intertwined and their eyes filled with pride. Finally, Mothpaw took in a deep breath and readied herself to begin this new chapter of her life.