"KESTRELKIT, FROM THIS MOMENT, UNTIL you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Kestrelpaw."
The young she-cat could hardly make out the words that her Clan leader spoke, her paws tingling as her mind whirled with anticipation. She was fighting the desperate urge to bounce with excitement, instead keeping her eyes upward, waiting for the next words.
Ploverstar's green eyes were shining with pride as she stared down at the first of six cats she was appointing apprentices this day, twitching the tip of her tail as though thinking about her next words. "Cindercrow." She meowed, after a moment of hesitation, singling out a senior warrior from the crowd gathered around them. "I have chosen you to mentor this young cat. You are a loyal and strong warrior, and I trust you to pass on all you know to Kestrelpaw."
Though the new apprentice did not turn around to face her chosen mentor, a she-cat's voice rose up over the rest of the quiet murmuring of the other ShadowClan cats. "I will do my best."
The patter of heavy pawsteps reached the young cat's ears as her new mentor pushed through the crowd of furry Clanmates to halt a few mouse-lengths away from her. Kestrelpaw twitched her whiskers slightly, turning at last to come eye-to-eye with Cindercrow.
She had heard her Clanmates speak of the broad-shouldered she-cat long before this day. Well-respected and one of the older warriors among ShadowClan's ranks, the powerful mottled tabby was the last cat Kestrelpaw had expected to mentor her. After all, this was the same warrior who had been her father's mentor, and who had taken part in mentoring the Clan leader herself.
Blinking twice, she forced her fur to lie flat despite the surprise, leaning forward to touch her nose to that of the cat who would play the ultimate part in her training.
A soft murmur of congratulations rose up from the gathered individuals of ShadowClan, and Kestrelpaw noted curiously at how Cindercrow's gaze sharpened as the noise reached her.
But it was not the unmistakable glare of the senior warrior that ultimately shut the crowd up. Rather, the new apprentice noticed that her Clan leader had lifted her tail as a bid for silence, and the murmuring slowly quieted to a comforting quiet once more. Honestly, Kestrelpaw had been so absorbed with her own ceremony that she had forgotten the fact that her littermates as well as two other cats were beginning their apprenticeship on this day.
Once the camp clearing had gone silent and the newly named apprentice had taken a seat with her assigned mentor, Ploverstar lifted her voice to speak once again. "Nightingalekit, please come forward."
Kestrelpaw's sister padded forward gracefully, her smoky brown tabby fur neatly groomed and lying flat before she halted a few pawsteps away from the gray tabby leader, that white mane fluffed out to make her look like a lion.
"Nightingalekit," Ploverstar meowed, "from this moment, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Nightingalepaw."
Golden eyes shining, Nightingalepaw puffed out her chest in pride.
"Cedartail," the name cut through the camp like a claw, and all eyes turned toward the mentioned tomcat, who looked just as surprised as every other cat currently present. "I have chosen you to mentor Nightingalepaw, and to teach her everything that I passed onto you."
"Ploverstar, we never discussed—"
The ShadowClan leader cut him off with a single flick of her tail. "You are a loyal warrior, Cedartail. Whatever doubts you may face about your skills are not the echo of who you are. I trust you to train my niece. Believe me, there is no mistake."
The brown tabby tom twitched the tip of his tail, looking as though he would have preferred to protest. But after a long moment, he dipped his head, padding forward to gently touch the nose of the waiting apprentice.
Kestrelpaw flicked her ears absently. Ploverstar must have thought long and hard about their mentors, seeing as the she-cat herself had one of the most experienced warriors as her mentor while her sister was being trained by the apprentice of Ploverstar herself.
Her fur prickled with apprehension as the gray tabby ShadowClan leader focused her attention onto Kestrelpaw's other sister, the black-and-white smoke tabby who sat next to their brother.
"Falconkit," Ploverstar inclined her head, "from this moment, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Falconpaw."
Those golden eyes shone with a respectful dose of pride as the she-cat stared up at her leader.
After another hesitation, Ploverstar's gaze softened. "Bluebellfur," her voice was warm, "I have chosen you to be Falconpaw's mentor. You are a strong and brave young warrior, and this is your first apprentice, however, you have proven time and time again that you have what it takes to be a loyal warrior of ShadowClan, and I trust you to pass on that knowledge to your new apprentice."
By StarClan, she'll be insufferable now. Kestrelpaw rolled her eyes, watching her littermate pad forward to meet her new mentor and touch noses with her. Silently, she shared a glance with Nightingalepaw, whose expression was one that mirrored her own. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing. For once.
Ploverstar's pale gray fur ruffled along her shoulders as her attention now focused on Kestrelpaw's only brother, who lifted his head to meet the gaze of his Clan leader curiously.
"Thrushkit," the name hung in the air for a long moment, "from this moment, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Thrushpaw."
The fluffy tom seemed about ready to jump out of his skin, excitement glowing in his amber eyes.
The ShadowClan leader seemed to notice, as her gaze was glinting now with amusement. Her whiskers twitched just once, before she turned her head toward the crowd of gathered warriors. "Sharpspots!"
A muscular gray tom pushed his way forward, his speckled fur reflecting the pale light of the sun. With bright golden eyes like chips of ice, Kestrelpaw had to suppress a shiver. Sharpspots had always unnerved her, and silently she sent a thanks to StarClan that she had not received him as a mentor.
"Sharpspots, I have chosen you to be Thrushpaw's mentor." Ploverstar meowed. "You are strong and disciplined, a warrior of honor. I trust you to be a good teacher for this young cat."
Kestrelpaw watched as her brother shuffled nervously, looking up at his chosen mentor hesitantly. After a moment, the speckled gray warrior lowered his head to brush his muzzle against Thrushpaw's nose.
After the exchange, Ploverstar faced the four gathered warriors below the tree which she perched upon, head held high. Off to the side stood Nightkit and Darkkit, the other two kits who would be apprenticed today. But it seemed that Ploverstar was promptly pausing the ceremony to speak to the new apprentices and their mentors.
"I could not be more proud of you four," she purred, her gaze sweeping over Kestrelpaw, Nightingalepaw, Falconpaw, and Thrushpaw. "Go now, and make me proud that you're my kin. The Clan needs strong and brave warriors like you, and I know it was not simply by chance that you four survived the Great Flood. We welcome you among our ranks."
Kestrelpaw felt a rare wave of pride overtake her as she straightened, just a little, under the warm words of her Clan leader. She had known for a long time that Ploverstar was her kin, the littermate to their mother, Jackdawblossom. She had practically helped raise them alongside the cat who was her sister.
Now, the gray tabby leader turned to address the final two kits who would be receiving mentors today.
"Nightkit," she lifted her voice once again to allow it to carry over the camp clearing, "from this moment, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Nightpaw."
The white she-cat twitched her fluffy tail, keeping an expression of pure calm on her face.
"Ashclaw."
Surprise rose up from the cats gathered, Kestrelpaw could feel it in waves. She had never spoken to the mentioned tom, but word traveled through the camp like a wildfire. His brutal scars, his shredded ears, and his crooked jaw all hinted toward a lifetime of fighting, of bloodshed.
The tom shouldered his way forward, halting a few paces away from Nightpaw. His amber eyes were cold and calculating as he studied the white apprentice, not saying a single word.
Ploverstar ignored the whispers that rose up, lifting her voice above even those. "I have chosen you to mentor Nightpaw. You are a courageous cat, your loyalty is unmatched. You were the first cat who believed in my leadership, my best friend growing up, and now I trust you to place your skills into this young cat."
Ashclaw dipped his head. "I will do my very best, Ploverstar." He murmured, touching his nose to Nightpaw's before he silently retreated back into the crowd, as if he had never been there in the first place.
Kestrelpaw shivered slightly.
"And, Darkkit," at last, the ShadowClan leader turned her focus onto the final cat in the lineup, her green eyes piercing with such intensity. "From this moment, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Darkpaw."
His black fur seemed to bristle slightly on his shoulders as she spoke his new name.
"Graymist." She signaled to a cat sitting at the front of the gathered Clan, beckoning him forward with a single twitch of her tail. When he padded closer, the gray she-cat purred. "I promised you an apprentice tonight, and I have chosen you to mentor Darkpaw. He reminds me of you at this age, and I know you have what it takes to make him a warrior that ShadowClan can be proud of."
The dark gray tom nodded once. "I won't let you down," he promised, touching his nose to Darkpaw's as he spoke.
Ploverstar's eyes glittered with pride as she observed the six new apprentices sitting below her, before she gracefully climbed down the trunk and landed on the ground, paws light.
Kestrelpaw sighed deeply, shaking out her fur now that the impossibly long ceremony had ended. As the cats gathered began to split for midday patrols, the young she-cat padded toward the nursery, where her mothers waited for their four kits.
As soon as Jackdawblossom caught sight of her, she sprang to her paws and rushed forward to touch her nose to Kestrelpaw's forehead. "My precious kit," she murmured, "we're so proud of you."
The dilute silver tortoiseshell purred softly, pushing her head into her mother's chest as Condorwing, her other mother padded up to greet her as well. "Congratulations," she meowed, swaying her tail slowly, "you'll make a fine warrior. Where are your littermates?"
Kestrelpaw turned her head to look over her shoulder. "I'm not sure. Probably taking in the praise of the Clan." She replied, moving her head to face them again. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. Especially Thrushpaw. You know he loves you both to death."
Jackdawblossom purred. "Just like you."
"Your sisters, however, seemed quite eager to leave the nursery," Condorwing grunted, sitting down and wrapping her fluffy tail over her paws. The young she-cat admired the powerful build of her mother. She was strong and muscular. She herself took after her mother, the soft-furred , short-statured molly.
Her mate scoffed, shouldering her roughly at her words. "And you weren't?"
Kestrelpaw giggled, looking over her shoulder as the thrumming of pawsteps sounded. Her littermates were bounding over to them now, which meant it was time for her to go.
She wasn't trying to be rude, but the young dilute tortoiseshell wasn't fond of other cats that weren't her mothers. Even her littermates were kept at tail's length, just because she didn't do well with interacting with other cats.
So as Nightingalepaw, Falconpaw, and Thrushpaw came to a halt in front of their parents, Kestrelpaw slipped away, pelt brushing against the outer walls of the nursery.
Moving around the den she had called home up until today, the young she-cat ducked beneath some low-hanging moss, making her way to a small clearing that sat well behind the nursery. This had always been her little spot to send time while the other kits played. She was never disturbed here, and she was able to be herself among the real friends she had.
Unlike the other ShadowClan cats, Kestrelpaw didn't find company in her clanmates. Rather, the whispers of ants and the gentle words of butterflies brought her great comfort.
The first time the young apprentice had heard the gentle whispers, she had dismissed it as the wind.
The second time those voices caught her attention, she was sure it had to be her mind playing tricks on her.
But the third time she was made aware of the voices, she knew it couldn't be anything else, and decided to figure out where the noise was coming from.
As it turned out, the mound of dirt behind the nursery was full of ants who never stopped talking.
It had started with the ants, but her strange ability to talk to other creatures was not limited to those.
As she padded toward the hill, she became aware of a tickling sensation beneath her fur, and she giggled, twitching the tip of her tail happily. "Hey, stop it, get out of my fur."
She could see the little red ants scurrying around at her paws, and after a few moments, some crawled out of her mottled fur.
Crouching down until her muzzle touched the dirt, Kestrelpaw purred as their little whispers reached her ears, speaking of congratulations and greetings.
There were so many of them, and she hadn't named any of them save for the queen, but these individuals were all very dear to her.
"Sorry it took so long," she whispered, keeping her voice low so as not to send them scurrying in a disoriented frenzy, "the ceremony was lengthy."
Listening to the ants speak was as though countless tiny voices rang in the back of her mind, so discerning individual speakers was difficult unless they all stopped talking and allowed for one to speak on behalf of them all.
Ants were of one singular mind, after all.
One or two crawled onto her muzzle, twitching their legs and whispering breaths of the wind to her. Her ears twitched, taking in what little she could hear from them in silence.
"The shadows stirred recently. Be careful, Kestrel."
"Our queen is restless. Trials are coming for us all!"
"The Great Flood is not the last test to come. Be prepared for a greater storm than that."
While many would be daunted by the words spoken by the ants, the young apprentice had heard this sort of thing before. Ants had a habit of worrying about the worst to come, rather than turning their eyes to the positive side of things.
Kestrelpaw let them scurry off her nose and back onto the ground to join the countless others that ran quickly along the ground, her nose twitching slightly. "Have any of you seen Wanderwing today?"
A chorus of many different answers rose up, startling the young she-cat. But her true response came in the form of a shower of black feathers upon her head, which startled the ants and sent them scurrying back to the safety of their hill.
Looking up, Kestrelpaw caught sight of the large raven that had come to perch on a thin tree branch above her head, beady black eyes staring down at her intently.
She brightened up. "Wanderwing!"
The raven fluffed out its feathers with a low squawk, wings ruffling slightly. "Hello, Kestrel."
The apprentice flicked her tail. "Hello, Wanderwing." She purred, tilting her head to the side. "You missed the ceremony! I'm an apprentice now!"
Its black eyes seemed to observe for a long moment, before the bird cocked its head. "Ah, yes. In my world, we call those 'fledglings'. Those are mostly grown young chicks who are ready to learn to fly."
"We start training to be warriors today." Kestrelpaw purred, her gaze fixed on the raven she was speaking to. "That means I'll be able to leave camp more often."
"That's good." The bird replied, curling its claws deeper into the branch it was perched on. She understood why Wanderwing would be nervous. In a camp with many predatory cats, it could potentially be a target for an easy meal.
Clearing her throat, the mottled she-cat looked pointedly up at the large black bird, ears twitching. "You should get out of here before another cat sees you." She told it, her muzzle tipped upward to allow her voice to carry.
Wanderwing seemed to ponder her words for a long moment before fluttering its wings. "See you later, Kestrel." It cawed softly, before flapping away with a shower of black feathers.
Kestrelpaw laughed, watching her friend go until it was no longer in sight before turning around to head out of her little clearing.
She certainly did not expect for another cat to be standing there, eyes trained on the raven that just disappeared into the trees. Almost immediately, she recognized Pigeonflower, her Clan's sole medicine cat, with his distinctive gray tabby markings and strangely large paws.
The young apprentice jumped back, startled at the sight of him.
"My bad," his pale green eyes stretched wide when they came to land on Kestrelpaw, and he stepped back to give her space. He kept his gaze on her, seeming to be slightly curious as he tipped his head to the side to observe her. "Kestrelpaw, right?"
She nodded, giving him a strange look as he sat down and looked around the small clearing, his green eyes growing distant. Ears twitching, the apprentice padded past him to go find her new mentor, to see if there were any plans for today.
However, before she could fully exit her little quiet place, Pigeonflower spoke again.
"Did the ants have anything interesting to say?"
It took Kestrelpaw a moment to register his question, but once she had, her paws froze on the ground, her fur bristling. Looking over her shoulder at the medicine cat, she found that he wasn't even looking at her, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
She swished her tail.
"What?"
Pigeonflower twitched his ears back, the only show of his attention to her. "The ants," he repeated, "did they say anything interesting?"
Kestrelpaw opened her jaws, panic filling her chest. No. There was no way he knew. Only her mother knew about these abilities she held, and she had promised to tell no one. Of course, the apprentice herself was planning to tell her Clan leader within the next few days, because she knew such an ability would make hunting difficult, especially if the beasts she was supposed to kill would plead for mercy.
But the medicine cat wasn't supposed to know.
"What about that crow that just flew off? Anything to chat about?"
The young apprentice narrowed her eyes, more agitation pricking at her fur than panic. "It's a raven. Not a crow." She replied, flicking her tail and trying to smooth her fur.
Pigeonflower's whiskers twitched, and he turned at last to look at her, interest sparking in his gaze. "Aren't they the same thing?"
"No," Kestrelpaw flattened her ears, "ravens are bigger." Of course, there were other differences, but she didn't want to ramble. Not to him.
"Fascinating." The gray tom blinked, the gesture strangely serene as he stared into her eyes.
Despite his lack of . . . anything, the apprentice felt slightly uneasy with the way he was staring at her, such interest glowing in his gaze. She didn't know much about Pigeonflower. Other than that he was her kin. Jackdawblossom, her mother, and Ploverstar were littermates, and Pigeonflower was their brother from a later litter. She knew that his mentor had died when he was an apprentice, and her mother had often said his connection with StarClan was very strong due to needing them for training.
The Clan often mentioned he was reclusive, with a tendency to watch and observe in silence. But they also spoke of him being a gifted medicine cat, which she assumed was what every Clan said about their own medicine cat.
Breaking his stare, Kestrelpaw made her escape, weaving through the way she had entered a while prior, shaking out her silvery tortoiseshell fur before looking around the camp. She tried to put what she had just encountered at the back of her mind, especially once she caught sight of Cindercrow.
She padded over to the senior warrior, who turned toward her as she approached.
"There you are." The black-and-gray mottled she-cat commented, twitching the tip of her tail. "I've been waiting for you."
Kestrelpaw ducked her head. "Sorry, Cindercrow." She mewed, scuffing her forepaws on the dirt.
The broad-shouldered warrior stared at her, amber eyes searching, before she sighed. "It's fine. I suppose you needed a moment with your family. But if you're quite finished with that, I plan to take you out into the territory so you may see the marshes."
Perking up, the dilute silver tortoiseshell glanced sideways at her mentor. "Out of camp?"
"Last I checked, that is the only way to see the territory." Her mentor responded dryly. She flicked her tail. "Ashclaw and Nightpaw are coming with us."
"Not the others?" Kestrelpaw tipped her head. She had figured this first time out of camp would be shared with her littermates, not with one of her closest friends. And what of Darkpaw?
Cindercrow shook her head. "They'll get their chances in the coming days, but six apprentices and six warriors blundering through the forest is not ideal. We will take two at a time. Ashclaw has offered to come with me and take Nightpaw along. You're both the first."
The apprentice had to fight to contain her excitement, which prickled at her pelt. She quietly followed her mentor toward the camp entrance, where she caught sight of Ashclaw pacing back and forth. Nightpaw sat near him, her fluffy tail curled over her paws and her pale amber eyes like chips of ice.
"Here we are," Cindercrow announced, nodding to the restless warrior, "are we ready to go?"
Ashclaw paused, looking over at them. A single jerk of his muzzle showed his response, before he turned and disappeared through the camp entrance.
Nightpaw blinked, and Kestrelpaw watched as Cindercrow followed the younger warrior, vanishing into the territory with a wave of her tail.
The two apprentices exchanged a glance, and the dilute silver tortoiseshell dipped her head to her friend. "After you."
Purring, Nightpaw shouldered her way through the entrance, leaving her friend as the last cat standing in the camp.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself for this moment when she would find out what ShadowClan prided themselves in.
As she heard the fluttering of powerful wings above her head, she padded forward, pushing past the barrier entrance and stepping out into the territory.