"From this day on, until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Spotpaw and Haypaw. Your mentors will be Acornyowl and Goldenfang respectively. I hope that they pass down all of what they know onto you both," Mountainstar continued the apprenticeship ceremony. Spotkit, now Spot paw, continued to watch as ShadowClan's leader focused on the two warriors.
"Acornyowl and Goldenfang, you both are ready to take on apprentices at this time. Goldenfang, you've received excellent training from Russetrunner and have successfully previously mentored Wildheart, proving yourself to have excellent attentiveness and patience. You will mentor Haypaw, and I expect you to pass down all you know to Haypaw," Spotpaw watched as his littermate padded over towards his new mentor, his head hung up proudly. Right after, it was Spotpaw's turn; "And Acornyowl, you've received excellent training from Cloudstep, showing yourself to be loud, yet informative. You will be the mentor of Spotpaw, and I expect you to pass down all of what you know to him."
From there, Spotpaw nervously approached his mentor. He looked up at the ginger-patched tom, quickly touching noses with him just like Haypaw had done moments before. Right there, he could hear the entire clan cheer.
" Spotpaw! Haypaw! Spotpaw! Haypaw!" The cats all continued in unison. As Mountainstar quietly stopped the meeting in the background, the new apprentice turned to face his littermate- who looked just as ecstatic. After a few long moments, the commotion died down, leaving the cats to discuss various things amongst themselves. Spotpaw and Haypaw immediately ran back to their mother, Fadestone, who was watching proudly from nearby.
"Do you think our father was watching us? Cheering us on for the ceremony?" Haypaw asked.
"Of course he was," Fadestone purred out, "StarClan would always watch a ceremony. He's proud of you, I know it."
Spotpaw raised his head higher. He knew that Sunhop, his father who had died when he was only two moons old, was watching over them. Maybe Haypaw didn't feel it, but Sunhop was nearby. Spotpaw had a feeling. After all, it's StarClan's job to keep watch of every warrior that was alive.
"Should we go training today, you two?" A voice meowed from behind them.
Spotpaw turned and saw his mentor, Acornyowl, face him. His bright yellow eyes were staring down, waiting for an answer.
"Uhm... Sure! Do we get to explore the territory first?" Spotpaw asked.
Acornyowl nodded, "All of it. Today. Tomorrow we can start with the basics of hunting."
"Can I bring Haypaw with me? We're littermates, after all!"
This time, it was Goldenfang who answered as she came up towards the two new apprentices from behind Acornyowl, "Are you sure? Will Haypaw be able to keep up with you, Spotpaw?"
Of course. Spotpaw knew she was asking that only because Haypaw was missing a front leg, "He'll be fine! If not, I can wait for him!"
Haypaw looked at Spotpaw, "Are you sure? I-"
"I'm sure, Haypaw. When can we go?"
Acornyowl glanced over at Goldenfang, before diverting his gaze to Fadestone as if he was expecting an answer from someone else. Fadestone gave her kits a nod of approval while Haypaw nervously shuffled his front leg into the soft soil of the camp's clearing. Spotpaw was looking at the mentors, who now were turning to leave.
"Let's go!" Spotpaw excitedly chirped, smiling at his mother as she purred out a farewell.
And so, the four cats departed for a showing of ShadowClan's territory. Goldenfang offered a shy Haypaw to stop and take a break on multiple occasions, but the apprentices both refused until approximately half of the territory was done. Spotpaw was in awe of the pine-like trees that stood proudly around them, the breeze effortlessly seeping through their branches and into the group. Spotpaw also familiarized himself with SkyClan's and RiverClan's territories, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the different trees, how SkyClan cats stand climbing to high altitudes? He didn't know. Haypaw, on the other side, kept himself silent for the majority of the trek.
It took a bit of coaxing from Spotpaw to have his littermate speak up and give out his own words. Haypaw kept looking around the group, preferring to stick with his littermate rather than the mentors. Spotpaw didn't mind; Haypaw was always the shy one to begin with.
Once their training session was over, the two apprentices were quick to find out that they had been invited to the gathering, along with; Fograge, Lizardscratch, Wildheart, Cresentpaw, and Mudpaw. The walk to the gathering island itself was fine- apart from the fallen tree that had been the bridge. Spotpaw heard stories of a WindClan warrior being killed by the tree as a way to unite the clans; but the story was old enough that many of the finer details disappeared; just like the tree's stability. It shook a few whisker-lengths side to side, which worried him of Haypaw's balance. But the ginger tabby went through fine; visibly using his long claws to keep his balance.
The first thing that caught Spotpaw's attention was the large variety of cats that were around. From all the clans. Many different possible relationships-
"Watch where you're going, apprentice," an older cat's voice suddenly meowed, bringing Spotpaw back to the view beside him. He nearly crashed into a white-pelted cat with grey paws. The cat's blue eyes stared at him with a calculating expression for a moment, before padding away with others behind him.
"Woah! You got close to Icefoot!" Mudpaw's voice chirped from behind him.
"Who?" Haypaw cocked his head, coming up to his littermate.
"WindClan's deputy. A lot of cats think he's cursed. Like... 'Get-close-and-you-die' cursed."
Spotpaw's eyes narrowed, "That... doesn't sound possible."
"Then explain the disappearances of a lot of WindClan warriors! Ever since he became their deputy, they've-"
"They've been suffering from hunger, a thundersnake, and more predators," another cat came up to them, dipping his head with a friendly smile, "Hi, I'm Beepaw. A ThunderClan apprentice."
"I'm Spotpaw," Spotpaw dipped his head back towards the older apprentice, "And I'm new here. With Haypaw."
"Nice to meet you," Beepaw's smile continued, "Want to meet the other apprentices? We usually have our separate corner where the warriors leave us alone."
"Sure!" Spotpaw pipped up while Haypaw simply nodded. The two apprentices follow after Beepaw, being led to a bush-covered area that many of the older cats avoided. Spotpaw noticed that Mudpaw was following behind them as well, eagerly bouncing; much quicker than the others. Once they arrived; he spotted a few cats a moon or a few older than him.
"Beepaw! Where's Bluepaw? I haven't seen her anywhere," a snow-white apprentice asked, her golden eyes shining brightly under the moonlight.
"She's Blue storm now," Beepaw meowed, "She got her warrior name recently, so I kicked her out of the club. But..." he paused, stepping aside, "We have two new members; Spotpaw and Haypaw."
"Hi," Haypaw meowed, "Are you a... SkyClan apprentice?" he guessed.
Snowpaw nodded, "Yep. One of three. Pistachiopaw and Runningpaw went away for a bit to talk to their mentors about something... Especially Pistachiopaw. He seemed irritated or something serious. I feel bad for him, I think. I-"
What's a Pistachio? Spotpaw tried to not contort his face in confusion as she kept repeating that apprentice's name.
"Longpaw!" Snowpaw suddenly pipped up once another apprentice entered the den. Mudpaw opened her mouth to say something, but a quick flick of Beepaw's tail silenced her thoughts.
Spotpaw turned to look at the newcomer. Much taller than the rest of the apprentices, her legs and tail unusually long. Haypaw even had to step back to allow her to pass through the small section.
The two new apprentices introduced themselves once more, to which Longpaw was happy to reply with her name and clan. Mudpaw glanced at the apprentice with an unreadable expression, yet her constant attempts to jump into the conversation were quickly blocked by Beepaw, who didn't seem comfortable with her opinion. Spotpaw narrowed his eyes; he wanted the opinion of a clanmate, but didn't want to go with another cat's wishes either... he may as well ask later.
Soon enough, the gathering started. Spotpaw took a spot beside his littermate as both cats looked up ahead at the representing leaders of each clan; Scarletnose of SkyClan, Icefoot of WindClan, Oaknose of ThunderClan, Wingripple of RiverClan, and course; MountainStar of ShadowClan.
Oaknose was the first to start, "Prey and herbs are running well in ThunderClan's territory," he meowed, "ThunderClan is having a peaceful life, we have nothing to report."
Wingripple nodded, "Everything is running well with RiverClan as well," she started, "And we've gained a new warrior the past few days. Bluepaw has gained her new name- Bluestorm."
A small chorus of " Bluestorm! Bluestorm!" started when a blue-grey she-cat stood up, her head held high with pride. Spotpaw joined in too, to show some appreciation to the new warrior. The chanting wasn't as grand as Spotpaw thought it would be, unfortunately. But it had to do.
Icefoot was the next one to speak up, his gaze locked to somewhere in particular- before looking up at the clan and ringing his voice out. It was the same announcement as the previous ones before him; that everything was running well with no major events. Scarletnose repeated those same words. If Spotpaw had to be honest, this gathering was very gloomy. Nothing was interesting, and every word that came out from a leading cat was just a copy of what was first said by Oaknose. Mountainstar's turn came very quickly, to nobody's surprise.
"Everything is running well in ShadowClan," the tom meowed, "And we've gained two new apprentices today. Spotpaw and Haypaw."
The two apprentices stood up, Spotpaw looking around at the crowd. A good couple of cats did chant out, " Spotpaw! Haypaw! Spotpaw! Haypaw!" but they contained the same hesitance of Bluestorm's name. Something's wrong... Spotpaw thought These cats are lonely. Missing others. They don't want to be at a gathering full of strangers.
"I also have one more announcement," Mountainstar suddenly said. Many cats in the clearing immediately silenced themselves, paying attention to the leader. Mountainstar continued once most of the cats had his attention, "I am aware of the horrible situations all of the clans have gone through..." he started, "And I've thought it through with others. But we can all leave the lake and travel to a new home, where there are no major threats."
Suddenly, the clearing erupted into scattered, confused yowls and hisses.
" Leave our home? That's Ridiculous!" A tom hissed.
"What about the queens, kits, and elders? They're unfit to travel!" another she-cat added above the voices of the others.
MountainStar blinked, "I've considered the options. I want to go through Talondancer's route."
"Talondancer? " Icefoot echoed, "Mountainstar, for all we know; she might have led Pinenight's group to their deaths. They never returned, you know that. "
"They might have never returned because they found a better home," Mountainstar countered.
Seeing Spotpaw's confusion of the name, Beepaw whispered in his ear; "Talondancer was a rogue... Named Dancer... who traveled to us from the thundersnake. She said there's a wide, empty territory everywhere along the snake's path. She gave Pinenight the idea to travel with it."
Spotpaw nodded in understanding, And so she's the reason the clans lost a piece of hope... And also why they don't trust Mountainstar.
Mountainstar sighed, "What other risks do you want to take, Icefoot? Be honest with us. I've seen the state of your clan. If you aren't willing to join another, then let's form one group until we're safe."
Wingripple meowed after him, "Mountainstar talked to me about our supplies. We'll have just enough herbs to treat any major issues- especially the queens and elders. We can also take stops to catch prey if we need any. The thundersnake sleeps, so we can use those times to hunt. We can also follow its path until we find where its first den is, then go from there." She glanced at Icefoot for any sort of reply, but the tom only looked away.
"How about we take a vote? Right here, right now?" Scarletnose suggested, "Everyone except us leaders vote. If the majority says yes, we go on the thundersnake. If the majority says no, we stay at the lake and seek out another option."
"What about if you still want to go, but some of us say no?" a she-cat called from nearby.
Scarletnose looks down at the she-cat, "Then you can stay at the lake as a rogue or a kittypet... I believe Mountainstar did mean everyone going."
The she-cat's eyes narrowed before she looked down at the ground once more.
"Let's do the vote," Oaknose nodded in agreement, "We will give our clans time to decide if they need to. For now..." he jumped down from the large tree in the center, grabbing a random stick that was on the ground nearby. With this stick in his mouth, he carefully drew a line across the clearing, where cats weren't bothering him; "Everyone good with leaving, put a stick on Mountainstar and Wingripple's side. Whoever wants to stay, put a stick on mine and Icefoot's side. Understood?" he said as he jumped back up onto the tree with a few strides.
Most of the cats nodded and began to disperse to find something to vote with. Spotpaw glanced at his littermate, "What do you want to choose?" he asked.
Haypaw hesitated, "Maybe staying... it just sounds very dangerous going as a group like the clans."
Spotpaw nodded in understanding, "Maybe the clans will at least learn how to work together?" he asked, "I... I thought about staying too. But finding out what's far from the lake, for the clans, might be better. Also! A new territory! Wouldn't it be cool to be one of the first few cats to get there?" Spotpaw paused in realization, "...Do you think that's how the first warriors of the lake felt?"
Haypaw only shrugged, as the two cats padded over to some sticks that were lying around. As they cast their votes, Spotpaw's heart drooped a little at Haypaw's blank expression; he wanted a way to cheer his littermate up, even if it meant doing anything that he needed to do. Even as the 'younger' one he didn't like Haypaw's lonesome moods at all.
Spotpaw noticed Longpaw coming up from behind them, "Look at those cats. They're all tired," her tail drooped as it pointed towards the side where many cats had cast a vote to leave.
Spotpaw glanced up at her, "What do you mean?"
"... All of the cats who are voting to leave are tired of dealing with what's happening in their territories. They want a better way out, don't they? Beepaw even told me about ThunderClan's tree-eating monsters. They've only come closer compared to the last moon." she lowered herself down onto her stomach for a moment, her head drooping to the ground. Spotpaw opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted, "I'm just worried for all the clans. Sorry about that."
Spotpaw narrowed his eyes, I wanted to comfort you. But... "I agree. The clans deserve better, don't they?"
Longpaw nodded.
As the crowd began to dwindle, Oaknose jumped back down from the tree, carefully examining each side that was filled with sticks. Spotpaw could visibly see him mutter something under his breath as time slowly went on, accompanied by Mountainstar's cautious gaze at the medicine cat and Icefoot's thin tail tapping at the branches, visibly impatient.
After a short while, Oaknose lifted his head towards the crowd. No cat dared to make a sound as he announced; "The side that has the most votes is the leaving side. We'll be leaving the lake."
No cat made a sound either. Spotpaw glanced around to see a small number of pelts that were twitching with irritation, while some other pelts relaxed. Turning towards Haypaw, he saw his littermate only continuing to stare at the medicine cat in front.
"Why don't we give the clans half a moon to prepare, then?" Wingripple suggested and Mountainstar nodded.
"That's fine. Cats of all clans, get prepared for the journey," Mountainstar meowed; "We will come back to the gathering island at the time of the next half-moon meeting with the medicine cats. Make sure to bring all of your clanmates."
Icefoot's sharp gaze only gave the leader a slow nod, "If that's it... Then WindClan is leaving. We will make up our minds quickly," he silently added the second phrase as he jumped down from the oak; just barely audible to Spotpaw.
Mountainstar nodded in appreciation, before jumping off the tree himself; "ShadowClan, let's go back!" he gave a quieter yowl, and Spotpaw stood up to quickly join his leader. Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing. Spotpaw wondered as the cats slowly made their way back to their camps.