Chapter 1

"Echokit! Come here!"

Echokit turned her head to see Cloudkit, one of Silverheart's kits, calling her over along with his sister Willowkit. She dropped the huge feather she was holding. "Yeah?"

"Silverheart has an announcement for the kits. She told me to get you. Thornfur's kits are already in the nursery." Willowkit explained.

"Okay," Echokit mewed, padding over to the other kits. "I was just about to go and give the elders this raven feather for their den, but I can do that later."

"You do that," Willowkit called over her shoulder. She and her brother was already padding towards the den. Echokit sometimes wished she had a littermate to hang out with, but she enjoyed spending time with the two siblings.

"Silverheart! We're here." Cloudkit mewed when they stepped into the den.

"Good, now we can begin." Silverheart said. "So, I was speaking with Duststar yesterday, and he told me that tomorrow—"

"We're getting apprenticed?" Flamekit bounced up.

"Yes," Silverheart purred.

"Tomorrow?" Cloudkit asked with an alarmed glance at his sister.

"Yes, dear. Aren't you excited?"

Cloudkit looked at his paws, and then at his mother. "Is that how I am supposed to feel?"

Silverheart hesitated. "If that's what you want to feel. Only you can decide your feelings."

Cloudkit sighed. "I don't know what I want to feel. I am nervous to have to work so hard, but excited that I get to learn more. I don't know…"

"That's kind of like me." Willowkit admitted. "I don't know. I like being a kit and not having to worry about anything. But I feel like every warrior always has something to be concerned about."

"Well, that's true, but there are fun parts of being a warrior!" Silverheart explained.

"Like what?"

"You get to hunt for food, gather herbs for the medicine cats, and—my favorite when I was an apprentice—attending the gatherings!"

"The gathering?" Willowkit asked, tilting her head.

"Isn't that the thing you go to every moon with some other Clanmates?" Cloudkit asked.

"Yes. It's where all the Clans meet and hold a truce, where no one will fight. The leaders share some news, and we get to talk with the other Clanmates."

"The best part is going to be learning the enemy Clan's weaknesses!" Flamekit declared.

Silverheart sighed silently, but just loud enough for Echokit to hear. "That isn't always a good thing. The Clans are meant to be together. Even if the others can't pull their heads out of their thirst for war enough to see it."

Echokit saw Spiderkit and Flamekit roll their eyes. Silverheart didn't see. "That's not what Duskfoot tells us," they whispered.

Echokit shot an alarmed glance at the two. They had always bullied her for being a former loner, and she knew that Duskfoot—their father—had got that into their heads, but she didn't know that he had told them war was a good thing.

"I'm excited to be an apprentice!" Brightkit mewed, bouncing a little on his gray paws.

"That's great! You'll have something to look forward to tomorrow." Thornfur praised her kit.

"Alright. Now, kits, get some rest. Thornfur, Whitefur, and I will wake you up for the ceremony." Silverheart purred.

"Yes, Silverheart." They all meowed, curling up in their nests.

Echokit padded over to her mother, Whitefur's, nest. They curled up, and Echokit felt her mother's tail gently swirling around her. My last night here. Tommorow, she would be in the apprentice's den. She embraced the feel of her mother's tail, and fell asleep.