“Wake up!” Archkit squeaked in Warmkit’s ear, prodding him firmly with a paw. He woke up, hopping on his paws with hackles raised. He looked around wildly.
“What!? Where!? When!? Who!?” he yowled. Warmkit saw Archkit. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Guess what’s happening today!” she squeaked again, racing around the nursery.
A fire in the camp, right? Warmkit thought sarcastically.
“It’s your apprentice ceremony! You’re going to become an apprentice alongside Twigkit and Sandkit!” She kept bouncing, tail arched straight in the air.
“Quick! Get yourself groomed!” she meowed loudly as she shoved Warmkit out of the den. He tripped as he was launched forward, landing on his side. Warmkit shook the dust off himself.
“So the camp isn’t on fire!” he called back, chuckling as he heard a huff from inside.
“So this is what Ivystar was talking about yesterday,” he muttered to himself. It surprised him for sure. What he was expecting yesterday was a punishment, but instead got this. His apprentice ceremony. Ivystar’s not as stern and cold as she seems, Warmkit thought with a smirk.
He heard Yellowleaf’s quick steps as she ran over to his side and started coating his face with licks. “Great StarClan, Warmkit! You’ve just woken up!” He fidgeted as she groomed him, tailtip twitching with embarrassment. She gave him a few more licks to straighten his fur. “Twigkit and Sandkit are already there.” She pointed to the two, sitting next to each other in one corner of the camp. “Go meet them, and look smart! The ceremony’s starting any time soon!” She sent him off with a tail flick to the ear.
Warmkit tried to walk as calm and dignified as he could. However, he couldn’t suppress a yawn. It seemed like one heartbeat ago, he was on soft moss, dreaming about chasing squirrels. Now, he was on his feet with a ceremony coming up.
Twigkit and Sandkit made way for him as he sat next to them. Twigkit beamed at him. “Well, finally!” he exclaimed, “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Sandkit purred as she fixed her eyes on the Highledge. “I wonder what it would look like from up there.” Twigkit and Warmkit followed her upward gaze just as Ivystar’s figure appeared. She gazed down at the three bright-eyed kits before starting the ceremony.
“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
At once, cats started to pour out of their dens. They seated themselves at various places. Warmkit gulped, looking out at the middle of the camp, which was clear and empty. He would have to step out there. What if he tripped, or started coughing on the way? There were just so many things that could go wrong! At least I have Twigkit and Sandkit next to me. The thought comforted him a little, and he settled comfortably into a straight stance.
Ivystar looked out at the surrounding cats with a confident and almost stubborn gaze. “Cats of ThunderClan, as you all know, we are in a time of rebuilding. The past few seasons have been hard on all of us, and all the Clanmates we have lost shall be remembered.” She bowed her head, and the rest of the Clan followed her example, silence like a cloud over the camp. Warmkit and his littermates did so as well.
Ivystar nodded before continuing. “It is the middle of greenleaf, and we will need more hunters and fighters as leafbare approaches. That’s why I shall be naming new apprentices, to ensure a bright future for this Clan.”
Ivystar smiled as yowls of agreement erupted in the enclosed hollow. “Sandkit, step forward.” She beckoned her over with a gesture of her tail. Sandkit walked to the middle of the clearing, tail raised high and eyes wide with happiness.
“Sandkit,” she began to recite the words that have been used for countless moons, “you have reached the age of six moons, and I believe that it is time for you to become an apprentice.”
Sandkit looked perfectly calm as she heard these words. Meanwhile, Warmkit was making an effort to stop his tail from waving uncontrollably from nervousness. Stop it! He hissed at it inwardly, it’s not even my turn yet!
“From this day on,” Ivystar continued, “you will be known as Sandpaw. You shall be mentored by Blazetail. I hope he will pass down all he knows down to you.”
Sandpaw went slack-jawed. “Wow,” Twigkit and Warmkit breathed. From what he’d heard from the chats Yellowleaf had with Moondrop, Blazetail was a young warrior. However, he was excellent; excelling in every single aspect of warrior life. He would be a great mentor for Sandpaw, Warmkit thought.
The ThunderClan leader turned to Blazetail, who looked just as shocked as Sandpaw was. His blue eyes glistened in the morning light. “Blazetail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Frostheart, and you have shown yourself to be intelligent and skillful. You will be mentoring Sandpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her.”
Sandpaw walked up to Blazetail, and they touched noses. The cream tom returned to his spot beside Rainstorm, and started to chat excitedly with her. I’m guessing he liked Ivystar’s choice.
Sandpaw sat herself next to Yellowleaf and Hawkeye, and they started congratulating her.
Twigkit walked to the middle of the camp, and his excitement was obvious. “Twigkit shall be apprenticed by Flyingfeather,” Ivystar announced, turning to the tom. “Snowtail was a great mentor to you, and I hope you pass on your perseverance and warmth to your new apprentice.” As Flyingfeather padded over to touch noses with Twigpaw, Warmkit huffed, steeling himself before stepping forward to face Ivystar.
He sat himself down, feeling the eyes of practically the whole Clan on his pelt. He fought the urge to duck his head. Ivystar smiled down at him.
“Finally, Warmkit shall be apprenticed.”
Warmkit’s heart leaped. Who will I get? I hope it’s Hawkeye!
“Goldenfur.” Warmpaw felt like he was plunged into the lake. Goldenfur?!
“You have received great training from Flametrail, and I expect you to pass on all the lessons he taught you down to Warmpaw.” He saw Goldenfur heading towards him, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He simply couldn’t get himself to move one step forward to meet him halfway.
Goldenfur took it upon himself to touch his nose to Warmpaw’s, the new apprentice flinching a little.
The whole camp came alive with the sound of cheering cats. “Sandpaw! Twigpaw! Warmpaw!” Among the loudest cats were Yellowleaf, Flametrail, and Archkit. Beside him, Twigpaw and Sandpaw stood proudly with raised heads. Warmpaw wished he could share their enthusiasm.
Soon, the meeting ended, and the camp was once again filled with activity. Warmpaw dragged himself towards the apprentices’ den. He sat down next to the entrance, heaving a great sigh. Goldenfur was now his mentor, which meant he had to see him; talk with him for most of the day. Nearly all of the other warriors had apprentices of their own, and he was never going to get Hawkeye even if he wanted to; he would treat him too softly. I suppose Ivystar didn’t have much of a choice.
He looked over to where Sandpaw was. She was next to the medicine cat’s den, talking animatedly with Blazetail. They seemed to like each other’s company. Warmpaw watched longingly as they went off to get pieces of prey from the freshkill pile. Still, I could have gotten Blazetail. Sandpaw’s lucky to have him.
Even Twigpaw seemed to really like Ivystar’s choice. He looked contented as he chatted briskly with Hawkeye. Probably about all the things he could do as an apprentice. If he was honest with himself, Warmpaw felt the same way. Now, he wasn’t confined to the limits of the camp. He could go on patrols and finally do something to help ThunderClan!
But he had to do it all with Goldenfur. He wasn’t even sure why the ginger tom seemed to hate him so much. But he’ll probably treat me better if he sees that I work hard, Warmpaw thought, and he felt a tiny sliver of hope rise in his chest.
He noticed Ivystar heading towards him. She stopped in front of him. “You know, Warmpaw, you’re an interesting cat.” She smiled as she said this.
“Thanks,” Warmpaw mewed awkwardly, “but why?”
“I don’t know exactly.” She nodded, and started to walk away.
“Oh, and Warmpaw…” Warmpaw held his breath. “Congratulations on becoming an apprentice. I’ll be keeping a close watch on your training. You’ll be great, I’m sure.”
Warmpaw felt like he could jump all the way to StarClan with joy. The leader said that?
“Don’t let Goldenfur rub your fur the wrong way. He may be…” She turned away before continuing, “trying at times, but keep calm and you’ll be fine.” I’ll try, Warmkit replied in his head.
“Also, don’t forget to remind Archkit about what she has to do today,” she ended, now heading for the leader’s den. Warmpaw watched her enter in along with Redstep.
As if on cue, Archkit came leaping towards him, not bothering to walk quietly. “Congratulations, Warmpaw!” she commended enthusiastically.
“Thanks!” Warmpaw smiled at the younger kit.
“I wish I was an apprentice along with you guys. You’re going to be doing cool stuff with your mentors, and I’m not with you.” She sighed. “LeapClan was never going to be forever, was it? I mean… we played a lot, but it feel like it just got started.” She noticed Warmpaw’s tense expression, and quickly improvised. “For me, at least.”
“Well, at least it got the four of us closer together. We’re good friends now.” Warmpaw replied, trying to soothe Archkit.
“The point is, I’m going to be so bored! Without you three to play mossball with, I’ll be stuck in the nursery doing nothing!”
“Um, about that…” Warmpaw looked away. “You’ll be an apprentice too.”
He could hear Archkit’s breath stop. “Really?” she squeaked excitedly.
Warmpaw’s tail flicked. “Errrrr… kinda. Ivystar’s putting you on apprentice duties today. But she’s not going to turn you into an apprentice, not yet.”
“But why?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
Warmpaw turned back to her, his expression downcast. “Remember yesterday?”
Archkit exhaled shakily, eyes wide in realization. She looked down at her paws, refusing to look into Warmpaw’s eyes. “What happened yesterday? Twigpaw, Sandpaw and I ran straight for the nursery. We don’t know what happened.”
“Let’s just say I found out some things that I wasn’t supposed to know about. That I never wanted to find out in front of the whole clan.” Warmpaw tried to keep the mood light, but could help but choke on his words. The dull ache had increased again into lashing claws as he recalled the memory.
“Save your claims for later, you half-Clan mistake!”
“Oh, Warmpaw,” Archkit mewed quietly, knowing that there wasn’t much to say. “I’m sorry. I was such a coward. I…” She paused to swallow. “I hope you can forgive me.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he voiced out, placing his tail over Archkit’s shoulders, “nothing really bad happened. It ended up well for all of us. I’m an apprentice now.”
“Warmpaw!” A call made Warmpaw swivel his head to face the sound. Flyingfeather’s glossy sable coat was easy to spot. “Don’t you want to tour the territory? The day’s just started.” He was next to his apprentice, Twigpaw, along with the pair of Sandpaw and Blazetail. Goldenfur was with them too.
“I suppose you have to go now.” Archkit said.
“Yeah. I suppose so.” Warmpaw lightly smiled at her. Archkit smiled back and struck his nose with a light blow from her paw.
Warmpaw chuckled, retaliating with a whip of his tail to her side as he got up. “Go to Ivystar and see what she wants you to do,” he told her before bounding over to join the other cats.
Archkit nodded and zoomed off in the direction of the leader’s den. Hopefully Ivystar isn’t doing anything, Warmpaw thought, if Archkit interrupts her, I don’t know what will happen.
He sat next to Goldenfur. He looked up at his face, and found him staring at him with a serious expression. He turned away immediately.
It wasn’t just Goldenfur though. It was Flyingfeather, Twigpaw, Blazetail and Sandpaw too, all staring at him with amused expressions.
Twigpaw shoved Warmpaw with a nudge to his side, startling him. “I can only guess who your future mate’s gonna be.”
“Shut up.”