Warriors - The Leopard's Apprentice

-Chapter 1 - The Beginning-

         Leopardwillow sat nervously below the Oaktree, her whole body shivering with excitement. Today was the day Smokekit, Dandelionkit, and Snakekit would be apprenticed and she was desperately hoping she could be one of their mentors, she would take any apprentice- well any apprentice except Smokekit. The tom hated her and whenever she gave him a kind smile from the nursery he would reply with a glare or ignore her completely. All the cats awaited Bearstar and Sprucethorn as they sat eagerly waiting for the ceremony to begin. Leopardwillow looked from the corner of her eye to see Silverlake grooming her kits as they sat impatiently outside of the nursery. "Mom!" she heard Snakekit squeal, "I wonder who my mentor will be." whispered Dandelionkit excitedly to Smokekit. Leopardwillow saw Smokekit roll his eyes and turn towards the Oaktree awaiting the appearance of Bearstar and his deputy, his eyes actually lit up expectantly which was something Leopardwillow never saw.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the Oaktree!" Bearstar's gruff voice caught the attention of all the other warriors in ForestClan who had not gathered underneath the tree's luscious branches. "Today we have three kits who have reached their sixth moon and are ready to become apprentices, Snakekit please step forward." Snakekit's bright green eyes sparkled at the mention of his name as he jumped onto one of the lowest branches of the Oaktree adjacent to Bearstar. "From this day forward until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Snakepaw! Your mentor shall be... Wolfhowl! I trust he will bestow to you his courage and bravery." Wolfhowl looked surprised and incredibly happy at the same time, he hadn't had an apprentice in moons. Snakepaw smiled at him as Wolfhowl bent down to touch noses with the new apprentice. Meows of praise erupted from the rest of ForestClan as they chanted, "Snakepaw!" "Snakepaw!" "Snakepaw!"Leopardwillow noticed Smokekit said the words dully as if he wasn't excited in the least for his brother, Leopardwillow growled under her breath this should be a moment of excitement and here Smokekit was wishing it were him receiving the praises of his Clanmates.

"Dandelionkit, will you please step forward." Bearstar continued, the young she-cat looked nervous and slowly jumped onto the adjacent branch to Bearstar. "From this day until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Dandelionpaw! Your mentor shall be... Lynxdawn! I trust she will institute in you her clever thinking and kindness." Lynxdawn shyly stepped onto the branch beside Dandelionpaw and the two she-cats touched noses. "Dandelionpaw!" "Dandelionpaw!" "Dandelionpaw!"ForestClan chanted with excitement. Leopardwillow could see both Dandelionpaw and Lynxdawn were both blushing, they seemed like the same cat in a different body she thought to herself. She noticed again with much irritation Smokekit's tail was thrashing wildly in anticipation instead of enjoying his sister's celebration.

Leopardwillow deflated another apprentice ceremony and she had not been chosen to mentor either Snakepaw or Dandelionpaw. Foxbristle, Leopardwillow's sister who was sitting beside her, licked her shoulder affectionately and murmured something along the lines of There's always Boulderleap's kits. The only 'paws' ceremony left was Smokekit and she was more than pleased to leave that almost impossible challenge to some other cat. It wouldn't be so bad to wait another six moons with Foxbristle without an apprentice, she was right after all perhaps Boulderleap's kit's; Burntkit or Shadowkit could be her apprentice. After all, they did enjoy her visits to the nursery. From the corner of her eye she could see Dovesong and Ivypaw sitting outside the medicine-cat den awaiting Smokekit's ceremony, it was strange she hadn't seen Dovesong out of the medicine den when Snakepaw and Dandelionpaw's ceremonies were going on.

"Smokekit please step forward." Bearstar said, snapping Leopardwillow out of her trance. A little too eagerly Smokekit jumped onto the adjacent branch to Bearstar with a large grin on his face, Leopardwillow looked to see Silverlake mutter something she couldn't hear. "From this day forward until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Smokepaw! Your mentor shall be..." Bearstar appeared to be in a trance before he said Smokepaw's mentor's name, the leaves around Leopardwillow fluttered in the breeze a little to violently and the moon began to glow despite the night being somewhat cloudy, Leopardwillow could see her pelt shine in the moonlight. She looked around her but despite sitting right next to her Foxbristle, Junipercloud and Fallenbranch were not affected by the sudden breeze or the light of the moon. Bearstar snapped out of his trance and nodded with full acknowledgement of some unknown question, before continuing "Smokepaw's mentor will be Leopardwillow."