**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Three

 "So, who do you think's gonna be your mentor?" Mousepaw prodded at Magpiekit, who was picking apart the remains of a thrush.

 The kit shrugged apathetically. "As long as it isn't my mother, I'll take it." she paused, then shook her head suddenly, as if remembering something. "I wanted to be a healer's apprentice, actually. But Ravenflight is training Sagepaw already, and Moonsweep... I can hardly stand her."

 "Can anyone?" Mousepaw joked. He chuckled, but then his expression hardened. "But Sagepaw is just as old as Basilfang and Parsleyshade, and they've been warriors for at least a few moons. Surely he'll become a full healer soon. Then, you could be Ravenflight's apprentice. He seems to like you a lot." he suggested.

 Magpiekit looked hopeful for once, but then turned her eyes back towards the scrambled bones of the thrush. She sighed softly. "Oh, yeah. But Galekit wants to be a healer, though. And I would probably forget all the herbs and stuff." she mumbled.

 "Of course you wouldn't! And if you were a healer, you'd be able to do a bunch of stuff normal warriors don't do! Like going to the Moonpond, or getting prophecies and all that!" Twisterkit said cheerfully. Magpiekit let out a long sigh. "Yeah. Galekit would be really good at that." she commented sorrowfully.

 "So, what about you? Who would you like as a mentor?" Mousepaw turned to Twisterkit.

 "Oh. Um, what are the options?" she fumbled.

 "Well, Cedarspike should be retiring any day now, along with his brother Pinebristle. And Crowpelt is... weird, I guess. I mean, very creepy. In a nice way." he stumbled. "Cardinalheart is pretty cool though. And Parsleyshade is pretty new, but I hear she's lots of fun. And really nice. They all are, I mean." 

 Twisterkit nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Got it. Who do you want your mentor to be, Brightkit?" she turned her head to her brother, who was busy poking at the feathers. "Who-What?" he looked up suddenly, glancing between Mousepaw and Twisterkit. "The what now?"

 "If you could choose your mentor, who would it be?" Twisterkit encouraged.

 "Oh. Poppystar, I guess." he shrugged.

 "Poppystar? You do know how she was an elder when..." Mousepaw trailed of, casting a swift glance in Twisterkit's general direction. "You know, Marblestar died." he concluded.

 "Yeah, but that's the point. Everyone knows I'm gonna be the next leader of ForestClan. Brightstar! The best leader there ever was!" he boasted, tilting his head proudly.

 Twisterkit narrowed her eyes at Mousepaw. What happened when Poppystar became leader? Why was Mousepaw acting so weird about it? 

 She had heard Ravenflight once mention the leader Marblestar, her own grandmother. She was supposedly a dauntless and even she-cat, handling every tough situation with quiet determination. But no one ever said anything about how she died. Poppystar didn't seem to be that old, but had she really been an elder when she became leader? And why? 

 "Ew! I found a tooth!" Magpiekit squeaked. Sure enough, a curved fang rested between the bones of the bird. Twisterkit rushed over to get a closer look. "Cool! I think it's Pigeonwhisker's!" she grinned widely.

 Mousepaw looked utterly disgusted. "Gross!" he whined.

 Twisterkit smiled to the fullest extent. "Shall I go return it to him?" she offered.

 The apprentice shuddered deeply. "No!" he pleaded. 

 "Cats of ForestClan, gather for a Clan meeting!" Poppystar yowled hoarsely from the leader's branch. Below her, Sandyfur was already perched on the deputy's boulder besides the leader's den between the roots of the giant tree. Twisterkit leaped up from the smooth rocks outside of the elder's den. "Come on, Magpiekit! Let's go!" she practically dragged her sister from the ground.

 "Okay, okay, I'm going," Magpiekit complained.

 Poppystar was swishing her tail back and forth from her spot on the lowest branch of the tree. She inspected the warriors collecting below her, then hunched over to mutter something to Sandyfur. The deputy nodded in agreement.

 Snowspirit was busy, giving her kits some last-minute grooming. Brightkit shrugged her off while Margpiekit just looked tired as her mother aggressively licked the back of her neck.

 Twisterkit craned her neck around to peer at the warriors. She squinted her eyes against the overhead sun as she tried to pick out their faces. But after only a few moments, the leader's voice snapped her back into the moment.

 "Four kits have reached the age of which we may begin to guide them into their roles in the Clan." Poppystar said proudly. From somewhere in the back, Twisterkit recognized Stormsong's enthusiastic yell. The leader glared at him for a moment before continuing.

 "Brightkit, from now on you will be named Brightpaw. Your mentor will be Parsleyshade." she declared. Brightpaw shot up as Parsleyshade bounced forwards to touch noses with him, giving the new apprentice an enthusiastic wink.

 Twisterkit fought down a flash of jealousy as the pair drifted to the side of the camp.

 "Twisterkit, from now on you will be named Twisterpaw. Your mentor will be Crowpelt." Poppystar announced. The new apprentice felt only a slight edge of bitterness at her choice of mentor, but it quickly dissolved as she stepped forwards to touch noses with the deep-black tom. She waited an awkward heartbeat for some kind of response from her new mentor, but he just stared back at her darkly.

 "Magpiekit, from now on you will be named Magpiepaw. Your mentor will be Snowspirit." Poppystar called. Twisterpaw hurried out of the way as her sister stood up to touch noses with her mother. For a heartbeat, the young she-cat hesitated, but her fate was already sealed. She looked no more sorrowful than ever, but Twisterpaw still felt a familiar twinge of pity for her sister.

 Only Galekit was left now, looking nervous as ever. He seemed even smaller without his siblings by his side. He looked around nervously, but then his eyes found his mother and he seemed to relax.

 "Galekit, from now on you will be named Galepaw. With the guidance of SpiritClan, your mentor will be Shadowsweep." the leader proposed.

 The healer skipped over to the new apprentice and practically thrusted her face into his. Galepaw stumbled back a bit, but then smiled shyly.

 Poppystar eyed the healer for a moment, but then hid any concern shown in her expression.

 "This meeting is dismissed." she declared, preparing to spring down the tree.

 Twisterpaw waited until a few cats had left before she stood up and shook out her pelt in excitement. She turned back to her new mentor, resisting the urge to turn in enthusiastic circles. "So! What's next! Do we go hunting? Do you teach me to fight?" she demanded.

 Crowpelt stared back at her with his pale blue eyes. "I suppose," he sighed.

 "So... what are we doing first?" Twisterpaw ventured.

 "What do you think we should do?" he asked her evenly.

 The apprentice hung back for a moment. "Really? You're letting me decide what we do first?" she nearly squealed.

 "I don't really care." the tom shrugged.

 Twisterpaw could feel herself grinning in merriment. What could go wrong?