14 moonrises occurred and finally word came that Greykit, Mistkit and I were going to be made apprentices. I was so excited I ran out of the nursery and looked for Freckledpaw. I found her in the medical den attending to the herb storage.
"FreckledPaw!" I squealed running up and jumping onto Freckledpaws back, "Guess what!"
"Lemme guess, you are becoming an apprentice soon?" Freckledpaw guessed looking at me.
"That's correct!" I mewed getting off her back before she excused herself to go deliver herbs. I was somewhat disappointed as I just wanted to spend time with my idol, but I left when she did and headed back to the nursery where my brother and sister greeted me.
“ONE MORE DAY!” they mewed excitedly, "One more Day and we become warriors!”
I nodded, “I hope we get good mentors; I wish I got Jaguarstar, but that is a silly dream.”
“Yes, it is!” my brother agreed,
“Like I would love to have Cloudpaw as my mentor! That isn’t ever going to happen.”
“Cloudpaw?” I wondered at the choice, "That is a bit silly, no paw takes apprentices, the best you can hope for is his teacher.”
“I know!” he said dreamily, "But it would be so cool to have him teach us.”
I rolled my eyes and went to sleep in hopes that the day would come sooner. While I was asleep those cats that had been called by JaguarStar to go to the meeting of the clans left and returned. Freckledstar amongst them.
The next day I went to find a grumpy Freckledpaw treating another cat, CatusSplash.
"Now you better keep off your paw for a few days, you can start walking on it when Maplestripe or I say so." Freckledpaw mewed at the tom who then walked out of the medicine den rolling his eyes.
It was clear to me he was going to ignore her advice, I shrugged it was not my concern. She spotted me then and walked over to the nursery, "It's your ceremony today, how do you feel?"
I ran to her then and replied, "I feel great!" and then got distracted by her sassy tail.
"That's good," she mewed at me.
Just then, JaguarStar called out, "Let all cats old enough to catch prey gather beneath Tallrock for a Clan meeting."
FreckledPaw and I walked to the rock together and met up with all the other cats that were gathered there.
When everyone had gathered, JaguarStar continued, "It has come to my attention that some kits and an apprentice are old enough to become apprentices and warriors. May Cloudpaw, Greykit, Mistkit and Steelkit step up."
I was looking for my siblings to go up when I felt Freckledpaw push me forwards with her tail, while my sister and brother went up together and Cloudpaw stepped forwards on his own.
"Steelkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior’s name, you will be known as Steelpaw. Your mentor will be Dawningflame. I hope Dawningflame will pass down all she knows on to you."
Jaguarstar mewed as Dawningflame nodded and touched noses with Steelpaw.
"Greykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior’s name, you will be known as Greypaw. Your mentor will be CactusSplash. I hope CactusSplash will pass down all he knows on to you, including how to stay out of prickle patches.”
A general cat laughter occurred. It was then it hit me, they had mistaken my brother for me; I was the one who was always deliberately falling into the patches so I could see FreckledPaw. The reason they thought it was my brother was because he was the last one to see the medical cat team for a thorn. I had not fallen again into the patches ever since Maplestripes warning.
My brother sent me a dirty look then, but he headed to CactusSplash and greeted him as was required of us.
"Mistkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior’s name, you will be known as Mistpaw. Your mentor will be LavenderSplash. I hope Lavendersplash will pass down all she knows on to you."
Lavendersplash nodded at my sister and their noses touched as the ceremony then went on.
"I, Jaguarstar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Cloudpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Jaguarstar mewed to Cloudpaw who was staring at the leader thoughtfully.
"I do," Cloudpaw mewed his response.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior’s name. Cloudpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cloudcream. StarClan honors your Skill and speed, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Windclan." Jaguarstar mewed as Cloudcream walked to him and locked his shoulder as Jaguarstar rested his head on Cloudcream.
The clan then congratulated Cloudcream, Greypaw, Mistpaw and I.
I believe the clan was more congratulatory to Cloudcream than us as he had finished his training in record time. Actually, he set a new record for the fastest cat to become a warrior. I wondered at his motivation, I wondered if there was some ulterior motive to being the best hunter so fast. Little did I know it was for his revenge for the wrongs done for him and Freckledpaw.
Freckledpaw still had a way to go before she could be called a medicine cat, infact, after I had become an apprentice, she seemed to space out as if worried about something, only coming back to earth as her brother became a warrior.
