Complete Warriors Guide

Mentor

Mentors are warriors of a Clan who teach apprentices in the ways of a Clan warrior. They teach them how to hunt and fight for their Clan, the ways of the warrior code, and it's also up to them to make sure that their apprentice doesn't get in any trouble. At the end of their mentoring, their apprentice advances to become a warrior.

Process

When a kit reaches six moons and becomes an apprentice, they are given a mentor. The mentor teaches them how to fight, hunt, patrol, familiarize them with The Warrior Code, and prepare them for life as a warrior. When a leader assigns a new apprentice to mentor, they chooses pairings based on seniority and whether or not the pair will be able to work together. Apprentices are rarely mentored by their own parents, as they would be too lenient on their children.

Warriors are able to request a kit they would like to mentor, although this does not necessarily guarantee they will be chosen as a mentor to said kit once they reach six moons. A warrior will often watch a kit they hope to mentor, and become familiar with the particular kit.

Mentors can have more than one apprentice, but this is not frequent. Warriors require certain qualities to be mentors - for instance, Bluestar refrained from giving the ThunderClan warrior Runningwind an apprentice, even though he was a senior warrior, because she thought he wouldn't have enough patience to train one. Another example is when Bluestar chose Tigerclaw to mentor Ravenpaw, because she thought that Tigerclaw's courage would help Ravenpaw be less timid.

However, it does not matter how experienced a warrior is; when a cat is made a warrior, they can then be a mentor at any time.

Leaders usually only train the deputy's kits and other kits of important heritage, like Bluestar mentoring Firestar, as he is the subject of an important prophecy.

Special Cases

There are some things that can stop a kit or apprentice from becoming an apprentice or delay the apprenticeship. Known examples include:

• Crookedpaw breaking his jaw and temporarily leaving the Clan.

• Cinderpaw breaking her leg.

• Whitepaw being blinded in one eye by a badger.

However, in many of these cases the apprentice or kit will either recover or train as a medicine cat apprentice. Both Cinderpelt and Jayfeather worked in the medicine den due to their ailments and were told they could not be warriors. Medicine cat apprentices are chosen by medicine cats, and unlike warrior apprentices, they remain apprentices even after receiving their full name, and continue to be until their mentor dies or retires.