Warriors; MoonClan: Fire [ 1 ]

Chapter Seventeen

Hawkstar panted as he reached the top of the ledge. "All cats old enough to walk join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" he yowled. Moonpaw emerged from the apprentices' den, and Weaselpaw sat where he was by the fresh-kill pile, his gaze turned to Hawkstar.

Gorsekit's sleek, groomed fur shone as he padded from the nursery. Ebonykit and Drizzlekit tripped over each other to watch the kit become an apprentice. Littlekit padded calmly from the nursery and sat beside her siblings. As the Clan gathered, they shot glances at Gorsekit and happily murmured among themselves.

Slowly the whispering died down, and Gorsekit was called up to the Highledge. "Gorsekit," he manage to croak out. "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 name, you will be known as Gorsepaw. You mentor will be Hedgeclaw. I hope Hedgeclaw will pass down all he knows down to you."

"Hedgeclaw, step forward." Hedgeclaw padded calmly up to Highledge. "Hedgeclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Ferretheart, and you have shown yourself to be wise and dedicated. You will be the mentor of Gorsepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Gorsepaw."

The Clan burst in to cheers. "Gorsepaw! Gorsepaw!" they cried. Rose's eyes shone with pride.

Moonpaw guessed she was thinking I saved that kit, he is my kit. Moonpaw smiled. 

The smile faded into a worried frown. If Raven ever came back.... Moonpaw shook the thought from his head. We will protect him, Moonpaw promised Rose silently.

Weaselpaw was beside him, Moonpaw realized. His sleek brown pelt with the darker stripe down the middle seemed to purposely indicate this is my spine.  Moonpaw and Weaselpaw brushed together. "I'm ready," Weaselpaw whispered. "For what?" Moonpaw asked. "Our ceremony, of course!" Weaselpaw flicked his tail as if two words could indicate such big things. "When I'm a warrior," Moonpaw meowed. "Alright!" interrupted Hawkstar. "Since Gorsepaw is now an apprentice, Rose has agreed to also take an apprentice name. She wishes not a big ceremony, so her mentor will be Ripplefawn and her name Rosepaw." "Rosepaw, Rosepaw!" cheered the Clan.

Grayfoot's gaze flickered to Weaselpaw then to Moonpaw. "Moonpaw! Weaselpaw! Time to be assessed!"

When they were outside, Gorsepaw and Rosepaw were beside Ripplefawn and Hedgeclaw. Gorsepaw's face lit up and we waved with his tail. "Hi! Hi! Hi!" Moonpaw dipped his head and Weaselpaw purred a greeting. "First order of business, training." Yew-wing suddenly meowed from a distance. He popped out of a bush. "Weaselpaw, train Gorsepaw. Moonpaw, train Rosepaw."

Moonpaw flashed a curious glance at Rosepaw. "Okay," he agreed, stalking over to Rosepaw. "What do we train them?" "Whatever you want," Grayfoot replied. Moonpaw thought hard. "Follow me," he told Rosepaw.

It was sundown when Weaselpaw and Moonpaw finished showing Gorsepaw and Rosepaw the territory. Grayfoot had popped out at times and pretended to be a ShadowClan warrior, and Moonpaw defended Rosepaw as if her life depended on it. Moonpaw had been beaten once. "Good job!" Grayfoot praised whenever he won. "We will finish tomorrow," Yew-wing meowed. "Now's a time to catch up on your hunting skills!"

Weaselpaw stretched and yawned. "Let's go back, maybe catch a mouse or two first." Moonpaw nodded. "Agreed," he half-meowed, half-yawned. Moonpaw sniffed the air. He scented squirrel. He dropped into the hunting crouch and stalked through bushes, Weaselpaw at his side. Weaselpaw crept over to the other side of the squirrel and gave chase, pounding the dirt with his paws. 

The squirrel fled in Moonpaw's direction. Moonpaw leaped out and the squirrel squealed and stopped for a moment, then as Moonpaw flung himself at it, it scrambled up a tree. Weaselpaw leaped up, catching the squirrel as it found a high branch. Weaselpaw dropped the squirrel from the leaves and clawed his way down. Moonpaw picked up the squirrel. "That was cool!" he complimented. "This should be enough," Weaselpaw meowed.

The sun shone high overhead. Shadows of leaves and branches curled over the thin layer of snow. The snow was so thin, when Moonpaw took a step he found his paw lifting to reveal dead yellow grass. Moonpaw bunched up, ready to spring. He swung his haunches and leaped. THe mouse squeaked and as its paws swung the snow to flee, it slipped and Moonpaw landed on it, nipping its neck. "Yes!" The bushes rustled around him, and Yew-wing's dark ginger pelt emerged.

 "Nice catch, that'll feed the kits." It was a particularly fat mouse that would feed the kits. Moonpaw found his thoughts wandering to Raven. "Moonpaw?" Yew-wing mewed. Moonpaw shook his head. "Yes, thank you," Moonpaw meowed. "You'll be a warrior after your next assessment, if you pass," Yew-wing mewed. Scent drifted into Moonpaw's mouth. No! Not again!  He bunched his raised his haunches as a dark pelt calmly padded out of a bush.