Two Realities | Warrior fanfiction

Chapter 6

   Splashkit woke up. He was to be apprenticed today. He groomed himself, wanting to impress the other clan cats. I want to be the most handsome cat in the clan. Tigerkit will be at my side, of course. He purred at the thought of his mate-to-be. Her delicate stripes, sweet blue eyes, and soft purr... She'll be a great mother.
   "Let all cats old enough to climb sit on the branches around me," Bramblestar called. The clan soon gathered, ears pricked. "Today is a special day. Five kits are ready to become apprentices. They'll have only a moon of training on dry ground before the rains come," he meowed while jumping on the kit platform.
   "Step forward," he meowed to the five kits. They obeyed. "From this day forward, until you receive your warrior names, you will be know as Ravenpaw, Snowpaw, Splashpaw, Otterpaw, and Tigerpaw. Monkeytail, you have trained many apprentices. I hope you pass all know to Ravenpaw," he meowed. Monkeytail leapt to Ravenpaw, and they bowed to each other, promising to do their best. Why did he say my name in the middle. I'm obviously the best! Splashpaw thought.
   "Branchclimber, train Snowpaw hard. I know you will pass your agility and balance to her," Bramblestar meowed. Branchclimber and Snowpaw bowed to each other when Branchclimber reached the platform.
"Sca-" Bramblestar said, but was interrupted by Splashpaw.
"Thank you for the suggestion, but I think Caymantooth would be a better fit for me," Splashpaw meowed. The clan murmured to each other, clearly surprised.
"Alright, if you think you know better then me. Even though I'm many moons older than you, and have actually been trained. Caymantooth, you will mentor Splashpaw. Make sure he is disciplined and knows how the clan runs." Bramblestar meowed. He was clearly unimpressed. Caymantooth bounded over to Splashpaw. Splashpaw merely nodded to him as Caymantooth bowed. Caymantooth was very irritated.
   "Slothclaw, pass your patience and gentleness to Tigerpaw," Bramblestar meowed as Slothclaw bowed to his new apprentice. "And finally, Longleap, pass you long lasting energy and immense leaping skills to Otterpaw." The clan cheered the apprentices new names.
"Alright know-it-all, today I'll be teaching you have to gather soft leaves for the dens," Splashpaw's mentor hissed. He snorted.
"Isn't learning how to hunt much more useful than gathering leaves?" Splashpaw snootily. Caymantooth narrowed his eyes.
"Fallow me," he meowed. He turned the other way and ran along the branches. Splashpaw, having no clue how to balance properly, stumbled along the branch. Then it clicked. Wisppaw's training came into his mind. He straitened up, and ran easily along the branch. Caymantooth looked shocked, then puzzled. Where did he learn how to climb? His mentor thought. He shook it off, and ran towards the tree with the softest leaves. Splashpaw followed.
   "Make sure to get the fuzzy leaves with the slick top. We can flip them to be more warm or more cold. When the this tree sends of seeds-" Caymantooth pointed to a near by tree "-it produces a soft, fluffy down. We use that in our dens as well. Can you guess how to pick these leaves?" Splashpaw snorted.
   "Of course I can," he said arrogantly as he griped the leaf in his mouth. He pulled on it, digging his teeth into the leaf.
   "No no no, bite the stem. You'll shred the leaf the way you are doing it. Like this," his mentor said, demonstrating the proper way to pick a leaf. "Now pick as many as you can, then we'll go back. Alright?"
   Splashpaw snorted again. He reluctantly nodded, and started to pick the leaves. When they had as much as they could carry, they went back to camp. Splashpaw laid his leaves down in the apprentices den, making sure to layer it nice and thick where he and Tigerpaw would be sleeping.
   After gobbling up a manikin bird, he went to sleep. He found Tigerpaw already asleep. He curled around her, purring. Her soft coat in twined in his. He soon fell asleep listening to her steady breaths.