Warriors: A Changed Fate

Chapter 4

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the high branch for a meeting!" Bearkit hears Ashstar's voice call. Sagekit was right! We are going to become apprentices today! He assumes at the call for a clan meeting.

"Today, three young kits have reached the age of six moons, and are ready to become apprentices." Ashstar meows.

"It's time for the three of you to become apprentices." Graycloud whispers. "Go on out of the den, and I will follow you. Please make sure you behave in front of your clan." She meows. The three kits nod and then slowly walk out of the nursery and over to where the clan is gathered. Graycloud follows behind them, sitting down with the three kits along with the other cats.

"Bearkit, 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 Bearpaw.  Your mentor will be Daisybloom. I hope Daisybloom will pass down all she knows on to you." Ashstar says, her gaze looking down at the brown kit, but then it shifts over to a gray-and-white warrior. "Daisybloom, you are ready to take on your first apprentice. You have received excellent training from Addertooth, and you have shown yourself to be a clever and determined warrior. You will be the mentor of Bearpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."

Bearpaw walks over to Daisybloom and touches noses with the warrior. The clan cheers. "Bearpaw! Bearpaw!" They meow. Bearpaw hasn't felt this much joy so far in his life.

This is great! I'm an apprentice now and I like my mentor! Bearpaw thinks. I wonder what happened to her eye though..

"I will make sure to train you well." Daisybloom meows, purring at him. Then, Ashstar's gaze changes. Bearpaw watches as it shifts over to Sagekit.

"Sagekit, you have also reached the age of six moons, and it is also time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sagepaw.  Your mentor will be Mousetuft. I hope Mousetuft will pass down all she knows on to you." Ashstar says, her gaze shifts over to Mousetuft. "Mousetuft, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You have received excellent training, and you have shown yourself to be a skilled and intelligent warrior. You will be the mentor of Sagepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

Bearpaw watches as Sagepaw walks over to Mousetuft. She touches noses with her and the clan cheers. "Sagepaw! Sagepaw!"

"Finally, Mistykit, you have also reached the age of six moons, and it is also time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Mistypaw. You chose the life of a warrior over the life of comfort as a kittypet, and we greatly respect that. Your mentor will be Applebranch. I hope Applebranch will pass down all he knows on to you." Ashstar says, her gaze shifts over to the ginger tom, who happens to be her mate. "Applebranch, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You have received excellent training from Frogleap, and you have shown yourself to be a strong and skilled warrior. You will be the mentor of Mistypaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

Bearpaw watches as Mistypaw dashes over to Applebranch, seemingly happy to have him as her mentor, and they touch noses. "Mistypaw! Mistypaw!" The clan cheers.

"The clan meeting is now dismissed." Ashstar then meows, leaping down from the high branch.

"What now?" Bearpaw asks his new mentor excitedly.

"First, Mousetuft, Applebranch, and I are going to show you three around the territory." Daisybloom replies. Bearpaw can't help but look up at the warrior with admiration as she looks around for Mousetuft and Applebranch. Daisybloom spots the other two warriors and signals them with her tail. The other two warriors nod and explain to their apprentices what they are going to do. Then, the six cats leave the ShadowClan camp to show the new apprentices around ShadowClan territory.

They slowly pad through the forest, the three apprentices following their mentors.

"Hey, there's a mouse right here!" Mistypaw says, looking at the ground near a bush.

"We aren't hunting yet, Mistypaw. That's for later." Applebranch says to his apprentice.

Soon, the cats reach a twoleg path. "This is a twoleg path. The other side of the path is SkyClan territory." Mousetuft explains. "Don't cross into another clan's territory." She tells the apprentices. The apprentices nod, understanding the rule.

Then, the cats continue walking, but back in the other direction. After a bit of walking, they spot a twoleg nest.

"That's a twoleg nest." Applebranch explains. "I've seen some twolegs here. Don't ever get near the twolegs or the nest. Twolegs are dangerous." He tells the apprentices. They nod, listening to the warrior.

Then, they continued walking. "Right here, there's a twolegplace. There can be lots of twolegs here, but really only during greenleaf." Mousetuft tells the apprentices.

"You see the lake? In the middle of the lake, there is an island. That's where all of the gatherings take place." Daisybloom then meows.

Then, the six cats continue. Connected to the greenleaf twolegplace, there is a small thunderpath.

"This is a thunderpath. There's monsters on thunderpaths, so they're very dangerous. On the other side of the thunderpath, there's RiverClan territory." Daisybloom explains.

"Now, let's head back to camp." Mousetuft then meows, beginning to walk back. All of the other cats follow the older warrior.

"Our territory is so big!" Bearpaw says excitedly as they walk back. "I can't wait to start hunting!" He meows.

"Yeah! It's so exciting!" Mistypaw replies to Bearpaw. Sagepaw, however, stayed silent. She isn't as excited as the other two. She wants to be a warrior, but she is afraid she won't be good at it.

Then, they arrive back in camp and are greeted and congratulated by their clanmates.

One step closer to my dream of becoming a strong ShadowClan warrior! Bearpaw thinks.