Warrior Cats: New Beginnings

Chapter 4: Apprentices and Expectations

The sky was washed in different hues of purples, oranges, and yellows. Rosepetal paused in her grooming for a moment, taking in the beautiful sunset, and as the stars glimmered faintly, not yet truly appearing on the horizon.

 She was jerked out of the trance by the rustling of cats walking through the entrance to camp. "Their patrol is late." Sunsplash commented, as she drew her paw over her ear. Rosepetal glanced at the entrance, as Barklight, Minnowfoot, and Weaselwhisker entered camp.

 "Sooooo...." Poppyflight mewed, leaning uncomfortably close to Roseptal. "How are things going with Weaselwhisker?" Sunsplash stifled a purr as Rosepetal licked her chest fur, a bit abashed. "It's.. going well, I guess." Poppyflight shared an amused glance with Sunsplash. "I mean, I like spending time with him. But it's not serious." Poppyflight twitched her nose in amusement. 

Sunsplash cleared her throat. "You know, I'm sorta nervous about tonight's ceremony. What about you,  Rosepetal?" Poppyflight let out a small snort of annoyance, either from the subject being changed or at the mention of apprentices. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with a kit running around my paws. Training an apprentice is so much work." Rosepetal sat up and stretched, considering her words carefully. "Yes, apprentices are time consuming, but it's a honor to be entrusted with such a task." Sunsplash nodded, approving of Rosepetal's words. "Exactly. The time put in is well worth the reward." Rosepetal's attention was drawn away from her friends as Clearstar and Coldfur emerged from the leader's den. It's time! Excitement jumped in her stomach. 

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather at Smoothstone for a Clan meeting!" Clearstar mewed, standing erect on the large, smooth stone in the middle of camp, Coldfur on his right. 

Rosepetal stifled a purr of amusement as Hickoryjaw came out of the apprentice den, covered in brambles and reeds. He sure had a blast fixing the den. She slipped into the crowd, and found a good spot. 

"How are you feeling?" Weaselwhisker murmured as he sat next to Rosepetal. She shook her head. "Nervous. So nervous!" She flexed her claws, making gouges in the soft dirt. He brushed his tail on her flank, and touched her ear with his nose. "You'll be fine." he said calmly. As Rosepetal gave him a grateful look, the crowd parted, letting the excited kits sit in front of Smoothstone. 

Toadstep gave each of his kits a lick on the ear before sitting next to his mate, who was fairly bursting with pride. Clearstar cleared his throat, and as the cats went silent, he began the ancient ceremony. 

"Rockkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to become an apprentice." He leaned forward, touching his nose to the black tom-kit's forehead. "From this day on, you will be known as Rockpaw." Clearstar straightened, and beckoned Weaselwhisker forward. "Weaselwhisker, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Barklight, and have shown yourself to be a fine warrior of RiverClan. You will mentor Rockpaw, and I know that you will pass on all of your skills and knowledge to your apprentice." Rosepetal purred as Weaselwhisker touched noses with his apprentice. 

"Pebblekit. From now on, you will be known as Pebblepaw. Your mentor will be Sunsplash." As the white and yellow splotched she-cat touched noses with the timid she-kit, Clearstar continued: "Sunsplash, you have shown yourself to be a loyal and smart warrior. Teach all of your knowledge and skills to your apprentice." 

Clearstar hesitated for a moment, glancing at Coldfur for brief moment, than facing the gathered cats. "Kelpkit, from this moment you will be known as Kelppaw. Your mentor will be..." Clearstar hesitated, clearly unsure of his next words. Rosepetal pricked her ears, straining to hear what Clearstar would say next. 

"...Hickoryjaw." 

What? 

Confused whispers echoed in the camp as the brown tabby tom staggered forward in surprise, brambles still hanging off his pelt. "You have served the clan well, Hickoryjaw, and I know you will pass on your skills to Kelppaw." 

Rosepetal couldn't move a muscle. She was numb with shock. As Hickoryjaw leaned forward, touching noses with a confused Kelppaw, Rosepetal glanced at Clearstar. Why won't he look at me? 

As the crowd dispersed, she stood up, keeping her gaze on the ground. She brushed past Ashcloud. His "comforting" words will just make it worse. Embarrassment and confusion welled up inside her, solidifying and cooling into anger. She suddenly felt the urge to shred something, anything. 

She glanced around. Sunsplash and Weaselwhisker weren't even looking at her, too busy with their apprentices to care. She slowly backed away, then darted out of camp, blindly heading out of camp. Why? Why not me?  She broke into a run, not caring where her paws were taking her. Everyone was expecting Clearstar to pick me. For Kelppaw to be my apprentice!  Toadstep's words said before the gathering echoed in her mind. 

She stopped for a moment, taking in her surroundings. She was right on the border that separates RiverClan's territory from no-clan land, where the loners and rogues lived. Panting, she looked around. 

She was in a clearing, where the willows were mixed with oaks and birch trees. Her gaze locked on to a stump, with little branches growing off of it. Rage burned inside of her. Unsheathing her claws, she sliced the stump once. Then twice. Then three times. By the time she stopped, her claws were full of splinters, and the stump was a slashed mess. 

Overwhelming guilt swamped her anger. She bent down, slowly removing the splinters from her claws as she slowly gained control over her feelings. I shouldn't of done that. 

Rosepetal has just finished picking out the splinters out of her claws when she heard the sound of pawsteps nearby. With flattened ears and a bristling tail, she hissed, "Who's there?" 

A bush rustled nearby, and a dark ginger tabby tom stepped out of the darkness. His eyes drifted from the stump to Rosepetal. He sat down, obviously not ruffled or scared by Rosepetal's aggressiveness. "What ruffled your pelt?" he asked. She snorted. "Who are you?" she retorted. 

The tom perked up at her words, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask. "I'm Lake." Should've known he was a loner. "You know you're way too close to RiverClan territory, right?" Lake flicked his tail dismissively. "Technically, I'm on the border." Rosepetal couldn't help but purr in amusement. 

Lake tipped his head. "So... you're a clan cat, right?" She nodded. "I'm a warrior of RiverClan." Somehow, saying these words didn't give the same thrill it had before. He flicked his tail to the shredded stump. "I'm going to guess things aren't going so well in your  'amazing' clan." She blinked, surprised by the tom's spiteful tone. "I... suppose not." She shook her head. "It's too complicated to explain." 

Lake shook his head. "You clan cats are so needlessly complicated. And for what? To be orderly?" Rosepetal couldn't help bristling. "What would you know about clan life? You've never experienced it." He tipped his head thoughtfully. "You've got a point." He blinked, and twitched his ear. "What was that?" 

Rosepetal turned around, hearing a cat nearby. A few moments later, Weaselwhisker entered the moonlit clearing. "Rosepetal?" he mewed, his eyes fixed on the loner. "What are you doing?" Rosepetal met his gaze coldly. "I'm informing this loner to get off our border." she said impassively.  Lake stood up and stretched his forepaws. "That's my cue to leave." The tom then turned and disappeared into the bushes, no doubt back to his home in the no-clan land.

"Ready to return to camp?" Weaselwhisker asked. But rosepetal was already leaving the clearing. "Sure." was she said.