~Discontinued~Warriors: Saved by Stars

Chapter 2

"Mom! Stop! I can wash myself!" Strikekit wailed as Eclipseheart washed him thoroughly before his apprentice ceremony. His siblings, Moonkit and Sunkit however, were very relaxed as they got groomed by their mothers' sisters, Freckleface and Piperfang. "Oh, calm down Strikekit. You want to look good for the clan and Arrowpaw." Sunkit, the oldest kit of her siblings said, almost singing the name of the apprentice. Moonkit, the second oldest, chuckled when she said this.Strikekit growled but did not attack for he knew his fur would fluff up, and the washing would start again. "Alright you three, settle down. It's time." The kits walked out with their mother and the three kits sat under the Highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join me at the foot of Highrock for a clan meeting!" Icestar yelled, her voice ringing around the clearing. The three kits sat, fidgeting. Over the past few moons they had been waiting impatiently to become apprentices.The clan slowly started filling into the clearing. Once every cat was there, Icestar spoke again, "Now, we have an outstanding amount of eight kits ready to become apprentices! This means that it will be very cramped in the apprentice's den and that there will be no warrior without and apprentice. We will be adding on to the apprentice den as much as possible the next few sunrises but, it could take a while. Let's get started." She took a breath before she started again. "Okay, Snowkit, Brownkit, and Frostkit, step forward." Icestar said and the three kits stepped forward. "Snowkit, with your mentor being Leafwhiskers, you shall be known as Snowpaw. Brownkit, with your mentor being Stripeclaw, you shall be known as Brownpaw. And Frostkit, with your mentor being Piperfang, you shall be known as Frostpaw. You three shall learn the warrior code and learn to care for your clan." She paused to let the clan cheer the new apprentices' names."Peachkit and Swiftkit, step forward." She said, watching the kits walk in front of the High Rock. "Peachkit, with your mentor being Eclipseheart, you shall be known as Peachpaw. Swiftkit, with your mentor being Diamondtail, you shall be known as Swiftpaw." She looked down on the two new apprentices, watching as the mentors touched noses with them."Sunkit, Moonkit, and Strikekit, step forward." The three kits eagerly walked forward, ready to finally get their apprentice names. "Sunkit, with your mentor being Blackclaw, you shall be known as Sunpaw." Icestar paused to readjust herself, "Moonkit, with your mentor being Thorntail, you shall be known as Moonpaw. And Strikekit, with your mentor being Witheredfang, you shall be known as Strikepaw. The three new apprentices touched noses with their new mentors and then they looked back up at their leader."May all of these apprentices learn many things and I believe that all of these mentors will pass on great lessons to their apprentices. Clan dismissed!" She yelled, hopping down from the High rock. "We're finally apprentices!" Moonpaw exclaimed. "I'm going to learn so much, though,"-he whispered," I heard Witheredfang is strict." Strikepaw told his siblings. "You'll be fine Strikepaw, and you both need to be responsible." Sunpaw said."Okay mom." Moonpaw said, mocking her sister. "That's enough you three," Witheredfang broke in, "you must start training now."The three apprentices followed their mentors out of the camp for the first time. They looked at the forest around them, wonder on all their faces. They were silent as they followed the warriors through the undergrowth. Soon they were at a sandy clearing, where the mentors told the apprentices to watch them closely. Thorntail got into position to lunge, then he hurled himself at Blackclaw. This caused him to roll across the sand. They watched in amazement as Blackclaw stood up and jumped in the air, pawing at Witheredfang's back, noticing that their claws were sheathed. The three warriors shook the sand off when they were done and looked at their apprentices. "Repeat." Was all Witheredfang said. The three apprentices lined up in front of their mentors. Moonpaw lunged at Sunpaw, rolling across the sand. Sunpaw got up and jumped, pawing at Strikepaw but missing just barely, causing her to land hard on her side. "Ow..." She said standing up. "Are you okay?" Blackclaw asked her. "I'm fine, I don't understand how you do that, though." She replied, shaking the sand out of her pelt." "Change spots, Strikepaw, you lunge. Moonpaw you attack Sunpaw." Witheredfang said, telling them their new spots.They lined up in a different order, Strikepaw preparing to lunge. He did this, his impact rolling Moonpaw and himself all the way across the clearing. Moonpaw stood up shaking her head, then jumping at Sunpaw, pawing at her back. Moonpaw tumbled onto the sand after hurtling over her sister. She stood up and the three apprentices looked at their mentors. "Wonderful you three! That was very good for your first try Moonpaw." Thorntail said, his tail brushing the ground; Moonpaw beamed. The apprentices trained for the rest of the day, and soon they were so tired they were tripping with every step they took. The mentors commended them on their hard work and then they set off back to the camp.When they got back to camp, their mentors allowed them to take two mice each, then told to go right to sleep. "How was your first day of training?" Rainpaw asked curiously."It was so long." Strikepaw complained. "I could sleep for a moon!" Sunpaw said, her usual regal and responsible tone gone. Moonpaw said nothing as she stared at the den walls swaying from side to side slowly. "Well, get used to it. I made you guys some nests in the back of the den, sorry we don't have a lot of space right now." She said, smiling sweetly. Sunpaw said thanks and then she and Rainpaw helped Moonpaw to her nest. They slowly fell asleep and they had great dreams that were over all too quickly.The three apprentices woke to the sound of Frostpaw and Brownpaw prodding them with their feet. "Wake up! Your mentors want you for hunting practice now!" The whispered loudly in their ears. The apprentices woke up, quickly shaking the moss off their pelts. Moonpaw stumbled into the clearing, barely awake, followed by Strikepaw and Sunpaw. Blackclaw and Thorntail were sitting down, their tails sweeping the ground. While Witheredfang paced back and forth in front them. As they slowly woke up, walking out of their den, Witheredfang's yellow eyes darted on them and he slowly stalked forward, "You three are very sleepy-slugs, it's already past dawn!" He said, irritated at the apprentices. He was about to begin again when Thorntail broke in, "Calm down Witheredfang, we trained them hard yesterday, they can sleep a little late."Moonpaw smiled, grateful for her mentor's kindness towards her and her siblings. Witheredfang glared at Thorntail but finally said, "Fine."

***They walked into the forest and headed to a big oak tree. "Now, we are going to teach you how to hunt a mouse." Blackclaw said. It was obvious that he had taken over from here, making Moonpaw think that he was better at hunting than the other two warriors. He slowly got into a hunting crouch that the three apprentices had seen and done since they were little kits. A leaf in front of him acted as the mouse. "Now, a mouse can hear your paws on the ground, so you need to drop into a crouch and take all your weight into your haunches so that your paws have no impact on the ground. When you are close enough kill it, pounce and trap it in your paws. Then you bite it in the neck, killing it." He said demonstrating this as he spoke. "Alright, now, what can you smell?" He asked."I can smell the forest, us, and... that's it." Sunpaw said, Strikepaw and Moonpaw nodding in agreement. "Try harder." He pushed. Strikepaw sniffed the air then said, "I smell everything that Sunpaw smelled, that-" He paused, "Mouse!" He exclaimed. "Good." Blackclaw said, "Now track it. Remember that mice will hear the vibrations of your footsteps before they ever smell you." Moonpaw and Sunpaw slowly caught onto the scent and the three apprentices slowly slid through the grass like snakes. Sunpaw found the mouse first and then alerted to her siblings by flicking her tail. They got into the position that they used as kits when they would "hunt" leaves. Strikepaw sprang forward, scaring the mouse. The mouse veered left to Moonpaw, who blocked its path. This caused it to run right into Sunpaw's awaiting pounce, where she jumped and then bit it in the neck, killing it. Blackclaw, Witheredfang, and Thorntail walked up to them and they all told them well done. "That was great form from all of you, and I haven't seen teamwork for hunting like that in a long time. You will all definitely be great hunters when your older. And it was wonderful how you all knew what to do for your first real hunt." Blackclaw praised them. The three apprentices looked at the ground sheepishly. "Alright, time to teach them to hunt birds." Thorntail said grinning. Strikepaw even thought he heard Witheredfang chuckle under his breath. Throughout the day they learned how to hunt birds. The mentors and her siblings laughing when Sunpaw caught one but then sneezed after a feather got caught on her nose. Even Witheredfang started to get into a better mood. Eventually, Moonpaw and Strikepaw caught one and Thorntail decided to end training for the day. When they got back to camp, Eclipseheart asked how training was going, and they showed her their kills and she congratulated them. Then they went off to their nests to sleep.Throughout the next two moons the three apprentices' skills increased. They learned to block and duck attacks, hunt snakes bigger than them, and much more. Strikepaw finally had the courage to talk to Arrowpaw and they became very good friends. Sunpaw quickly became one of the top apprentices. And Moonpaw was a very good fighter. Every day, they woke up to train, and every night they barely slept wanting to learn more.