FlameClan's Prodigy

Chapter 3

Water splashed everywhere as the silver she-kit struggled in the water. Coughing and wheezing, the kit dragged herself back to the shore and onto the soft, cool grass.

"Silverkit!" another she-cat yowled.

Silverkit sighed and rolled over to face the stream where a brown she-cat stood in the water.

"Silverkit, you're six moons old and you still can't swim!"

"I can't do it! I can't! Don't make me go back in there!" Silverkit cried.

The brown she-cat stepped out of the stream, shook the water out of her fur, and sat by the shivering Silverkit.

It was early in the morning and Silverkit's mother, the brown she-cat named Rookfur, wanted to give her a last minute lesson on swimming, a skill which Silverkit did not have.

"Look, Silverkit. I just don't want you to be judged by the apprentices because you don't know how to swim."

"Why do I have to? I don't like swimming!"

Rookfur chuckled and replied, "You're just like your father, never wanting to touch the water."

"I don't want to be like him. I want to be the greatest, most loyal RainClan warrior ever!"

"When he was young he said that too. I know you'll be a great warrior, Silverkit, but you have to learn to swim at some point. Hopefully sooner than later."

A silvery-gray shape slunk out of the undergrowth of the forest, icy blue eyes staring at the two cats.

"Sorry to interrupt, Rookfur, but it is time," the shape said.

The shape was a silver-gray tabby she-cat with a white tail-tip. This she-cat was a well-respected cat in RainClan, for she was the medicine cat.

"Thank you, Quietstream," Rookfur replied. Turning to Silverkit, she said, "Come, Silverkit. It is time for you to become an apprentice."

The three cats trekked back to the RainClan camp, where the Clan waited for Silverkit's ceremony to begin.

"Are you excited to become a warrior apprentice?" Quietstream asked.

"So excited! I'm gonna work so hard! Then, when I'm a warrior, I'll work even hard to be named deputy and then leader!" Silverkit said, nearly bouncing with delight.

"You've got quite the ambitious kit on your hands, Rookfur," Quietstream laughed.

Silverkit smiled and tried to contain her excitement as they entered the RainClan camp.

The camp set up was simple: Two fallen beech trees, a burnt stump, and a hill. One tree on the left side was for the warriors and apprentices, in which the warriors' den was made of the hollow trunk and brambles and the leaves and branches served as the apprentices' den.

The tree on the opposite side was the nursery. The queens' nests were in the branches and leaves and the trunk was turned into a playground for kits that weren't old enough to leave the nursery.

The large burnt stump served as a nice medicine cat den. The ground below it was dug out and properly prepared to store herbs. Some extra brambles surround the stump giving shelter the medicine cat and her patients.

Finally, the was the hill. Greenhill, as it was called, was where RainClan held their Clan meetings. Just at the foot of it lay a small cave with an entrance covered in moss. The cave was the leader's den, in which the RainClan leader Hazelstar could be found.

However, Hazelstar today was standing atop Greenhill, waiting for the three cats to enter the camp. As they strolled towards Greenhill, Hazelstar lifted her muzzle towards the blue sky and yowled, "Cats of RainClan! Gather around Greenhill for a Clan meeting!"