"May all cats old enough to swim gather underneath Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Duskstar yowled.
Primrosekit and Echokit bounded eagerly towards the Highrock. This was it, their apprentice ceremony. They were finally old enough to be apprenticed and they were both more than ready to start training.
From the corner of her eye, Echokit saw her and her sister's adopted littermates, Wolfkit, Firekit, Thunderkit, and Owlkit sitting beside Dawnfire, who was smiling proudly down at her sister's two six-moon-old kits.
"What are you waiting for?" their aunt asked them, smiling and twitching her whiskers. "Duskstar's waiting for you!"
The two she-kits nodded and scurried over to sit at the base of Highrock.
"Noble cats of StormClan! We gather here today for one of our most important announcements. The making of new apprentices!" Duskstar yowled. Primrosekit squealed excitedly from beside her, and Echokit bumped her flank playfully. Duskstar looked down at the two bouncing kits.
"But before we get on with the ceremony, I just want to take a moment to honor one of our fallen clanmates." The dark-furred leader paused and glanced over at both Echokit and Primrosekit. "Although Rosethorn is no longer with us, her daughters and sister are here and wishing her well in StarClan." Duskstar mewed while glancing up towards the sky as she spoke.
Once that was done, she refocused her gaze on the two kits who were both staring up at her with wide eyes and eager anticipation.
"Echokit and Primrosekit, please step up to Highrock." She mewed. Echokit dashed up to the top, trying to be in the front, but Primrosekit was faster than her and beat her to the top. Duskstar glanced down at the impatient Primrosekit. She smiled at her large hazel eyes, which were widened in both nervousness and excitement.
"Primrosekit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she asked her, her voice steady and calm.
"Yes," she mewed, her fur fluffed up in anticipation. Duskstar smiled.
"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Primrosepaw. Mothflame," she meowed, pointing to the white-and-gray she-cat, "will be your mentor." Mothflame happily padded up to Primrosepaw and touched her nose.
"I promise to train Primrosepaw to my best abilities," she meowed seriously.
Suddenly, a wave of nervousness shivered over Echokit. She was next in line! Please don't let me mess up! she thought, both praying and pleading to StarClan. As she looked up at Duskstar's fluffy black face, she thought she saw a flicker of something in Duskstar's leaf-green eyes, but it flickered away far too quickly for her to judge.
"Echokit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she repeated. Echokit nodded.
"Yes." Duskstar then spoke the words, just as Echokit had dreamed of.
"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Echopaw. Cinderlight will be your mentor." Duskstar mewed proudly.
Echopaw expected to see hostility in the gray cat's eyes, but she just saw kindness in their blue depths. She tapped her little soft kitten-petal-pink nose lightly with her rough pink-gray one. She looked up and nodded to Duskstar.
"I promise to teach Echopaw everything I know," she mewed. Echopaw felt she might burst with happiness. I'm finally an apprentice! she thought with an excited skip in her step as she patted back over to join Dawnfire and her littermates.
"Primrosepaw! Echopaw! Primrosepaw! Echopaw!" the Clan chanted.
The two young cats lifted their heads in pride, the amber sun behind them making the two young cats look like brands of flame in the new morning light.
The cheering died down.
"Clan meeting dismissed," Duskstar meowed, leaping off the Highrock and patting into her den with Moonfire.
•••
After the excitement had finally died down somewhat, Cinderlight patted over toward her apprentice and tapped her lightly on the shoulder with her tail.
"Come along Echopaw," Cinderlight meowed, flicking her tail and patting out of camp. "I'm going to show you our territory."
The smaller she-cat smiled and bounded eagerly after her mentor.
"Hey Cinderlight? Weren't you an apprentice when I first met you?"
The older smokey-gray she-cat paused and turned to face her apprentice with a small smile. "Yes, yes I was. In fact, my sister and I both were apprentices when your littermates were found and welcomed into the Clan." She mewed with a flick of her ears. "Oh, and if I remember correctly, Brightpaw's warrior ceremony is in about a moon or so from now."
Echopaw bounced excitedly. "So what are we doing now?" she mewed excitedly.
Cinderlight gave a mrrow of amusement. "We're going to the borders of StormClan territory."
Echopaw froze. "Are-are you sure that's a good idea?" she squeaked, gulping and nervously and shifting from paw to paw anxiously. "My mom was killed on the thunder path, do we really have to go there, Cinderlight?"
Cinderlight's eyes widened and she smacked her forehead with a paw. "Fox dung!" she muttered under her breath. "I forgot that that's where Rosethorn was killed. And those poor kits saw it all! No wonder she's so terrified!" the older she-cat cursed and turned back to face her apprentice with a guilty look on her face.
"No-No!" she mewed quickly, her fur fluffing out. "We don't have to go to the thunderpath if you don't want to."
Echopaw shook her head rapidly in response. "N-No I-I don't!" she meowed fearfully. "Can we please just go back to camp now, Cinderlight?"
The smokey-gray warrior nodded her head and slowly guided her apprentice back to the StormClan camp.