Heartpaw woke up to the soft sound of trickling water. He opened his eyes. Sunlight streamed into the apprentice den. He looked around. Eelpaw was sound asleep but Deerpaw was nowhere to be seen. He poked his head out of the den. The sun had just started to rise and only one patrol was gathered at the entrance, talking in hushed voices. All the cats knew about Heartpaw by now and they had accepted the choice of their leader. That he would have a trial and then they would choose his outcome. He slipped out of the den and down towards the patrol of cats. He spotted Deerpaw amongst them. She beamed at him.
"Hey," she said. The other cats turned to him. Moorpelt was amongst them.
"Ah, Heartpaw," said Moorpelt. "Blacktail told me to tell you that you will start training in the afternoon, she has something to do for now." Sparkbelly was amongst the patrol and he nodded respectfully to the warrior.
"I am Beestripe," said one of the warriors, stepping forward.
"And I'm Rainfeather," said a light grey, striped she-cat.
"Good to meet you," beamed Heartpaw. Then the patrol slipped out of camp and Deerpaw whispered bye. Heartpaw turned back to the empty clearing then made his way to the small mewing of cats. He approached the nursery then hesitantly waited outside.
"Who is it?" came a voice. "You may come in." Heartpaw hesitated then walked in. The nursery was spacious and light streamed through from outside. The ground was sandy and soft. In green-leaf it would be warm but in leaf-bare, the nursery needed moss beds. A light tabby cat lay in one of the large moss beds. Three small kits scrambled near her side. Her eyes were tired and her movements slow.
"Oh, you must be Heartpaw," said the queen. Heartpaw nodded. Deerpaw had only pointed out the location of the nursery when she had showed him Clan, she had never brought him in or mentioned kits.
"I'm Stripedfur," said the queen.
"How old are they?" asked Heartpaw, looking at the kits. "And what are their names?"
"They're two moons old," beamed the queen proudly. "This one is Rosekit." She nudged a small, dark tabby kit. "Dustkit." She nodded to a small grey kit. "And little Hawkkit." Hawkkit was a light tabby cat who looked just like his mother.
"They're so cute," said Heartpaw. Stripedfur purred. "Can they walk?" Stripedfur nodded and to prove her point, Rosekit scrambled to her feet and trotted to Heartpaw. She ran to his tail and nipped into it. Heartpaw burst into amused purrs.
"They've been nagging me to go outside, but it's too cold and I'm too tired," sighed Stripedfur.
"I'll bring them out," Heartpaw suggested. Rosekit pulled at his tail and he laughed.
"Thank you," sighed Stripedfur in relief. "It would be a big favour."
"Sure thing," grinned Heartpaw. "Come on guys, let's go outside." Dustkit and Hawkkit leapt out of the nest.
"Yay, finally!" cried Rosekit. She rushed to the nursery's entrance.
"Be careful and listen to what Heartpaw tells you!" warned Stripedfur. Rosekit nodded quickly and she and her siblings quickly rushed outside. Heartpaw slipped out after them.
"Where are we going?" asked Rosekit. Heartpaw motioned for them to follow him. They brushed past some bushes and down a small hill. At the bottom trickled a, surprisingly, unfrozen stream. Heartpaw led the kits to it.
"Why don't you play by the stream side?" suggested Heartpaw. Dustkit quickly threw himself on Rosekit who flung him off and bristled.
"I told you not to leap like that! It's such a bad technique," she mewed. Heartpaw laughed. Hawkkit watched his siblings then trotted to the stream side. He bent down and gazed at himself in the river.
"Hey!" he cried to his siblings. "It's me!" Rosekit looked down at her own reflection.
"Silly Hawkkit," she sighed. "It's just our reflections." Hawkkit frowned. Then Dustkit threw himself onto Rosekit once more. She swung him off.
"Don't do that!" she told him. Dustkit frowned and hissed. She leapt at him and they rolled down, wrestling angrily. Heartpaw joined Hawkkit by the stream side and looked down at his reflection. He didn't recognise himself.
"Why don't you join Rosekit and Dustkit?" asked Heartpaw.
"I don't want to fight," said Hawkkit.
"But warriors need to learn to fight," said Heartpaw. "Do you want me to show you some moves?"
"I want to become a medicine cat," informed Hawkkit. "But yeah, can you show me some moves?" Heartpaw nodded eagerly. He showed Hawkkit the crouch and Rosekit and Dustkit joined them. They all copied him. Then he showed them how to creep up on prey and how to tackle somebody else onto the ground, making sure to help them. Finally, he heard Blacktail calling him.
"We've got to go back. Blacktail is calling," said Heartpaw apologetically. The kits sighed sadly and solemnly followed him back to the den.
"So who's your father?" asked Heartpaw as they trotted to the nursery.
"Moorpelt," quipped Rosekit. Moorpelt, the grumpy mentor. He couldn't imagine him as a father.
"Come on, Stripedfur is waiting for you," informed Heartpaw, nudging the kits into the nursery. Stripedfur smiled and beckoned the kits over, giving each of them a warm lick.
"Thank you Heartpaw," she beamed. "They look so tired they'll probably sleep through the night, I hope they do."
"What do you say?" said Stripedfur to her kits.
"Thank you," chirped the kits. Heartpaw smiled and retreated out of the nursery. Blacktail padded towards him. She slipped into the nursery.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Great. I'll be much more rested now because of Heartpaw," came Stripedfur's reply.
"Great, he's settling in well then," said Blacktail. Heartpaw wondered if they thought he couldn't hear them.
"Yes, but in the end, the whole Clan will choose his outcome," mewed Stripedfur. Blacktail appeared next to Heartpaw and flicked her tail. He followed her out of camp.
"So you've met Rosekit, Dustkit and Hawkkit," said Blacktail.
"Yes, they're really cute," replied Heartpaw. Blacktail nodded and led him towards the river once more.
"We're headed for ThunderClan border," explained Blacktail. "I'll show you how to mark the border." Heartpaw almost wanted to tell her he knew how. "You would still have ShadowClan scent on you." Heartpaw nodded in understanding. Finally, Heartpaw smelt the strong smells of ThunderClan. He wrinkled his nose. ThunderClan trees were more packed together, like ShadowClan but they were pine trees. A river separated ThunderClan from RiverClan. Blacktail marked the border. Suddenly, a patrol of cats appeared. They were big and menacing. ThunderClan didn't change, thought Heartpaw. A black and white tom hissed when he spotted Blacktail and Heartpaw. Another white and ginger cat lashed his tail. The two apprentices growled angrily, their eyes sparked with excitement. Heartpaw crouched and snarled back, lashing his tail. He still knew ThunderClan were strong and mean. He wanted to shred their fur. He needed to show his loyalty to his new Clan. RiverClan. He was RiverClan. He would be. He knew he would. RiverClan felt...right. Walking through the territory, nothing had felt out of place. He felt at home, like he had always lived there. He had never caught a squirrel like he had, so easily on the first day at RiverClan. Blacktail touched her tip of her tail to Heartpaw's shoulder.
"They cannot swim past," she told him. "We aren't here to provoke fights." Heartpaw nodded reluctantly.
"Get on your way," said Blacktail loudly.
"You do," hissed the ginger and white cat. "We only just got here. Since when does RiverClan tell us what to do?" Blacktail watched them calmly.
"Since always!" growled Heartpaw. He hadn't been in RiverClan for long but he felt the need to protect their name. He felt the strong blaze that he was RiverClan.
"Oh really, tiny apprentice?" snapped the black and white tom. He crinkled his nose. "You know, you smell a lot like ShadowClan. And WindClan." Heartpaw snarled. Blacktail stepped in front of him.
"He is a new apprentice, don't mind him," she said firmly. Heartpaw felt embarrassment flush through him and shame for not listening to Blacktail.
"Oh but we do mind him," growled the ginger and white cat.
"Leave, we have nothing to fight for," said Blacktail.
"Can we fight?" whispered one of the apprentices. "I bet I could take on that RiverClan apprentice." Heartpaw felt anger flare through him. Suddenly, a patrol of RiverClan cats burst through the bushes. Deerpaw was with them and she stood by Heartpaw's side. The RiverClan cats hissed at the ThunderClan cats and after a few glares, ThunderClan retreated.
"What happened?" asked Moorpelt.
"Nothing," said Blacktail. "I was just showing Heartpaw how to mark the border and they came along. Everything is fine." The patrol of cats nodded and parted on their way. Blacktail turned to Heartpaw, frowning.
"You should have listened to me," said Blacktail.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't like how they talked about our Clan," said Heartpaw.
"Our?" questioned Blacktail. "You are not RiverClan yet. I will be one of the main influencers to get you into RiverClan, if you do not listen to me, you will not be RiverClan." Heartpaw hung his head. "What if ThunderClan had attacked?"
"They wouldn't have crossed the river!" exclaimed Heartpaw.
"You never know, they are ThunderClan," said Blacktail. "Now come." Heartpaw followed Blacktail back into the middle of RiverClan. They practised fighting moves and did a few exercises on strength. By the time they were finished, Heartpaw was tired but felt as if he had accomplished more than ever. He slipped into the apprentice den feeling contented.