the new apprentice

~~~

THE BRIGHT, GREENLEAF sunlight splayed down on Dovepaw's calico pelt and she twitched her ears in excitement as she listened to her father, Duskstar, recite the ancient words of the apprentice ceremony to the young, brown tabby she-cat in front of him.

Dovepaw loved ceremonies. It was so nice to see the Clan gather together and celebrate the promotion of a friend after moons of their hard work. It was something that strengthened and united BreezeClan, and Dovepaw always looked forward to them.

"This is so boring." Clearly her brother, Tigerpaw, didn't enjoy ceremonies as much as the calico did, given the way he hadn't stopped complaining since it started and was dragging a claw lazily through the ground. "SpiritClan, when will this be over?"

Dovepaw glanced over her shoulder to give the ginger tabby tom a sharp look. "Be quiet, otherwise every cat will hear you complaining."

"Like I care," Tigerpaw muttered, rolling his eyes. "They're probably all thinking it, I'm just voicing their thoughts."

The calico opened her mouth, but before she could retort, Duskstar's voice boomed from Tallstone again. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Rosepaw. Your mentor will be Sunfrost, and I hope she passes all she knows on to you."

Dovepaw craned her neck to see the ginger-and-white she-cat smile and step forward to tap noses with her new apprentice.

"Rosepaw! Rosepaw!" the Clan cheered. Eagerly, the calico lifted her head to join in as Tigerpaw grumbled about how stupid the whole ordeal was. Any ceremony he wasn't the star of, he wasn't interested.

"That was so long," Tigerpaw drawled as soon as the cheering dimmed.

"Very tedious," Bluepaw chimed in.

Dovepaw resisted a roll of her eyes. Bluepaw was Tigerpaw's best friend, and the blue tom held little to no opinions of his own, agreeing and complying to everything the calico's brother said.

"You two are such pessimistic furballs," Dovepaw meowed, pushing herself to her paws. "Come on, let's go congratulate Rosepaw."

Tigerpaw instantly wrinkled his nose. "No way, what a waste of time. I'd rather take a nap."

"But it's polite."

"But it's stupid," Tigerpaw shot back without missing a beat. "Really, Dovepaw, there's no need for all the fuss. There's an apprentice ceremony nearly every moon - look, Cranepaw just became an apprentice last week!"

The calico glanced over to the tom Tigerpaw had indicated towards. Since becoming an apprentice, Cranepaw hadn't bonded much with Dovepaw, Tigerpaw, or Bluepaw yet, and so sat off to the side from them during the ceremony. Now he'd jumped to his paws and was standing a little away from where Rosepaw's parents were smothering her with licks - as Dovepaw recalled, Cranepaw and Rosepaw were very close, whereas she spent her time with Tigerpaw and Bluepaw.

Maybe it was time to branch out and make new friends.

Dovepaw looked back at her brother with a scolding look. "If anyone had this attitude about your apprentice ceremony, you would've thrown a fit."

"Well that's different," Tigerpaw snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a rabbit in the prey pile that's calling my name. Coming, Bluepaw?"

"Right behind you," Bluepaw meowed without a second thought.

Dovepaw sighed as she watched them go. Since their father was the leader, Tigerpaw had a bit of a superiority complex - it certainly didn't help that he was a very naturally talented cat, and Bluepaw practically worshipped his every move.

Flicking her tail, the calico turned towards Cranepaw and Rosepaw and padded over to where the white tom was still waiting for Rosepaw's parents to finish congratulating her. "They're still going, huh?"

Cranepaw jumped at Dovepaw's voice, glancing over at her nervously. "Yeah, they're really excited."

The conversation fell short, and as soon as Rosepaw's parents backed away, the white tom made a beeline for the brown tabby apprentice, flicking her ear with his tail playfully. Dovepaw trotted over soon after, waving her tail high in the air.

"Congratulations on becoming an apprentice, Rosepaw!" the calico chirped as she approached. "You'll love it, it's so much better than being a kit. Just wait until you see the territory for the first time - it's magical. Ooh, or the Gathering, all the different cats from the different Clans in one place-"

She broke off as she spotted Cranepaw giving her a weird look, and her ears folded back to her head in embarrassment. Ah, she's been rambling.

"Anyway, if you ever need anything, come find me, okay?"

"Okay." Despite her shy, quiet voice, Rosepaw's blue eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Thank you."

In the next couple of weeks, the calico often saw Rosepaw and Cranepaw looking over at herself, Tigerpaw, and Bluepaw. She hoped they weren't feeling left out, but at the same time, she didn't know if they'd want to join. Maybe they preferred being by themselves.

But one morning presented Dovepaw with the perfect opportunity to get to know Rosepaw. Cranepaw was out on patrol and the brown tabby had just returned from one, picking up a mouse and sitting off to the side by herself hesitantly.

Dovepaw didn't hesitate to call out to her. "Rosepaw! Come sit with us!"

"Dovepaw," Tigerpaw hissed softly, his eyes flashing with irritation, "what are you doing?"

"Inviting a denmate and a potential friend to eat with us," the calico replied, flicking her tail at her brother's sour expression. "It won't ruin your day."

Tigerpaw rolled his eyes as Rosepaw padded over. "Hey," the brown tabby mewed quietly.

"Hi," Tigerpaw replied mockingly whilst Bluepaw chortled a laugh. "Oh, sorry, there doesn't seem to be any more room here. Maybe try that bush."

Dovepaw shot her brother a fierce glare. "Then we'll make room. Here, Rosepaw." She shoved her brother over forcingly. "So! How's training?"

Rosepaw sat down, looking much more comfortable under Dovepaw's green gaze. "Pretty good. Yesterday Sunfrost taught me how-"

"Bluepaw," Tigerpaw interrupted rudely, "make any good catches this morning?"

And that was the dynamic for the rest of the meal.

That's when Dovepaw decided, whether out of spite for Tigerpaw or from the fact that she'd never had her own friend before, that she'd love to have Rosepaw as a friend. From then on, she took every opportunity to speak with the brown tabby and break her shy shell.

One day, when they were out on patrol with their mentors up ahead, Dovepaw brushed her pelt against Rosepaw's, catching the brown tabby's attention. "Excited for today's patrol? It's a perfect day for hunting."

"Mhm!" Rosepaw's blue eyes sparkled, and it was clear she'd grown much less weary of the calico. "I really want to try and catch-"

Suddenly, her sentence was cut off by a loud, splitting bark.

Dovepaw felt her blood run cold at the sound. Her mother, Dawnbeam, had been brutally murdered by a dog when Dovepaw and Tigerpaw were only kits, and any mention of the animal made the calico's stomach hurl with fear. When she turned around to see - standing at the top of the hill - two large, black dogs, she could feel bile rising in her throat.

Dovepaw's mentor, Grasspetal, snarled and slide out her claws. "Run!"

The patrol took off, and as soon as they sprinted away, the dogs bounded forwards. Dovepaw could hear their paws pounding behind her, their hot breaths on her tail.

"Here's the plan," Sunfrost panted. "Dovepaw, run back to camp for reinforcements and Rosepaw, find somewhere to hide. Grasspetal and I will lure them away."

Camp. Dovepaw could do that. The calico twitched her pelt in acknowledgement, and she and Rosepaw veered right as their mentors went left, towards the dogs.

"There are rocks over there," Dovepaw yowled to Rosepaw, "best place for cover in the moor."

The brown tabby was struggling with keeping up, panting heavily, and just managed to nod. And just like that, the two went their separate ways as well, but it didn't take long for Dovepaw to hear Rosepaw's voice.

"Help!"

The calico halted in her tracks, spinning around to find Rosepaw backed up against the rocks, a dog stalking over to her as if she were its prey.

"Rosepaw, I'm coming!" Sunfrost called.

But Dovepaw was closer. She wouldn't let another BreezeClan cat die to this horrible creature like her mother had, and suddenly felt a surge of courage.

Without thinking about it, she sprinted forward and threw herself in front of Rosepaw. "Back off, mangepelt!" she snarled, swiping at the dog's muzzle. In shock, it tumbled sideways, right into Sunfrost's awaiting claws.

Dovepaw helped Rosepaw wiggling into a safe crack between two rocks. "Are you alright?" she mewed once she was certain the brown tabby was safe.

"Yeah," Rosepaw replied, face beaming with gratitude, "thank you."

Dovepaw smiled. "Of course! What are friends for?"

~~~

this book was supposed to be posted around the same time as in another life.

that didn't really happen LOL. we were having so much trouble writing the prologue for some reason, and as soon as we finally managed to finish it, it got deleted so we had to do a re-write.

thank you for reading! bye!!

~ lily & effie