Something was digging into Emberkit's side. She batted it aside absently with her paw. Instead, the thing shook her. Hard.

"Wake up, Emberkit! Today's the day Duststar's gonna make us apprentices!" Moonkit's voice was loud and excited.

Emberkit shot out of the bedding. "What? How do you know?"

Moonkit smiled. "I heard that Duststar was going to call a Clan meeting any second now. And what else could it be for?"

Emberkit nodded. They were the only kits in the nursery at the moments, Scarkit having become a 'paw a moon ago. "We're six moons old, right?" checked Emberkit. If they weren't, they couldn't become apprentices.

Moonkit nodded. "I asked Silvernight this morning. It has been six moons!"

Emberkit could barely contain her excitement. They were becoming apprentices!

"Let all cat old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." Duststar's voice rang out over the camp. The kittens couldn't get to the Highrock quick enough.

"Emberkit, come forward."

Emberkit quickly went to stand before her father, almost tripping over her own paws in excitement.

"Emberkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Emberpaw. Your mentor will be Ashtalon. I hope Ashtalon will pass down all he knows on to you."

Emberpaw looked at the young grey-black tom with amber eyes. He smiled at her.

"Ashtalon, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Oaktalon, and you have shown yourself to be agile and strong. You will be the mentor of Emberpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Emberpaw."

Emberpaw almost ran to Ashtalon and touched noses with him. "I'm excited to be your mentor," he said. Emberpaw opened her mouth to reply but was hushed by her new mentor. "It's your sister's turn."

"Moonkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Moonpaw. Your mentor will be Roseshadow. I hope Roseshadow will pass down all she knows on to you."

"Roseshadow, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Thornflower, and you have shown yourself to be quick-thinking and swift. You will be the mentor of Moonpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Moonpaw."

Moonpaw went a bit more calmly than Emberkit to touch noses with her mentor.

"Emberpaw! Moonpaw! Emberpaw! Moonpaw! Emberpaw! Moonpaw!"

Emberpaw and Moonpaw shrunk shyly away from the shouting, pelts warm with pride and embarrassment. Everybody's calling my name, thought Emberpaw.

Scarpaw came up to Moonpaw and congratulated her. Emberpaw moved a little farther away. Even she could see that Scarpaw liked Moonpaw. She turned as she heard Scarpaw make some sort of compliment, and Moonpaw angrily shoving him away. She stalked over to Emberpaw.

"What is it?" asked Emberpaw.

Moonpaw sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's Scarpaw. He said that my pelt 'shone like the moon'. When will he stop making fun of me?"

Emberpaw blinked. "Um, Moonpaw? I think he actually thinks you're pretty. Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Him staring at you whenever you walk in the clearing. His attempts to impress you with his apprentice skills whenever you're watching. You know."
Moonpaw looked mystified. "He does all that?"

Emberpaw rolled her eyes. "Yes. And then his expression when you're not impressed. He looks crestfallen!"

Moonpaw turned and looked at Scarpaw dubiously. Sure enough, he was looking sadly at his paws, which were scuffing the ground. His tail dragged in the sand behind him.

Moonpaw looked at Emberpaw a little guiltily. "Should I go apologize?"

Emberpaw flicked her tail. "I don't care. You could just wait five minutes until he tries to impress you again and not ignore him."

Moonpaw shook her head. "I'll go apologize."

Emberpaw shrugged. "Okay." She watched as Moonpaw walked over to Scarpaw and said something. He perked up immediately, and Moonpaw returned to Emberpaw, looking slightly better.

"What'd you say?"

"Just that I was sorry I hurt his feelings."

Emberpaw nodded. "Just make sure you're not too nice to him. He might think you like him back."

"What if I do?"

Emberpaw shook her head. "You don't. I can tell." Moonpaw opened her mouth like she was going to ask Emberpaw how she knew, but Emberpaw interrupted. "Let's go talk to our mentors."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, Emberpaw! We're on the dawn patrol." The voice of Ashtalon shook Emberpaw out of her dream.

"Alright," she yawned, walking out of the apprentice's den slowly.

As they passed the fresh-kill pile, Ashtalon nudged a squirrel toward her. "Eat it. You'll need the energy."

Emberpaw yawned again and did as she was told. She was so tired she barely even tasted it.

"Come on," called Ashtalon from the exit.

"Coming," said Emberpaw. She walked over to Ashtalon. "Let's go."