"It's weird, isn't it?" said Acornpaw. "It's almost Leaf-fall."
              "Yeah," shrugged Willowkit. They were sitting right outside the nursery. Acornpaw, even after becoming an apprentice, had not stopped talking to Willowkit. Snailpaw, had completely stopped paying attention to Willowkit, not that he had paid her any attention before. 
                "Aren't you glad you're becoming an apprentice very soon," said Acornpaw. 
               "Yeah," said Willowkit unenthusiastically. Now that the time was approaching, she was more scared. She was scared that it might not be what she imagined. Maybe her mentor would hate her. Maybe she would fail everything. What if she couldn't hunt? What if she couldn't fight? What if she was a failure? What if she couldn't run fast enough? She had to be able to run fast enough. She had never practised running. While Snailkit and Acornkit used to race each other all the time, Willowkit had never raced in her life. She wished she had. 
              "Are you nervous?" asked Acornpaw. 
               "Maybe... a little," Willowkit said truthfully. 
              "Why? There's nothing to be worried about," assured Acornpaw. 
               "What if I can't do anything," sighed Willowkit. 
               "What do you mean? Of course you won't be able to fight or hunt... yet. But your mentor will teach you. You're not supposed to know everything right away, you know," Acornpaw said. 
               "Yeah. Yeah, you're right," said Willowkit thoughtfully. "Thanks." 
                "No problem," smiled Acornpaw. 
                "Acornpaw!" called Whitepaw from the apprentice den. "Are you coming?" 
                "Yeah! Two seconds!" replied Acornpaw. He turned to Willowkit and smiled. "Sorry, I got to go. We're going to go out and practise fighting together." 
               "Oh ok. See you," said Willowkit. She watched as Acornpaw trotted towards Snailkit, Whitepaw and Dovepaw. Then together, they excitedly ducked out of camp and were gone. Willowkit sat there, watching the camp for a few more moments until her father trotted towards her. Towards her. She froze, her ears pointing forward. She hadn't talked to Beetlejaw since the day before and all they had said was "Hi". 
                "Willowkit," Beetlejaw said, smiling. It was a small smile but his eyes twinkled, genuinely happy. 
                "B-beetlejaw," Willowkit replied. She didn't know what he was going to say but she was almost shaking with anticipation. She only knew that she couldn't let him down.
                "You're an apprentice in five days," stated Beetlejaw. 
                 "Yeah," said Willowkit. Her mind raced. What else could she say? That she missed him? No, that would be idiotic. That she was glad that he was back from patrol? No, that would be dumb. That she was excited to become an apprentice? No..., he wouldn't care about that. That she was scared at the same time to become an apprentice? No.., he'd think she was a failure. 
               "Are you nervous?" asked Beetlejaw. Willowkit knew what she had to answer to that. 
               "No," she lied, wanting to make him proud. Beetlejaw nodded. Willowkit almost grinned in relief. He was probably very proud of her. 
                "Well, are you excited?" asked Beetlejaw. Oh no, thought Willowkit, she was not talking enough which meant that Beetlejaw had to ask questions to keep the conversation going. 
              "Yeah. I'm really excited. I keep wondering who's going to be my mentor. Is it possible for you to be my mentor? I don't think so. I mean, it would be weird if your Mum or Dad was your mentor. You know-" Willowkit stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. What was she doing? He probably didn't care. Why was she talking too much? Beetlejaw glanced down, wondering why she had suddenly stopped talking. He loved listening to her voice. He loved how the words just flowed out. He didn't understand why she would sometimes stop in the middle of her sentence. He wanted to listen to her more. He willed her to talk more. Willowkit hung her head. She had probably bored Beetlejaw to death. She kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to leave or ask another question. Beetlejaw saw Willowkit looking down at her paws. She must want me to leave, he thought silently. He knew that he wasn't the best father. He wished he could be. He wished that Stormkit could just be left in the past. He wanted to focus on the kit he still had. Willowkit. But that wasn't what Mintspot wanted and if it hurt Mintspot to leave Stormkit in the past, Beetlejaw would not do that. 
              "Goodnight," Beetlejaw said finally. 
               "Goodnight," replied Willowkit in a small voice.