Cloverkit POV:

I made my way through ShadowClan, nervously. My apprenticeship ceremony was in a few days, but that was not what worried me. What worried me was where Father said he would take us once we were apprentices. I glanced over at my littermate brother, Buzzardkit, sadly. He seemed oblivious to the danger not far ahead, even excited about it. He was practice-wrestling with Shinekit, our adopted little sister. They were a blur, his fluffy black pelt, and her pale sable tabby pelt with black sokoke stripes. Our mother, Finchtalon, watched them out of the corner of her eye as she talked with Eveningflight, Morningstar's mate, both of them watching their own kittens. Eveningflight's kits were two moons younger than Buzzardkit and me. The other queen, Poppyseed, watched sleepily. She was expecting Flametalon's kits.

I heard a rustling behind me. I turned to see Hollowpaw and her mentor Pineleap enter the camp. Once again, I felt a pang of sadness upon seeing Hollowpaw's eye. One of her eyes was gray and blind from some attack when she was still a kit. She and her older sister Songwish had only come to camp 2 moons ago. They had lived on their own before that. I looked out over the camp and quickly spotted Songwish. She and Hollowpaw were nearly identical except for a slight difference in markings and, of course, the one blind eyes. Songwish was also very jumpy. I didn't seem to matter how long she stayed in camp, she clearly trusted no one. Hollowpaw, however, had fit right in. I watched as she proudly carried a fat mouse in her jaws and pranced over to the fresh-kill pile, dropping it happily. She looked to Songwish, clearly hoping for approval. Songwish looked proud and began grooming Hollowpaw's fur. Pineleap dropped his catch on the fresh-kill pile, minus a vole, and trotted over to the medicine cat's den. I followed him with my gaze and saw Needlerun speaking to her apprentice Whisperpaw. She must have been giving a list of herbs to gather, for Whisperpaw ran off for the entrance of camp and left. Pineleap and Needlerun were littermates and very close friends. Needlerun dropped the vole in front of her, and they sat to talk.

I wondered what else was going on in camp, so I looked around. Sunskip and Dominoleap were sharing tongues outside the elders' den. Rowanstep and Buzzardstep, two senior warriors, were sharing a piece of fresh-kill near the center of camp. Father came back into camp from a border patrol with Tumbletooth and Shellfoot. They went to go speak with Bearshade, the deputy, who sat a bit farther away from everyone else. Before I even had time to wonder what they were saying, Buzzardkit barreled into me, nearly knocking me over. That was it. I was slightly larger than both of my siblings, so I used that to my advantage. I pounced on Buzzardkit, squishing him flat and joining their game.