Author's Note
I ain't listing all the clans (like 40+ cats) for a short story, if there's more parts I will list them as we go, also there are cats from the books in this and it's an au type thing for both the book cats involved and my ocs, also the real cats I googled what they looked like and wrote it down when I wasn't sure about something!

Also you'll find out later why apprentices are in quotes and also about how other things are kinda contradictory when we get into the actual story!

Shadowclan

Leader: Brokenstar— a matted dark brown tabby tom with a flat face, bent tail, and orange eyes

Queens: Starlingpelt— a short furred all black she-cat with yellow eyes (mother to Yarrowkit— a short furred tortoiseshell she-kit with white paws and stunning green eyes, and Rootkit— a short furred tortoiseshell tom with icy blue eyes)

Snowbird— a long furred all white she cat with her left eye green and her right eye blue (mother to Minnowpaw— a long furred pale grey tom with white paws, Applepaw— a short furred brown tabby she-kit with icy blue eyes, and Petalpaw— a short furred mostly white she-kit with pale brown tabby patches, she's only still in the nursery because she's expecting more kits in a couple moons)

"Apprentices": Minnowpaw— a long furred pale grey tom with white paws

Applepaw— a short furred brown tabby she-kit with icy blue eyes

Petalpaw— a short furred mostly white she-kit with pale brown tabby patches (like the cover of the book)

Riverclan

Leader: Crookedstar— a large yet short furred tabby with green eyes and a twisted jaw

Warriors: Tadpoleclaw— a long furred black tom with icy blue eyes

Ripplefeather— a short furred dark grey tabby she-cat with yellow eyes and stripes that almost look wavy

Kits: Troutkit— a short furred brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Pikekit— a short furred grayish blue tabby tom with green eyes

Thunderclan

Leader: Firestar— a short furred solid orange tom with bright green eyes

Deputy: Graystripe— a short furred gray tom with a darker grey streak along his back

Medicine Cat: Jayfeather— a short furred bluish grey tom with icy blue eyes and is also blind

Warriors: Brambleclaw— a short furred dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes (apprentice: Ashpaw)

Mintpelt— a grey tom with orange tabby patches and green eyes (apprentice: Fernpaw)

Queens: Dawnpelt— a long furred pale yellow she-cat with white paws and sky blue eyes (mother to Sunkit— a short furred mostly white tom with solid orange patches and green eyes, Moonkit— a short furred mostly white she-kit with solid grey patches and green eyes, and Cardinalkit— a long furred mostly white tom with blood red ears and tail and green eyes)

Apprentices: Ashpaw— a short furred pale grey tom with darker flecks and dark blue eyes

Fernpaw— a smaller short furred gray she-cat with darker flecks and pale green eyes

NOW ONTO THE STORY⬇️

Snowbird's POV
Tonight is the night, the whole clan is asleep, Starlingpelt woke me up and quietly woke up her kits, Yarrowkit and Rootkit as they looked up at her with wide and innocent eyes, that's why we're doing this, we can't let them become apprentices, they're not ready, but Brokenstar doesn't care, my first litter of kits are already apprentices at only four moons old, they're about to become "warriors" next moon when they should still be kits, and these innocent kits, at only two moons old, will be apprentices at only three moons old, while they still have downy kit fluff! This cannot happen, we're leaving, to where we don't know, for now we're going to go to all the clan and we may even become loners if needed, for now we just have to focus on getting us and the kits out of here, hearing Starlingpelt shush the kits brought me out of my thoughts as I listened to her speak "Shhh, I know it's late! But we're gonna play a game all together! We're gonna play escape the badger den! All the other cats are badgers except us, Snowbird and the apprentices! Our goal is to escape the camp and get away from the badgers! But we must be quiet, the badgers are sleeping!" She spoke softly to her kits while I quietly sneak out of the nursery, with my kits I'm gonna be more honest, I'm not gonna tell them it's a game because they're apprentices, they already get to leave camp and they may think they're too old for games, so I'm just gonna tell them that we're taking them on a mission to learn more about other clans as I quietly peek my head into the apprentice's den and I whisper "Psst you three! We're going somewhere tonight! We're going on a secret mission! The kits think it's a game because they can't know, but me and Starlingpelt know everything! Our mission is to spy and learn more about other clans! Me and Starlingpelt are leading the mission so listen to what we say, it's even a secret to the rest of the clan!" I say eagerly while Petalkit speaks up, and while they're "apprentices" I refuse to call them that in my head but out loud I oblige because I don't wanna hurt their feelings but Petalkit's mew cuts off my thoughts "But mama its late?" She mumbled innocently with a yawn, the others were super excited but her, being the shy one, wasn't as excited, which was expected as I reply "I know it's late but we have to go now because it has to be night for the kits to believe in their game, and you don't wanna confuse Yarrowkit and Rootkit right?" I replied softly, for a split second I feel an overwhelmingly strong pang of heartbreak but I'm very careful not to show it, it pains me to see them be called apprentices, they literally all still have some of their downy kit fluff, they should still be in the nursery, it's not even me being selfish, I'm scared that they will be accidentally killed in battle with a true apprentice, and so is Starlingpelt, that's why I know I have to take them with us, I would love to see them as apprentices, but not yet, not now, I'm not letting them become warriors before they even lose their kit fluff, and Petalkit replies "Yea you're right, we can go now!" She replies softly as I gently shush her and signal with my tail for all of them to follow her, and she stops just outside the nursery just in time to witness Rootkit ask Starlingpelt a question "But we're not supposed to leave camp?" Rootkit replies quietly and Yarrowkit nods as their mother replies back lovingly "Well yes, normally you shouldn't leave camp, but right now is special! I am coming with you and giving you permission for this very special game! So just this one time we get to leave camp together! Now just stick close to us and be quiet! We have to let the badgers sleep or we won't escape!" She spoke quietly yet with extra emphasis and false excitement, the only goal is to get all of them out of the camp and if that means Starlingpelt has to pretend to be excited to play a game she'll play that part flawlessly, eventually we all get together and we all start walking, the walking goes slow because all of the young ones are tired and their legs are shorter, especially Rootkit and Yarrowkit, who are perfectly following along with them quietly, but are still staring at every single thing with curiosity, wonder, and amazement, the only flaw about this is the fact that they move really slowly because they're only two moons old and at that age they're practically just tiny bundles of kit fluff with stubby little legs, even the "apprentices" would have to speedwalk to keep up if we didn't slow down due to their significantly smaller size, but after a while of walking Starlingpelt speaks up to all the younger cats, I'm letting her take the lead on this for the most part as she speaks up "alright we have gotten far enough from the badgers den, you can ask questions now if you want" Starlingpelt spoke up calmly as they were still walking slowly but they were definitely far away enough to speak up now, we're getting close to the Riverclan border now as Rootkit spoke up "What is this?" Rootkit asked softly as I decided to answer "That is an acorn, they come from trees and the birds and squirrels love to eat them" I explained calmly while eventually we approached the most terrifying obstacle, the part of the river that we have to cross with the slippery stones that you have to jump on, the second we approach it we stand in front of the younger ones and we speak calmly and clearly "okay so Yarrowkit and Rootkit you two are gonna be carried because the jumps are far apart, I'll cross first and I'll take one of you with me, whoever wants to go first, and then the other one will be carried by Snowbird" she speaks while I take my turn to speak up "And you three apprentices will wait until I come back from carrying one of the kits before you cross, then you will walk right behind me as I cross a second time, if any of you want to be carried you should speak up now" I speak up to my kits as Applekit replies "We don't need to be carried! We're apprentices! We can do it!" Applekit replies proudly while Minnowkit and Petalkit nodded in agreement and then Starlingpelt speaks to her kits "So who wants to go first?" Starlingpelt asked kindly and while Rootkit is definitely excited Yarrowkit spoke up first and Rootkit made no objections to Yarrowkit going first as eventually Starlingpelt gave one heartfelt glance at me, carefully picked up Yarrowkit by the scruff, and carefully jumped and did her best to balance on the stones, there's five of them, she carefully jump on one, two, but then on the third she briefly lost her balance but she dug her claws into the slippery rock and regained her balance and then the rest was a breeze and she was across in no time, she carefully placed Yarrowkit down on the bank of the opposite side of the river while Starlingpelt looked back at me and nodded as I carefully picked up Rootkit and jumped onto the first rock, they're more slippery than I initially expected but I carefully kept my balance and jumped to the second rock, than the third, than the fourth, but right before the last rock I scrambled for my balance and Starlingpelt quickly jumped onto the last rock and grabbed me by my scruff and set me straight so I could find my balance before returning to the bank as I successfully made it to the bank of the river with Rootkit, and I carefully put him down beside Yarrowkit as Starlingpelt speaks up to me "that was a close call, are you sure you don't want me to go back instead?" She asked politely while I replied kindly "yes I'm sure, my mate was a Riverclan cat before he joined StarClan you know?" I teased before I spoke more seriously and rationally "I may be a Shadowclan raised cat with Thunderclan blood, but out of the two of us I'm the better swimmer, I'm not the best but I know what I'm doing, you don't know as much so it's safer if I do it in case something goes wrong" I explained as I jump across the rocks better this time and then I jump onto the first and the second in rapid succession, after crossing it once I realized my mistake and have myself under control, and I turn around to face the "apprentices" after each rock, on the second rock Applekit almost fell by trying to show off but I leaned over and caught her by the scruff before she fell in, she just had wet paws now, but then while I was on the fifth rock and they were on the fourth, Petalkit slipped and fell into the water and the Applekit and Minnowkit tried to catch her at the same time and they fell in, I have to be fast as I leap into the water, fortunately the current isn't very strong at this part of the river so they aren't really drifting that far and this is something I know how to swim in, surprisingly despite the fact that they're drowning slightly they are able to surface better than most kits and even apprentices have fallen in can, and then I remember it's because they're half Riverclan and they have webbed paws, they're still in danger but it gives me more time as I quickly grabbed Petalkit first because she's the smallest and was struggling the most, and I swim as fast as I can while carrying her and she stopped struggling the moment I grabbed her and fortunately Starlingpelt ran over to where I was crossing and I didn't even have to fully leave the water as Starlingpelt grabs her carefully, I have one of the best friends ever, fortunately despite the cold and the shock it seems that none of the "apprentices" have swallowed any water, yet as I keep swimming and grab Minnowkit and again Starlingpelt grabbed him from me as I go to grab Applekit and then once I get to the bank I pull us both back up and rush over to where Starlingpelt took the other two and the kits as well as we get to work and carefully groom them to try to warm them up and after a long while they warm up enough and we keep traveling, we stay far away from the Riverclan camp but we stay a good distance away from the border between Riverclan and Shadowclan just in case, and then we find a spot to curl up all together and Starlingpelt takes the first watch as me, the kits and the "apprentices" all go to sleep curled up together when eventually Starlingpelt wakes me up and there's a rather small patrol, presumably a hunting patrol of only two, as they walk over to us on alert and rightfully so, I get up and sit beside Starlingpelt and in front of all the young ones who are now awake, I force my fur to lie flat, we're trying to remain peaceful, eventually one of the two cats speaks up, noticing all the young ones, they seem to calm down with us significantly the moment they realize that we aren't even close to a patrol "What's with the kits?" A long furred black tom speaks up while gesturing to the young ones while Applekit speaks up, her fur bristles in annoyance but fortunately it seems they get the message we're conveying by being calm and none of the younger ones get aggressive "We're apprentices!" Applekit objects as Minnowkit stands up tall and proud and nods along and even Petalkit, who is literally shrinking down to try to remain unnoticed nodded as well, but a dark grey tabby she-cat retorts back, though not unkindly, "You still have kit fluff young ones, I doubt it" she spoke as she saw Rootkit and Yarrowkit and then began speaking again more nonchalantly, "What's next, let me guess, they're apprentices too?" The she-cat spoke teasingly but there was no malice in her tone while Yarrowkit spoke up "almost!" Yarrowkit spoke proudly while the she-cat looked confused but didn't address it and simply sat down and watched them carefully while the dark furred tom spoke up and addressed me and Starlingpelt "Okay so I can tell you're not exactly a patrol, so you have two options, we either escort you to the border or we take you to Crookedstar?" The tom asked casually while I spoke up while Rootkit went up to approach the strange she-cat and then Petalkit grabbed Rootkit and carried him back just in case "we would like to speak with Crookedstar" I asked politely as Starlingpelt nodded in agreement and the two cats gestured for us to follow, we're in a rush and while the Riverclan cats were slowing down, it's still too much for Rootkit and Yarrowkit so I grabbed Yarrowkit and Starlingpelt grabbed Rootkit as we walked, the three "apprentices" are speedwalking to keep up but are doing alright, but eventually we make it to Riverclan camp where me and Starlingpelt place Rootkit and Yarrowkit down and then there's two kits staring at all of us in amazement, a short furred brown tabby tom, and a grayish blue tabby tom, as they gather around Rootkit, Yarrowkit, and the "apprentices" and introduce themselves "I'm Troutkit!" The brown one spoke up and before they could even respond the grayish blue one speaks up "and I'm Pikekit! What about you? Would you like to play with us?" The other kit speaks up while sniffing them and eventually as Yarrowkit and Rootkit nod a queen called from the nursery "Troutkit! Pikekit! Come on let's wait in the nursery!" And then eventually Troutkit and Pikekit both wave goodbye to Yarrowkit and Rootkit with their tails, but they both have completely different expressions, Troutkit seems neutral while Pikekit seems annoyed about being taken away from his new potential friends but they both go back to the nursery and I stay in the clearing with the young ones while Starlingpelt goes into Crookedstar's den with permission, I can't hear the conversation that's happening but as I look around the clearing I see many eyes all watching us with curiosity, some are of apprentices, some are elders, most are warriors, but eventually Starlingpelt comes out and shakes her head subtly before talking softly, so that the young ones couldn't hear "Crookedstar says that while he sympathizes with us, we can't stay here, so that the kids remain well fed we can take one piece of prey each and eat it, but then the same warriors that led us into the camp are leading us out to the Thunderclan border in the hopes we have better luck there, apparently their names are Tadpoleclaw and Ripplefeather" Starlingpelt whispers in my ear as I carefully grab a few pieces of prey, I grab a big trout for me and Starlingpelt to share while I get Yarrowkit and Rootkit a frog, and the three "apprentices" share a trout together, the kits seem a little weirded out by the taste of their food but they still eat it, for me and Starlingpelt the fish tastes really watery but not completely inedible while the "apprentices" seem to like their food a lot, we all eat every last bite before Tadpoleclaw and Ripplefeather approach us and me and Starlingpelt each pick up a kit as we keep walking