Here is my entry for The_Warrior_Writer.
The prompt was freestyle so I wrote about Blazepaw's first friend :3
~Blaze

Birds of a Feather

Today was the day that Blazekit would finally leave the nest and learn to fly.

Or just something like that. Becoming an apprentice seemed just as complicated to the little kit, but equally as fun. Blazekit wriggled happily in her nest, unable to contain her excitement.

She had barely slept the night before after overhearing a conversation between Hollystar, the leader of her Clan, and her mother Willowheart, where snippets like her name, the word apprentice, and the time daybreak had made their appearance and teased her into a frenzy. With such knowledge, of course she was unable to rest. She tossed and turned in her mossy nest trying to convince her eyes to close and her body to relax in preparation for the next day.

As it was, that didn't happen. The little she-cat had remained wide-awake, and now faced the dawn with strained eyes a pounding behind her eyes. It didn't stop her, however, from lingering at the entrance of the nursery to peer eagerly, waiting with bated breath for Hollystar to appear from her den.

"Come here Blazekit." Willowheart called from behind her. The little she-cat removed herself from her post and pranced to her mother. "I need to wash you before the ceremony." Blazekit sat dutifully, waiting for her mother's raspy tongue.

It took mere seconds for the little she-kit to begin squirming in place, with two parts excitement and one part annoyance.

"My fur is fine! Mom, Hollystar will be out any minute! I want to wait for her!" Blazekit pouted as her requests were unheard. Willowheart unhurriedly licked and cleaned until Blazekit's pelt shone. The little she-cat took no notice, finally freed, and darted back to the entrance of the den.

"All cats gather beneath the highrock for a Clan meeting!" Hollystar's strong voice rang out over the camp. Blazekit let out a little squeal and jumped in the air before quieting down with a blush. The whole entire Clan would sit for this ceremony. No patrols had gone put this early in the day, and even the cat on watch would listen in. She needed to be ... professional.

Blazekit allowed her mother to lead her towards the crowd, where they were brought to the center of the group, directly under the highrock. The little she-cat couldn't help but squee again in anticipation, eliciting a little laugh from surrounding cats. Willowheart stepped away, settling behind Blazekit.

She felt nothing but anticipation, sitting there in the center of the group. The little she-kit felt no embarrassment, was not nervous from being the center of attention. She relished this moment, recognizing it as her time to shine.

"I have gathered you all at this time for a very welcome, important ceremony. Blazekit, currently the only born kit of our Clan, has finally reached six moons and is ready to become an apprentice. I hope that you think of having more soon, because we seem to have run out." The crowd gave a collective sound of amusement as Hollystar jumped down from the rock to stand in front of Blazekit. The proud leader took a moment to look at Blazekit, who tried to seem worthy and mature but got distracted moments later by a movement spotted at the corner of her eye.

Blazekit turned to see that the large gray tabby tom named Deerleap had appeared out of the crowd to stand at her side. When she turned back around, too startled to remain staring, Blazekit found Hollystar waiting patiently for her attention. In that pause, the atmosphere turned from joyful to respectfully somber.

"Blazekit, it is time for you to begin your journey to becoming a Warrior. By naming apprentices, we show that LeafClan will remain strong and prosper. Blazekit, from now on you will be known as Blazepaw. Deerleap, you are ready for another apprentice. You will be Blazepaw's mentor. I hope you pass on your strength and resilience to make her a great Warrior."

Blazepaw turned to her new mentor, gently touching noses with him. He had already had one apprentice and was known as a loyal Warrior in all the Clans. She hoped he would prove to be a great mentor.

"Blazepaw! Blazepaw! Blazepaw!" Cats of LeafClan converged on her, congratulating with a pat or a nod. Some disappeared to begin their daily duties, while others like Willowheart remained to cheer and share in the elation of this great day.

"Blazepaw." Deerleap spoke, stealing her attention from her doting mother. "I had planned to show you the territory, but if you want to stay here and cheer about your new apprenticeship instead of coming with me, you can." Blazepaw jumped up.

"No! I mean, uh, please I'm coming with you." She licked her mother goodbye and raced towards her mentor, who had already continued to the front of the camp. The two pushed through the bushy barrier and Blazepaw saw the outside of the camp for the first time.

"Wow." Was all she could utter. From inside the camp you couldn't really tell how leafy and plump the trees were. Nor did the amount of shade produced really come into play until you were really standing underneath the large leafy boughs outside of the warm, sun filled camp clearing.

"Follow me." Deerleap challenged, leading her to the left of the camp entrance. Blazepaw pumped her tiny legs and started to follow, full of energy and excitement, adrenaline rushing through her little body and giving her the speed to catch up to his strolling pace.

Jeez, he's huge! He's only walking right now, but I can barely keep up with him! Gah! Blazepaw mused. She watched as the trees started thinning out, turning slowly into oaks and reedy pines, the ground turning rougher and rocky under her soft paws. They entered an area filled with a multitude of large rocks, some left in a cluster and others spread out.

Blazepaw gasped as Deerleap jumped easily on top of a few of the large rocks, settling on top of the highest one. It seemed like a thousand of fox-lengths away.

"This location is called the Crow Rocks. Many crows nest here, and you can often find both crow young and crow eggs here. Crows can be dangerous, but make for a good meal." He gestured towards a tree further down the line. A black bird was staring at the two cats with suspicious beady eyes. Deerleap flicked his tail, gaining Blazepaw's attention again.

"Can you get up here? Try to find a path to follow up the rocks. If you get stuck, I will help you." Blazepaw narrowed her eyes. She wouldn't get caught! She jumped on things all the time in camp! Just.... nothing quite as big as this.

Blazepaw observed the rocks for a long time, studying the lumps and any possible routes that there might be. She could already see many well-worn paths on this side, but most were too high up for her small legs even if she jumped. She circled around the back, hoping there would be more paths there.

To her delight there was a clear cut path of smaller rocks and ledges that would be perfect for an apprentice. Without any hesitation, she climbed on top of the first rock and reached up.

It was a higher pile then she thought, and Blazepaw soon realized that she was going to tire long before she made it to Deerleap's spot. Not sleeping the night before was taking its toll.

The stubborn apprentice bunched her muscles anyway, making a risky leap to a ledge. She felt her claws catch then slip just beneath the ledge, and felt herself starting to fall. She closed her eyes, waiting to fall onto the rock below, when she suddenly felt teeth in her scruff stopping her fall. She could feel Deerleap pulling her up onto the second highest rock, carefully depositing her on a mostly flat surface before letting her go.

"Blazepaw, your first lesson for today is to know that if you ever need help, I can provide you with assistance. If you think you can't do something, say it. If you think you can't do it alone, say something. And if you feel to tired to do something, say so." He lifted her paw, the one that had missed the ledge, and licked one of the claws. It had wrenched from the desperate scramble, and as he now brought attention to it, she could tell that it was aching.

"I am glad that you figured out the way to get up here on your own." Deerleap continued. "Lesson number two is to always look for a different angle if the solution is not immediately in sight." Blazepaw nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you feel better now?" Deerleap observed as Blazepaw stood to her paws, stumbling slightly before standing straight up. It was clear that she was still tired- too tired to go any further on the territory. Yet it was still sunhigh, so she could not go back to camp.

"Follow me down. I have somewhere you can rest and learn at the same time."

"Ok!" Blazepaw said cheerfully. Her mind was still wide awake even though her body felt heavy. Deerleap led her down the rocks, on a path that felt infinitely easier than climbing up. He took her along a well worn dirt path through the trees. It broke out into an area with more rocks, and surprisingly, a large cave.

Inside were four cats. Hollowpaw and Birchpaw were training with Nettlesplash and Crowtalon, their respective mentors. Blazepaw marveled as the two older cats demonstrated a fighting move, scoring sheathed claws in damaging blows down each others sides.

"You can watch as they learn some fighting moves. In a little while when you have rested, you can begin to learn some of the basics." Deerleap told her as he settled her off to the side. Blazepaw nodded wordlessly, caught up in the fight.

It wasn't long later when she finally spoke up. "I'd love to try that move! The one you just did with your legs and his neck." Nettlesplash gestured for Blazepaw to come closer.

"It's called the claw-hold. If you jump on a badgers back, it is easy to harm and keep a tight grip using your forelegs and claws to cling to his face or neck. It works better with the face, especially since you might claw it's eyes and deal a lot of damage."

Blazepaw watched as Hollowpaw tried it out on Crowtalon, jumping onto his back and frantically holding on with all four legs and Crowtalon bucked and tried to shake him off. "You need to be able to grip a moving thing before you can include the claws. Also, we only fight with sheathed claws, so this move is more instinct than training when faced with a real badger or an enemy cat." Blazepaw nodded.

"Be quiet, mouse brain! What do you know?"

"I'm just trying to encourage you! You don't have to be so rude!" Blazepaw turned to see Birchpaw and Hollowpaw bickering. Birchpaw tried again to grip Crowtalon's back and succeeded only in planting face-first into the sandy floor.

"Leave me alone!" Birchpaw grunted at Hollowpaw when they young tom tried to show him a trick for gripping. "I'll figure it out." Hollowpaw padded over to Nettlesplash and Blazepaw with an easy shrug.

"Hollowpaw, why don't you start showing Blazepaw how to properly grip. After, we will start with basic fighting moves."

So started the seemingly endless fighting training. Deerleap had long since left after being summoned by the deputy of LeafClan for a patrol. He had only left Blazepaw after getting a promise from Nettlesplash that she would teach Blazepaw and keep her out of harms way.

"I think it's time for a break. You have all performed very well. Excellent start, Blazepaw." The little she-cat could feel the fatigue in her bones and felt no need to complain about stopping. Though she was again filled with adrenaline, it was only a matter of time before she would do something like simply fall asleep standing. Did every apprentice have this strenuous of a first training day?

She kept her thoughts unvoiced, for once staying silent. Talking cost energy she didn't have. The brown mottled she-cat made to follow the other cats, but was brought to a halt by Hollowpaw.

"You fought well!" He said cheerfully. She mustered a smile, proud of her first day.

"Thank you. You teach well." His joy only seemed to increase at her comment. Blazepaw watched as the young apprentice looked her over, noticing her fatigue.

"You're tired." He observed out loud. Blazepaw held back a smart remark. "I want to show you something." He told her primly. Blazepaw blinked slightly as he marched up to Nettlesplash and told her that he would be taking Blazepaw somewhere for a little while. He returned moments later.

"Come on! Follow me." She picked up to follow, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Where exactly are we going?" Hollowpaw turned momentarily to grin.

"You'll see. Don't worry, you'll like it!" He led her through another expanse of trees, deeper into the unknown territory of the Clan. Blazepaw frowned as she began to hear a loud bubbling sound.

When they finally broke through an expanse in the trees, Blazepaw was once more grounded with surprise. They were standing in front of small pools of water, each one shallow enough for a cat to stand in. The surface of each pond was bubbling, making little popping noises every few seconds.

"These are the hot-pools. We don't know why, but the water in them is very warm and comfortable to lay in. The rest of the rivers on our territory are not like this, but we've heard that RockClan have similar pools of bubbly warm water. This is close to the border we share with them so we think it has something to do with the rocky hills and mountains." He led Blazepaw to the nearest pool gesturing for her to put a paw in the water.

"It's nice. It will relax your muscles and make you feel better. Come in!" Hollowpaw stepped in, sinking into the deeper end and standing so that his body was completely immersed except his head. Blazepaw watched as he seemed to sigh and relax, his body going slightly limp.

"If it will make me feel better, then fine." She followed him in, sliding in next to him with a quick movement. The moment she was fully covered by water, her muscles seemed to collectively sigh in relief and relax.

"Oh this is amazing!" Blazepaw crowed. She turned to Hollowpaw with wide eyes. "Why did you bring me here?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well I remember my first day of training. My mentor, Nettlesplash, she looks so nice, doesn't she? She practically ran me around the territory before teaching me how to hunt. In one day! I was really tired when I got back, and the next day my muscles all ached. I figured you wouldn't want that. The water really does help."

"Well then thank you." Blazepaw purred. He seemed like a really nice, helpful tom. He seemed to be very comfortable with talking to her.

"It was a few days into my training before anyone actually showed me where this was. They practically had to pull me from the bath after the first time; it felt so wonderful that I refused to leave until I was fully sedated." Blazepaw giggled.

"I can see you doing that. You must have put up a good fight." Hollowpaw nodded earnestly.

"You should have been there! I was all claws and fire. Cats couldn't even be near me if they had any intention of moving me! I almost gave Nettlesplash a serious wound. Its a good thing she knows how to dodge so well!" Blazepaw laughed harder, picturing a younger Hollowpaw with his ears flat against his head, batting at other cats even with his eyes closed and managing every single hit accurately.

"I'm pretty sure Nettlesplash was about to threaten leaving me in the camp for a moon as a punishment. As it was, the second we got back she mysteriously changed her mind about hunting and sent me instead to clean the elders den. It didn't make much of a difference because the next day I was there again anyway. She only moved me because she promised some fighting training and a free afternoon."

"You sly fox! I don't think I could ever pull that off with Deerleap! Is he a good mentor? He seems wonderful." Hollowpaw nodded, moving closer to her to make talking easier.

"He's a very well respected tom. Deerleap is a great Warrior and a very level headed cat. He knows what he's doing. He'll be very good for you."

"They were silent for a few moments as Blazepaw took that in, letting the days stress completely leave her mind. This was... nice.

"So what have you learned so far?" He asked her cheerfully, eliciting a small smile in return. She opened her mouth,eager to respond.

Later that night, curled up in the apprentice den and for the first time alone in her nest, she took comfort in remembering her sun-down with Hollowpaw and how amazingly she had made her first friend. Probably, if things went well, her best friend.