Over a moon, I had bonded with Shinepaw. It wasn't as if we had become best friends, but we were definitely friends. I knew she liked me, but I didn't know if she loved me. And now, was around the time I had been dreading; the time when she became a warrior. Being younger than her, I would be stuck as an apprentice while she did warrior duties. Tomorrow is when her ceremony should be, and it could be the end of our relationship. I didn't want that.
I watched the gray she-cat pad out of the den, in an elegant manner. She was heading towards Thistleheart, a young tom, who she was also close to. It hurt to see that promiscuous she-cat with another tom, but I knew it was just part of who she was. I stayed away from her, not wanting to interrupt.

I had spent most of the day helping the elders and Marigoldpaw, my sister. Marigoldpaw is the medicine cat apprentice, so I was collecting herbs with her for a while, before going out to collect moss with Petalwing and then tend to the elders. It wasn't the most exciting day, but I've had worse. I had some free time afterwards, so I just made idle chat with whoever was around, and shared tongues with Tigerpaw. He had had a more exciting day, on hunting patrol. But that was about it. I hadn't had the time to speak with Shinepaw at all.

A mouse clamped firmly in mouth, I followed Shinepaw back to camp. I had went hunting with her and Iceleaf the next morning, before her warrior ceremony was going to be held. Not long after we arrived at camp, Gorsestar leapt onto the Great Stump, a large tree stump that stood alone as the only greenery in the camp, where the clan gathered either to celebrate, whether it was for an apprentice ceremony or warrior ceremony, or to mourn the passing of a clanmate.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Grand Stump for a clan meeting!" Gorsestar uttered, sitting in wait for his clanmates to gather together before him. "Today, it is time for one of our apprentices to receive their warrior name. Shinepaw. Step forward.
"You have trained for many moons, and have learned much during your time as an apprentice. You have proved yourself a worthy cat, and so it is time for you to receive your warrior name, and so, you in turn must promise to uphold the warrior code.
"Do you swear to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," was Shinepaw's response. She didn't sound nervous or excited or anything. She sounded ready. Ready to take on a challenge of some sort.
"Then by the power of StarClan, I bestow upon you, your warrior name. Shinepaw, from this day forward, you shall be known as Shineheart. You are welcomed as a full warrior of BeeClan."
"Shineheart! Shineheart! Shineheart!" Cheered the rest of the Clan, all of them glad to have a new warrior amongst them.
Gorsestar waited for the cheers to die out, before he continued, "you shall sit your silent vigil tonight and guard the entrance of camp. Meeting dismissed!"
I wanted to go congratulate Shineheart, but she was talking to her family and Iceleaf. She looked so happy as her parents talked of their daughter being a warrior. I couldn't wait for my ceremony. It would be in about a moon... if I pass my final assessment, that is.

The stones in the camp shone in the morning sunlight, and they warmed my paws as I stepped over them. I had just returned from the dawn patrol. We hadn't discovered much, although we could scent that same queen from a moon ago. She had been found twice after the first scenting of her, but this time, she hadn't been on our territory- she had barely avoided it- meaning that we couldn't report her to Gorsestar.
I almost immediately found Shineheart, who was eating a finch by the fresh-kill pile. I hesitated slightly before trotting over to her. "Hey, Shineheart," I said, "congratulations on becoming a warrior."
"Oh, thank you," the gray she-cat purred, trying to contain her excitement. "I'm sure you'll make a good warrior one day, too, Jaggedpaw."
"Thanks," I replied sheepishly. I had wanted to talk about her, not me. "What've you done so far? As a warrior, I mean."
"I went hunting with Rabbitfrost, but that's it really." Rabbitfrost was her mother, so it made sense. Her father was Halfstripe, the deputy, so she probably wouldn't have had the time to hunt with him.
I nodded, not really having much to say in response.
"I'll be going now, I guess. It was nice talking to you," she said sweetly, turning away and strutting towards Tinyfang, an older tom. He was younger than Petalwing, but not by much. I knew Shineheart would pick someone like him as a mate, someone who looked good and was strong and smart. She could do better than become mates with a cat like me.

I hadn't seen Shineheart for the remainder of that day. She had likely been mingling with other toms, while I had been collecting moss for the elders. It was one of the most boring jobs to do as an apprentice, although I knew I had to do it. I couldn't wait until I was a warrior, but I'd probably still be doing apprentice jobs. Mallowleg's kits were almost apprentice age, but they would only be apprentices at the same time as me for a few days. It was a good thing that there were four of them, otherwise we would really be struggling. Then there were Forestflight's kits, who would eventually be apprentices. And soon enough, there would be Shinepaw's own litter. I would hope that one day there would be my kits. That was my dream, to father kits. It always had been. It really was worrying though, the shortage of apprentices. Without apprentices, we wouldn't have any new warriors, and with only two apprentices, there was a lot of things to do and almost nobody to do it. There were only two cats to clean the elders den, two cats to collect moss... so warriors were doing apprentice jobs too. Of course, Tigerpaw and I did most of it, and the warriors only helped when necessary.

I thought again about Shineheart. I had to confess my feelings to her soon, before she picked another tom. But she was never going to pick an apprentice over a warrior, I was fully aware of that. So what was I supposed to do? Hope that I'd be cute enough to win her over? I doubt it would work, but it was worth a shot, wasn't it?
So that was my plan. It was all I could do. I would do it just before I became a warrior, and if she would accept me, we could soon become mates. All that was left was to figure out how I would do it- during patrol, during conversation... I supposed it would just happen when it happened. But, of course, that was a while away. I had to continue being friends with the gorgeous tabby before I could initiate my plan to try and win her over. And that task in itself is difficult when you're only an apprentice.