"Let all the cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath Highrock for a clan meeting!" Thunderclan's loyal leader, Bluestar, called, her voice sounding tired. Starkit was sure she knew why. Bluestar had found out that she was carrying Whitefoot's kits only a moon before they were born. Her kits had been born six moons ago, and they were now ready to be apprenticed, but they had wanted to wait for more than half of the other kits, who were almost old enough. They were super energetic, all 3 of them she cats, and they kept her away from most of her clan duties as well as tiring her out all the time. Only by Starclan sending her the message that the kits she was carrying were Whitefoot's, did she know that, (or at least that is what she said) because he did not know she was carrying his kits either. Leafpool thought that the two had been together secretly and probably assumed that the kits were theirs. Still, everycat trusted Bluestar tremendously.

    Starkit waited until all of the queens had gone from the neatly cleaned nursery so that she could go visit her sister, Lifekit. Soon, all of the queens, except Eveningbird, who was too pregnant to really move much at all, had left. Starkit glanced around the small but cozy nursery. There were 10 other kits besides her, including Bluestar's kits. There would have been eleven, but Starkit's bossy and older sister ( by a few minutes) was getting apprenticed today. She, her brother and her other sister were all old enough to be apprenticed, but Starkit and Bunchkit wanted to get apprenticed together. Not Icekit, though. Icekit was not much bigger than Starkit, Bunchkit, or Lifekit, but she was much meaner and bossier. Starkit could not understand why Starclan had let Lifekit had come down with greencough. Lifekit was still in the medicine cats den. A loud meow suddenly broke into her thoughts.

     "Hey Starkit, want to try and sneak out of the camp and play in the forest?" meowed one of Moonflower's feisty kits, Blackkit. Blackkit was a handsome tom kit because of his long black fur, which other she kits loved, especially when it was wind ruffled. Starkit didn't love him, but she didn't hate him either. 

" No, sorry Blackkit, but I have other things to do." She replied. Like visiting Lifekit she thought. Blackkit nodded and bounded away to ask all of the other kits. Starkit watched as he took Stonekit, Stormykit, Wrenkit and Bunchkit to sneak out of the camp. Starkit walked over to the group of she-kits talking together. There was only Nightkit, Flurrykit,and Spottedkit left. As Starkit approached the group of cats still remaining, Spottedkit broke away from the group, wrapped her tail around Starkit's shoulders and pulled her towards a dark corner of the nursery.

" So, Starkit, do you want to go to Leafpool's den now?" questioned Spottedkit quietly." Yes, I do.  No one should get in our fur now that Icekit is being apprenticed. And please don't treat me like I am Jayfeather. I don't need to be led around." Starkit meowed back to her. The two she-kits walked out the entrance to the nursery to the clump of browning bracken behind it. Their paws crunched on the leaves coating the ground like a blanket.  Leaf-bare  was approaching. Spottedkit's tortoiseshell coated was glowing in the sunlight.  Suddenly Flatpaw appeared out from behind a bracken plant. 

" What are you two doing here?" He sneered. His brown coat looked rater unkempt with a few burrs in it and his flat ear only added to his look of raggedness.

" I could ask you the same question. Bluestar said all the cats old enough to catch their own prey to attend the clan meeting. Unless I am mistaken, you are old enough to catch your own prey?" Starkit replied coldly.

" Well, maybe I was going..." he started, the suddenly faltered. "You made me late!" He snarled as he wheeled around and raced off.

" I wonder what he is up to?" mused Spottedkit, looking thoughtful.

" No idea, but let's go!" Starkit said, bounding among the ferns happily. She could not wait to go see Lifekit. She hadn't seen her for a couple of days. Spottedkit nodded her little head and the two she-kits raced toward Leafpool's den.

"Ok!" Starkit said as they halted in front of the medicine cat's den. A strong scent of herbs floated into Starkit's mouth as she opened it to scent for other cats nearby. "I can't scent anything over the smell of the herbs." Starkit complained.

" I can." Spottedkit announced, looking very proud of herself for being able to do something Starkit could not do. Starkit glared at her, slightly jealous, and Spottedkit continued with an explanation "I help the medicine cats a lot, so I can scent over the herbs. I can smell you, of course, and Lifekit. Her smell is strangely... Jayfeather! Hide! There, in that hollow next to those mint leaves!" Starkit jumped over to the hollow and squeezed into it. The hollow was barely big enough for the two of them.

" Pull that mint leaf pile over the hollow, it has a strong smell that will hopefully mask our scent." Spottedkit ordered. Starkit quickly clawed the pile over them and hoped no one had seen that. The kits heard Jayfeather padding among the piles of herbs, muttering to himself.

" Tansy, coltsfoot, poppy seeds, nettle seeds, burdock root... Where is the mint? Oh, there it is. How did it get all the way over there?" Both she-kits tensed as they heard him pad over to their hiding place. To their relief, he only grabbed a leaf off of the top of the pile in his teeth and carried it out , muttering about how young warriors did the most mouse-brained things that made them sick, like yelling too loud to congratulate a new 'paw. Starkit and Spottedkit heard him say that Mousebramble was the one who had done that and Starkit found it hard to not laugh. When he finally left the two she-kits walked over to the nest where Lifekit had been, but was gone now.

" Where is Lifekit!" squeaked Starkit, dismayed.

" I don't know, but the clan meeting is probably over already!" Spottedkit gasped. The kits raced out and into the nursery. As they slipped in, Blackkit and a droopy Bunchkit walked in, followed by the rest of the group. They squeezed in just before the queens came back. The queens were discussing Bluestar's choice of mentor.

" I am satisfied about Bluestar's choice of mentor. Well... I mean... Whitefoot is umm... loyal and umm... strong. I hope Icekit, no, Icepaw, is satisfied, but I wish the other kits were there too. What is wrong with them anyway?" The queen, Swiftfeather, Starkit's mother, was saying. Swiftfeather cast a sidelong glance at Starkit.

A loud yowl woke Starkit up at sunhigh seven sunrises after, (seven days after, even though the cats do not refer to them as days,) the Icekit to Icepaw clan meeting.  Swiftfeather had told Bluestar that she wanted the rest of her kits apprenticed as soon as Lifekit was healed. Starkit had just remembered that and she knew something was supposed to happen today that was a result of that, but she could not remember due to the fact that she was very tired.

"For Starclans sake, can anycat get some sleep around here with you yelling so much?" Starkit muttered sleepily.

" Come on! Today I am going to be apprenticed, and so are you! " Blackkit's excited voice rang out in her ear and she could hear him bouncing around the nursery. Starkit jumped up out of her nest, remembering. She bounded outside, just in time to hear Bluestar call;

" Let all of the cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath Highrock for a clan meeting!" Starkit gave herself a quick once over with her tongue and trotted over to Highrock and sat next to two of her siblings, Lifekit and Bunchkit. She spotted Icepaw, her other sibling, who had been apprenticed seven sunrises before, sitting next to Whitefoot, looking very smug and Starkit rolled her eyes. 

" Today is a great day to name new apprentices and warriors. We held my kits back a quarter moon so that they could be apprenticed today. Most of Swiftfeather's kits stayed behind so Lifekit could be apprenticed with them. Bluestar's sharp blue gaze traveled over to Icepaw and Icepaw lost some of her smugness, Starkit was pleased to see. "First, I will name the warriors. Flatpaw, come forward. Ravenfur, has Flatpaw been training well in the ways of the warrior code?" When the black cat nodded, Bluestar continued, " Flatpaw, do you promise to uphold the clan, even at the cost of your life?" Flatpaw answered " I do." Bluestar rested her chin on his muzzle and he licked her shoulder. "Then," Bluestar continued, lifting her head back up, "by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name, Flatear. Starclan honors your courage and determination and we welcome you as a full member of Thunderclan. Flatear padded over to the warriors, who welcomed him with flicks of their tails and Starkit remembered when she had seen him in the woods and not attending the clan meeting.

"Snowpaw, please come forward. Sunbird, has Snowpaw trained well in the ways of the warrior code?" Bluestar directed her question to one of their best warriors, a yellow she-cat with green eyes.

Snowpaw became Snowbreeze, and was honored for her loyalty and courage. Finally, after Wrenkit became Wrenpaw and her mentor was Grassfoot, Nightkit became Nightpaw and her mentor was Sorreltail, and Flurrykit became Flurrypaw and her mentor was Brightheart, Bluestar called;

"Bunchkit, Starkit, and Lifekit, come forward. Your apprenticeship has been overdue. Starkit, now Starpaw, your mentor will be Robinwing." Starpaw padded forward to the small brown she-cat, secretly excited because she liked Robinwing, and they touched noses.

" Lifepaw, you are now strong and ready after your sickness. In fact, the sickness has made you stronger. You will be a great apprentice. Your mentor will be Snowcloud. Lifepaw walked forward and touched noses with the white she cat. While she did, Starpaw realized that the two would be a great match. Both loving, kind, and gentle, but also ready to prove themselves if needed. Bluestar really knew how to pair up mentors and apprentices. Bluestar's voice broke her thoughts again.

" Bunchpaw, you are strong and loyal, but also understanding, so your mentor will be Mousebramble. " Bunchpaw's tail, which had been held high, drooped. Everycat was staring at Bluestar, looking amazed at her choice of mentor. Starpaw looked around for Mousebramble. She spotted him with his eyes shining and focused on Bunchpaw, his first apprentice. Bunchpaw finally, reluctantly, padded forward to touch noses with the young and foolish warrior. Then Bluestar finished of the ceremony by Blackkit becoming Blackpaw and his mentor being Bigtail, Stormykit becoming Stormypaw and her mentor being Swiftfeather, Starkit's mother, Stonekit becoming Stonepaw and the half blind apprentices mentor being Tigerclaw, and finally Spottedkit becoming Spottedpaw and her mentor became the only warrior,besides Moonflower, left, Lionblaze. The clan yowled their names and Starpaw felt as though everycat was staring at her. Then Bluestar dismissed the meeting and Starpaw almost raced straight into the nursery. Then she remembered that she was an apprentice and skidded to a halt right at the door. She noticed Spottedpaw had followed her and had stopped at the door too, but Spottedpaw was staring into the nursery, where a queen was lying on the floor, breathing hard.

"Eveningbird is having her kits!" Spottedpaw said. So the queen on the ground was Eveningbird."She needs Leafpool, now! Starkit, errr, I mean Starpaw, fetch Leafpool!"

" Ok," Starpaw said, dashing off to fetch Leafpool. She went to the Leafpool's den, but she was not there. Starpaw spotted Snowcloud and Lifepaw's hunting patrol which was gathering to leave. She dashed up to Snowcloud.

"Snowcloud, have you seen Leafpool?" Starpaw asked.

" Yes, I have. She was gathering herbs at the stream."

"Thanks, Snowcloud." Starpaw said, waving her tail at Lifepaw to say hi as she dashed off toward the stream.

Starpaw glanced around as she walked along the stream bank.

"Leafpool? Jayfeather? Where are you two?" Starpaw called.

" Jayfeather! Get back here, stop messing around with that stick, and carry these herbs back to the den, now. Maybe I should have given your full medicine cat name as Jaymouse-brain." Starpaw's sharp cat hearing heard Leafpool's voice coming from not far up the stream. Starpaw walked a little farther and the Medicine cats came into sight.

" Leafpool, there you are! Eveningbird is having her kits!" Starpaw told the light brown tabby cat.

" Here Jayfeather, carry these herbs. I have go help Eveningbird birth her kits." Leafpool instructed Jayfeather. Then she leaped forward, beckoning Starpaw with her tail. Starpaw followed her back to the camp.

Once at the camp, Leafpool darted into the nursery, leaving Starpaw to find her mentor, Robinwing. Starpaw looked around the camp, but she did not spot the small brown she-cat anywhere.

"Robinwing!" Starpaw said happily as she finally caught up with the hunting patrol which Bluestar had told her that Robinwing was with. " I missed you."

" Where were you?" questioned Robinwing as she appeared next to Snowfur, who was leading the patrol.

"No time for that." An angry meow came from one of the cats. "You are late."

"Flatear." Snowfur said warningly, glaring at him. The new warrior fell silent, looking embarrassed with his tail and head drooping.

"I was helping Eveningbird by getting Leafpool." Starpaw told her mentor.

"Oh." Robinwing meowed. "We were just collecting our catches and heading back, so you can help us."

The patrol dug up the fresh kill, gathered it, and headed back to the camp. They dropped the fresh kill on the pile and then the warriors went to the their den to catch up on some gossip while the queens and elders took their pick out of the fresh kill pile first. Starpaw followed the other apprentices to the apprentices den.

Spottedpaw greeted Starpaw with a friendly flick of her tail as Starpaw entered the den and led her to an empty nest with fresh moss in it.

"I had to gather moss for us new apprentices. I wish Lionblaze had let me come with the patrol like you did. Instead, he made me go get moss. Boring!" Spottedpaw sighed.

"All I did was help carry fresh kill back. I got there after they were done hunting, so I didn't have much fun either. How are Eveningbird's kits?" Starpaw asked.

" Eveningbird had no problems, except that one of the kits died. Leafpool said it was too cold to survive, but that was hard to imagine because the kit had super fluffy fur. The alive kits are fine, and she had four but that one died. One she cat..." Spottedpaw was interrupted by Tawnyspots calling to Eveningbird from outside the nursery. The apprentices den was right next to the nursery, so Starpaw could hear everything going on perfectly fine.

" Eveningbird, how about we name the gray tom Thunderkit, and the brown tabby tom with orange spots Spotkit and...you name the black she cat and the gray and white she cat." Tawnyspots sounded excited, even though he was now an elder.

"Tawnyspots," Eveningbird meowed softly to him, "the little black she cat died." Tawnyspots gasped and Starpaw imagined he was bowing his head.

"I...I will take h...h...her body and b...bury it." Tawnyspots managed to choke out, probably blinking hard and trying not to cry. Starpaw and Spottedpaw snuck out of the den and watched the scene in the nursery through a little crack in the nursery wall.

"I..." Eveningbird stopped as her voice faltered. She just nodded and flicked her tail at the small black body on the ground next to her. Tawnyspots walked over, his paws dragging in the dirt, and, even though she was dead, carefully picked up her up between his teeth. He carried her out the nursery door. Starpaw and Spottedpaw trailed him to a secluded spot deep in the forest, where the the trees were tall enough to touch the Silverpelt's stars. He walked up to a pile of leaves and put the little she cat's body on the leaves.

"May Starclan watch over you and keep you as if you were their own kit. I will call you Birdkit because you went up to Starclan like a bird to the sky. Good-bye, Birdkit." Tawnyspots murmured, pressing his nose into her fluffy black fur. He let out a wail of unhappiness and walked off a little distance and dug furiously, as though trying to get revenge for her death, into the ground.

By the time the it was sunset, Tawnyspots had dug a hole two fox-lengths deep. He started to walk towards the kit, when she suddenly twitched then fell still again. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. The same reactions came out of Starpaw and Spottedpaw.

     I hope you like it, I tried to edit it very well. I took some warriors from different books and added them in. This book does not fit into the series and I do not take credit for most of the names. The credit for most of the names goes to the Erin Hunter team. I only came up with a few.