"Oh, thank you, Skystar!" Wormykit gasped like a ghost. "AirClan was horrible - with that queen bullying me all the time! She often clawed at my ears..." He showed the angry leader, who had thrown him onto her back, three red scars behind his ear.

Skystar growled. How could she? she thought. Humph! I taught her a lesson. "You're welcome, Wormykit," she purred gently. Just the thought of Fairfur made her feel sick! "Now, let's get you home. I'm sure-" Her last words were cut off by a loud snarl.

"Who dares to trespass on our territory?" a voice hissed. The bushes rustled, and out stepped a black tom with silver stripes and boiling yellow eyes. "I am Yellow of the Eyes, and why are you here on-"

"That doesn't matter. Good-bye." Skystar stormed off, with Wormykit hopping around on her back.

"S-K-Y-S-T-A-R H-E-L-P M-E..." Wormykit yelled. "Y-O-U-'R-E G-O-I-N-G T-O-O
F-A-S-T!" But Skystar only sped up as she saw ten rogues approach her.

"Stay away!" she snarled. "This is a kit, for StarClan's sake!"

"What is 'StarClan'?" asked a white tom, with black stripes. "We are the Power Force. I am Snow of the Stripes, and I am the Commander, or, as the Clans call them, the deputy."

Skystar stood silent, but then quickly swiped at his nose and dashed off.

"That is one swift she-cat," murmured Snow of the Stripes. Then he snarled, "Report to Dawn Who Strikes at Morning. Now."
.....

"All cats old enough to swim gather around the Dew Drop for a Clan meeting!" Skystar yowled, her eyes glimmering with relief. "Today, we celebrate one of the most important events that can ever happen in life; the naming of new apprentices. Wormykit, Lionkit, please step forward."

Finally, after an eon of waiting, Wormykit would finally be an apprentice! Goodpaw and Shadowpaw, who had all been apprenticed the moon before, sighed with joy. Apricotpaw, however, was scowling.

"I, Skystar of DewClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to guide these kits towards the path of becoming the warriors they can be. Wormykit, from this moment on, you will now be known as Wormypaw! Skyjumper, you have shown yourself to be worthy of another apprentice. You have the patience and knowledge, and have a heart of a lion."

"Wormypaw! Wormypaw! Wormypaw!" his friends cheered, happy for the disfigured tom who was worthy of his apprentice name in their eyes.

"Lionkit, from this moment on, you will be known as Lionpaw!" Skystar searched the crowd for a suitable mentor. She hesitated, before yowling, "Doefall, you are the deputy of this Clan. I expect you to pass on all your wisdom and courage to Lionpaw."

"Lionpaw! Wormypaw! Lionpaw! Wormypaw!"

A massive grin spread across Wormypaw's face like fire, lighting it up. Goodpaw, who had been cheering for her friend the whole time, padded over.

"Great! Now we can explore everything together!" She turned to her mentor Nighttree. "When's the next Gathering, Nighttree?"

"In a half moon," replied the senior warrior with dignity. He looked over at Wormypaw with a smile. "Hello, Wormypaw! I think Skyjumper over there would like you." He motioned with his tail to the white tom with gray paws and friendly cyan eyes.

"Wormypaw!" he called out. "Come on, we're going to go explore the terrritory!"

Wormypaw padded over shyly. "We're luckily going alone," Skyjumper smiled, glancing warily at Doefall. They zoomed out of camp quickly, eager to explore the depths of the territories.

"This is the EarthClan border. It is distinguished by the towering tall trees, the charcoal-colored ground, and the smell of —" Skyjumper sniffed softly, "the forest."

Wormypaw was lost in awe. So this was EarthClan! They moved on towards the AirClan border.

"Excuse me, Skyjumper? Could we not go there?" Wormypaw motioned like a scared animal to AirClan. "You know..."

"Oh! Whoops, sorry Wormypaw. I think you know the border well enough!" He let out a chuckle.

After a while, they reached the NightClan border, where they met a happy Secretstar.

"Oh, hello!" she purred, waving her tail in greetings. "Skyjumper, lovely to see you. Who's this?"

"I'm Wormypaw," said the tom shyly. "H-hello..." Secretstar let out a mrrow of laughter.

"Shy, are we? Well, I was just like you when I was young." A distant gaze formed in her wise eyes. "Everyone in NightClan used to call me 'Secret Spider'. But as time went on, I managed to overcome my fears." She smiled at the new apprentice. "Perhaps one day... you can become leader too."

Wormypaw beamed. "Really? I can?"

"Well, seeing as I mentored your father, I suppose you could..." Skyjumper said thoughtfully, a wistful smile on my face.

"YOU MENTORED MY FATHER?" Wormypaw screeched, eyes wide with excitement. "What was he like? What did Oakwhisker do? Was he a good apprentice?"

Skyjumper lashed his tail frantically, realizing the mistake he had just made. "Oh, I, er, you see, I didn't mentor your father, I only just, um, taught him how to hunt, yes, how to hunt!" He plastered a fake grin on his face that was lopsided.

Wormypaw narrowed his eyes. Something was suspicious in the way Skyjumper was acting, in the way his eyes gleamed. The crooked smile was strange, and his tail was moving non-stop.

"Just what are you hiding?" Wormypaw growled. "Is there something I should know?"

"Oh, look! It's almost sundown! Come on, Wormypaw, let's get a move on!" And with that, Skyjumper dashed towards DewClan camp, leaving behind a very amused Secretstar.

"I expect he'll know when the time is right," she purred.