A small kit gazes out of the nursery, her dark eyes full of starlight as she stares at the sky. Beside her, another kit lay sleeping, her breathing soft. The nervous kit stands up and pads out of the den, through the willow draped entrance, and into the clearing. She gazes up at the SmoothStone, the place where the leader will stand tomorrow as he announces two new apprentices. The kit trembles in nervous excitement. She can't get the thought out of her head...

A rustle at the entrance snaps her out of her thoughts and she pelts back into the nursery. Sighing, she curls up beside her mother's soft white fur and closes her eyes.

+++++

Light filters into the nursery through the willow curtain. I groan softly, not wanting the day to be here already. A paw prods my side relentlessly. I growl, covering my eyes with my paws.

"Eclipsekit! C'mon! It's time for us to become apprentices!" an all-too-familiar, all-too-awake, voice shouts.

"I don't wanna! I'm tired!" I whine, sitting up and glaring at the ____ marbled tabby.

Her light blue eyes sparkle with excitement. Her fur, cleaned throroughly by my mother, shines in the morning light. Sitting beside her, our mother smiles down at me. Her soft white fur feathery and her green-blue eyes shining, she looks lives up to her name.

"Your turn, Eclipsekit." she purrs.

"Angellight, you've actually finished cleaning Marblekit? Here I thought you wouldn't be finished until my kits' kits had kits!" another she-cat, Cloversplash, purrs.

Her dusty brown fur splashed with black patches makes her look almost unreal. But trust me, she's real. Her and her new litter. Three kits peek out from over her tail.

"Eclipsekit! Marblekit! Can we come, too? We wanna be apprentices, too!" a small black tom mewls, his green eyes pleading.

"Blackkit, you're not even three moons!" I purr, chuckling.

Beside him, his calico sister, Fernkit, mewls indingantly.

"But we can beat you!" she whines.

"And we're a lot stronger than you, too!" the third kit, a dark gray tabby tom, adds.

"Well, when you can knock me over, Stonekit, we'll talk." Marblekit purrs.

A rustling at the entrance catches everyone's attention. A strong, flame-colored tom pads through, his amber eyes full of pride.

"How are my little girls doing?" he beams, purring loudly.

"Eclipsekit needs bathing but she won't come over here." Angellight chuckles, shaking her head.

"Oh well.... I guess we'll just have to.... Catch her!" he purrs suddenly, pouncing.

I yelp, getting pinned. Flailing, I growl and hiss, batting him with my claws sheathed. Against my will, I am carried over to Angellight. The she-cat then proceeds to bathe me until my tortoiseshell pelt shimmers. After a few more minutes of just chatting, Angellight and Blazefire finally just "nudge" us outside. Seeing our arrival, Lionstar nods towards my parents before leaping onto SmoothStone. I watch as he takes a deep breath, his golden tabby pelt shining.

"Let all those old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath SmoothStone for a Clan meeting!" he yowls.

All around us, cats appear and gather around. Then the ceremony begins.

"Today, we have two kits who are now of age to become apprentices. Marblekit, Eclipsekit, step forward!"

Beside me, Marblekit purrs. The two of us step forward, staring up at the proud tom.

"Marblekit, do you promise to learn the ways of the warrior code, protect our Clan, and stay loyal us?"

"I do." Marblekit says solemnly.

"Then from this moment forward, until you recieve your warrior name, you shall be known as Marblepaw! Silentstrike, I ask you to pass your knowledge and skills onto your apprentice." Lionstar continues.

A silver tabby she-cat with hazel eyes steps out from the crowd. Marblepaw and her meet in the center of the clearing and touch noses before sitting down.

"Eclipsekit, do you promise to learn the ways of the warrior code, protect our Clan, and stay loyal to us?"

"I do." I say, holding my head high.

"Then from this moment forward, until you recieve your warrior name, you shall be known as Eclipsepaw! Ghostsong, I ask you to pass your knowledge and skills onto your apprentice."

My eyes widen as I watch a misty, blue-gray she-cat with silver eyes steps forward. Trying to smooth my long fur, I step forward and touch noses with her. Her black stripes glisten like the darkest night.

"Marblepaw! Eclipsepaw! Marblepaw! Eclipsepaw!" the Clan cheers.

"Meeting dismissed!" Lionstar finishes, leaping down.

Marblepaw and I rush together, beaming and headbutting.

"We're apprentices! At last!" Marblepaw beams, bouncing up and down.

"Soon to be warriors!" I add, jumping with her.

"Then leaders!" we both shout in sync, leaping straight up.

"Soon to be in trouble if you don't stop your chattering and get over here." Silentstrike chuckles, eyes laughing as she looks at the two of us.

The two of us pad over to our mentors.

"We were discussing what to do for your first day of apprenticeship... And we figured that you should first get to explore the territory! Marblepaw, you and I will start with the to PineClan! C'mon! Maybe we'll even catch some prey on the way back!" Silentstrike purrs, her eyes full of excitement.

I watch as Marblepaw and Silentstrike both leave camp. Then I turn to Ghostsong.

"Are we gonna go, or..." I trail off, gazing at the entrance longingly.

"Yes. MeadowClan. Come." Ghostsong says, her voice a low monotone.

"O-okay..." I say, a bit hesitant to follow this strange she-cat.

As we duck out of the entrance, my eyes widen as I take in the territory. Small streams can be seen easily, and trees are everywhere as well. The sound of birdsong makes my heart flutter in excitement. For a few moments, I just stand there in awe. Then I realize Ghostsong is padding away and I pad after hurriedly. As we walk, I catch a small movement out of the corner of my eye. Ghostsong freezes, turning around and crouching down. Motioning for me to do the same, I do.

Silently, she motions for me to be quiet and to watch. When I nod, she focuses on the movement. Slowly, she creeps forward, ears flattened. Her muscles tense and I watch as she prepares to pounce. Then she's a blur of motion. When she stands back up, a limp mouse hangs from her jaws. Dropping it to the ground, she scratches some dirt over it before marking a nearby sapling with her scent. Then she's padding on and I have to hurry to catch up to her. For a few minutes, we just walk in silence.

"Good catch." she suddenly says, startling me.

For a moment, my mind is completely blank. Then I shake my head, confused.

"Catch? What do you mean? You're the one who caught the mouse." I meow, tilting my head.

"I only realized it was there because of you."

"What?"

"When you stopped. When you tensed your muscles."

I stay silent, unable to think of a response.

"You have a keen eye, Eclipsepaw. I'm... Sorry if I come off as a bit cold. I'm not... I don't really know how to... Be around others. I'm actually kinda shy... But that's our little secret, alright?" she admits, smiling slightly.

I smile, warming up to this cat.

"Our secret. As long as you keep the secret of me liking Soulpaw." I chuckle nervously, fur heating up.

She smiles, purring softly.

"Deal. Only you, me, and AngelClan will know. Until, you know, you and Soulpaw..." she trails off teasingly.

"Hey!"

"Race you to that tree over there!" she shouts before pelting towards a log.

"No fair!" I laugh, pelting after her.