Poisonberry's Vengence

The Start of Apprenticeship

Hopekit/Paw! Base by Louixie!

Excitement sparked through Hopekit, as she stood at the edge of the cliff, Bluekit and Screechkit by her side. Adderstar loomed tall in front of her, and the first hints of Snowmelt season were apparent in the soft green of the moors and forests behind them, and in the melting lake in the distance. High-altitude flowers and lichens grew from cracks in the rocks further down the mountain, or so she had been told. 

She glanced at Screechkit, who looked overjoyed, and Bluekit who kept looking at Emeraldpaw. She'd received her name a moon prior and was always boasting about it. 

Hopekit was jerked out of her thoughts as the last cat sat down, and Adderstar commenced the ceremony. "Bluekit, step forward, please." He did, and Adderstar placed his large, black paw on his shoulder. Bluekit wobbled slightly under the weight of his paw but then stayed standing and steady. She saw satisfaction light in Adderstar's ice-blue eyes. "Until you are worthy of your warrior name, you shall be known as Bluepaw. The cat I believe will train you best is Pinestalk." Pinestalk padded up beside his apprentice, towering above the younger cat. He was heavyset and muscular, a great fighter. Lucky Bluepaw. I would have liked Pinestalk as a mentor. 

"Screechkit, step forward please." Screechkit exchanged a nervous glance with Hopekit, before slowly stepping toward the huge tom. He only lightly laid a paw on his willowy shoulder, obviously aware that full weight would knock over the small tom. "Until you are worthy of your warrior name, you shall be known as Screechpaw. I believe that-" Screechpaw raised his tail, and almost shaking with nerves, he  squeaked out: "Adderstar, I would like to become a medicine cat if that's okay with you and Frostedmoss." 

Adderstar blinked with surprise. "Why didn't you say something earlier? Of course. Frostedmoss?" The skinny gray-and-white patched tom looked ecstatic. "This is great! I've been needing an apprentice for moons. I'd be glad to train Screechpaw." Screechpaw grinned stepping up beside his new mentor. "Screechpaw, you have chosen the path of a medicine cat, a healer and messenger for our holy ancestors in The Land of Shining Stars. Your mentor and guide will be Frostedmoss." 

Screechpaw leaped down beside Hopekit, his golden eyes glowing. "I'm a medicine cat apprentice!" 

"That's amazing! You'll be a great medicine cat."

"I hope so! Now I don't have to train with Emeraldpaw." He shot a look at Bluepaw and Emeraldpaw, who were chatting a bit too close together near the mouth of the cave. "Yeah, I-" Before she could finish her sentence, Adderstar called her up.

"Hopekit, step forward please." Stomach feeling as if it had a hawk flapping around it, she hurried up to Adderstar, heart hammering. He placed a paw on her shoulder, and she nearly fell over but tried as hard as she possibly could to remain upright. "Until you are worthy of your warrior name, you shall be known as Hopepaw. The cat I believe will train you best is..." He hesitated for a moment, eyes flitting between two cats. A small, short-furred, skittish young warrior named Tumblesoar, and a strong, highly respected she-cat named Darkdaisy. Please, please give me Darkdaisy...

"...Is Tumblesoar." Hopepaw's heart dropped. She knew why Adderstar had chosen the cli warrior, barely twenty moons old. He was her father, Ashenfall's, half-brother. They even looked a bit similar, with a blue tint to their pelts. But except for being not-so-distantly related, they had nothing in common. He was not good mentor material, and Hopepaw was sure she would end up teaching herself. There are even rumours that he's part MeadowClan! 

He excitedly bounded up to the edge of the cliff, barely looking at Hopepaw. Cats began to call out the new apprentices' names, and they rang, echoing and clear over the mountains. But the cat calling the loudest was Gentlebreeze, eyes shimmering with a film of tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.