Prophecy

Chapter 3: Darkkit's POV

Darkkit was practically jumping with joy. "Shadekit, Icykit, Graykit!" She squealed. "Today's the day we are getting apprenticed!"

"Really?!" Shadekit leapt to her paws. "It's true!" Darkkit exclaimed. "I heard Toadstrike, Moonglow, and Coldstar talking about it yesterday!"

"Already?!" Icykit squealed, and now all the kits were jumping with excitement, and a warrior called Emberclaw had poked his head into the nursery, along with Bramblethorn and Brackenpelt, two rogues that had recently joined DarkClan. "You kits are okay, right?" Brackenpelt asked. "Yeah," Darkkit felt ashamed that she had been squealing in front of a new member of the clan. "We're getting apprenticed today, we're just excited."

"Don't hurt yourself," Bramblethorn purred. As the three warriors walked out of camp, Shadekit meowed, "Guys, I have something to tell you."

"What is it, Shadekit?" asked Graykit. "The day after Littleshine was teaching us about poisonous herbs, she asked me to be her," Shadekit paused, then sighed. "To be her apprentice."

"What?" Darkkit was confused. Why hadn't Shadekit told her, she could have told Icykit and Graykit. 'Does she trust me?' Darkkit thought. 'I'd trust me if i were her.'

"I was going to tell you Darkkit, but I wanted to keep it a secret until last minute and I wasn't sure you'd understand that," Shadekit finished and Darkkit felt a wave of anger and she felt like clawing a rock. 'Does she not trust me?' She questioned. 'She probably doesn't.'

Darkkit felt guilty that she wasn't a trustworthy cat, but she partly didn't care because she immediately remembered it was her ceremony today. Darkkit caught a glance of the queens talking outside. 'They're talking about our ceremony,' Darkkit hoped. Shadekit immediately jumps over to Darkkit. "I would have told you," She began to apologize. "I won't keep anything a secret from you ever again, when your leader."  

"What do you mean, 'when I'm leader'?" Darkkit was more confused than ever before. "I can just tell one day you'll be leader," Shadekit replied with a wink. That gave Darkkit a boost of confidence. "Kits," Toadstrike mewed from the nursery entrance. "Your apprentice ceremony is soon, so groom your pelts and straighten your whiskers."

Icykit was the first to obey the order. He wiped his paw over his whiskers and bathed himself until his pelt was shining. The other kits did so to, but no one could ever do as good a job as Icykit. When they finished grooming their pelts, Darkkit perked her ears at Coldstar's loud voice coming from the high-branch, where Coldstar had his clan meetings. "All cats old enough to fight in battle, gather around the high-peak for a clan meeting."

All four kits rushed outside, Shadekit being first and Darkkit tailing right behind her. "These four kits are now old enough to be apprenticed, and learn the ways of the warrior code," Coldstar's loud yowling continued. 'It's as if he's yelling to a thousand clans at a time,' Darkkit observed. "First, Shadekit has decided to train in the ways of a Medicine Cat, therefore, her mentor will be Littleshine. Your new name will be Shadepaw."

The whole of the clan called out Shadepaw's name, "Shadepaw, Shadepaw, Shadepaw."

"Now, Darkkit, Graykit, and Icykit," Coldstar said with pride. "You three will train in the ways of a real warrior. Your new names will be Darkpaw, Graypaw and Icypaw."

The whole clan called out their new names, just like Shadepaw. "Tallshadow, you are ready for another apprentice, and you will mentor Darkpaw. Streamwing, you are ready for your first apprentice, and you will mentor Graypaw. Rockypelt, you, too, are ready for your first apprentice, and you will mentor Icypaw."

'No,' Darkpaw stared at Coldstar wide-eyed. 'I can't have Tallshadow as a mentor, he'll rip me to shreds.'

"We best start training now," Tallshadow crept up behind Darkpaw. "That sounds great," Darkpaw tried her best not to seem afraid of Tallshadow, but couldn't help but tremble a little under his large size. 

'It'll be okay,' Darkpaw told herself. 'He won't dare hurt you, he knows the punishment for hurting his clanmates.'

'He's deputy for a reason.'