Jaggedstar's Twist

Chapter Six:

Furzekit grumbled softly as his mother furiously rasped her tongue over his soil-covered fur. Whitekit sat beside him, his white pelt slick and shiny.
"Why're you even grooming me? I'm going to play later anyway." Furzekit whined.
Mothfur paused in mid-lick. A grin spread across her face. "Did you forget? Today's a special day for you and your brother."

A jolt of realization struck Furzekit like lightning. It was their apprentice ceremony today! How could've he forgotten about one of the most important days?
After Mothfur finished, Furzekit eagerly stood at the entrance, waiting for the deep yowl of the leader any moment now.
Tawnykit had already became an apprentice a couple of moons ago, but had at first refused to sleep in the apprentices den.

"Why can't I still be with them?" Furzekit had heard her complain to Hailspot.
"You're an apprentice, Tawnypaw, you don't get to sleep in the nursery anymore." The queen had growled.
"But I want to be with Whitekit and Furzekit!"
"No. Now go!"

Furzekit was snapped into reality at a loud caterwaul filling the clearing. "Let all cats who are old enough to catch a rabbit gather for a meeting!"
Mothfur nudged Furzekit and his brother out of the nursery after the call.
Warriors were making their way into the clearing, murmuring to each other and curiously angling their ears towards a dark brown tabby tom that stood on the Outlook Rock.
Swiftpaw, who was now Swiftpool, limped out of the medicine cat's den after Rainsong. A thin wrap of leaves were curled around her paw.

Antpaw sat in the very front with Shadewhisker. Furzekit snorted as he noticed that the apprentice had his chest puffed out and his chin high. The idiot really was trying to prove himself the most heroic cat in the Clan.

_In his dreams._ Furzekit thought as he swiftly padded into the filled clearing. His pelt suddenly grew hot as he caught a few stares of senior warriors. What were they thinking? Furzekit wished that he could read their minds. Was his fur still sticking up?
Eyeing Duststar nervously, Furzekit backed away until he matched pace with Whitekit. He just hoped that he looked decent.

Duststar remained silent as the cats settled down for the meeting. A long, narrow, ugly scar ran down his flank from the dog that attacked two moons ago. But now, the tom Furzekit had seen splayed and bloody in the clearing now looked vigorous and filled with strength.
The leader's amber gaze rested on the two kits, then swept around the clearing. He cleared his throat, then spoke.
"It is now the time for two more cats to train to become excellent moor-runners of WindClan." He announced. His burning gaze rested on Furzekit.
"Furzekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Furzepaw." He mewed, then glanced at the crowd with narrowed eyes. Furzepaw glanced over at the crowd and pricked his ears. Who would his mentor be?

After a few more silent moments of thought, the leader spoke.
"Nettlemask, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Owlfoot, and you have shown yourself to be courageous and loyal. You will be the mentor of Furzepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Furzepaw."

_Nettlemask? He's gonna rip my ears off!_ Furzepaw thought. He had heard Brownpaw telling Tawnypaw about the dark brown tom. Brownpaw had said that he was very strict and expectant of his apprentice.
Furzekit gulped as a large frame of dark tom pushed past the crowd. His amber gaze met Furzekit's green. The warrior bent down, stretching out his muzzle.
_Uh, what's happening?_ Furzekit wildly gazed around, then jumped at a small hiss from Nettlemask.
"Touch your nose to mine!"

Furzekit quickly reached up and touched his nose to his mentor's. His pelt burned with shame and embarrassment as he noticed Tawnypaw softly giggling and Nettlemask's glare.

Duststar continued to speak.
"Whitekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Whitepaw. Owlflight, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have shown yourself to be swift and clever. You will be the mentor of Whitepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Whitepaw."
Owlflight trotted through the crowd to Whitepaw and touched her nose to his.
"Furzepaw! Whitepaw! Furzepaw! Whitepaw!"

From the crowd of cheering cats, Furzepaw could hear his mother and father yowling their kits' names the loudest. Tawnypaw seemed to match the same level with them.
Furzepaw grinned. Now that he was an apprentice, he could finally go outside of camp at last!
After the cheering died down and cats began to depart, Furzepaw turned to Nettlemask. "When are we gonna start training?"
Nettlemask shook his head. "You're not going to train just yet, me and Owlflight are going to show you around our territory."
Furzepaw fizzed with excitement. A tour around the moorland!
"Can we go now?" He asked. He imagined the whole stretch of moors endlessly rolling towards the horizon.
"Hold on, I think Owlflight went back to Rainsong's den. She tore a claw like Swiftpool did earlier. I'm guessing she wants to get it checked out before we leave."
"I hope she hurries up then." Furzepaw muttered, impatiently lashing his tail.
Tawnypaw joined his side, her green eyes bright with excitement. "It's about time you two became apprentices! I missed you, and Whitepaw! Antpaw is too much of a bossy furball, so is Heatherpaw." The she-cat chirped.
Furzepaw huffed.
"Oh great, I forgot we have to be with Antpaw now." He muttered. He had forgotten about the tom.

Owlflight emerged from Rainsong's den, her amber gaze bright with relief. She trotted to Nettlemask, flicking her ears. "Are you ready to go?"
Nettlemask nodded. "Yes I am."
"Whitepaw, Furzepaw! Let's get going!"
Furzepaw stood up, gazing towards the camp entrance.
Today would be an amazing day.