Thank you (An IvyxHawk Fanfic)

Part 1

Ivykit could hardly sit still as her father groomed her messy silver and white tabby pelt, "Ivykit, you better stop moving or Ripplekit will be an apprentice before you." He muttered. "Oh, that would be bad! Okay, dad. I'll try to keep still, but I can't promise I will be completely still." Ivykit looked at her littermate, Ripplekit, who was being groomed by their mother, Mistyfoot. Ripplekit was a smoky grey she-cat with bright amber eyes that came from Blackclaw. Ivykit had dark blue eyes, which probably came from Mistyfoot. (a/n I don't even know how a riverclan meeting is cast, so I'm going to call the rock, wet rock) "Let all cats old enough to swim the rapids gather around the Wet Rock for a clan meeting!" Leopardstar's yowl rang across the camp, bubbling Ivykit with excitement. Blackclaw led Ripplekit and Ivykit to the front of Wet Rock.

"I've called you together for one of the most important moments in the life of a Clan. Ripplekit and Ivykit have reached their sixth moon, and it's time for them to become apprentices. Come forward. Ripplekit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Ripplepaw." Leopardstar meowed. "Ripplepaw! Ripplepaw!" The RiverClan cats yowled, "StarClan, I ask you to guide this new apprentice. Set her paws on the path she must follow to become a warrior. Mosspelt, you will mentor Ripplepaw. Your patience will give her the understanding and you are a loyal warrior. I know you can pass those qualities on the Ripplepaw." The tortoiseshell she-cat beckoned the smoky grey apprentice and touched noses with her. "Ivykit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Ivypaw. May StarClan watch over you and guide you in your journey to become a warrior. Hawkfrost, you have outstanding battle skills and have shown bravery through tough situations, and I trust that now you will teach Ivypaw to follow in your path." Leopardstar beckoned the dark tabby with her tail. Ivypaw touched noses with Hawkfrost, "The most important thing to remember in training or battle, is that you have a purpose of living." The tabby advised her. "I won't let you down, I promise." She told her mentor, "I know you won't. Now, let's go see RiverClan territory."

She followed Hawkfrost out of camp and into the beautiful territory of RiverClan. Hawkfrost lead the way to a stream, "This is the stream that is in between ThunderClan and us. Those rocks over there are sunning rocks. Since it is your first time out of camp, you can mark the border." He offered. Before Hawkfrost could show her, the bushes from ThunderClan's side of the stream moved, and out came a dark brown tabby. "Oh hey, Brambleclaw." Hawkfrost greeted the ThunderClan warrior, "Hello Hawkfrost. I see you have a new apprentice." Brambleclaw's amber eyes rested on Ivypaw. "Why yes. I was just going to show her how to mark the border here." Hawkfrost meowed. "Alright. You have fun with that. I'll see you around." Brambleclaw waved goodbye with his tail before disappearing into the bushes.

"You guys seem to have a good bond." Ivypaw noticed. "Sense of sight is a good skill to have. I'm pretty sure you won't need help with that. And yes, we have a good bond. In fact, we are half brothers." As he spoke, Hawkfrost showed her how to mark the borders. "Also, behind our camp rests a Twoleg farm. To the right is an area where some horses usually tend to live there. Then to the left is more Twoleg stuff and pines. Today we will focus on this section. I find it very useful and helps a lot during Leaf-bare. Squirrels often tend to 'swim' when Leaf-bare arrives. Although we eat fish, squirrel is also a very good addition to the fresh-kill pile. Speaking of squirrel, there is one there." He lowered his body and voice and slowly crept on the squirrel. "Watch and learn." Hawkfrost shook his shoulders gently and quietly before pouncing on the little creature that would soon be in the fresh-kill pile. He gave it the killing blow, grabbed it by its scruff, and returned back to Ivypaw. He dropped it down in front of Ivypaw's paws, "You see, when catching squirrels, you mu-" Hawkfrost got cut off as an angry yowl pierced their ears, "Prey stealers! That was our squirrel!"

Hawkfrost whirled around and faced a long-haired white tom. "But Hawkfrost caught it on RiverClan territory. So, it counts as our prey." Ivypaw took some steps forward and defended her mentor. "The apprentice has a point, Cloudtail. That's their prey, period. Sorry for disturbing you." A golden-brown tabby(brackenfur not thornclaw) apologized. Hawkfrost lashed his tail, "Aren't ThunderClan warriors supposed to know about the rules of prey?" Cloudtail's pelt was bristling and he took a step forward but was stopped by a white she-cat with ginger patches and a missing eye, "You know better than to start fights, Cloudtail. That goes to you too, Hawkfrost." She gave Hawkfrost a cold look. "Fine, you win Brightheart. Come on Ivypaw. We're done here." Hawkfrost grabbed the squirrel and left, Ivypaw right at his paws.

Once the two cats were back, Mistyfoot raced towards Ivypaw, "How was your first exploration on RiverClan territory?" Ivypaw flicked her tail, "We went by the stream near ThunderClan territory. We encountered a patrol, but one of the warriors was kind enough to let us go by." She told her. "I'm glad you aren't hurt." Mistyfoot nuzzled the top of Ivypaw's head. "You can go get a piece of fresh-kill. The elders only ate a little bit just ate before you and Hawkfrost arrived." Mistyfoot padded towards the fresh-kill pile. Ivypaw followed her mother and grabbed a carp before trotting off into the apprentice's den, where Ripplepaw was grooming herself. "Hey Ivypaw! Want to share that?" The smoky grey apprentice asked, "If you want to. Besides, I'm not that hungry." Ivypaw dropped the carp in front of her before sitting down. The two she-cats ate and talked about their day.

"Mosspelt said we'll be doing hunting moves tomorrow. What are you going to do with Hawkfrost tomorrow?" Ripplepaw licked her lips, "He didn't didn't say anything since ThunderClan became a problem." Ivypaw began grooming herself. "Ah, those fish-brained idiots. They accused us of stealing prey, even though we got the squirrel in RiverClan territory." Ivypaw lashed her tail. "I'm guessing that ThunderClan warriors are stupid and their mentoring is bad." Ripplepaw agreed. "Ivypaw, we are going to practice fishing." Hawkfrost's head popped in the apprentice's den. "I'll see you later, Ripplepaw." Ivypaw skirted beside her mentor. The two cats made their way to the stream that flowed quietly.

"First thing to remember when trying to catch a fish, you can't let your shadow fall on the stream. The fish will be aware of your presence and flee. Watch." Hawkfrost sat in front of the stream. Ivypaw examined her mentor; his shadow had not yet fallen into the stream. Hawkfrost slowly and quietly lifted his paw, then hit the water with insane speed. On his claws was a fish that was unknown by Ivypaw. "This here is a guppy. It's probably best for kits, not older cats. It's still a good piece of prey." Hawkfrost dug a hole in the dirt and placed the guppy in it. "Now you try. I can't guarantee you will catch a fish, but I can tell you that you'll do fine." Hawkfrost meowed as Ivypaw got her seating right.

Ivypaw saw movement in the stream. As quiet as possible, Ivypaw copied her mentor's striking move. With speed, Ivypaw managed to catch a betta fish, also known as the siamese fighting fish. "Very good. We'll see how many fish we can catch. Maybe five will do it." Hawkfrost complimented. For the next couple of minutes, she and Hawkfrost managed to catch six fish, "These will be good for the others. Now, let's get our catches together and go back to camp." The tom announced. The two tabbies grabbed three fishes each before heading off to camp.

"Now that is a good load of prey. You two have to hurry. It might rain soon and we don't want two sick cats." Heavystep meowed. "You take those three fishes to Shadepelt and Loudbelly. I'll take the other three to Dawnflower." Hawkfrost said through a muffled mouth. Ivypaw nodded and padded to RiverClan's elders. "Ah, the young one brought food. Thank you, dear." Loudbelly purred while Shadepelt licked her lips. Ivypaw places her catches down, "I reckon we split the third one in half so we both can get a piece." Said he. Shadepelt nodded her head to Loudbelly's idea, "Ivypaw, would you care to split it in half for us?"

"Oh, no. I wouldn't care." The silver and white tabby apprentice unsheathed her claws and split the fish in half. "Why, thank you, young one." Loudbelly thanked her. Ivypaw dipped her head, "Anything for you, Loudbelly and Shadepelt." "Now, why don't you go to sleep. It's almost moonhigh. Hawkfrost will be disappointed to have a sleepy apprentice to train." Shadepelt suggested. "Right. I'll see you two tomorrow." Ivypaw raced towards the apprentice's den, where she was greeted by Primrosepaw, "Hello Ivypaw. Come on in." The pale creamy brown she-cat welcomed her. "How did your assessment go?" Ivypaw asked her older littermate.

"Leopardstar said I did fine. Reedpaw said that Heavystep said he did well. I still don't think it's fair that Piketail became a warrior before us." Primrosepaw growled. "You'll make a great warrior just like him." Ivypaw reassured her littermate. "Thanks." Primrosepaw grunted. Lightning cracked in the sky, causing Primrosepaw and Ivypaw to jump. "Well, aren't we going to get a good sleep tonight." Ivypaw mumbled. Primrosepaw snorted before going to her nest.

Ivypaw walked to her best before flopping down. I wonder what Hawkfrost's opinion is on me? She thought with a huge yawn. The she-cat curled up into a ball before falling asleep.