Lionkit came out of the nursery, yawning. His fur tingled with excitement. I'm going to be an apprentice! he thought enthusiastically. Lionkit padded back into the nursery.

 "Silverkit! Silverkit!" Silverkit looked at him stubbornly. 

 "Seriously Lionkit? Why do you have to wake me up so early?" she mewed. 

 "Because we are going to be apprentices!" he said quivering with happiness at the thought of him and his best friend, Silverkit, learning how to fight and hunt. 

 "Oh, I forgot! Thats right!" Silverkit said as she bounded up to him. 

 "Hi guys!" Lionkit turned around. His sister, Fawnkit, trotted up to him and Silverkit. Velvetkit followed closely behind. 

 "Im so excited." Velvetkit squeaked. 

 "Me too" Silverkit replied.

 Lionkit looked around ThunderClan camp. Cats were starting to wake up. Warriors were stretching outside the den. The air was crisp and cool. It was a lovely morning of newleaf and Lionkit couldn't wait to learn how to hunt. I'm going to the best warrior in ThunderClan! he thought proudly. 

 "Silverkit!" Silverkit turned her head towards the nursery. Her mother, Lilyfall, had walked outside. "You have to be groomed, you are a mess, Silverkit!". 

"Aw, Mother" Silverkit sighed. "Well, you want to look nice for your big day don't you?" Lilyfall purred with amusement. Silverkit sighed and trotted back into the cozy nursery. 

 Lionkit laughed. "Poor Silverkit!"

 But just then, he could hear his mother, Brindleheart, calling him and Fawnkit inside the nursery for their grooming.

Lionkit was sitting next to Silverkit. Next to Silverkit, were her littermates, Cloverkit and Hawkkit. Then there was Fawnkit, Velvetkit, and Flowerkit. All of them were trembling with excitement. Lilyfall was licking Cloverkit. 

"Mother get off me!" she mewed to her stubbornly. 

 Silverkit beamed up at her father Spruceclaw. "Are you ready?" he whispered to his three kits. "Yes!" exclaimed Silverkit, Cloverkit, and Hawkkit. 

 Then, after he escaped his mother's grooming, Lionkit saw Thornstar pad down from the rocks that lead to his den. 

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock. It is time to gain a lot of apprentices." he announced.

  This is it! Lionkit thought has he beamed at Silverkit, who beamed back. 

"Fawnkit, Lionkit, Silverkit, Cloverkit, Hawkkit, Velvetkit, and Flowerkit have all reached six moons and I believe that they are all worthy enough to become apprentices." Thornstar meowed. 

 He waited until the noise calmed down.

 Then Thornstar shouted, "Cloverkit!". 

The white and gray tortoiseshell kit bounced forward. 

"Until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Cloverpaw." "Cloverpaw! Cloverpaw! Cloverpaw!" everyone chanted.

 "Your mentor will be Flamepelt. Flamepelt, I believe you will train this apprentice well." Thornstar said. 

"I will not let you down Thornstar." Flamepelt mewed. Flamepelt trotted over to Cloverpaw, grinning.

 "Hawkkit!" the leader spoke. "From this day forward until you have received your warrior name, you will be known as Hawkpaw". There was a brief chanting of "Hawkpaw". "Hawkpaw, your mentor will be Whitebelly."

 Whitebelly padded up to Hawkpaw and said, "I will teach him everything I know."

 Thornstar bowed his head. Hawkpaw looked so pleased with himself. 

 "Fawnkit!" Thornstar meowed. Fawnkit padded up confidently to the Highrock.

 "From this day until you earn your warrior name, Fawnkit, you will be called Fawnpaw and your mentor will be Foxshadow."

 "Fawnpaw! Fawnpaw! Fawnpaw!" Lionkit and Silverkit chanted along. 

 Thornstar stood up, "Foxshadow, Im sure you will make an excellent mentor." 

 The orange and brown tom nodded, "I will not fail you, Thornstar." 

Foxshadow walked away, smiling at Fawnpaw, who was bounding up besides him. 

 Thornstar got ready to speak again. "Velvetkit!"

 Vevletkit trembled so hard you couldn't tell if she was nervous or excited. 

"From now on, until you receive your name, you will be known as Velvetpaw."

 Then, Thornstar called, "Shimmersky!"

 The golden-flecked medicine cat padded outside from her den and sat beside Thornstar. "Shimmersky, I pray to StarClan that we will have an outstanding medicine cat after she learns all the widsom and strength she needs. I think that you will make a fantastic mentor to this young apprentice."

 Shimmersky looked up at the ThunderClan leader, "I will train Velvetpaw well".

 She gestured for Velvetpaw to follow her into the medicine cat den and Velvetpaw gave her a shy smile before she trotted inside.

 Thornstar looked at the cats below and spoke, "Flowerkit!". 

 Flowerkit cut in between him and Silverkit on her way to the Highledge and gave Lionkit a smile. Lionkit gave almost a sheepish smile back but instantly stopped when he saw Silverkit's eyes narrowing as Flowerkit glared at her. 

 "From this day on you will be known as Flowerpaw and your mentor will be Wolffang. Wolffang, I'm sure you will do well with your first apprentice." 

 Wolffang gave his leader a nervous dip of his head and beckoned Flowerpaw to follow him.

 Thornstar watched them pad off before he spoke again. "Silverkit!" Silverkit jumped and Lionkit gave her a gentle nudge. 

 Silverkit bravely walked up to Thornstar. Thornstar placed his tail tip on her shoulder. "Silverkit, from this day forward until you have earned your warrior name, you will be named Silverpaw."

 "Silverpaw! Silverpaw! Silverpaw!" Lionkit yowled along with his other Clanmates. 

 Silverpaw was beaming.

 "Swiftstripe!" Thornstar called. A white and brown she-cat padded out of the crowd.

 "Swiftstripe, I put this apprentice in your paws and I know she will grow up into a fine warrior with your teaching experience." Thornstar complimented her. 

 Swiftstripe bowed her head and repiled, "You can trust me, Thornstar." 

Silverpaw touched her nose to Thornstar's shoulder respectfully and did the same to Swiftstripe. Swiftstripe looked down gladly at her new apprentice. 

 "Lionkit!" Thornstar shouted and Lionkit forgot all about being nervous and he bounded up to his leader excitedly. 

"From this day on until you earn warrior name, you will known as Lionpaw." "Lionpaw! Lionpaw! Lionpaw!" Lionpaw could see Silverpaw chanting along and he smiled. 

 Thornstar continued, "Your mentor will be Stormleap." 

The dark, gray tom bounded up to his apprentice and he dipped his head to ThunderClan's leader.

 Lionpaw almost fell of the Highrock in his excitment as he treaded down to Silverpaw.

 "We're apprentices!" Silverpaw squealed. Lionpaw laughed. 

 Suddenly, Swiftstripe and Stormleap padded up to them.

 "We are going to explore the territory today" Swiftstripe meowed to Silverpaw. 

"So are we. Lionpaw and I will go towards the thunderpath." Stormleap replied, "Follow me, Lionpaw". 

 Lionpaw glanced over at Silverpaw. 

 "Bye" he mewed to her, "I'll see you later?" Silverpaw batted him playfully with her paw.

 "You know it...hey, maybe we can pick out our nests together in the apprentices den?" she said.

 "Yeah" Lionpaw nodded. Silverpaw beamed at him as she padded out of camp along side with Swiftstripe.

       Lionpaw couldn't believe how big ThunderClan's territory was. He explored the thunder path, the Twolegplace, the borders between clans, and the legendary bramble valley that cut through ThunderClan's land.

 While he was padding back to camp with Stormleap, he suggested to his mentor, "Can we start training today?"

 Stormleap looked surprised, "Well, I was going to start our training tomorrow but I guess we could begin now.....what would you like to learn first?" 

Lionpaw thought for a bit before answering.

 "I want to learn how to fight!" he finally decided.

 He wanted to become a great warrior and help protect his clan.

  "All right" Stormleap replied, "First you want to bundle up your muscles and you want to leap high over your enemy so you'll land on their back. Watch me."

 Lionpaw gazed at Stormleap as he crouched down and jumped over him, landing on his back. Lionpaw yowled in surprise of the weight and the paws that pinned him down. He was startled at first but soon realized that his mentor's claws were sheathed.

 "Wow teach me how to do that!" he mewed excitedly to Stormleap.

 As his mentor taught him how to leap up correctly, it was already dusk.

 Stormleap gazed up at the sky and said, "We better head back to camp. It's been a long day."

 Lionpaw yawned as he followed Stormleap through the tunnel. 

 He spotted Silverpaw and treaded up to her.

 She caught sight of him and mewed, "What in StarClan took you so long?!"

 Lionpaw grinned and responded, "I was busy learning this...". He then leapt up and tried to land on Silverpaw's back but she gingerly stepped out of the way and he tumbled into the dirt. 

Silverpaw burst out laughing and Lionpaw's annoyance dissolved and he joined in. 

Their laughter was soon interrupted when he yawned. "We better head into the apprentice den." he said to her sleepily. 

She nodded and walked towards the den.

 When they entered the den, they saw the other apprentices. Cloverpaw was teasing her brother, Hawkpaw. Fawnpaw called Silverpaw over and Silverpaw grinned at her and laid in the nest besides the brown furred she-cat. 

Flowerpaw caught his eye and she was motioning for Lionpaw to join her in the empty moss nest next to hers but Lionpaw pretended he didn't notice and quickly trotted to the nest near Silverpaw.

  Why is Flowerpaw being weird? he thought as he curled up in the soft bundle of moss and feathers. 

Lionpaw yawned one last time and drifted into a long sleep.