"Sunkit, from this moment forwards, you will be known as Sunpaw," Copperstar's voice echoed across the clearing as he looked down at the apprentice. "Mothfeather, you will be his mentor. I trust that you will be capable of passing on your compassion and confidence in your skills onto Sunpaw."

Novakit cheered its brother's new name, watching as he went to touch noses with Mothfeather. She's a great pick. I hope I get a great mentor like her.

It  glanced beside it, it's other brother Moonpaw standing with his new mentor Falconfeather. Copperstar said something about how the grey and white apprentice would be her first. Am I going to get an experienced mentor like Mothfeather, or a first-time mentor like Falconfeather?

It looked up at the leader, stepping forward as he called its name. "Novakit, from this moment forwards, you will be known as Novapaw," He glanced at one of the warriors, giving a curt nod as he continued. "Shimmerspots, you will be its mentor. I believe that you'll be able to share your excellent fighting skills and unique experience onto Novapaw."

It looked over at Shimmerspots approaching it, sticking its tongue out at the young warrior instead of touching noses with it. "Yuck, I don't want you as my mentor!"

Novapaw noticed its brother flinch next to it, feeling the grey and white apprentice nudge its side a bit with a short yet obvious clearing of his throat, whispering aggressively to his littermate. "Just touch noses with it, Novapaw. Don't be stubborn."

With a roll of its eyes, Novapaw touched noses with its new mentor, who gratefully smiled down at it with a soft purr. Novapaw groaned a bit, hissing lowly at the mentor as its tail lashed angrily. Ugh, of all the cats in the clan, I got Shimmerspots as my mentor? Thanks a lot, dad...

Sighing softly, it sat next to the warrior, looking back up at Copperstar as the leader padded away from the rock. It turned to look up at Shimmerspots, flinching slightly as the warrior gave a seemingly eerie smile. "I'm very glad to be able to have you as my apprentice, Novapaw! We'll likely focus on fighting more than hunting just so you know, but I'm sure you won't mind, haha!"

"Uh... Yeah..." The apprentice replied, shuffling away from it awkwardly.

Looking away for a moment, Novapaw noticed Copperstar and Briarblossom approaching it and it's brothers, their tails twined. "We're so proud of you three," Briarblossom purred. "We know you'll all do your best to train hard and become successful warriors," she continued, smiling softly at the three apprentices.

Sunpaw smiled up at her, bouncing over to her as he purred happily. "Thanks, momma! I'll make you proud, I promise!"

His mother nuzzled his forehead softly with a slight purr. "I know you will, Sunpaw. I know all three of you will make us both proud," she reassured them, moving to nuzzle Moonpaw and Novapaw as well.

For a moment, Novapaw relished in the warmth of its adoptive mother's affection. That moment quickly faded as it heard Duckpaw's voice calling to it and its brothers. "Look who's finally left the nursery!" He teased.

Novapaw rolled its eyes as it watched Duckpaw and Snailpaw, one of the oldest apprentices, approach them. "Don't worry you three, you'll grow bigger one day," Duckpaw sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Novapaw asked back. "You sure you bee-brains are smart enough to even realize we're around the same size?" It glared pointedly at Duckpaw.

"That's enough, you two," Olivebelly, Duckpaw's mentor, stepped between the two cats. "Weren't you two supposed to be on tick duty after the ceremony?"

Snailpaw groaned at this. "Why can't we let Solarpaw do it again? He loves doing tick duty,"

"Well, with an attitude like that you won't be a warrior anytime soon," the tortoiseshell warrior scrunched up her muzzle. "Just go and do your duties,"

Novapaw noticed Sunpaw looking up at his mentor. "Do we have to do tick duty too?" He asked awkwardly.

Mothfeather purred. "Not today, little one. I think we'll focus on showing you three around ShadowClan's territory. But you will have to help look after the elders throughout your training,"

"Ew, mouse bile!" Moonpaw gagged, seemingly grossed out at the thought. "Good luck getting me to do that!"

Falconfeather looked at her apprentice with surprise. "We'll see about that," she replied, shuffling her paws as if she didn't know how to respond.

Novapaw laughed a bit, looking at Moonpaw as he spoke in a joking tone. "I hope you have to touch the grossest, nastiest, oldest mouse bile the medicine cats have."

The grey and white apprentice gagged again at this, sticking his tongue out at his sibling. "I'll throw it in your face if I have to touch any mouse bile!"

"Oh, don't be like that!~" Shimmerspots laughed lightheartedly as it joined the group with a smile. "Besides, it'd be a LOT funnier to throw mouse bile in Duckpaw's face instead!~"

With a laugh, the golden yellow apprentice playfully nudged his littermates. "Hey, that's not very nice! I'm sure Duckpaw is just messing around!"

"Sunpaw is right, you know." Mothfeather spoke up, agreeing with her apprentice. "Duckpaw is your clanmate, afterall." Her tail flicked slightly, continuing with a slight smile. "You should all try getting along with him, it'd be unfortunate to live in a clan with someone you can't see eye-to-eye with, you know?"

"He can get along with my dead mom." Moonpaw replied snarkily, sticking his tongue out at his brother's mentor.

Shimmerspots smiled at his response with a playful laugh. "Oh, hush, you!"

It stopped laughing after a few moments, smiling calmly at the apprentices as it spoke. "Anyways, like Mothfeather said, today your only duty will be receiving a tour of our territory! So, let's all head out while we can!"

**********

Novapaw followed behind the mentors next to its brothers, looking around curiously as they were led through the territory. It perked its ears up, looking at Falconfeather as she explained where they were once the mentors all stopped. "This here is the Thunderpath, which serves as our border with WindClan. One of our duties as warriors is to check and scent both our borders, along with patrol them to make sure no cats from other clans try to enter ShadowClan."

The dark red apprentice nodded in understanding at this, watching its mentor move to peek inside a tunnel under the thunderpath, flinching slightly as it suddenly rushed inside and yelling at someone. "HEY, WINDCLAN CAT, WHAT'RE YOU DOING DOWN HERE?"

Novapaw ran to look in curiously, seeing its mentor talking to a light brown speckled cat digging in the dirt. The cat quickly got up upon hearing Shimmerspots, running across the tunnel and out into WindClan territory. With a low hiss, Shimmerspots ran back out into ShadowClan territory and yelled to the stranger WindClan cat. "GET OVER HERE!"

The cat suddenly turned around, padding over to the side of the thunderpath and looking at Shimmerspots curiously. The curly-furred warrior noticed and approached the thunderpath, beckoning the strange cat closer with its tail. The cat ran across the thunderpath, stopping in front of Shimmerspots and looking up at it with a wide smile. "HELLO SHADOWCLAN FRIEND! CAN I HELP YOU?"

"I've never spoken to you?" The dark furred warrior looked confused as it looked down at them. "So what were you doing in the tunnel?"

"OH!" The WindClan cat exclaimed, smiling happily at it as they replied. "I LIKE PLAYING IN THE DIRT, IT'S FUN TO SHAKE THE DIRT OUT AFTER!"

            Novapaw heard a couple of hisses, and turned around to see Falconfeather and Mothfeather glaring at the WindClan cat with hostility. I guess they don't like that an enemy warrior is so close to our border?

        "Well, now you're trespassing on ShadowClan territory," Mothfeather replied pointedly. "So we'll have to ask you to leave. It's rather strange that a WindClan cat is out here all by themselves instead of patrolling with their clanmates,"

        The WindClan warrior was quiet for a moment, suddenly speaking in a disappointed voice. "OH HARE DUNG! I FORGOT ABOUT MY WARRIOR'S ASSESSMENT!" They exclaimed, suddenly running back across the Thunderpath and into WindClan territory.

       Novapaw looked at its brothers in surprise. What was that all about? It wondered to itself in confusion. Was that really an apprentice? They looked to be the size of a warrior!

         To its surprise, Shimmerspots let out an amused purr. "What a silly little WindClan cat! Playing in the dirt like that, how amusing!"

      "Hopefully their mentor will get them in trouble. We should definitely report this to Copperstar once we return to camp," Mothfeather, the oldest of the mentors, suggested. She looked down at Sunpaw. "Now that's a great example of what not to do while your still paws',"

        Sunpaw stepped closer to his mentor. "I know better than to run off from you, Mothfeather! Especially since this is all so new to me!" He replied.

         "Oh, I can't wait until I run into more enemy warriors at our border," Moonpaw lashed his tail. "I'll be more than happy to shred them!"

         Before Falconfeather could reply, Shimmerspots interrupted her. "That's the spirit, young one! You sound like you'll be a strong fighter one day!"

        Moonpaw's eyes sparkled at this. "You hear that, Novapaw? Maybe we should switch mentors. Shimmerspots doesn't seem all that bad!"

         Novapaw didn't reply, its head hung low. I wish I could, but I don't have much choice in the matter. I guess I'm stuck with a weird cat like Shimmerspots...