Chapter 2

"C'mon, wake up!" Silverkit heard a whine as a paw poked her behind over and over. The irritated kit growled lowly.

"How many times am I going to have to go through this?" She hissed at Pinekit. "Stop prodding me!"

"Well, I wouldn't if you'd just wake up! Come on, it's the day of our ceremony, and Oakstar has called it!" Silverkit sat up, blinking in a daze. The ceremony's today? I must've forgotten about it, she thought. After several moments of pondering, Silverkit finally stood up and exited the nursery with Pinekit.

"Ah, there they are!" Silverkit heard a beautiful voice mew. She immediately recognized her mother. "Oh my, you can't have a ceremony looking like that!" The queen fretted. In a hurry, Moonrise scooped Silverkit close to her, and vigorously groomed her kit's head.

"Stop it! I can take care of myself!" Silverkit complained. "Can you blame me? I just woke up from a nap, I'm not going to have perfect fur." Moonrise stopped grooming to reply to her daughter, but abruptly stopped as she was interrupted by a strong, loud, and charming voice.

"I would like four kits to step up, please: Silverkit, Rainkit, Pinekit, and Darkkit." With optimism and excitement bouncing in their step, the quartet of friends approached the leader. "By naming apprentices, we show that ThunderClan will survive and remain strong. Darkkit, you will be known as Darkpaw... Badgerclaw, you are ready for an apprentice. You will be Darkpaw's mentor. Pinekit will be known as Pinepaw, and Ashleap will mentor you. Rainkit is now known as Rainpaw, and Rabbitstep is her mentor. And finally, Silverkit will be known as Silverpaw, and Sparrowflight shall be her mentor."

"Darkpaw! Pinepaw! Rainpaw! Silverpaw!" The Clan roared. Their mighty chant sent shivers down Silverpaw's spine, and their noise echoed throughout and shook the camp to its very roots. She glanced down at Sparrowflight, watching him gaze back at her. I don't think I've ever even talked to this tom, she thought. What is he like?

Out of nowhere, the gigantically- tall warrior stalked over to her, and expressionlessly touched his nose to her. Silverpaw stared at him, her face flushing. She had never been one to like making physical contact with cats she didn't truly know.

"I'm Sparrowflight, your mentor. Don't worry, I'm not as bad as I may seem; I didn't get any sleep today, that's all!" Her mentor greeted with a childishly- friendly manner.

At least he's not one of those super mean mentors that are never satisfied with you, Silverpaw thought with relief.

"We start training at dawn, okay? But before anything, you should go bask in the glory of being a new apprentice!" Sparrowflight yipped. Silverpaw nodded. Before she could approach her friends and sister, the camp was suddenly silenced by their leader.

"Oh StarClan, how could I forget?" Oakstar slightly chuckled. "We also have new warriors to name! Blossompaw, Timberpaw, please come forward." Silverpaw stared in amazement at the two older apprentices. Blossompaw was lean and buff, but not too much to make her look like a tom. Timberpaw was a masculine apprentice, with a thin scar running across his snout- he looked almost like a rouge. "Blossompaw and Timberpaw, you have fought courageously and learned our Warrior Code to its full extent. You have the charisma, knowledge, and power of true ThunderClan warriors. From now on, you will be addressed as Blossomdawn and Timberwolf, the newest ThunderClan warriors!"

"Blossomdawn! Timberwolf!" The Clan cheered.

"You will both be the head of the night vigil, and will be notified when it is over at dawn. Clan dismissed!" Oakstar announced. Silverpaw looked around, and saw everyone crowding around the rookie warriors. Silverpaw smiled and trotted to her friends.

"Can you believe we're apprentices?" Darkpaw yowled with happiness. "We're one step closer to being the warriors we want to be!"

The four friends had chatted all night, until their mentors told them to go to bed in their new den. Silverpaw circled in her new moss bed and lied down, closing her eyes. Tomorrow, my new life begins, she thought, dozing into the beckoning of sleep.