"Nothing to report on the SunClan border." Riverstorm spoke, reporting to Ivyheart with the results of her reports. "The border was a little faint, but it seems like SunClan may have just been slow getting out on patrol today."

"Thank you, Riverstorm." Ivyheart gave Riverstorm an approving nod. "Get yourself some prey."

"Will do." Riverstorm confirmed and padded away from the deputy, feeling her paws drag slightly. Now that newleaf had arrived, Ivyheart no longer needed help planning patrols and Riverstorm was back to being a normal warrior, something she didn't like. She missed being deputy, it felt right for her. I was made to be deputy. Riverstorm thought, glancing briefly over her shoulder at Ivyheart. The deputy was starting to show her age more and more. She'll retire soon enough, and I will take her place. Riverstorm reminded herself.

And today was a day that Riverstorm had been looking forward to since she had been made a warrior; Ravenfur's kits were becoming apprentices. She's was more than ready to start training an eager young apprentice, she would train them just as Goldenstar had trained her. I will make her proud. Riverstorm vowed. She would make sure that Batkit would become a strong and loyal warrior.

Riverstorm padded over the fresh-kill pile and grabbed herself a mouse, sitting near the warrior's den. The ceremony would be held soon, she glanced over to the nursery where Ravenfur was desperately trying to get her kits in order with Mousetail attempting to help. Batkit in particular was quite rowdy, he had a lot of energy that Riverstorm would have to work with, she would make sure to correct his behavior and shape him into an honorable warrior.

Riverstorm waited patiently for the ceremony, she had waited this long she could wait a bit longer. She looked around for the other mentors, knowing that Echoheart was on patrol and the ceremony wouldn't start until she got back. Riverstorm wondered how here sister would handle being a mentor. She's been working hard lately, I can credit her that much. Riverstorm thought, looking down at her paws. But she never speaks to anyone unless she has to. Perhaps having an apprentice will be good for her. Riverstorm's tail twitched, she had a weird form of faith in her sister, it could be that training an apprentice would be just what Echoheart needed.

It's been four moons since she attacked Cedarclaw, surely she can't still be stuck up on some useless MoonClan tom? Riverstorm struggled to understand how the two of them even managed to get feelings for each other. Riverstorm often struggled to grasp how cats fell in love, she had never felt such a thing. Half a moon ago, Graypelt and Hazelfern announced they were having kits and Hazelfern soon moved into the nursery. She overheard Robinflight as well as a few other she-cats mention how badly they wanted kits.

The thought of being trapped in the nursery for eight moons was enough to make Riverstorm never want kits, let alone the idea of having to deal with squealing and annoying kits all day long. I'm glad others are having kits, but its not for me. Riverstorm's thoughts about kits were stopped when she heard pawsteps as Echoheart's hunting patrol returned.

She glanced towards their direction and saw Echoheart at the lead with a mouthful of prey, she was carrying the most out of her patrol, something that wasn't unusual. As the patrol returned and set their prey on the fresh-kill pile, Ivyheart spotted them and padded towards Goldenstar's den, presumably to tell the leader that it was time for the ceremony.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Goldenstar emerged and proceeded to the center of camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!" Her powerful voice spread throughout the camp, getting the attention of every cat in AshClan, specifically the kits.

Ravenfur and Mousetail had to fight them from running off, Riverstorm's ear twitched in annoyance. She didn't act like that when she became an apprentice. Or did I? Riverstorm couldn't remember, it felt like so long ago.

Riverstorm sat down beside Lionpelt and waited for the rest of the Clan to gather. She made eye contact with Jayclaw who gave her an approving nod, he knew she would finally be getting an apprentice.

Once the Clan had finally gathered, the four kits sitting close together and squirming with anticipation, Goldenstar could begin. "I have called this meeting because four of our young kits have reached the age of six moons and are ready to set their paws forward on the path to becoming warriors. The four kits muttered quietly to themselves in pure excitement.

"Batkit," Goldenstar spoke loudly, pulling the gray tom forward. My apprentice is first. Riverstorm lifted her head high. "From this day forward, until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Batpaw. I have chosen Riverstorm as your mentor, she is one of the most loyal and respectable cats in this Clan and I know that she will shape you into just as fine a warrior."

Riverstorm rose to her paws and confidently padded to the center of the crowd and faced Batpaw. His amber eyes were as wide as the sun and his paws trembled with excitement. Riverstorm leaned forward and touched her muzzle to his, forming their bond as mentor and apprentice. They then walked to the side and sat back down.

"What are we--" Riverstorm shot Batpaw a look, silencing him. He stopped himself and nodded, sitting up straight. He's trying to imitate me. Riverstorm thought, stifling a chuckle. She returned her attention back to the ceremony.

"Nightkit, from this day forward until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Nightpaw. Your mentor will be the calm and kindhearted Rainsong, I know that she will mentor you will." Rainsong and Nightpaw did the same thing that Riverstorm and Batpaw did before stepping to the side.

"Dustkit, from this day forward until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Dustpaw. Your mentor will be Owlstorm, he is a well seasoned and experienced warrior, he will be a wonderful mentor." The last apprentice remaining was Crowkit, arguably the best behaved apprentice. "Crowkit, from this day forward until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Crowpaw. Your mentor will be Echoheart, she has turned herself into a respectable and honorable warrior, I trust her to train you well."

Echoheart stepped forward, wearing her usual stoic expression, but her marshy green eyes seemed every so slightly softer. Echoheart touched her muzzle to Crowpaw's and the two of them returned to the crowd.

"Batpaw! Nightpaw! Dustpaw! Crowpaw!" The Clan cheered loudly for their newest apprentice and Ravenfur and Mousetail watched their kits with pride. Once the meeting ended, Batpaw jumped to his paws, clearly ready to start talking now.

"I'm so excited!" He beamed. "I wanna do everything! I wanna catch a bird, and explore the forest and--"

"The first thing you'll learn how to do is show some respect and dignity." Riverstorm mewed, making her tone sharp so Batpaw learned. Batpaw cut himself off and tried to compose himself.

"Right." Batpaw held his head high. "What shall we do first?" He's forcing it now. Riverstorm playfully rolled her eyes. "We can start with some hunting training," His eyes went wide. "There's no guarantee that you will catch something today, but we can get started on the basics."

"Okay!" Batpaw was clearly very eager to learn, but Riverstorm could tell she had a lot of work ahead of her if Batpaw was going to learn patience and discipline.

"Let's head out." Riverstorm took charge and started leading her new apprentice outside of camp.

"Aren't we going to train with my siblings?" Batpaw questioned, looking over his shoulder as his voice sounded slightly downtrodden.

"There will be time for that later." Riverstorm informed him. She barely trained with Echoheart when she was an apprentice, Goldenstar worked her hard and she turned out great because of it. Riverstorm didn't plan on keeping Batpaw completely isolated from his littermates during training, but she needed his complete focus for now.

Riverstorm led Batpaw away from camp towards the small clearing in the center of the territory. As they padded through the forest, she saw Batpaw looking around with pure awe. He was completely starstruck by how big their territory actually was. Riverstorm struggled to remember if she had been the same way. She was realizing she didn't remember a lot about her early apprenticeship when Silverstripe was still her mentor.

She hadn't thought about her first mentor in a long time, she wondered if he was proud of the things she had done and the warrior she had become. He was a good mentor, we just weren't a good match. Riverstorm reminded herself.

At long last, the two of them reached the clearing and Riverstorm faced her apprentice. He was clearly still in awe about the forest around him, he seemed more keen on exploring than learning. "Focus please." Riverstorm raised her voice, drawing Batpaw's attention back to her.

"Sorry, Riverstorm." Batpaw faced her once more, standing slightly more rigid.

"It's alright, but when you're out with me I expect you to be focused. You have a lot to learn if you want to become a strong warrior like me." Batpaw gave a small nod and focused on her. "Hunting is one of the most important skill a warrior can know, prey determines if our Clanmates will survive. The first step is learning the hunting crouch."

Riverstorm demonstrated but dropping into the perfect hunting crouch. "Copy me." She instructed.

Batpaw dropped down as well, it was surprisingly good but he still needed help. Riverstorm rose to her paws and circled him twice. She placed her paw on his hind leg which was jutting out at an improper angel and pushed it in. "You need to make yourself small and compact, you'll be putting all of your power into your hind legs and aiming with your forepaws."

She picked up a pinecone and placed it down a few mouselengths away. "Try and pounce on the pinecone." She instructed and sat down, watching her apprentice closely.

Batpaw didn't wait and jumped forward, one paw landed ahead of the other, hitting the pinecone and sending it flying into the brush. Batpaw's stance was clumsy and he slid forward, bumping his chin on the ground. "You need to keep your form better." Riverstorm spoke, retrieving the pinecone. She placed it back on the ground. "Watch." Batpaw sat back up and watched Riverstorm intently.

Riverstorm dropped into the hunter crouch and pounced, her paws landing cleanly on the pinecone to show Batpaw what he needed to do. She rose back to her paws and faced Batpaw, she was struggling to read his expression. "Let's keep going." She watched Batpaw pounce again, this time his paws came short of the pinecone. Riverstorm looked at her apprentice with interest. We have a lot of work to do.

*****

"Get some rest, Batpaw." Riverstorm told her apprentice once they returned to camp, she could see just how exhausted her apprentice was, they had worked hard to master the hunter's crouch but he still wasn't quite getting it. I wonder what's going wrong. Riverstorm pondered, watching her apprentice go to his siblings who had already returned.

"There you are, Batpaw." Nightpaw mewed. "We were wondering where you were." Riverstorm sat down, starting to wash her paws, she couldn't help but overhear their conversation however, even as Batpaw lowered his voice.

"I was really exciting to learn how to hunt but I just couldn't get the hunter's crouch right and Riverstorm wouldn't let me try anything. She's going to be such a strict mentor, I was hoping for someone fun."

Riverstorm's ears went back slightly. Training isn't supposed to be fun. It's training.

"Really? I love training with Echoheart, she's amazing. She's very calm and understanding, we all went around the territory today. We missed you." Crowpaw explained, making Riverstorm feel even more annoyed.

"I wish I got someone like Echoheart as a mentor." Batpaw sighed, crushing Riverstorm even more. He wishes for...Echoheart? Instead of me? I am one of the greatest warriors n this Clan and he wants my sister over me? She was feeling genuinely offended, how could Batpaw say something like that?

"You doing alright over here?" Riverstorm tuned out the apprentice's conversation as Lionpelt approached her. "I hardly ever see you spacing out like that." He sat down beside her.

"It turns out my apprentice would rather have my sister as a mentor." Riverstorm grumbled.

"Is that so?" Lionpelt let out a chuckle. "Let me guess, you're trying to train him just like my mother trained you."

Riverstar looked over at him. "Of course I am, that's what made me a great warrior."

"You are a great warrior, and maybe that method of training worked for you but it doen't work for everyone. Every apprentice is different, we have to adapt our skills to train apprentices. Batpaw isn't you and you aren't Goldenstar. You need to listen to your apprentice, he's not ambitious like you, he just wants to be a good warrior."

Riverstorm looked at her paws. I suppose he does have a point... Riverstorm had been so focused on honoring Goldenstar that she didn't realize how different Batpaw was from her. I want to make him into a great warrior, but just because he's not like me doesn't mean he won't be. Riverstorm took a deep breath. "Thank you, Lionpelt." She turned to her friend. "Tomorrow I will start fresh with Batpaw, I'll be a good mentor to him."

"Good." Lionpelt flicked his tails over her ears. "I understand you idolize my mother, but you're your own cat now Riverstorm. Follow your own heart."

My own heart? Riverstorm looked over to Batpaw once again, laughing and having fun with his siblings. My heart is telling me to be a good mentor to Batpaw, and that's just what I'll do.