"Deepkit, Tumblekit come here!" Daisy called. Her kits jumped up and came running towards their mother. "It's time for you to be apprenticed," she said.

"Really?" Deepkit said excitedly. They are getting quite big. Squirrelflight noticed.

"Yes, Firestar is about to call a clan meeting," Daisy said. Right after the queen's words, Firestar hopped onto the rock and called a clan gathering. 

"We come here to make two kits into apprentices," Firestar paused as he searched the crowd of gathering cats for the two kits. "Deepkit and Tumblekit, from this day forward until you receive your warrior name you shall be known as Deeppaw and Tumplepaw." 

Everyone started to chant the names until Firestar cut them off. 

"Deeppaw you shall be apprenticed under Greystripe... Tumblepaw you will be apprenticed under me." Squirrelflight could hear the gasps since it was quite unusual for a leader to take an apprentice but it made sense with how many apprentices the clan had. 

"Berrypaw, Mousepaw, and Hazelpaw it has come time for you to be made warriors. From this point on Berrypaw, you shall be known as Berrynose. Mousepaw you shall be known as Mousewhisker, and Hazelpaw you shall be known as Hazeltail. Starclan and all of Thunderclan welcome you as warriors." 

The clan once again chanted the names of the new warriors. 

"Now let us feast we will send out two hunting patrols. Greystripe you can lead one and Brambleclaw you can lead one. I will join Greystripe's patrol with my new apprentice." 

The cats all found their places among the patrols or in the camp. Squirrelflight loved her kits but she longed to be on one of those patrols. She curled up next to her kits hoping to get some sleep before the patrols came back with a meal. 

She heard quiet paw steps coming into the nursery. "Squirrelflight," he purred.

"Ashfur shouldn't you be on a patrol?" she asked. She wanted him to stay but Lionpaw meant a lot to her... even if he wasn't her real kit she still loved him. Once she came out to say that the kits were her and Ashfur's everyone said that Lionpaw should be given a different mentor so his father wouldn't go easy on him. Firestar decided that it was going to be okay. 

"Brambleclaw is taking him out... I really wanted to spend time with you but if you don't want me here I can leave..." Ashfur started to trail off as he hung his head.

"If you got someone to cover for you then of course but remember Lionpaw is important too and he is also your kit," Squirrelflight said. "We don't want him thinking that his father doesn't love him do we?" 

"Of course not," Ashfur purred. The grey tom curled around the queen and started licking her giving her a quick clean. Squirrelfligh fell asleep next to her young kits. 

A few weeks had passed and the kits had opened their eyes. They started playing around together with the moss ball. Fiercekit was the strongest but Snakekit was quite smart and outwitted his brother often. Bravekit had shown amazing power when it came to play fighting. Squirrelflight had been watching her kits for the past weeks and had learned everything about them.

"Squirrelflight watch this, Berrynose taught me this." Fiercekit and Berrynose got along very well and Squirrelflight was thinking that Berrynose would mentor the kit when the time came. Fiercekit performed a small simple battle move almost flawlessly. When he was done Berrynose gave him a few pointers. 

Is it normal for him to act like he is already mentoring the kit? Squirrelflight thought. Berrynose had obviously chosen a favorite when it came to the kits but still, he seemed to be acting like this was real training. Fiercekit was only a few moons old!

"Berrynose why don't you go find a patrol and leave the kits to play?" Squirrelflight asked as she padded up to the cream tom. "I love how you are training them but you need to be some use to your clan... and your time will come when Fiercekit needs a strong mentor."

"You're right," Berrynose dipped his head politely and walked off. Squirrelfligh was surprised at his behavior he usually acted like a defiant kit. 

"Mother, why would you do that? He was just training us. We want to be apprentices," Fiercekit said with a mopey look. 

"you're kits you don't need to be trained yet. Fiercekit your time will come don't worry." Squirrelflight assured. 

"One day we will all be the best Warriors ever!" Bravekit declared as she pounced on Birdkit. 

"Hey!" Birdkit said as she pushed her sister off. "Robinkit let's double-team her!" 

"That's a good idea!" Robinkit called as she pounced on her sister. Birdkit and Robinkit were giving little swipes at their sister who didn't mind. 

"I'm still going to win," Bravekit taunted as she jumped up from underneath them. "Thunderclan always wins."

"You're not Thunderclan you're Shadowclan!" Birdkit and Robinkit meowed loudly. 

"You're just saying that because Shadowclan always lies," Bravekit taunted as she swiped at Birdkit. 

Birkit pounced on her sister and then pretended to bite her neck. Bravekit went limp and Birdkit stood on top of her sister with a triumphant face. 

"Get off of my sister Shadowclan!" Fiercekit roared as he ran and tackled Birdkit to the ground. Fiercekit already had small muscles under his pelt. He is going to become a great warrior. Squirrelfight thought as she looked at her kits. 

"Snakekit can you grab me something off the fresh-kill pile please?" Squirrelflight asked. 

Her kits suddenly all looked up. "That's a task for a real warrior," one would say "I can do that for a queen," and of course this one "You don't want him doing that for you." 

When they came back Robinkit and Birdkit had dragged over a small squirrel and Snakekit brought nothing while Fiercekit and Bravekit each brought a mouse. 

"Snakekit why don't you get something to eat off the fresh-kill pile?" Squirrelflight said. "Your siblings all already have something to eat." At the word, the kits started gobbling down the prey like they had been starved. 

Snakekit padded over to the pile and pulled out a mouse. He sat down and cleanly ate his meal. 

"Look at my little warriors," Ashfur greeted as he sat down next to his mate. 

"Aren't Lionpaw and Hollypaw getting assessed?" Squirrelflight asked.

"Yes... I requested that Lionpaw be given to Brambleclaw because well with the kits it's hard for me to train him. I completed the hunting part of the assessment but from here on out Lionpaw is getting trained under Brambleclaw." Ashfur looked away from Squirrelflight's gaze. "Don't be mad,"

"I'm not mad I think that was the best decision," Squirrelflight said.