snakepaw

~~~

THE DAY COULD NOT BE MORE PERFECT. It was the peak of greenleaf. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the sky was a brilliant shade of blue.

Snakekit and Viperkit stood outside the nursery, cleaning their pelts with great care. Normally, the toms wouldn't care, but today was special. It was their apprentice ceremony, and they had to look their best.

"I wonder who I'm going to get as a mentor," Viperkit wondered aloud. 

Snakekit smirked to himself, remembering what Foxstorm had said to him on the day of the Carrionplace. If Foxstorm thought his actions were brave, then there's no reason for anyone else to have an issue with it.

And that was why he was so iffy that day after Featherflight's scolding, causing the big argument with Mintkit.

Speaking of which, the gray she-kit had become cold and distant from her brothers. She hardly spoke to them anymore, and even moved from their shared nest to her own. If he was being honest, Snakekit missed her snappy remarks, but there was no way he was going to admit that.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Ivorystar leaping up onto the Clanrock, raising her head and releasing a loud yowl.

Excitement beat in his chest. It was starting.

"Let all cats of ShadowClan gather around this Clanrock for an Apprentice Ceremony!"

The two brothers scrambled to the Clanrock eagerly as Mintkit appeared from the nursery and followed more slowly. It was only moments before the entirety of ShadowClan had arrived, spotting their friends and quickly finding a seat.

"Snakekit, Viperkit, Mintkit, can you step forward, please?" Ivorystar requested. The three littermates sped to the edge of the Clanrock and sat proudly in front of their Clanmates.

"Snakekit," Ivorystar began, "you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Snakepaw." She didn't waste time looking around the crowd for a mentor. "Your mentor will be Foxstorm. He is a very talented warrior, and I hope Foxstorm will pass down all he knows on to you."

"I will," Foxstorm vowed, stepping forward and tapping noses with Snakepaw.

Ivorystar moved on to Viperkit, giving him the name Viperpaw and assigning him to Sandstrike. 

"Mintkit," the ShadowClan leader meowed, "you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. Your mentor shall be Clearfrost."

Viperpaw stiffened with shock beside Snakepaw, shooting his sister a puzzled look. "I thought you didn't want to be a medicine cat?" he whispered.

"Be quiet," the gray tabby hissed back. "Don't talk while the leader's performing the ceremony."

Ivorystar finished up her speech, and Mintpaw hopped forward to tap noses with Clearfrost.

"Snakepaw! Viperpaw! Mintpaw!" the Clan erupted in cheers, and Snakepaw puffed out his chest. It felt good to be recognized and appreciated, especially since Clearfrost never spared him any time out of her day.

Frozenkit was the first to greet them as soon as the ceremony concluded. "Congratulations!" she mewed cheerfully. Her white fur was practically beaming under the sunlight, and her amber eyes had turned into a beautiful shade of gold.

"Thanks," Snakepaw replied, swishing his tail. "I can't wait to learn how to fight and hunt."

"I'm sure you'll do a great job," Frozenkit offered, before turning to his sister. "Especially you, Mintpaw! I'm certain you'll make a great medicine cat."

Mintpaw eyed her coldly. "Thanks," she muttered, before stalking past, bumping Frozenkit's shoulder harshly as she went.

Viperpaw's eyes widened as he watched his sister retreat, and Snakepaw's pelt burned with embarrassment. Couldn't she be a little nicer? She didn't have to be so icy all the time.

"Ignore her," Viperpaw meowed, seeing the hurt in Frozenkit's eyes. "She's a little agitated this morning, it's not personal."

"Snakepaw! Viperpaw!" Foxstorm called to the new apprentices. Spinning around, the brothers saw their mentors standing by the entrance. "Come on, do you want a tour of the territory or what?"

Snakepaw felt excitement build up in him again. "Coming! Let's go, Viperpaw."

"See you later, Frozenkit," Viperpaw meowed before quickly following Snakekit over to their mentors.

"Bye!" the white she-kit called after them.

~~~

"And there's ThunderClan's border," Sandstrike meowed, nodding at a Thunderpath that separated the two lands. "Even though there's a whole Thunderpath separating us, we still need to mark the borders, just in case."

"Now, why don't we practice some hunting moves," Foxstorm suggested. "We can teach you guys how to go from a crouch into a leap."

Sandstrike demonstrated the crouch, and Snakepaw quickly did his best to replicate it. Foxstorm came around, nudging his and Viperpaw's paws into place.

"Perfect," the ginger tom meowed. "Now, if you just push off with your hind legs, you should be able to-"

The bushes rustled, cutting him off; moments later, Clearfrost and Mintpaw appeared. The gray tabby's eyes were wide as she looked around the territory, clearly in awe of everything she was seeing. That sparkle in her eyes faded instantly as she spotted her brothers.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to disrupt," Clearfrost meowed, sweeping her tail in indication at the two apprentices crouched in front of her.

"You didn't disrupt at all," Foxstorm assured. "In fact, I'm sure Snakepaw and Viperpaw would perform better with an audience."

Mintpaw's eyes glittered with curiosity. "What are they doing?"

"They're in a crouch right now, and they're going to leap," Sandstrike explained. "It's beneficial when trying to catch prey, as you may need to make a very far jump."

"Can I try?"

Everyone's heads whipped toward Mintpaw at her words, shock etched in their faces.

The medicine cat apprentice flushed, embarrassed. "Sorry. I mean, if this is a warriors only thing-"

"It's not, you can give it a go," Foxstorm offered, before glancing at Clearfrost. "If that's okay."

Clearfrost shrugged, sitting down. "Why not?" She licked a paw, drawing it over her ear. "But be quick, we have some herbs to learn after this."

Mintpaw nodded, quickly scooching herself next to Snakepaw. The tom glanced at her in annoyance. She was a medicine cat apprentice, what was she trying to do?

"Okay, Viperpaw, you go," Sandstrike meowed with a nod. The tom pushed off... and fell over. It seemed his front paws didn't quite leave the ground with his hind ones, so they tangled with each other and pulled him down.

Viperpaw was chagrined, picking himself up quickly. "Sorry," he squeaked.

"No matter, it was only your first try," Sandstrike replied. "Okay, now Snakepaw."

Snakepaw was determined not to make the same mistake as his brother. Pushing off his hind legs, he felt himself flying through the air, landing squarely on all four paws, whisking his tail triumphantly.

"Good job," Foxstorm praised as Viperpaw let out a soft cheer. "That was perfect, you went much further than most apprentices normally would."

Snakepaw puffed out his chest proudly.

The ginger tom turned to the medicine cat apprentice. "Mintpaw?"

Snakepaw eyed her. This should be good.

Mintpaw took a deep breath, and shoved off. Her slim body breezed through the air, powerful hind legs giving her plenty of momentum. Her long front legs stretched out to touch the ground before her hind legs followed, whisking her tail.

Silence followed the jump.

No, it wasn't the fact that she'd completed it well when Viperpaw couldn't, though that was probably enough to make every cat surprised.

Rather, it was that she'd leaped further than Snakepaw. And not just by a little bit.

Snakepaw couldn't help but stare at his sister in frozen shock, feeling embarrassment burn his pelt. How did that happen?

He waited for Mintpaw to look over at him with a smug smirk, but she never did. Instead, she held up a paw and stared at it, as if she, too, had surprised herself.

"Well, I think that's the farthest I've seen any apprentice jump on their first try." Sandstrike broke the silence. "Are you sure you don't want to be a warrior apprentice instead?"

Mintpaw opened her jaws to reply, but her words were never heard, as Clearfrost quickly interrupted.

"Come on, Mintpaw, we still have herbs to find. Let's go." 

"Oh- yes, I'm sorry," Mintpaw apologized, quickly scrambling up.

And with that, the two she-cats disappeared, leaving the four toms still a little dazed and surprised.