The Apprentice's Quest

He hoped furiously that Mistystar hadn’t heard the comment, but if she had, she ignored it.

“A new litter of four kits has been born to Lakeheart,” she announced, then dipped her head again to Rowanstar before resuming her seat.

“Onestar?” Rowanstar gestured to the WindClan leader.

“Hunting has been good on the moor,” Onestar announced.

“I bet he hasn’t done much hunting,” Needlepaw muttered. “Creaky old mange-pelt!”

“Yeah, my mentor said he couldn’t catch a blind hedgehog, never mind a rabbit,” Sleekpaw responded.

They’re talking about a Clan leader!

Alderpaw couldn’t help but be amused, and he heard a suppressed snort of laughter from Sparkpaw. But he was shocked by their comments, and even more shocked that ShadowClan warriors would talk like that in front of apprentices.

“Some rogues passed through the edges of our territory,” Onestar continued. “Crowfeather led a patrol to keep an eye on them, and the rogues left without making any trouble. They’ll be a long way away by now.”

“I’d have clawed their ears off if they’d come to ShadowClan,” Beepaw murmured, sliding out her claws. “That’d teach them not to trespass on our territory.”

“WindClan has always been weak,” Needlepaw added. “That’s what I heard Tawnypelt telling Crowfrost, anyway.”

Sleekpaw bent forward to mutter something into Needlepaw’s ear, but Alderpaw stopped listening, as Bramblestar had just risen to make his report.

“The prey is running well in ThunderClan,” the tabby tom meowed. “And two new apprentices, Alderpaw and Sparkpaw, have begun training with their mentors, Molewhisker and Cherryfall.”

Alderpaw was aware of every cat turning to look at him and his littermate. Some of them yowled out their names. “Alderpaw! Sparkpaw!”

Utterly embarrassed, he lowered his head to lick his chest fur. It was bad enough being the center of attention when it was just my own Clan!

Sparkpaw, however, was preening, thoroughly enjoying the welcoming yowls of the other cats.

Bramblestar had taken his seat on the branch again, and Rowanstar stepped forward.

“Prey is plentiful in ShadowClan,” he reported.

“Honestly!” Needlepaw whispered. “Does any cat expect him to say anything else? If we were all starving, he’d say just the same. He must think we’re all mouse-brained.”

Alderpaw was shocked all over again at the disrespectful way Needlepaw spoke. Don’t these cats even respect their own leader? I would never talk about Bramblestar like that!

He was sure that Rowanstar wasn’t lying. These sleek she-cats obviously had all the prey they could eat.

“Twolegs are still using the greenleaf

Twolegplace on our territory,” Rowanstar went on. “But they haven’t caused much trouble, and as the weather gets colder over the next couple of moons, we don’t expect to see much of them.”

“And it can’t be soon enough for me,” Needlepaw muttered.

“Two of our apprentices have been made warriors.” Rowanstar glanced down proudly, sweeping his tail around to indicate a white tom and a yellow she-cat, who stood close together near the Great Oak. “Stonewing and Wasptail.”

The two new warriors stood up straighter, their eyes gleaming, as their Clanmates yowled their names enthusiastically. Most of the other cats joined in.

“Also,” Rowanstar continued when the clamor had died down, “four kits have been made apprentices. Beepaw is apprenticed to Dawnpelt, Sleekpaw to Tigerheart, Juniperpaw to Stonewing, and Strikepaw to Wasptail.”

Instead of yowling to acclaim the new apprentices, a murmur of surprise arose from all the cats. Onestar looked sharply at the ginger tom. “Is ShadowClan really giving apprentices to brand-new warriors now?” he asked disapprovingly.

“By the time ShadowClan cats are warriors,” Rowanstar retorted, the faintest suggestion of a growl in his voice, “they’re ready for anything. Other Clans need to stay out of ShadowClan business.”

Alderpaw noticed that the ShadowClan apprentices sitting beside him were looking a bit smug.

“ShadowClan has lots of apprentices,” Needlepaw informed him loftily. “Rowanstar doesn’t know what to do with us all.”

“That’s nice for you,” Sparkpaw mewed pertly.

Alderpaw felt even more strongly that it was weird, both the way the ShadowClan apprentices talked about their leader and the fact that an apprentice would be so casual about sharing her Clan’s weaknesses with others.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he noticed that the four Clan leaders had drawn closer together in the branches of the oak tree and were speaking to one another in low tones.

A moment later Rowanstar stepped forward again. “The medicine cats have something to say to all the Clans,” he announced. “Something important that they have only discussed with their leaders so far.”