“Sorry.” Shimmerpelt flicked her tail. “I didn’t see you.”
Lakeshine’s mottled gray pelt made her look like dappled shadow beside the shore. “It’s okay.” The she-cat licked her wet fur. “It’ll cool me down.”
Brambleberry emerged from the medicine den and sat beside Softpaw. The apprentice was lapping at her chest where mossy willow bark had turned her snowy white fur into another patch of tabby.
Whitepaw came hurtling from the dirtplace tunnel. “Did I miss anything?” He circled his mentor.
Timberfur sat down. “Not yet.”
Crookedkit wondered where to sit. Shellheart was beside Hailstar. Rainflower stood apart from her Clanmates, Oakkit at her side. Oakkit’s eyes sparkled. Crookedkit wanted to race across the clearing and wish him luck. But he knew Rainflower would send him away with a snarl.
Brambleberry flicked her tail toward Crookedkit. “Sit with me.” She stroked Crookedkit’s spine with her tail as he reached her. “It’s nice and cool here.”
As he settled beneath the willow beside her, Echomist joined him. “I bet you’re proud of your brother.”
Crookedkit purred. Soon Oakkit would be the strongest and bravest apprentice in the Clan. “He’s going to be a great warrior, like Shellheart.”
Echomist’s scent touched his nose and nursery memories rushed back. When a bad dream woke him, she’d let him creep into her nest and bundled him among her own kits. She always gently pushed him out before dawn so he could go back to his own nest before Rainflower woke up. “It’s best not to cause trouble,” she’d whisper, licking his ears.
“I think Oakkit’s trying to get your attention.” Brambleberry nudged Crookedkit from his thoughts. Oakkit was staring at him, mouthing something. Crookedkit tried to guess what he was saying. It looked like “Crookedpaw.” He’s wishing I was getting my apprentice name, too. Warmth flooded him. It won’t be long, he silently promised.
Hailstar dipped his head. “Oakkit, come here.”
As Oakkit padded forward, Hailstar called another name. “Shellheart!”
Crookedkit blinked. Hailstar was making Shellheart Oakkit’s mentor! Fathers never mentored their own kits. He stared at Rainflower. Her eyes glowed. She had planned this. Crookedkit felt suddenly cold.
Hailstar’s gaze swept the Clan. “Shellheart and Oakkit share courage, strength, and loyalty.” He dipped his head to his deputy. “Strengthen those talents in your apprentice, Shellheart, and make Oakpaw a warrior who will lead RiverClan to greatness.”
“Oakpaw!” Rainflower was the first to raise her voice in praise of RiverClan’s newest apprentice.
“Oakpaw!” Volepaw and Petalpaw joined in. Timberfur and Brightsky lashed their tails enthusiastically as they called out Oakpaw’s new name.
Crookedkit scanned the reeds, looking for a glimpse of orange-and-white pelt. The StarClan cat had come before. Would she come now to remind him of his destiny? Or was Oakpaw going to get that, too?
“Join in!” Crookedkit felt Brambleberry’s breath in his ear and realized he hadn’t called his brother’s new name.
“Oakpaw! Oakpaw!” he yowled to the wide blue sky. Oh, StarClan, let him be a great warrior! As the plea flashed in his thoughts, Oakpaw padded toward him.
“Thank you.” Oakpaw bent his head and rubbed his jaw along Crookedkit’s. “I hope we get to train together soon. You’re my littermate and I’ll always be there for you.”
Crookedkit purred, his jealousy melting. He loved Oakpaw too much to want anything less than the best for him. He just wished Rainflower loved them equally.
Oakpaw’s eyes shone as he turned back to Hailstar. “I promise I will train hard to become the best warrior I can be.”
Rainflower crossed the clearing. “Well done, my dear,” she purred to Oakpaw.
Shellheart pushed in front of her and touched Oakpaw’s head with the tip of his muzzle. “I’ll expect you to train harder than any other apprentice,” he warned. “I don’t want anyone saying I’m going easy on you because you’re my kit.”
“Neither do I!” Oakpaw puffed out his chest.
Shellheart glanced at Crookedkit. “There’s no reason I can’t show you some of the moves I teach Oakpaw,” he promised. Excitement fizzed in Crookedkit’s paws.
“Don’t be silly.” Rainflower sniffed. “He’s too small.”
Crookedkit stared at her, his twisted jaw gaping. He shut it quickly and swallowed. Was she right? He was eating as much as he could, and he had nearly outgrown his nest in the nursery.
Pelts brushed past his nose as Petalpaw and Volepaw crowded around his brother. “Well done, Oakpaw!”
Crookedkit backed away.
“Yeah.” Beetlepaw nosed past his littermates, his shoulders stiff. “Well done. Now I understand why I didn’t get Shellheart as a mentor.”
“Oh, Beetlepaw.” Petalpaw nudged her brother’s cheek with her muzzle. “Aren’t you over that yet? Just because you’re Hailstar’s kit doesn’t mean you get the deputy as your mentor. You know Hailstar matches us with who he thinks will train us best.”
Beetlepaw snorted. “Then why’d he give me Ottersplash?”
“Shhh!” Volepaw hissed.
Beetlepaw stared blankly at his denmates’ frozen faces. “What?”
Ottersplash had crossed the clearing and was standing right behind her apprentice, her white-and-ginger coat shining in the sunlight. “Maybe he thought you needed to learn a bit of respect?” she suggested.
Beetlepaw spun around, his pelt ruffled. “Sorry!”
Ottersplash looked steadily at him. “I think you’d better spend the afternoon cleaning out the elders’ den instead of learning battle moves.”
Beetlepaw’s face fell, but he didn’t argue. “Okay.” He padded away, dragging his paws.
Petalpaw hurried after him. “I’ll help!”
“Perhaps you should help, too,” Shellheart meowed to Oakpaw.
“My first apprentice duty! Great!”
Crookedkit watched him charge away, envy pricking. His mother’s sharp mew made him jump.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Rainflower was glaring at Shellheart.
Shellheart narrowed his eyes. “What for?”
“Who do you think arranged for you to be Oakpaw’s mentor?”
“You?” Shellheart blinked.
“Hailstar understood it made sense for the strongest warrior to train the strongest apprentice.”
Echomist’s anxious mew sounded in Crookedkit’s ear. “Why don’t you go and see if Oakpaw needs help?” She nudged him toward the slope. “Go on.”
He padded away reluctantly, glancing back at Shellheart and Rainflower as they faced each other, hackles high. If he’d never had his accident, they’d still be happy.
“Oakpaw?” Crookedkit stuck his head through the neatly woven entrance of the elders’ den.
Petalpaw looked up from Tanglewhisker’s nest. “Oakpaw went to gather moss.”
“I’ll go and help him,” Crookedkit offered.
“He’s outside the camp,” Petalpaw told him.
“Oh. Then can I help you?”
A bundle of stinking moss hit him on the nose.
“You’ll just get in the way.” Beetlepaw was clawing through Troutclaw’s nest, his nose wrinkled against the stench.
“Why don’t you go and play?” Petalpaw mewed kindly. “We can manage here.”
Tanglewhisker was patting his nest back into shape. “He’s got to learn sometime,” the elder croaked.
“Well, he can come back and learn by himself.” Beetlepaw tossed another ball of moss toward the entrance. “This is bad enough without having a kit underpaw.”