Echokit woke up with a start, her light gray, almost white, fur stuck up in clumps. The same dream... Again. She thought, confusion clouding her mind. She recalled the images of the dark, gloomy forest, with rain battering the trees in all directions. Then a silhouette of a cat walking slowly away, only to look over their shoulder once, but then continue moving. Though she wanted to go after the cat, it felt as if her paws were glued to the ground, unable to move. She was only able to call out and plead for them to come back, though they never did. The young she-kit looked at her mother and siblings, sleeping soundly. It isn't dawn yet... So I suppose I should get some more sleep. It's a big day tomorrow. Snuggling herself next to her mother's soft fur, she slowly drifted back to sleep.
"Echokit! Wake up!" Echokit recognized the meow of her brother, Rainkit. "It's sunhigh! Nightstar will be holding the meeting soon." He chatted excitedly, his mottled fur puffed up with anticipation.
"Yeah, yeah, okay..." She meowed, opening up one eye at a time. She was still tired from waking up too early, though she didn't want to seem lazy. As she got adjusted to the morning light, she realized her sister and mother were absent. "Hey, where did Mallowbreeze and Wrenkit go? And Tangledkit?" She meowed curiously to Rainkit, trying to sniff them out.
"Tangledkit is probably at the fresh-kill pile, and Mallowbreeze went with Wrenkit to talk with Icemist or something." Rainkit responded, batting at a moss-ball. "Who do you think your mentor is going to be?" He asked, though he was still focused on his game.
Weird. Why would Wrenkit want to talk with our Medicine Cat? Though she can be annoying at times, I hope she didn't get hurt. Echokit thought, and just when she was about to go looking for them, Mallowbreeze poked her head through the nursery entrance.
"Rainkit! I just fixed your fur!" She said, her meow irritated. "And now I have to do it all over again!" She meowed as she saw his fur puffed up, and began to lick his fur roughly. Avoiding being washed by her mother, Echokit set to work on her own pelt, getting rid of the bits of moss that was stuck in her fur. When she was finished, she looked around for Wrenkit. "Hey!" She called and padded over to her sister. "Why did you want to talk to Icemist?" Wrenkit looked away shyly, but looked back up at her littermate.
"Well... I've decided I want to become a Medicine Cat." She meowed, and before Echokit could reply, she continued. "I don't know.. I always seemed to be interested in herbs, and you always beat me when we play-fought." She meowed, though she didn't seem upset about.
Well, that is true... I'm bigger than her... Echokit shook her head. "Aww! But I really wanted to train together..." She meowed sadly.
"Don't worry! I'll make sure that whenever we gather honey, I'll give you some." Wrenkit meowed jokingly.
"Alright." Echokit meowed, feeling slightly better. Mallowbreeze's meow interrupted them.
"Come on, kits! The ceremony is about to start!"
As Echokit stood before her father, Nightstar, she wiggled her body in excitement. Her littermates had already been assigned their mentors and their new names, and were proudly sitting behind her. Wrenpaw is now Icemist's apprentice, Rainpaw is now Willowfern's, and Tangledpaw's mentor is now Foxfoot.
"Echokit, from this moment on until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Echopaw." Nightstar's yowl brought her back from her train of thoughts. "Smokeblaze, I trust that you will pass on all you know to Echopaw." The dark gray warrior nodded, his blue eyes gleaming with interest as he leaned in to touch noses with his new apprentice. "I promise I'll do my best!" She whispered to him as the ceremony closed, and the Clan surged around them, calling out their names.
"Wrenpaw! Rainpaw! Tangledpaw! Echopaw!" As Echopaw looked over at her mother and father, she saw them staring at each other. Not in a creepy, weird way, just staring. As if they shared a memory only they knew about, and they were recalling it together at that very moment.
