"I still can't believe that we're about to be made apprentices!" Larkkit squeaked, jumping around Amberkit with excitement. "No more kits at last!"

Panting with excitement, she dropped to the ground. Larkkit, she thought, soon I'll never hear that name again. The idea of finally having an apprentice name warmed her heart.

Out of the corner of her eye, Larkkit saw her three younger denmates come scampering towards them. Mistkit was the first to arrive. The dark grey tabby tom stood up on his hind legs and rested his front paws on Larkkit's chest. Surprised by the force, she staggered backwards but managed to remain steady. "Now you're going to leave us," Mistkit meowed.

He stared at Larkkit with his large, dark, greenish-amber eyes, so sad and desperate that she couldn't help but purr. "But Mistkit!" she exclaimed. "We're not going anywhere. Besides, in two moons you'll be apprenticed too."

Mistkit stepped back. "Two moons is an eternity," he complained. "And we'll be all alone."

"Now listen, you have two littermates. Isn't that enough for you to play with?" Larkkit enquired.

Shadowkit and Bramblekit jumped up and down in support.

Larkkit looked at the three kits, shaking her head. She would be glad to be able to sleep peacefully every night for a while at least, but at the same time she already missed them.

"You really must tell us what it's like to be an apprentice," Shadowkit demanded. The grey-brown tom stared intently at Larkkit and Amberkit from his blue eyes. "We need to know everything."

"Everything!" his sister Bramblekit, a light brown ticked she-cat with leaf-green eyes, added shyly.

Larkkit gave an exaggerated sigh. "If that's what you want."

"Yes!" The three kits mewed in delight and leapt away again.

Peace at last, Larkkit wanted to think, but then Dawnbreeze came trotting up. "Good morning, my dears," the tortoiseshell she-cat meowed. "Are you ready for your big day?" She didn't wait for an answer, but kept on talking. "Hopefully you still know what you have to do?"

Larkkit nodded eagerly. In the last few moons, Dawnbreeze had explained the ceremony to them so often that she had even had a very real dream about it once. Sometimes she had found it annoying, but now she was glad that Dawnbreeze looked after her so conscientiously.

Unlike Sunbrook. Only the thought of how he had behaved when they met again made Larkkit feel sick. They were family, but Sunbrook treated them as if they were enemies.

Larkkit involuntarily looked around for the golden tom and finally found him near Pinefur. Growling softly, Larkkit turned round. For her taste, Sunbrook had been spending far too much time with the long-haired, dark reddish-brown warrior lately, who had been introduced to her as Fruittail's sister.

"Are you alright?" Amberkit stepped up to Larkkit's side.

Larkkit wondered whether she should tell Amberkit about her anger. In the end, she decided not to. Amberkit wouldn't understand, just like everyone else.

"Oh, I think it's time!" Larkkit said as Palestar jumped onto the Roserock, glad for the interruption.

The cats sat down in front of the rose rock so that a passage was left open in the middle. Larkkit and Amberkit hurried to the very back, where Dawnbreeze was already waiting for them. "Stay calm," she whispered, "you'll make it."

Grateful for her encouragement, Larkkit pressed her nose briefly into Dawnbreeze's fur.

"Cats of RoseClan," Palestar meowed. Her voice sounded bright and clear across the clearing, making Larkkit shiver in awe.

"The time has come again to send promising kits on a new stage of their path, of their lives. Amberkit and Larkkit are the daughters of Twilightwing, who unfortunately is no longer with us, and Sunbrook. And now I ask Fruittail to speak."

Fruittail leapt elegantly onto the Roserock. "I hereby pronounce the blessing of StarClan. I have communicated with them and they have come to the conclusion that Amberkit and Larkkit fulfil all the requirements to be RoseClan cats." The medicine cat now looked directly at the sisters. Larkkit thought she saw something flash in her blue eyes, perhaps sadness or pride. Then Fruittail left the Roserock again.

That was different from Stormpaw's and Firpaw's appointment, Larkkit remembered. Finstrike didn't mention anything about talking to StarClan specifically. Did Fruittail really do that?

Palestar continued with the ceremonial words, which was why Larkkit put the puzzling out of her mind. "Dawnbreeze, you have been watching over your sister's kits for the last four moons, and we are very grateful to you for that. Do you think they are ready to become apprentices?"

"They are more than ready," Dawnbreeze replied with a proud look at the two soon-to-be apprentices. "I'm sure they'll be a great asset to the Clan."

"Amberkit, Larkkit, come forward now."

Larkkit took a deep breath. "Now it's time," she whispered excitedly.

With one last look at Dawnbreeze, who returned it encouragingly, Larkkit turned forwards and walked beside Amberkit through the narrow gap to the Roserock.

She was clearly aware of the eyes that were on her, but she didn't let them distract her. She had been waiting for this special day for six moons.

But that didn't feel quite right. We were supposed to be apprentices of MoonClan, not RoseClan. Doubts arose in Larkkit, but she quickly suppressed them. She was a RoseClan she-cat. Her past with MoonClan meant nothing to her anymore.

When they arrived at the Roserock, Palestar meowed, "Fernpool, Sootfeather, are you coming too?"

Larkkit almost jumped for joy. Our mentors!

Two she-cats came running out of the crowd. One, Fernpool, was a dark reddish-brown she-cat with white paws and white chest fur, while the other, Sootfeather, had light grey tabby fur and white chest fur.

"Amberkit." The she-cat barely flinched and stared up at Palestar expectantly. "From this day until you become a warrior, your name will be Amberpaw. Do you promise to always think of your Clan first and defend it with your life if necessary?"

"I promise," Amberpaw confirmed, but Larkkit noticed the trembling in her voice.

"Then you are officially the new apprentice of RoseClan. I have chosen Sootfeather as your mentor because I think you two complement each other well."

With the last words, Sootfeather stepped forward and bowed her head respectfully to Palestar. "I hereby swear to you and the Clan that I will teach Amberpaw everything that defines a true RoseClan warrior," she said.

Then she touched the tip of Amberpaw's ear with her nose, ending her apprentice ceremony.

Larkkit watched somewhat enviously as Amberpaw stepped aside. She's already done it. Fortunately, I know already who will train me.

"Larkkit," Palestar continued, "from this day on, until you have proven yourself worthy of a warrior's name, you will be called Larkpaw. Do you promise to always think of your Clan first and to defend it with your life if necessary?"

The thoughts raged in the tortico she-cat's mind. I am Larkpaw! I'm finally an apprentice! "Yes, I promise," she replied firmly.

"Then you are officially an apprentice of RoseClan. I thought about this decision for a long time, but in the end I came to the conclusion that Fernpool would be the best mentor for you."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to give Fernpool one of Twilightwing's kits?" Pinefur interrupted the ceremony challengingly.

"After everything she's done, how can we ever trust her again?" Stormpool added.

What's going on here? Larkpaw flattened her ears angstily as more cats began to express their discomfort. It seems like Fernpool wasn't particularly liked by her Clanmates, but why she was chosen by Palestar to mentor Larkpaw, was a mystery to her.

"Listen!" Palestar finally called. The cats gradually fell silent, looking to their leader. "Don't you have any trust in my ability to make decisions?" The grey and white she-cat glared down with a furious look in her narrow eyes. "I trust Fernpool and you should too. For many leaf-changes she was a loyal Clanmate. Yes, she had made mistakes. But she found her way back to RoseClan. We shouldn't bring up the past all the time anymore."

Fernpool blinked slowly, making Larkpaw realise how creepily yellow her eyes were. "Thank you, Palestar."

"Don't mention it," Palestar replied dryly. "I just did my duty as your leader. And now let us finish the ceremony!"

Larkpaw allowed herself to let out a little sigh. She had no idea what her apprenticeship would look like, but she swore to herself that she would make the best of it.

Like Sootfeather before, Fernpool lowered her head before Palestar while speaking the traditional vow, "I hereby swear to you and RoseClan that I will teach Larkpaw all the things that defines a true warrior."

At the end of her words, she stepped to Larkpaw and touched her ear with her nose.

"Now we're finally apprentices," Larkpaw whispered excitedly to Amberpaw as the Clan began to call their new names.

"Larkpaw! Amberpaw!" Dawnbreeze was the first to run up to them. "I'm so proud of you!" Her eyes shone.

This moment felt so surreal to Larkpaw that she almost thought she was dreaming. I'm finally an apprentice! I can't believe it. I wish Twilightwing could see us now.

As if she had read her thoughts, Dawnbreeze nuzzled her cheek gently. "Oh, I'm sure Twilightwing is watching over you right now, and I can tell you she's definitely very proud of you two."