Everything happened in just a few seconds. All three kits yowled in fear and quickly scattered in different directions. Ravenkit wasn't sure where Halfkit and Beetlekit went, cause he suddenly felt himself falling. The slimy side of the ditch gave no solid ground for him to hang onto and after what felt like forever, he landed into the small stream at the bottom. Ravenkit feared for the worst when he relized he couldn't move his body at first. Was it the shock or had his body already given up?

He had landed in a deeper part of the stream and the muddy water almost reached up to his eyes. The water covered most of his muzzle and when he couldn't breathe, Ravenkit quickly raised his head. He started coughing and spitting, pinching his eyes closed. He started to feel the pain in his head.
Then he remembered the dog. He quickly looked up from the ditch with wide eyes, ready to see the dog staring down at him. He was easy prey down there, after all. The dog was nowhere to be seen, nor Mousepaw and his siblings. Suprisingly, everything was quiet.
"Halfkit? Beetlekit?" called Ravenkit. He stood up and relized half of his body was almost pure mud. He shook himself, but he only felt colder the longer he stood in the ditch. There was no answer.
Ravenkit started to feel scared. Was he gonna be stuck here forever? What if the dog had killed everyone already and he was the only survivor? No one could save him then. Just when he started to give up all hope, the sound of quick paws approched.

"Help!" called Ravenkit. He didn't care who it was. It could have been a rouge or a cat from a different Clan, he wouldn't care. He just wanted out of that ditch.
A gray she-cat looked down the ditch and stared down at Ravenkit. It took a while for Ravenkit to relize who it was. It was a ShadowClan warrior, Flintfur. He recognized her because she was Mousepaw's mentor. He had seen them walk into camp together many times after numerous training sessions and hunting trips.
"Ravenkit? What has happened here?" meowed Flintfur. "Where-...Why are you alone?"

"Me, Halfkit and Beetlekit wanted to help. We ran into Mousepaw, but then the dog sneaked up on us," explained Ravenkit. "I fell in here when it attacked and...now they're gone."
"Don't worry, I'll get you out," meowed Flintfur softly. "The ditch becomes smaller a little further down. I'll walk with you there." Ravenkit nodded softly and started padding along the muddy stream. Flintfur walked beside him at the top, always keeping an eye on him.

"Where are they?!" a yowl came from the part of the ditch where the dog had attacked. Ravenkit and Flintfur had walked a bit away from there, but could still hear the call clearly. Flintfur raised her head and made a loud call, as if to say: "We're here!"
It only took a few seconds for the patrol to reach them. Ravenkit felt hot with shame to see Barkclaw was part of the patrol. He couldn't face him and instead stared at his mud drenched paws. He almost didn't recognize himself.
"Ravenkit! Thank StarClan," meowed Barkclaw. He didn't sound angry, but Ravenkit knew he only tried to hide it. His kits were gone and he was obviously paniced and stressed.

"I found him where the dog had attacked," explained Flintfur. "I don't know where the dog is now, but Mousepaw and Ravenkit's littermates are-"
"We have found them," added a pale brown tom. "The kits were smart enough to run and hide while Mousepaw tried to distract it. They're all safe and the other kits are taken back to camp."
"What happened to Mousepaw, then?" asked Flintfur.

"He had climbed up a tree when he got the dog's attention for a while. The dog had ran off again just when we found Mousepaw." meowed Barkclaw. "We can explain more when we're back at camp. Come on, let's get Ravenkit out of there."

• • •

Ravenkit didn't know if he could ever feel more ashamed when the warriors dragged him into camp. He was exhausted, dirty and had somehow gotten his sense of hunger back. Everyone stared at him when he was dropped off in the clearing of camp. He was suprised the cats of his own Clan didn't confuse him with a rat when he had such an appearance.
When he was reunited with Beetlekit and Halfkit, they got a good rant from everyone.

"You could have died!"
"Did the dog hurt you?"
"Its a miracle from StarClan you're all still alive!"
"You can't ever again be that mousebrained!"

It felt like everyone from the whole Clan repeated the same thing. They wouldn't stop until Ravenkit had gotten it stuck into his head for the rest of his life. But the worst part was facing Cherrytail. They had flat out lied to their own mother and had nearly gotten killed for it. Cherrytail was more worried than angry, but she was extremely relieved to see all of her kits again.
But Ravenkit knew the first part was about to come when Swiftstar padded towards them.

"Cherrytail, you're kits have some nerve to sneak out of camp like this, specially in a situation like this." meowed Swiftstar. Even though it was a harsh sentance, he had a calm, steady voice.
"I'm so sorry, Swiftstar," Cherrytail ducked her head. "It will never happen again."
"I hope not," said Swiftstar before turning his head to Ravenkit and his littermates. "They would be apprentices right now if it weren't for that dog, after all. They would have been free to use the camp entrance like everyone else."
Yet another wash of shame and panic overwhelmed Ravenkit. It felt like Swiftstar was about to exile them, or worse; never make them apprentices. They would forever remain kits in the Nursery.

"It was my idea!" meowed Halfkit suddenly. "Ravenkit and Beetlekit shouldn't get a punishment, I should!"
"Calm down, Halfkit," purred Swiftstar. "I wasn't planning too give any of you a punishment."

"W-What?" Ravenkit was shocked. "But we snuck out of camp and nearly got ourselves killed!"
"That's true, but the only reason you snuck out of camp was trying to help your Clan, right?" asked Swiftstar.
The kits exchanged thoughtful glances. It was true. They only wanted to help and they were the correct age of apprentices. The only reason they weren't real apprentices was because everyone had to focus on the dog.

"Yes..." mewed Ravenkit softly. He carefully looked over his shoulder back at Cherrytail. She was staring at him already and listening. He wasn't able to read her expression, but Ravenkit was somewhat relieved by it.
"ShadowClan need cats that will do anything for their Clan," meowed Swiftstar. "You three perfectly knew the danger of a dog, yet you walked out of camp anyway. You knew what would happen if you faced it."

Ravenkit wasn't used to getting compliments, if you could really call it that. Compliments from a leader. He somewhat felt proud and he defiently wouldn't feel the same if it came from his parents or anyone else.
"So...What about the dog?" asked Beetlekit. He had a small, proud smile on his face as well.
"I'm sure someone has their eyes on the dog right now," said Swiftstar. "We have seen this dog before. It belongs to the twolegs who live in the twoleg den in our territory. If we're lucky, the Twolegs will notice they're missing it and retrieve it back."

"So, when that happens...Do we-" Halfkit suddenly got really excited.
"Yes, yes...When the danger has passed, you will all become full apprentices of ShadowClan." meowed Swiftstar.
A wave of excitement ran through all of the kits and they all smiled at eachother. It felt amazing to finally hear it, specially from their own leader.
"Thank you so much, Swiftstar," said Cherrytail. "They really needed to hear your words today."

"Of course," smiled Swiftstar. "I have to get back to my duties now."
And with that, Swiftstar padded off again. It felt like Ravenkit had a sun in his chest at that moment. He could barely contain it and the shame and embarresment that previously was a dark cloud over his head was gone.

"Well, you heard him. You should go and properly prepare yourselves." purred Cherrytail. "You should leave the dog to the warriors now."
Ravenkit nodded and headed into the Nursery. Immedietly, he was bombarded by gray fur.
"Ravenkit, you were outside of camp, weren't you?!" exclaimed Stoatkit.
"Yes, but Swiftstar just confirmed he wasn't angry with us!" purred Ravenkit. "He was actually more proud of us."

Stoatkit froze with a funny expression. Ravenkit couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't worry, Stoatkit, you will make Swiftstar proud too one day." purred Boulderheart who had Dapplekit curled up in her paws.
"Yeah, cause random dogs just appear every moon or so." growled Stoatkit. Ravenkit was actually a bit shocked. He had never seen Stoatkit genuinly upset.
"Do they?" whined Woollykit softly, his tail bushing up in fear.

"Of course not, mousebrain!" sighed Hawkkit, his tail whipping in annoyance.

• • •

From an eventful morning in ShadowClan came a quiet afternoon. After much tension, a patrol had return with the information that the dog had been caught by its twolegs and was finally off ShadowClan territory. The relief washed over the whole Clan and most cats seemed to only loaf around and let the stress come off entirely.
Ravenkit had gotten a proper wash by Cherrytail to get the mud off of him. The only thing Ravenkit needed to fear now was getting a cold after falling into that ditch.
Ravenkit froze like a rock when a loud announcement echoed over camp:
"May all cats that are old enough to hunt gather underneth the Hightree for a Clan meeting!"

Ravenkit, Beetlekit and Halfkit all exchanged excited looks and dashed out of the Nursery. Ravenkit never looked back as he charged into the clearing. Most cats were already gathering and when she had caught up, Cherrytail herded them off a bit to the side from the actual warriors. Ravenkit could barely sit still. His tail waved and whipped the ground uncontrollably.
Swiftstar sat on a thick hazel branch overlooking the camp. Rosefang calmly sat near the roots of the tree and made sure that all of the Clan cats had gathered. She looked up and gave Swiftstar an approving nod as everyone had sat down. Swiftstar began talking when everyone was quiet.

"Cats of ShadowClan, this morning we had an intruding dog in the territory. It made us all scared, but the danger has finally passed. The dog has returned to its twolegs and hopefully, we will never expect for this to happen again," meowed Swiftstar. The sun that reflected on his blue pelt made it shiny and bright. "But now, it is time for our Clan to make new apprentices."
Halfkit nearly ran into the clearing, but was stopped by Cherrytail. "Wait til he calls you." she whispered.

"Ravenkit, Beetlekit and Halfkit have waited long for this day, long enough to sneak out of camp while the dog was still in the territory." Ravenkit had hoped Swiftstar wouldn't mention it to the Clan, but the bright pride in Ravenkit's chest wasn't dying. "But now, with much patcience and bravery; Beetlekit, Halfkit and Ravenkit, step forward."
Ravenkit didn't know why his paws suddenly became stuck to the ground, but when Cherrytail prodded them forward, he slowly padded side by side with Halfkit and Beetlekit into the wide clearing in front of the Clan. Ravenkit felt many eyes on him, but he tried to keep his head up and stared brightly up at Swiftstar as he sat down.
"Halfkit," started Swiftstar. "Since your first day out of the Nursery, I have seen much bravery and strength in you. You carry your brothers, even your Clan on your shoulders everyday and you do it with so much loyalty. This will make you into an amazing warrior one day."
Halfkit purred loudly and her smile was the biggest Ravenkit had ever seen. Ravenkit smiled with her. What Swiftstar said is true, she carried so much with her and she did it with a big heart.

"Halfkit, from this day on until you get your warrior name you will be known as Halfpaw," said Swiftstar. "After much thought, your mentor will be Marshpool."
Ravenkit blinked. He looked at Halfpaw to see her reaction, but as he expected shock, her smile was still as bright as ever. Ravenkit looked over his shoulder as Marshpool stepped out of the crowd of the other warriors and up to Halfpaw. Halfpaw stood proudly in front of him and both of them pressed their noses softly together.
"Marshpool, you are a skilled and honorable warrior of ShadowClan. You have previously mentored Pricklepelt and the training and inspiration you've given her shows everyday. Make sure too pass this down to Halfpaw and make her into a great warrior." said Swiftstar.
"I will, Swiftstar." nodded Marshpool. Ravenkit had never seen him smile, but the pride in his eyes couldn't be faded.

"Beetlekit, you have a strong and bright personality. You're always ready to show your loyalty and this will make you into a great, loyal warrior of ShadowClan," continued Swiftstar. "From this day on, until you get your warrior name you will be known as Beetlepaw. Your mentor will be Fernbush."
A ginger and white tom stepped out and he had a bright face. He somewhat reminded Ravenkit of Beetlepaw. Beetlepaw bounced to his paws and pressed his nose against Fernbush before he could react.
"Fernbush, you're a young, but talented warrior. You're always the one to carry most fresh-kill into camp and you're quick in battle." purred Swiftstar as he saw Beetlekit's excited actions. "Pass this down to Beetlepaw and make him a talented warrior such as yourself."
"Of course, Swiftstar," purred Fernbush. He only seemed amused by Beetlepaw. "I won't disapoint you."

And now it was Ravenkit's turn. It felt like something was in his throat and it brought his eyes down to his paws, but when Swiftstar said: "Ravenkit," he slowly raised them again and smiled.
"—You always stick by your family's side and not only do you show much thought in your actions, you do it with a lot of joy and bravery. A thoughtful, brave cat is what makes a ShadowClan warrior." continued Swiftstar.
Ravenkit purred and the thing in his throat slowly melted. His tail started to twitch again.

"From this day on, until you have earned your warrior name you shall be known as Ravenpaw." said Swiftstar. "A good warrior needs much experience, so your mentor will be Mumblenose."
Ravenpaw recognized the name. It was the she-cat who had hissed about how mousebrained Marshpool and Heavystep were when the dog was announced. When Ravenpaw saw her, she stared back with a blank stare. Instead of a pointy muzzle, she had a flat one. She had jet black fur and dark blue eyes. He felt a lot of tension as he pressed his nose against hers, but he couldn't help but smile. When he was close to her, he could see she was welling with pride too, but she was good to hide it.
"Mumblenose, you're one of ShadowClan's best senior warriors. You carry a lot of experience on your shoulders and I regret I haven't given you an apprentice sooner. Its time you carry your experience onward and I hope you carry it down to this young cat."
"I won't disapoint, Swiftstar," nodded Mumblenose. "Thank you."

Swiftstar gave the new apprentices and their mentors a proud smile before turning back to the rest of the Clan.
"May StarClan look down on these apprentices today and accept them as full apprentices of ShadowClan." meowed Swiftstar and he dipped his head.
The Clan suddenly erupted with cheering yowls. "Ravenpaw! Halfpaw! Beetlepaw!"
Ravenpaw smiled back at Halfpaw and Beetlepaw and all of them swelled with pride while their Clan cheered their names. They said nothing, but much was exchanged between them.

Swiftstar leaped down from the Hightree as Cherrytail and Barkclaw approched them. Despite their adventure the same day, both of their parents looked so proud.
"I'm so proud of you!" purred Cherrytail loudly, nuzzling against them. "You'll be amazing apprentices. Be nice to your mentors now."
"Of course." purred Halfpaw.

"You're not angry, right?" asked Beetlepaw as Barkclaw gave him a lick across the head.
"Of course not. If Swiftstar's wasn't, why would I? I was only worried you were wounded, but look at you now: three new apprentices the same day." smiled Barkclaw.
Barkclaw and Cherrytail gave them their last cheers until leaving them to their mentors. Marshpool was having a small conversation with Fernbush and Mumblenose before they went over to their respective apprentices.

"First of all," started Mumblenose, standing tall over Ravenpaw. "You want to get a nest in the apprentices den. We will explore the territory when you're all done. Be done atleast before sunfall."
Ravenpaw nodded softly and trotted over to the apprentices den. Before it seemed so huge, but now it was his den and he was supposed to sleep there with the other apprentices.
Mousepaw sat outside and gave him a cheerful smile. "Congratulations, Ravenpaw!"

"Thanks," purred Ravenpaw softly. "Sorry about earlier...we nearly killed both of us."
Mousepaw chuckled. "Don't worry about that now. The threat is over. There is some free moss inside the den that you can use to make a nest, by the way."
By the time Ravenpaw was heading into the apprentices den, Halfpaw and Beetlepaw was behind him. The den was well lit, but dark in some corners. As Mousepaw had said, there was a pile of free moss in a corner and Ravenpaw started to grab a good amount for his nest. As he looked around for a open, good spot, he noticed an apprentice was sleeping in there.
Rushpaw turned around as her back was turned and gave him a sharp glare. "So, you're all apprentices now." she grunted, reaching to lick a spot on her back.

"Yeah!" purred Halfpaw, scratching together a clump of moss. "Were you at the cermony?"
"Yeah, I watched just from the entrance," mewed Rushpaw. "Remember, Mousepaw won't always be there to save you. What you did today was mousebrained."
Her comment threw Ravenpaw off guard as he set his new nest down in the middle of the den. It was true that if Mousepaw wasn't there, they would surely been attacked by the dog and possibly hurt. But Ravenpaw knew that wasn't what happened and he was truly happy that Mousepaw had been there to save them.

"But Mousepaw was there, didn't he?" meowed Ravenpaw. "We're grateful that he was."
Rushpaw growled softly and turned back around, going back to sleep. The new apprentices exchanged amused looks before going back to their nest making.
When Ravenpaw had gotten his nest together he quickly padded out. It didn't take long for Halfpaw and Beetlepaw to follow close behind. Ravenpaw saw his mentor in the shade with Marshpool and Fernbush. They all seemed to waiting for their apprentices.
Ravenpaw, Beetlepaw and Halfpaw rushed over and told them they were finished.

"Good," smiled Fernbush. "Before we head out, remember to keep an eye out and try to pick up every scent. These first few days, you should be able to learn your way through the entire territory, not get lost and know where the borders are."
Ravenpaw felt some pressure from Fernbush's instruction. But he knew Beetlepaw and Halfpaw would be ready to help him if he lost track of something.

"Alright," Marshpool stood up. "Let's head out."
Side by side with their mentors, the three new apprentices padded excitedly out of camp, out to explore their territory once more, but this time as true apprentices.