Book 9 - Chapter 7

The kittens looked very excited to be given a competition of their very own. Appledawn had spent the day speaking with the other queens and Birchtail to see what they thought. Appledawn just wasn't sure if she would like the kittens to be able to leave the camp. She went and consulted the other queens. "They would be safe with a warrior in the forest, but I just am not sure if I feel they would be safe enough. My kits can get into lots of trouble." The other queens looked at each other before offering their advice. "I say you should let the kits go into the forest, they will be with a warrior and they will be apprentices soon so the pre-knowledge would help them." said Sagewind. Darkflower and Silverfrost both shook their heads, "The reason that we believe that the kits should stay in camp is because they will be apprentices soon and they will be free to come and go from the camp as they like. I say let them stay in the camp where we can keep an eye on them," said Darkflower. Silverfrost nodded and added, "Just because they will have a warrior with them doesn't mean they will be completely safe, I mean we don't know the area, even with the warrior what if a fox or badger came along a warrior couldn't fight off a fox by themselves and the kits haven't had any training. Even though they will be with a warrior not everything is safe. Appledawn nodded. She trusted the other queens, they were more experienced and some of their kits had become fine clan members. Appledawn nodded, "The kits will be staying in the camp." she had said. The leaders nodded. "Each kit will need to collect, a rock, a moss, a beetle, a feather and a fly, before the sun sets. The kit that collects all the objects the fastest wins." said Sparrowstar. The kits charged away. At the end of the day Fishkit had won. 2nd place went to Cloverkit. 3rd place was Applekit and Silverkit was 4th.

Book 9 - Chapter 6 - Part 2

(Continuing the mentors challenge) Question 3…….Question 10. All 3 groups raced back to camp and finished marking their scores on their leaf. Then the 3 leaders brought the leaves to Berrystar who counted the scores. Berrystar turned to the assembled clan. "We have a winner. Flowerfur with 56 points. Then Mousetail with 54 points and then Seedwhisker with 51 points." announced Berrystar. The other leaders jumped up beside him and continued speaking, "We honor each of our warriors and elders for their time as a mentor. For without mentors the young cats would not be able to learn the skills of a proper Fishclan warrior. Without the mentors to teach the apprentices they ways of a Fishclan warrior the skills of Fishclan might not survive through the generations. Without the mentors the skills of Fishclan wouldn't be kept alive.  We thank each of the warriors in turn for being mentors and passing on the skills that were fought to you by your mentor. If there were no mentors to teach the skills to the newest cats then the cats wouldn't learn what it is like to be a true Fishclan apprentice and for that we thank you." said Cedarstar. All the warriors nodded their thanks to the clan and their respect to the clan leaders. "We will have the next ompetition tomorrow. The kits will be taking part in a competition tomorrow. It is up to queen however (Said Berrystar nodding to Appledawn while he spoke) if the kits are to leave the camp with an experienced warrior or stay in the camp and roam without a warrior. Appledawn nodded and padded back to the nursery with Birchtail by her side. 

Book 9 - Chapter 6 - Part 1

"Mentors, (not including Emberberry) today is your day to prove to us what you know about being a mentor. Seedwhisker, Flowerfur and Mousetail you are our 3 warriors that are currently mentors." announced Troutstar. The clan nodded. "Each mentor will be paired with a senior warrior and a leader.

These 2 cats will be given a series of questions to ask the mentor. The leaders know the questions that are to be asked. Some might be what would happen or how they would train their apprentice. 60 possible points are available  for each cat and there are 3 parts. The first part is technique and demonstrations. The second is questions and the third is  opinion. Up to 2 points will be given in the third round based on the question and the answer given. After each round is done the 3 cats will come back to the clan and etch the number of points they have on the leaf for them. That way at the end of the day we can tally up the points easily." said Cedarstar. "The pairs are Seedwhisker, Cedarstar, and Birchtail. Flowerfur, Troutstar, and Dragonwhisker. Mousetail, Sparrowstar and Whiteclaw." spoke up Berrystar, he then continued, " I will be staying here if there is an emergency in the clan." The clan nodded. Part One, Question 1, What is the best technique to stalk a rabbit? Question 2, How would you organize a hunting patrol? Question 3, How would you demonstrate this battle move? Question 4………Question 20. At the end of the the first round, Seedwhisker had 15 points, Flowerfur had 18 points and Mousetail had 14 points. Part 2, Question 1, Your apprentice cannot master the technique on the day of his warrior assessment what do you do? Question 2, Your apprentice breaks a rule what do you tell him/her? Question 3, Your apprentice continues to break the rues what do you do, and what is his/her punishment? Question 4……….Question 20. At the end of the second part Flowerfur had 37 points, while Seedwhisker and Mousetail both had 35 points. The leaders waited for the cats to finish marking their points and then the groups darted back out of the camp. Part 3, Question 1, Your apprentice refuses to listen to other mentors what do you do? Question 2, Your apprentice listened to the instructions for a mock battle but then he/she fights with unsheathed claws against a cat he/she didn't like what do you do?

 

Book 9 - Chapter 5

"Queens today is your day to prove that you are a worthy member of Fishclan. Today you will be given your assignment. You will be tested on how well you know the rules of kittens. What the kits are allowed and aren't allowed to do in camp and how much you care about your kittens." said Troutstar. "You will each be asked a series of questions, you will get a point every time that you answer a question correctly. Answer incorrectly and you will get no points, and the next question will be asked." said Cedarstar. Question 1, when does a kit get to become an apprentice? (After 6 moon) Question 2, what dens are apprentices allowed to go in without permission? (the elders den and sometimes the medicine den, not including the nursery." Question 3, If a kitten breaks a rule whose job is it to punish them or tell them not to do it again? (The queen or another queen sometimes in severe cases the leader and deputy) Question 4........Question 15. "Fishclan the queens have just finished the  questions with true answers. The next questions will be based on opinion of the queen. The scorer will decide to give the queen 1-3 points depending on the question and the answer given." said Sparrowstar. "Currently the points stand as Darkflower - 14 points, Silverfrost - 12 points, Mossfur - 12 points, Ashstorm - 10 points, Seedwhisker  - 9 points, and Skyleap  - 9 points. Good luck to each of the queens." said Berrystar. Question 1, If one of your kits got carried off by a hawk what would you do? Question 2, if one of your kits was missing and while the clan was trying to help they weren't succeeding and the leader had forbidden you to leave the other kits, what would you do? Question 3, if one of your kits was deaf, and the clan leader refused to assign him a proper mentor what would you do? Question 4, if a kit dies before you can name it, what you say to it? Question 5........Question 15. "We have a tie for first place by 2 cats. Silverfrost  and Darkflower with a total of 55/60 points. We honor you and thank you for all of the life that you have given to the clan, we thank you for the new generations of cats, for without the queens there would be no clan. There would be no new warriors or medicine cats without the queens and for that we thank you very much." said the leaders together. 

Book 9 - Chapter 4

 "Apprentices, I haven't forgotten about you. The other leaders and I have decided though that while the warriors' competition was a fighting competition the apprentices competition is a hunting one. 2 warriors will go along and they will watch the apprentice and they will also follow the apprentice, but they will not give help in any way." said Sparrowstar. "Mentors will not go with their apprentices. Instead the apprentices will have to work together in the pairs that I put them in. They will work together as a team and they will try to hunt as much prey as they can before night falls. They will not kill a whole family of mice if they come upon them. We need prey to live, but we need to keep the stocks plentiful." said Cedarstar. "Blossomfur and Rivera, you will go with Mintpaw and Blackpaw. Whiteclaw and Dragonwhisker will go with Foxpaw and Pinkpaw. Your time starts now." The groups darted away. Foxpaw and Pinkpaw turned towards the moor, while Mintpaw and Blackpaw raced towards the woods. Later that day both groups had done fairly well. "Fishclan now is the time that the apprentices will see who caught the most prey. Mintpaw and Blackpaw you are our winners. Sorry, Pinkpaw and Foxpaw there will always be next time. Warriors do you have anything to say about the pairing?" asked Troutstar. Rivera stepped forward. "Both apprentices hunted well, Mintpaw brought down some squirrels and she remembered to step lightly when hunting mice, while Blackpaw was able to leap through the trees to catch birds, a skill that it took me a very long time to master myself." Blossomfur nodded, "although they work together well as individuals if they ever had to take part in a mass hunting patrol or in partners for a single hunting patrol both cats would probably be unsure of themselves, for never once did they try t o work as a team they never paired up to take down something that might have a better chance of getting away." She said. Cedarstar turned to the other warriors. Dragonwhisker said, "Foxpaw did well helping Pinkpaw learn the routine, of a hunting patrol, and he positioned her well so they could hunt down some rabbits." Whiteclaw nodded then said, "Foxpaw however always asked Pinkpaw if she wanted to go out and work together to hunt something down, never once did he suggest that they try to hunt alone. He looked like he didn't want to hunt alone, and when he tried to he made some minor mistakes that should have been corrected." Whiteclaw stepped back. "Fishclan both pairs of apprentices have hunted well and we shall sleep with full bellies tonight. We honor each of our apprentices." said Berrystar. 

Book 9 - Chapter 3

"Warriors and apprentices. This is now your challenge. Please when I call your name please stand by your partner. Dragonwhisker and Cloudsplash, Nightblaze and Rowanfur, Breezebolt and Mousetail, Fernflash and Blossomfur, Flowerfur and Rivera." The cats turned away. "You will each battle your partner first the winning cat will move on and challenge another winner until there is only one cat, that cat will be considered the master fighter. The cat will be given the honor of setting up the battle patrols alongside the deputy." All the cats nodded. "You only need to hold your opponent down for 10 seconds for it to count, and claws sheathed we are not fighting Darkfinch." said Berrystar. The cats nodded and got in order from which they were allied and stepped into the ring of cats. Dragonwhisker pinned down Cloudsplash easily. Rowanfur used a move that they had fought a long time ago when there was 4 different clans/ Breezebolt like his name was very fast and he could easily dodge the blows while landing some of his own. Blossomfur knew moves that Fernflash had never seen. Flowerfur was very wary around Rivera for she had heard what happened to the few cats that had tried to attack her during her first stay with Fishclan. Rivera won. "Dragonwhisker, Rowanfur, Breezebolt, Blossomfur and Rivera are all moving on to the semi-finals. Since their are 5 cats we have decided to make it more interesting and put 3 cats in each battle. Dragonwhisker, Blossomfur and Breezebolt. Rivera against Rowanfur." said Cedarstar. The cats nodded. Breezebolt and Blossomfur teamed up against Dragonwhisker and took him down and before Breezebolt had recovered from the attack on Dragonwhisker, Blossomfur had attacked. Rivera turned and circled around Rowanfur. She darted in and out sending all 4 of his legs sprawled out. She turned and pounced neatly. "In the finals, it is going to be Rivera against Blossomfur, good luck to you both." Blossomfur jumped towards Rivera. Rivera ducked and neatly spun on one paw and kicked out. Blossomfur got up and shook out her pelt and jumped at Rivera again but pulled herself short and ducked under Rivera. She pushed up with all 4 paws and sent Rivera sprawled on her back. Both female cats got to their feet and padded around each other. Before Blossomfur rose on her hind legs and when Rivera rose to meet her, Blossomfur ducked under her paws and summersaulted forward over Rivera pinning the cat to the ground. "Blossomfur is considered the great fighter. She will now have the honor of battle planning with the deputies and leaders," said Troutstar. 

Book 9 - Chapter 2

"Cats of Fishclan, today is our competition, you can cheer on any of your clan mates. We will start with our medicine cats. Medicine cats you have until the sun reaches it's highest peak to gather as many herbs as you can. When you get back we will count out the number of herbs and find out who has the most. Pinkpaw since you will be going against your mentor instead of with him you will need 2 other apprentices to come with you. We promise not to have the apprentice challenge until after they get back. Also, Pinkpaw if you would like to you can join in for the other apprentice activities but you do not have to if you do not want to." Pinkpaw nodded. "Can I bring Blackpaw and Mintpaw with me?" she asked. Berrystar nodded. "Medicine cats your time starts now." said Troutstar. "A cat padded up to the base of the tree. "May I participate in this event I know my herbs very well." said River. The leaders considered before nodding. Rivera turned and padded away. Emberberry had found a nice patch of juniper berries. He had made himself a nice leaf, vine pouch to put the herbs in as he traveled. Emberberry turned and found some yarrow. Pinkpaw however was not far behind and she had found a large clump of horsetail and a little further away some marigold. Rivera having traveled from a long ways away had to know what herbs were which. She had made a nice little pouch that dangled on the edge of her tail so she could count and see how many she had at the same time as walking. She turned and saw what she was looking for. The old abandoned human home. She hopped up the fence. On her way to Fishclan she had traveled through the trees in this very garden and she had seen many herbs. She collected stalks of catmint and bunches of berries. She placed some yarrow, marigold, parsley, and horsetail on top of some fennel and burdock roots. She turned looked up at the sky and jumped up a tree. She placed the handle of the basket in her mouth and ran. She jumped down into the clearing of Fishclan first. Emberberry came next with a large supply of berries. Pinkpaw came trailing last with a ton of leaves. "Cats of Fishclan now we must see which at has found the most herbs." said Cedarstar. "The winner of this competition is Emberberry, then Rivera and then Pinkpaw." Congratulations to all and later this afternoon we will have the competition for the warriors." The clan padded away. While Rivera turned back to the forest. She went and got loads and loads of vines. The vines were strong but bendy and easy to carry. She wove them together making a neat lithe basket. She placed all the herbs that had been found that day in the basket and then she went and set the basket in a puddle. Keeping the juices in the plants and keeping them fresh.