Mentor

**Mentors** are Warriors or Medicine Cats of a Clan who teach Apprentices in the ways of a Clan Warrior or Medicine Cat. They teach them how to hunt and fight for their Clan, the ways of StarClan's Code, and it's also up to them to make sure that their Apprentice doesn't get in any trouble. At the end of their mentoring, their apprentice Advances to become a Warrior.

## **PROCESS**

When a kit reaches six moons and becomes an Apprentice, they are given a Mentor. The Mentor teaches them how to fight, hunt, patrol, familiarize them with StarClan's Code, and prepare them for life as a Warrior. When a Leader assigns a new Apprentice to a Mentor, they choose pairings based on seniority and whether or not the pair will be able to work together. Apprentices are rarely mentored by their own parents, as they would be too lenient on their children. However, there have been exceptions to this rule, like Wasptail mentoring Houndspots, though it was supposed to be a way for them to mend their relationship.

Though it is more common for an aunt or uncle to mentor their niece or nephew, such as Tallfern mentoring her niece Stormflower, it is also possible for older siblings to mentor younger siblings, such as Wildstar to Lionstar, or grandparents to mentor their grandchildren, such as Fawnstar to Volespots.

Warriors are able to request a kit they would like to mentor, although this does not necessarily guarantee they will be chosen as a Mentor to said kit once they reach six moons. A Warrior will often watch a kit they hope to Mentor, and become familiar with the particular kit.

Warriors require certain qualities to be Mentors, such as patience. An example is when Quickstar chose Sharpclaw to mentor Pumpkin because she thought that Sharpclaw's courage would help Pumpkin become less timid.

As stated in StarClan's Code, there is only one restriction to mentoring an Apprentice, which is that the Mentor has to have been a Warrior for at least a moon.

While most cats will mentor two to three apprentices in their lifetime, there is no set number of apprentices a cat can mentor.

As StarClan's Code states, an Apprentice must be trained for a minimum of six moons before becoming a Warrior, though there are exceptions to this.

Like with having kits, it is rare, but not impossible, to see a Leader mentoring an Apprentice of their own, as they need to lead the Clan and likely cannot balance that and mentoring an Apprentice.

## **SPECIAL CASES**

There are some things that can stop a kit or Apprentice from becoming an Apprentice or delay the apprenticeship. Known examples include:

* Willowkit permanently dislodging her paw and cracking her back.
* Hawkkit breaking his paw and temporarily leaving the Clan.
* Beetlepaw breaking her leg.

However, in many of these cases the Apprentice or kit will either recover or train as a Medicine Cat Apprentice. Beetlewing worked in the Medicine Den due to her ailments and were told they could not be warriors. Medicine Cat apprentices are chosen by Medicine Cats, and their training takes longer to complete than a Warrior Apprentice's.

## **UNOFFICIAL MENTORS**

Unofficial Mentors essentially train a cat, albeit not officially by normal standards. Examples include:

* Stonespirit training the future founders of the Clans on the ways of a Clan cat.
* Soulstar training Twigleaf due to Blueleaf constantly leaving camp.

## **CEREMONY**

The Mentor/Apprentice ceremony goes like this:

Leader: "(Mentor), it is now your time for an apprentice. You will be mentor to (Apprentice)."

Mentor walks out of the crowd. Apprentice goes up to meet the mentor.

Leader: "(Mentor), the whole Clan knows your (reasons to have an apprentice, such as courage or loyalty). Do your best to pass on these qualities on to (Apprentice)."

There is some form of trustworthiness between the Mentor and Apprentice, such as touching noses. The Mentor and Apprentice walk off to start the mentoring.