Hollowkit was excited.
After her tragic childhood, finally she was six moons old, and free from the nursery at last! As she looked out over the cats gathered under the highledge, she hoped that she would have a kind, smart mentor, just like her mother. She had been born in Winter, and there had been an outbreak of whitecough which killed first, her smaller sister Fernkit and her brother Ashkit, and then her mother, who had refused to leave her sick kits to die alone. Her mother, Lightwing, had beautiful silver tabby fur and deep blue eyes, and she was very popular among toms for her looks, while Hollowkit's father had been a grey tom with unusual silver eyes called Rainscar, who died before she was born in a battle between Thunderclan and Shadowclan over the border's placement, bravely fighting the Shadowclan deputy, or so Hollowkit had been told by her foster mother, Whitepool. As Hollowkit looked over the cats, she saw her mother's sister Iceleaf's matching silver fur and blue eyes and she remembered when she had last seen her mother's beautiful eyes meet hers like that with such loving pity and apology. She hadn't time to wonder why Iceleaf looked as if she was trying to apologize as she was swept away into a memory.
"Mother, why won't Fernkit wake up?"
Hollowkit opened her eyes sleepily and blinked at her brother as he asked their mother why Fernkit wouldn't 'wake up'. Lightwing looked sadly and oh-so-sweetly at her only son and said, simply, "She's with father now, dear." Ashkit seemed cheered by this, but Hollowkit's eyes grew wide with horror as she realised where Fernkit was...with her dead father in Starclan. Ashkit coughed suddenly, falling down suddenly with a soft thump, surprised by the coughing fit. Lightwing looked down at her sick son, terror flickering across her gaze as he coughed again and again, before flopping down onto the floor, gasping for breath.
"Mother...help me, I can't breathe mother!" He cried breathlessly, still coughing roughly. After a few more minutes of this, he stiffened, a sickly, dangerous smell filling the air, before he went limp, his blue eyes losing the light of life and Hollowkit saw, just for a moment, the faintest outline of her brother's spirit rising from his cooling body and leaving the den. Lightwing wailed loudly, and buried her face in her dead son's fur. At that moment, insanity flashed across her gaze and she scuffled in the back of the medicine cat's den, emerging with a pawful of bright, sweet-smelling berries. The medicine cat, Mallowsoul walked in to ask if she was alright, only to see the grief-stricken queen apologize to Hollowkit, her only healthy kit, her only live kit, her only forgotten kit. She quickly swallowed the berries and her eyes rolled back in her head, before she fell down beside her two favourite children, her dead eyes focused solely on her oldest daughter's. Hollowkit didn't know what to do...what was the word for a kit with no parents again?
"You're...you're an orphan? Oh, Starclan, I'm sorry Hollowkit..." Breathed a shocked Mallowsoul.
Orphan...that was the word. Hollowkit, the orphaned kit of Thunderclan. Not the proudest title...but Hollowkit saw no need for such pride at her age so, as if to prove this, she collapsed, crying out in pure fear and sorrow as she buried her face first in Fernkit's icy fur, then Ashkit's cooling fur, and then finally in her mother's still-warm, silken pelt.
"Lightwing!" She cried.
The memory broke off suddenly as she heard Sunstar call for the meeting to start:
"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highledge for a clan meeting!"
Cats began streaming from the dens, and Hollowkit tried to recognise the cats as they went past. Iceleaf, Greyclaw, Treepool... I wonder who will be my mentor?
Sunstar looked down upon his clan, and said in a cool, calm voice, "Vinekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Vinepaw. Your mentor will be Greyclaw. I hope Greyclaw will pass down all he knows on to you." His gaze traveled over to the young warrior, "Greyclaw, you may be young, but you have shown great courage and wisdom worthy of any older warrior. I hope you pass down these qualities to young Vinepaw." Vinepaw walked up to his new mentor, touched noses with him and stepped back into the crowd, leaving Hollowkit alone in front of the leader. She suddenly felt very intimidated by the huge golden tom, now that she was all alone. But she hadn't time to be scared, so she looked up at her leader bravely and listened as he began her ceremony.
"Hollowkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Hollowpaw. Your mentor will be Darkleap. I hope Darkleap will pass down all he knows on to you." Hollowkit's silver eyes grew wide as she looked over to her new mentor, a huge black tom with menacing amber eyes.
"Darkleap," continued Sunstar, "You have proven yourself many times over as a strong and courageous warrior, and I hope you will pass down these qualities to Hollowpaw." Hollowpaw! Hollowpaw walked nervously up to her new mentor, and she gently touched noses with him before receding into the crowd. Sunstar dismissed the meeting and Hollowpaw began to bound away to congratulate her adopted brother on his choice of mentor, but Darkleap called her back.
"What is it, Darkleap?" She asked, buzzing with the excitement of becoming an apprentice. Finally something was going right for her...
"I need you to clean out the elder's den."
...or not. She sighed. "Yes, Darkleap." She said, and, after a pause, "Can we go explore the territory later if I finish in time?" Darkleap laughed.
"No. You'll be cleaning out the nursery too, then the warriors den, then you can pick a nest in your new den. That alright with you, kit?"
"I'm not a kit!"
Darkleap smiled. "You've been an apprentice for a few seconds. You're still a kit to me." And with that, he walked away, laughing quietly to himself. Hollowpaw growled quietly to herself, before padding over to the elder's den. As she walked in, Ivyleaf turned her head towards Hollowpaw. She almost jumped back at the elder's blind, staring eyes, but she forced herself to stay still. "Hello Ivyleaf. I'm here to clean out the den." And then, when Ivyleaf didn't respond, she said, "It's me, Hollowpaw." Still no response. "Ivyleaf?" The blind elder's head was laying on the moss of her nest, and her breathing was ragged. "Ivyleaf!" Yowled Hollowpaw, beginning to panic. "Ivyleaf!" The sickly smell that Hollowpaw had learned to fear, the sickly scent of death, filled the den, and the elder stopped breathing. Hollowpaw raced out of the den. "Mallowsoul! Darkleap! Anybody!" She cried, "Ivyleaf is dying! Ivyleaf smells of death!" Mallowsoul raced out of her den, and Darkleap padded calmly across the clearing to Hollowpaw, his gaze fixed on her paws. She looked down at them to see what he was looking at, so see them drenched in juice that carried the scent of the red berries Lightwing had used to kill herself.
"Well, Hollowpaw?" Queried Darkleap darkly, a hint of anger in his eyes. Hollowpaw ran back into the elder's den, to find the moss soaked with berry juice, and a small wad of water-soaked moss at the dead elder's paws, the water mixed with traces of the juice. Why didn't I notice the berry juice? Darkleap walked in behind her, eyes wide at the soaked moss.
"What did you do...did you kill her?" He asked in disbelief. Hollowpaw was stuck staring at Ivyleaf's body.
"I don't know..." She murmured, "I really don't know." Suddenly, she turned to him and let out a terrified cry. "Help me, Darkleap! Help me!"
A/N- Hello, Stars! This is the longest fanfiction chapter I've written yet at a laughable 1,408 words. Lame. This is my first warriors fanfic btw, and it was written because I'm fed up of Mary-Sue's and Gary-Stu's, so I decided to write a story about a kit who loses everyone, her life spiralling downhill faster and faster into a pit she cannot climb out of, ending darkly as all of my stories do, with either main character death, main character suicide, or the main character being left alone and depressed. I'm so nice to my OC's, huh. I've got all the cats written down on a sticky note, so hopefully I won't get any names wrong. Thanks for reading!
QOTD- What do you think of Darkleap? Did he frame Hollowpaw and doe she hate her or is he just a strict mentor who shows his love through ordering her around? Find out next time, if you review enough. 5+ reviews for next chapter! Constructive criticism welcome! Flames? Not so much...R+R!