"Get him, Beekit!" A grayish ginger she-kit yowled after Beekit as she tore across the camp after their brother. Beetlekit had snuck a thorn into the nest again underneath where Honeykit sleeps, again, and this time he wouldn't get away with it! His spiky red fur was always just a whisker length out of reach as Beekit chased him around and around the camp. Every time they passed the nursery, anger fueled her little paws even more, If only I could pounce like a ThunderClan cat! She thought angrily as she bunched up her muscles and pounced as far as she could. As the small, pale brown kit landed on her brother's tail, she lost her footing and went tumbling away. The gentle slope of the camp along with Beetlekit pulling his tail out from under her sent her spinning further than she had ever gone before.
With a startled yowl, Beekit tumbled down a hole that smelled of damp earth and faintly of something evil. She bristled frightfully when she finally regained her footing and took another breath in. This time she smelled much fresher scents of WindClan, although the terrifying other scent was still there. Blinking a few times to adjust to the lighting, Beekit noticed the moss under her paws and the faint murmuring coming from a bit deeper in the tunnel. She turned to follow the sounds and after just a few pawsteps, tumbled into a small den with a few old looking cats.
A large, dusty colored tom turned to look down at the small kit, his smoky colored fur was turning gray with age and his once amber eyes seemed cloudy. Beekit cowered away from his penetrating gaze before noticing a much smaller she cat in the den with him. The scruffy female had stripes of every color; gray, black, ginger, white, although Beekit suspected the gray used to be a different color. The old she cat blinked comfortingly, despite her scruffy looks. Who are these cats? Beekit thought curiously I know I didn't fall that far out of camp, which means they Must be part of WindClan! Beekit took another sniff and confirmed that the too ancient cats did smell like her.
"Are you just going to stand there, kit?" The large tom inquired, "Goodness, don't they teach young cats these days to introduce themselves?" He let out a soft hiss of annoyance while the scruffy female swatted at his ear.
"If you had paid attention, you might have noticed that her entrance was much less than graceful." Beekit watched with open curiosity at the quarreling cats, "And with a cat the size of you, I can't blame her for being concerned! She might be thinking you're going to trod on her!" Beekit stifled a small chuckle before opening her mouth to respond.
"Or perhaps you could keep in mind that you haven't introduced yourselves, either!" Beekit suggested, "After all, I haven't even heard of cats this old in the Clan, so where have you been for the past two moons?" The small kit tried her best to stand taller, while the grumpy tom towered over her. It didn't take long before she regretted her insolence. He was a scary tom!
Beekit pressed herself against the ground as the tom just kept staring at her. Eventually, the she cat began making odd noises, with her sides heaving. She looked like she was having a hairball, but after many moments, Beekit understood that the old cat was laughing!
"You've got some guts standing up to a cat that big, little one." The cackling she cat croaked out, "My name is Mintfur, and that grumpy old lug is Darkshadow. What's your name?" Beekit blinked rapidly, the tom had back up and settled next to his denmate again, making his own rumbling purr of laughter.
"I'm Beekit, and I didn't mean to intrude, I fell and landed here…" The small kit tried to explain, "I can leave now if you'd like me to." She back stepping back, uncertain of what to do. Is this place like the leader's nest? Or the Medicine Cat's den? Beekit fretted, I'm not supposed to be around those places, is this like that?
Mintfur seemed to understand her confusion, "Oh dear, I don't know what would happen if kits weren't allowed in the Elder's Den!" Darkshadow rolled over onto his back with a loud throaty purr echoing in the mostly empty den.
"You stumbled into the Elder's den kit, and I'm curious as to why we haven't met you sooner!" Darkshadow rumbled, his deep voice vibrated Beekit's chest in the most wondrous way, "Normally we are around when you are born and we see you in our den in your first moon! But you, I haven't met you nor have I heard about your siblings." Mintfur nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm Beekit, like I said, and my siblings are Honeykit, Beetlekit, and Loudkit. Our mother is Mossheart," The pale brown kit mewed, wondering what was so odd about not meeting them sooner. Mintfur nodded, somewhat ruefully.
"And do you know who your father is, young Beekit?" The scruffy she-cat pondered.
"Mossheart always used to talk about someone named Lightningtail," Beekit started, "But when Ravenflight moved into our den with us, she stopped telling us stories." Darkshadow looked like he swallowed a burr while Mintfur swished her tail around.
"That's a noble cat to have as a father," She mewed, flicked her tail inconspicuously across her denmate's ear. "But I agree with your mother, it may be best not to tell anyone just yet, ok?" Beekit nodded, very curious as to why her father should be a secret.
In the distance, Beekit heard a faint call. Regretfully, she turned to the two ancient looking cats, "May I come back tomorrow? That's my mother calling me." Mintfur purred and nodded while Darkshadow merely huffed.
Purring happily, Beekit turned and trotted out of the den. I made two new friends! SHe thought happily. Honeykit was her only other friend. Their brothers were just mean and didn't act like they thought Beekit should be around. Every so often, the two sisters would wake up from their mid day nap to hear the toms planning something awful for them. But now she had new friends to spend the day with! That combined with the wonderful stories Mossheart told them about the other clans, would make Beekit love being a kit. No more being envious of Whitepaw or Foxpaw!
After following her mother back into the nursery, Beekit curled up against her spine and used her flank to rest her chin. Looking up, somewhat pitifully, Beekit mewed,
"Can you tell us another story? What about a ShadowClan story!" She begged, Honeykit let out a small mew of disagreement while Beetlekit and Loudkit complained loudly of yet another story time. The small pale brown kit ignored their discontent and watched Mossheart closely for an answer.
"How about a story about RiverClan?" She counter offered, causing the other three kits to perk up slightly. This began the story of a small puddle of golden fish with two small apprentices sitting on either side of the puddle.
"The golden colored apprentice was sitting with his face towards to sun as he dabbed his paw into the water and scooped up the fish," Mossheart described, "The smaller black apprentice sat with her back to the sun, thinking to protect her eyes as she could tell the brightness was causing her friend to squint painfully." Beekit chirped up, curiously.
"Why did he want to have the sun in his face? That seems silly!" She mewed, Beetlekit hissed at her about interrupting, but the little she-kit was too enthralled to be bothered.
"Hush a moment, Beekit, and you'll find out," Mossheart responded, while also giving her largest son a small flick on the ear, "As they dabbed at the fish, the golden tom caught the fish over and over again, despite not being able to see, while the black she cat hadn't caught a single one!" She carried on the story. Honeykit let out a small gasp of surprise, clearly confused.
"After the sun had moved a mouselength or two across the sky, the small she cat finally gave up and sat back.
"I give up! How are you doing that?" She mewed crossly, irritates that she could see them but not catch them,
The black tom purred in amusement and explained how his shadow sat Behind him, instead of falling into the water.
"If your shadow is in the water, the fish can see you just as well as you can see the fish! It's quite simple really." He explained, with a few self-conscious licks to his chest,"
Beekit let out a merow of wonder at that, as did Honeykit, the two toms pretended to be uninterested, but the she-kits could see their fur ruffling in interest. Mossheart purred and nuzzled them a little closer before continuing.
"After listening to him and seeing that it could work, the black she cat moved to the other side of the puddle and peered into the water." The large black she cat began, "She could barely see anything! But she trusted her friend, so she waited, and waited, and waited, and suddenly a flash of gold caught her eye and she stuck her paw into the water!" Beekit's eyes widened with wonder, Did she catch a fish? She thought excitedly.
"At the last heartbeat, she remembered to flex her claws and scoop like the other apprentice taught her." Mossheart paused to allow the kits to decide what was going to happen, "Her claws sank into the flesh and as she pulled up, the apprentice beside her Leapt into the air with a loud yowl and snatched his tail close to his body." Mossheart broke off for a second, purring wildly as if she could remember the moment as her own memory.
"The sudden yank against her claws caused the smaller apprentice to lose her balance and topple into the water ungracefully." Beetlekit interrupted with a cruel laugh, but Honeykit pricked his tail with her teeth to quiet him, "After regaining her footing, she clambered out of the water and shook her wet pelt crossly.
"I hope you think that's funny! You mousebrain! Just remember that when I teach you how to dodge rabbit holes!"
She hissed at the tom, who was writhing around on his back, purring much too loudly with amusement. His tail was missing a small patch of fur on the tip." Mossheart broke off as Ravenflight walked into the den, her large belly scrapping the sides of the entrance.
"Are you telling them mousebrained stories again, Mossheart?" The frumpy she cat hissed, Beekit jumped to her paws.
"They aren't mousebrained!" She yowled indignantly, "They teach us stuff that we wouldn't learn otherwise!" She glared at the pregnant queen angrily, She's always judging us for the stories mother tells, but I bet I could catch fish or squirrels way sooner than she could! The small she-kit thought crossly. Ravenflight hissed at the insubordinate kit and raised a paw to swat at her, but Mossheart interrupted.
"You may think they're mousebrained, Ravenflight, but when you have you're kids and you can't seem to get them to settle in for nap time, don't come asking me for advise," Mossheart sniffed smugly at the first-time queen, and turned back to her kits.
"But she's not wrong, little ones. Time to sleep now…" Mossheart mewed, and watched lovingly as the four kits closed their eyes peacefully and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of puddles of fish to splash in.
Almost a moon later, Beekit finally got permission to visit the elders again and she was racing across camp to the old smelly burrow. As she dived in, she paused at the mouth of the den, by a nearby bracken bush, a couple of warriors were chatting in loud whispers.
"Haven't you noticed how those kits look nothing like any of the toms here?" The first Warrior mewed, "The only cats even close to their colors are Sunpelt and Aspenheart,"
"Yeah and we all know Sunpelt isn't their father! And Aspenheart is a she cat! So she can't be!" The second Warrior mewed crossly, "The only way they could have such vivid ginger colors is if Mossheart mated with someone outside of the clan," the warrior finished with a hiss.
"Yeah I know. But where's our proof? Plenty of queens have raised their kits alone without question, so how could we bring up our suspiciouns?" Beekit realized that she shouldn't be listening to this conversation, even though it was about her and her mother. Before padding further into the den, she turned and gave herself a quick grooming.
She didn't think her pale brown pelt was that different from the rest of the clan. Maybe it is a bit more ginger-y then the rest, but that doesn't mean anything! Beekit decided, Besides, they didn't even consider that Lightningtail could be our father! She thought proudly, then paused, but… We haven't actually Met him yet… so maybe he isn't? She was confused now and decided to ask the elders.
As she padded deeper into the tunnel, she purred as she heard the rumbling mew of Darkshadow and the raspy voice of Mintfur. Her fur prickled in excitement while her eyes glistened with worry as she padded into the open area.
"Beekit!" Mintfur purred, "How lovely of you to join us again!" Beekit purred happily and trotted over to her side, "What brings you here today, little one?"
"I… I have a question." Beekit began uncertainly. Darkshadow rumbled in response.
"What could be bothering a lot like yourself so much?" The usually grumpy tom inquired, noticing her demeanor having changed since her last, albeit unintentional, visit. Mintfur nudged her to continue.
"Well there's a couple warriors outside your den talking," She began, "Well, they're talking about us, my littermate and our mother," Mintfur hissed softly.
"They should have better things to do then gossip," Mintfur started, "Don't you listen to those mousebraines, Beekit. Leave the gossiping to the elders." Darkshadow dipped his head in agreement.
"Yes, Mintfur. But them talking made me wonder. Do you know who my father really is?" Beekit asked, "They said Sunpelt is the only tom even close to our pelt colors and they know he isn't our father," She rambled. "But they're forgetting about Lightningtail, right? He looks like us doesn't he? But why hasn't he come to visit us yet?"
Darkshadow and Mintfur shared a guilty glance before turning back to the young kit. Beekit felt her skin shrivel before their intense gaze. Their eyes seemed to glitter like the monsters in her nightmares for just a heartbeat before they blinked it away. Am I imagining things? Beekit wondered fearfully, Or do they actually hate me? The young she-kit cowered down a bit a heartbeat before Mintfur swept her tail around and pulled her closer.
"Tell us, young Beekit, how old are you now?" Darkshadow mewed quietly, Beekit responded with a quiet chirp of three moons. The tom dipped his head, "And What has Mossheart taught you about the Warrior Code?"
Beekit tipped her head and thought about it for a moment. She knew the Code by heart, but being asked to confirm it was very different then listening to it in stories!
"Let's see, first there's the Code that tells you to defend you clan even at the cost of your life, and then there's the code that says not to trespass on other Clan territories," She began, not very confident, but Mintfur nodded in approval, encouraging her to continue.
"Then there's the code saying that kits and elders must eat first and also that Apprentices have to hunt for the clan before they can eat." Beekit added, "Unless they have permission of course," Darkshadow's eyes glowed with approval.
"Then it says we have to give thanks to StarClan for the prey we catch because it is only to be eaten," Beekit paused to gather her thoughts, "Then kits have to wait six moons before they can begin training and that new warriors have to sit a vigil overnight to listen." The elders were nodding along with her voice.
"Then it says a new deputy must have mentored at least one apprentice first, and then that when an old deputy has to be replaced, the new one must be named before moonhigh." Beekit paused, hearing a scraping at the top of the tunnel, "Then it talks about the Full Moon Truce for gatherings." Mintfur nodded and urged her to continue.
Beekit went on to list the Codes about checking boundaries daily, neglecting kits even if they're from another clan, and how the word of a leader is to be considered law. Darkshadow rumbled his approval at her progress.
"You're doing quite well, young kit." He purred, "Your mother must be teaching you quite well." Beekit purred happily at the praise.
"Finally it says that a warrior doesn't need to kill in battle to prove victory, to reject the life of a rotten kittypet, and that in times of need, the clans can come together as one to face difficulties." Beekit finished proudly. Mintfur purred and nuzzled her proudly.
"Quite well, kit. Even apprentices have a harder time than that!" She praises, "Now how about a small quiz, hmm?" Beekit's eyes widened, but she nodded faithfully.
"What does the code say about eating on the dawn patrol?" Darkshadow asked, Beekit thought about it and thought about the code.
"Well… technically it doesn't say anything. It says the clan must eat first but when the warriors talk, it seems that it mostly refers to the hunters." Beekit pondered aloud, "So I guess it should be ok, as long as you aren't greedy about it." Darkshadow nodded.
"Usually you ought to wait, but sharing a mouse between you and the rest of the patrol is usually ok," Darkshadow agreed. Mintfur raised her tail to speak.
"Now what does the code say about hunting in your own territory, but catching it on another?" She quizzed. Beekit answered quickly.
"That one is easy! As soon as it crosses the boundary, it's no longer ours and you have to stop!" She purred confidently. The two elders nodded, then shared a glance.
"And what about friendships in the other clans, or," Darkshadow paused for a moment, "Or taking mates in the other clans?"
Beekit thought about it carefully before answering, "it doesn't really say anything. We have to defend our clan even if it means dying for it, but if you can do that while being friends with another cat, then I don't see why it would be against the code." She mewed uncertainly, "As for mates, I don't really know. I think it would be the same as having friends. But I'd feel bad for the kits cause they wouldn't see one of the parents very much…" Beekit broke off, confused. "What's the answer?" She asked quietly.
"You're not… completely wrong." Darkshadow mewed, shifting uncomfortably. Mintfur interrupted him.
"It breaks many codes, little one. For friends, you can be friends during a gathering but after you are enemies once again," She started, "But mates breaks many codes. How can you defend your clan loyally if your heart is in another? How would you have kits with your mate unless one of the two is trespassing?" Mintfur decided to finish with that.
Beekit's eyes widened, "That's a lot of codes… but…" she broke off, "What does the code have to do with who my father is?" The elders shuffled uncomfortably again. Darkshadow sighed and shifted around to sit on the other side of Beekit.
"You are right. Lightningtail is your father…" He began uncomfortably, "He hasn't come to visit you… because he lives in RiverClan."