Chapter 4
Honeykit yawned as she brushed her way out of the nursery and stepped into the sunny clearing. It had been three moons since Bluestar accepted her into the Clan and things were going smoothly. Robinwing had her kits about half a moon after she arrived; Dustkit, a dark brown tabby, and Ravenkit, a black kit with a dash of white on his chest and a white tipped tail. Brindleface had her kit about a moon ago as well, a pretty little pale ginger tabby, Sandkit, and Spottedleaf said Willowpelt was due any day now.
It had gotten a little crowded in the nursery due to this and Honeykit was eager to become an apprentice just so she could have some more room to stretch out. She had shot up in growth these past moons and was surprisingly tall for her age, or so said Speckletail the old sharp tongued queen who raised her here in ThunderClan.
Honeykit watched as Longpaw- soon to be a warrior if the rumors were true- bounded across the clearing to meet up with his mentor, Darkstripe. They turned and headed out of the camp squeezing through the gorse tunnel. Probably hunting, she thought as she kept a careful watch. She never forgot exactly what kind of cat Darkstripe was and she refused to be caught off guard by him.
Another cat stalked across the clearing, the tortoiseshell fur dark in the sunlight but the tail was so eye-catchingly red. Redtail made his way over to the Highrock where Bluestar sat waiting for him.
Honeykit watched with curiosity as Bluestar nodded and then walked over to her, "Is Speckletail here? I need to speak with her."
Honeykit nodded, "I think she may have gone back to sleep though. I accidentally woke her up when I was leaving. I can go fetch her for you if you want." She said, straightening up a little as the gray molly looked at her.
"Yes please do so. Have her come to my den." Bluestar flicked her ear at her den and walked away.
Honeykit quickly turned herself about and squeezed back into the nursery, carefully placing her paws so she doesn't wake any cat up. She got to her adoptive mother's nest and nudged her softly, "Speckletail, Bluestar wants to see you in her den."
The old queen stirred and her ear twitched in acknowledgement as she raised her head. She slowly stood up and stretched her legs out one at a time before tip-toeing her way across the den and pushing through the brambles. Honeykit followed after her not wanting to wake any of the kits up yet.
Something rushed into Honeykit, bowling her off her paws. I guess I wasn't quiet enough. She wiggled on the ground as Dustkit and Ravenkit clambered all over her. She twisted around and gently shook the younger kits off before standing up. They were only three moons old but both were rather energetic, always trailing after the older kit. Ravenkit was a little more skittish but Honeykit made sure to try to include him in all the games. It's funny how little I really knew about the Clan all those seasons ago. I never even knew Ravenpaw and Dustpelt were brothers. But then again no cat ever spoke about it. The privileges of growing up in the clan I suppose, you're always in the know, she thought, her whiskers twitching with amusement.
"Are you gonna be an apprentice soon? You're already so old.." Dustkit mewed as he tried getting the older kit's tail with his sharp thin claws. Honeykit teased him, flicking closer to his face and bringing just out of reach before he could grab it.
"Who knows? It's up to Bluestar after all. I'm just along for the trip." Honeykit said leaping away as the two toms tried jumping her again. As she turned she caught a glimpse of a pretty tortoiseshell coat. Her ears perked up and she turned leaving the kits behind with a, "Give me a moment," thrown over her shoulder.
"Spottedleaf!" Honeykit mewed as she rushed over to the pretty medicine cat. Her eyes alight with admiration as she looked at the older molly. Spottedleaf purred in greeting but continued to walk across the camp. Honeykit kept pace behind her as she made her way to the deputy, Redtail, as he stood near the fresh-kill pile organizing patrols.
"Spottedleaf. I see you have another shadow today," Redtail greeted in amusement as the two cats approached. Honeykit huffed in annoyance and opened her mouth to defend herself but Spottedleaf beat her to it.
"You're just jealous that none of the kits have been chasing you around as near as often as they follow me." she sniffed putting on an exaggerated snooty appearance.
Redtail shook his head and laughed at his sister's antics. "What brings you to me this early? Especially with your dedicated guard," he flicked his ear at the kit.
"I was actually hoping you'd let me steal Honeykit and bring her with me to gather some more borage. We have so many queens right now we keep running right through my stock." Spottedleaf explained casting a glance at the kit by her side. Redtail nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke.
"Go ahead and take her, but if I were you I wouldn't take too long. Rumor has it some lucky kit is getting a mentor today." His eyes shone with laughter as he teased the fluffy kit. Honeykit perked up and her hazel eyes were filled with joy as she glanced back and forth between the two siblings.
Taking in their twin expressions of mischief she decided to spoil the fun by acting like she didn't hear a thing. She turned to Spottedleaf, "So are we going then? I should go tell Dustkit and Ravenkit that I'll be back later."
She spun around and trotted off ignoring the laughter behind her. Spottedleaf has definitely opened up a lot more compared to how she was last time. I'm glad to see her having fun for once instead of constantly patching cats up. It seemed that was all I ever saw her doing back then.
She found the kits playing chase with a little piece of moss batting it between them. She crept over and snagged the moss with a claw holding it up in the air before flicking it towards Ravenkit. he caught it but Dustkit came running right over and knocked into him sending both kits tumbling to the ground. Honeykit watched for a moment before breaking them up, calling out, "Hey, I'm going to help Spottedleaf. I'll see you two later. Don't have too much fun without me!"
"You're going out again? Ugh, why do you always get to go out. It's not fair!" Dustkit whined before turning around and stomping over to the nursery huffing as he pushed his way inside. Ravenkit hesitated before shooting Honeykit an apologetic look and scurrying after his brother.
Honeykit shook her head laughing and turned to find Spottedleaf waiting by the gorse tunnel. She ran over eager to stretch her paws, after all, she is technically an elder- that is if you count her extra 96 moons, it's a little hard staying cooped up all the time.
She followed Spottedleaf out of the tunnel and clambered up the ravine knowing that Spottedleaf would be keeping an eye on her to catch her if she slips. Honeykit made it up and waited for Spottedleaf before trotting in the direction of the best patch of borage she remembered from the last time Spottedleaf "snuck" her out of camp.
"Who do you think is gonna be my mentor?" Honeykit asked, carefully avoiding the medicine cat's eyes knowing that she'd be laughing at her. Spottedleaf purred, "I don't have to guess. Bluestar let it slip the other day when she visited me, and no I won't tell you. Privileges of being a medicine cat I suppose."
"That's so not fair! I'm the one getting a mentor and I'm the last to know?" The kit hissed in mock anger, playing around with the older molly as they traipsed through the undergrowth to get to the borage leaves.
Spottedleaf took over the lead and guided her to a nice patch, "Remember not to bite the leaves. Bite them off by the stem and grip them carefully with your teeth so they don't actually bite down."
"I remember. You don't need to go over it every time! I've gotten borage leaves with you more than once!" Honeykit exclaimed, playfully swatting the medicine cat with her tail.
"I just wanted to make sure our soon to be apprentice knew how to gather herbs correctly. After all I'll most likely be needing your help still even after you take up your official duties. Except then I won't have to beg for you from Redtail." Spottedleaf meowed calmly. She got a mischievous glint in her eye as she continued, "I wouldn't want you to be bored chasing down squirrels all the time."
Honeykit snorted and leaned forward to bite off some leaves, spitting them out on the ground for Spottedleaf to inspect. The medicine cat nodded her approval and turned to get a little bit more. "I mainly want to have these in stock as we get closer and closer to Willowpelt's expected time so we don't have to grab as many as last time, especially now that Dustkit and Ravenkit are starting to get weaned off."
Honeykit nodded and bit off some more leaves, dropping them in the pile. Spottedleaf eyed the pile again and nodded in satisfaction. "This should be enough for now. We should start heading back. We don't want to miss your ceremony." She mewed, bending down and picking up about half the pile leaving the rest for the kit. Honeykit quickly scooped up the rest and followed the pretty tortoiseshell back home.
The pale yellow molly carefully picked her way down the ravine not wanting to drop all the leaves if she slipped. Honeykit pushed her way through the gorse tunnel and hurried after Spottedleaf who was already heading into the medicine cat den. She slipped in through the ferns and padded over to Spottedleaf near the back next to the crack in the den where she keeps her store and gently laid the leaves on the ground.
"Thank you for your help, Honeykit. You better go and see Speckletail, I'm sure she's been waiting for you." Spottedleaf mewed over her shoulder as she began putting everything away.
"Anytime, I always love hanging out with my favorite medicine cat." Honeykit said as she slipped away, pushing through the ferns.
Stepping into the clearing a brisk breeze sent leaves flying everywhere turning the clearing into a playground for mischievous kits. Honeykit was tempted by the floating leaves but suppressed that urge. It was hard enough trying to get over my natural embarrassment to act like a kit and now it's getting hard to stop. I guess that's what happens when you are surrounded by grown cats constantly expecting you to trip over your own paws. She shook her head clearing her thoughts as she looked around the camp. Bluestar was sitting over by Whitestorm, and - there's Speckletail pushing her way out of the nursery.
"Come here!" She called flicking her at the kit. Honeykit hurried over taking care not to get in any cats way on her way to her adoptive mother. Speckletail looked her over head to tail before licking down and fly away fur.
"Why do you have so much fur? It's always just barely out of place. We can't have you looking so raggedy at your apprentice ceremony. It's an important occasion and I won't have you looking like a mess."
Honeykit held still, obediently letting her groom her pelt for a bit before she squirmed away a little, "It'll be alright, My fur's just long and with this wind it won't stay perfectly done for long so we might as well accept that this will be the best it gets."
Speckletail snorted but let her back off, she glanced over at Bluestar and nodded. Bluestar acknowledged her with a flick of the ear and jumped onto Highrock.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting," she yowled the familiar words. As the clan gathered around Bluestar sat neatly on the ledge.
Speckletail nudged the kit forward a bit in preparation for the leader to call on her. Honeykit held her head up and looked steadily at the leader. Bluestar glanced around the clearing, "It is my pleasure to announce that we have a kit here who has finally reached her sixth moon. Honeykit. Please step forward."
Honeykit took a deep breath and let it go, calming her nerves. She had done dozens of these as a leader but it had been so long since she herself underwent a naming ceremony. She forgot how nerve wracking it was. She stepped forward until she was a few paces from the ledge, Honeykit refused to glance around the clearing focusing her eyes only upon the noble gray cat.
"Honeykit, 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 Honeypaw. Your mentor will be Mousefur. I hope Mousefur will pass down all she knows on to you."
The dusky brown she-cat stepped forward as Bluestar called her name and went to stand by the new apprentice.
"Mousefur, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Rosetail, and you have shown yourself to be a fierce warrior and dedicated to your Clan. You will be the mentor of Honeypaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."
The brown molly turned and lowered her head, Honeypaw calmly touched her nose to the older cat. Her new mentor was a bit of a surprise, although she didn't really have a clue as to who Bluestar would have chosen but she did bury a faint pang of disappointment at not being chosen to be Bluestar's apprentice like she was in the past. "Honeypaw! Honeypaw, Honeypaw." Her Clanmates called her name as she stood next to her mentor. She felt her two old denmates slam into her calling her new name in excitement.
Dustkit announced, "It'll be my turn soon enough, so don't go thinking you're cooler than us now just because you moved dens!"
Honeypaw purred in mirth, "I would never! I'll be waiting."
Speckletail had approached while she was distracted by the kits, "Good job. You managed to do exactly what you were supposed to and you even got yourself a good enough mentor even if she is a little too young for my taste."
Honeypaw rolled her eyes, "In your eyes, the only one good enough would be Bluestar herself."
She shook her head while laughing, "You can't go picking on my mentor now just because I'm her first apprentice."
Honeypaw glanced around and found her mentor standing by the gorse tunnel, "I should go. I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with Mousefur. I'll speak to you all tonight."
Without waiting for an answer she twirled around and made her way to Mousefur. The dusky brown molly looked at her with a hint of nervousness in her gaze before flicking her tail at the new apprentice for her to follow. Honeypaw suppressed her own nerves and followed her eager to see what they'll do.
She followed Mousefur up the ravine and there they paused, "I think I'll show you the territory today and later tonight if you're not exhausted by that I'll introduce you to your duties around camp. Specifically what you'll be doing for the elders."
Honeypaw nodded and Mousefur continued, "We'll head towards Fourtress first and make our way around the territory from there. Make sure you keep up."
The small brown cat then whirled around and ran off. Honeypaw scrambled to try to keep up, thanking StarClan for giving her long legs for her age.
At least this time around she actually got a mentor immediately instead of being passed around like an unwanted cold from cat to cat. It's just a pity she couldn't get Bluestar again, she probably won't have such a close bond with her this time. Honeypaw started lagging further behind Mousefur and sped up so she was right on her tail. One thing that hasn't changed is how no mentor ever waits for their apprentice. Always racing off, she thought, as though their paws will break if they slow down.
She looked around at her old haunts and grinned, happy to recall the fond memories of hunting and patrolling with her Clan. She sighed and shook her head. No time to go down memory lane, she was sure Mousefur would soon notice her grinning like a fool. Hopefully she'll contribute to an apprentices first night out.
They soon come to the river crossing for Fourtrees; it was narrow enough for her to jump across. Mousefur led the way and turned to look back at her apprentice as she made the jump. "Good job, I was a little worried you might not be able to jump all the way and end up swimming."
Honeypaw huffed, "As if I wouldn't be able to make that measly little jump," deciding to ignore how her back leg slipped a little. "Anyway don't we have somewhere to be?"
Mousefur snorted and her eyes were filled with amusement at the little cat, she shook her head and bounded away leaving the apprentice to follow. Honeypaw leapt after her trying to keep pace. She followed as they drew closer to Fourtrees. When they finally came up on the ridge she startled and looked down taking in the four giant oaks still standing guard around the Great Rock. It was so different to the last time she saw it, after the Two-legs had ruined everything, leaving almost unrecognizable.
"This is Fourtrees," Mousefur flicked her tail, "According to the Warrior Code we must meet here at the full moon under a truce. We cannot shed blood when under this truce, for this would anger StarClan."
The brown molly turned, "Come we still have a lot of territory to cover, I just wanted to show you the way so you're ready for your first Gathering when the time comes."
Mousefur walked away flicking her tail and Honeypaw took a last look at the clearing before turning and padding after her mentor.
Honeypaw followed her mentor through the territory coming up on the border; she wrinkled her nose at the Thunderpath's heavy stench barely able to pick up on ShadowClan's scent across the way. Mousefur laughed at her and explained, "This is the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. This is what we call the Thunderpath, Two-legs and their monsters race across this with no regard to any cats that might be here, so you must take care and keep your distance. Cats have been hit and killed by monsters before so be cautious."
Honeypaw nodded and looked around nervously, she still remembered poor Cinderpelt's injury. She looked at the dirty gray ground and peered beyond that, at the shadowy area across the way, ShadowClan territory. Yellowfang was over there. Honeypaw knew that she had to find a way to warn her of Brokenstar's terrible actions, hopefully before any of it could come to pass. Mousefur nudged her, breaking her out of her thoughts, "Come, I'll take you to the Great Sycamore and Snakerocks before we circle back to camp."
The yellow cat nodded and turned to follow her, casting a final glance over her shoulder, before determinedly pushing her way forward. She ran to catch up to her mentor and padded along just a few steps behind her.
They had just gotten back under the cover of the trees when the wind changed and Mousefur's hair bristled, she whipped her head around, "Fox," she hissed, but she was a step too late.
Red fur gleamed in the sun as it jumped, barely missing Honeypaw as she instinctively crouched lower at Mousefur's warning. She had run into foxes before, even lost a life at the jaws of one, but that had been as an adult when she stood a chance of fighting back but now she wasn't even half its size. Her fur bristled as she saw it spin around, teeth bared as it snarled at them. Mousefur knocked her out of the way as it pounced again, scouring her claws across its long muzzle. Honeypaw shook her fear off and realized she was in a spot of trouble. She knew how to handle foxes but at the same time it was her first day as an apprentice. How is she supposed to do this? She decided in a flash that she couldn't abandon Mousefur to fight alone and jumped into the fight.
"What are you doing? You need to get out of here Honeypaw, that's an order!" Mousefur growled as she noticed her apprentice swatting at the foxes' flank and darting back before it could land a bite with its snapping jaws.
"What, you expect me to just leave you here by yourself?" Honeypaw countered as she ducked underneath a swiping paw. The fox thought they would be easy prey, well, she would show it just how wrong it was.
She felt more than saw as Mousefur got hit by a paw and she darted over, ripping her claws down the foxes haunches as it tried to get to the brown cat. It spun around and advanced on her jaws snapping and she almost made it clear but a sharp pain that radiated up her hind leg proved otherwise. She was dragged back and thrown clear across, the ground landing in a bramble bush. She laid there for a moment the wind knocked out of her before she scrambled to her feet and dragged herself out of the thorns just to see the fox had turned back towards Mousefur, its slobbering maw wide as it snarled at fallen cat.
A yowl burst through the air. She sighed in relief, a patrol must have found them! The fox turned its face towards the sound only to get knocked back as three cats appeared out of the brush. Honeypaw took this chance to stagger over to her mentor and checked her over. She was bleeding from a deep scratch on her flank but other than that she seemed alright. She was just stunned. Honeypaw crouched next to her and watched as the patrol scared off the fox. The big dark tabby that led the charge turned around and stalked towards them, Tigerclaw, it's off putting to see him as a savior instead of the villain.
The other cats, Runningwind and Lionheart, chased after the fox making sure that it left the area. Tigerclaw towered over the two she-cats and asked, "What happened? What were you two doing out here?"
Mousefur's ears twitched and she sat up slowly, "I was taking Honeypaw around the territory, it must've been following us, I didn't even know it was there until the wind changed."
Honeypaw nosed her side, "Are you okay? It got a good hit on you, you were down for a bit."
Mousefur nodded her head, "I'm fine it just knocked the air out of me."
Tigerclaw growled a little before shaking his head, "You're lucky we were nearby. We weren't even supposed to come this way but we decided to hunt on our way home. You're very lucky."
He looked them over and helped nudge Mousefur to her feet before turning to the apprentice and going to nose her to her feet as well but Honeypaw scrambled to her feet before he could wincing as she put weight on her hindleg. He paused and an unreadable expression flitted across his eyes, before turning to look at Runningwind and Lionheart as they came back.
"Where did it go? We'll have to inform Redtail and Bluestar so they can send another patrol to drive it out." he meowed, flicking his tail as Runningwind went over to his sister helping her walk. Lionheart answered instead as he came forward, "It ran off across the Thunderpath, we should be okay to get to camp now."
Tigerclaw nodded and paced away, leaving Lionheart to help the apprentice limp home. Lionheart shook his head and padded over to the pale molly, "How's your leg? Looks like you're favoring it a bit."
"I think I might have twisted it a little when the fox grabbed me and tossed me." She said keeping it clear off the ground despite the sharp ache that it caused, it was still better than when she tried putting weight on it.
She snorted, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit, "What a way to start off an apprenticeship, am I right? First time past Sandy Hollow and I run into a fox," she mewed clicking her tongue, "Just my luck."
Lionheart's whiskers twitched in amusement, "I know Spottedleaf is going to kick up a fuss right along with Speckletail too. You're in for a couple long lectures I'm sure, especially from Mousefur, as I'm sure she told you to leave."
They kept up with the patrol just behind Runningwind and Mousefur with Tigerclaw bringing up the rear. She limped along, "Come on now, I didn't get eaten. I consider this a win. No reason to dwell on what could have happened. It's easier to just acknowledge what happened and move on."
"Ah youth," he shook his head, keeping pace even as she slowed down to scramble over a branch. He winced in sympathy as she let out a hiss of pain as her leg hit the ground.
"I'm going to be honest," Honeypaw started, "I'm not sure how I'll be able to get down the ravine."
"Don't worry, Tigerclaw and I will help you down. We don't want you to injure yourself even more." Lionheart reassured the molly as she limped along. "You're still small enough that worse comes to worse I'm sure Tigerclaw or I could carry you down."
Honeypaw stifled a mew of protest at the thought. She didn't want that cat anywhere near her but she couldn't give a reason yet so she just held her tongue and kept on going until they finally reached the ravine.
She let out a sigh already knowing that it'll be a hard time down and then right to the medicine cat den where Spottedleaf would no doubt give her a tongue lashing of a lifetime while bandaging up her and Mousefur's injuries.
She looked down and tried to map out a way down that wouldn't put too much strain on her leg. Tigerclaw came up behind her impatiently, "Well are you going down or not?"
His tail flicked and Lionheart started heading down but paused and waited for Honeypaw to start her descent. She inhaled and shot the dark tabby an unreadable look before she limped down taking her time to avoid slipping.
Once she made it down she let out a breath and pushed her way into camp feeling Tigerclaw right on her tail. She blinked at the crowd of cats that greeted her, Spottedleaf already fussing over Mousefur, looked up and directed Runningwind to help her to the medicine cat den before going up to Honeypaw. "Come on, I'll help you over to my den so I can check you over." She nodded to Lionheart and Tigerclaw, before nudging the pale yellow cat over to the den.
Honeypaw glanced back and watched as Lionheart made his way to Redtail, she looked toward Tigerclaw and accidentally met his eyes as he watched the two walk to the medicine cat den. Honeypaw averted her gaze and focused on pushing through the fern tunnel. Mousefur was already there with Runningwind about to make his way out. Honeypaw quickly limped out of the way and followed Spottedleaf to a space in the den where she gestured for her to lay down.
"Your leg is a little better than Mousefur's scratch so just wait a moment while I put some cobwebs on her." Spottedleaf said before turning and gathering what she needed.
Honeypaw glanced at her mentor and then away, feeling somewhat guilty for ignoring her orders. She glanced back up and met her gaze, "I… I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Mousefur. I just couldn't leave you to face that fox alone."
Mousefur sniffed, "Save it. I understand that it was your first day but, the next time I give an order you must listen. I can't be distracted by you ignoring me every time something happens. Sometimes it's better to just listen rather than get underfoot. Especially since you're still untrained, you haven't had a second of battle training and you think it's a smart idea to fight a fox? Next time I tell you to run, you run. This will not happen again Honeypaw."
Honeypaw lowered her head, "Yes, Mousefur."
Spottedleaf came back with cobwebs wrapped around a paw and marigold in her mouth. She dropped the leaves, "Alright stay still."
She chewed the leaves into a poultice and plastered it on Mousefur then wrapped it up with cobweb holding it in place. "You can go back to the warriors den tonight but I want you to rest for the rest of the day and on light duties tomorrow. I'll talk to Redtail about it so don't worry."
Mousefur got up and left without another glance at her apprentice. Honeypaw flattened her ears as she walked out. Spottedleaf turned to her and sniffed at her leg, "Can you move it for me I need to see how the movement is."
The injured cat lifted her leg cringing as a sharp pain radiated through her hind leg. Spottedleaf watched for a moment before sighing in relief, "It's just a strained muscle, you'll be fine in a day or two as long as you rest. You're not bleeding anymore so I won't put any cobwebs on just be careful grooming. You technically don't have to stay here tonight, it's not as serious as I thought but you're welcome to do so if you want."
Honeypaw felt relief rush through her as she listened, "So I can move into the apprentice's den after all?"
"Yes, I saw Speckletail carrying moss to the den so I believe it's safe to assume you'll have a nest there." she paused, "I won't lecture you about what happened, I heard what Mousefur said and there's not much else left for me to say. I hope you reflect on why Mousefur is so upset."
Honeypaw nodded and slowly clambered to her feet, "I'm pretty tired, do you think I can just go to my den and sleep early?"
"Of course, I'll speak to Redtail and let him know." The medicine cat reassured, "And remember to listen to your mentor, she's there to help you after all."
Honeypaw flicked her ear in acknowledgement and pushed her way through the ferns. She ignored the cats in the clearing and limped over to her new den pushing her way in and using her nose to find the unoccupied nest.
She collapsed and sat for a moment before turning her head and awkwardly trying to groom herself without putting stress on her leg. She cleaned the blood off and laid there listening to the camp sounds as she slowly drifted off to sleep, emptying her mind of all the worries of tomorrow.
