AN: I'm going to be rewriting Foxpaw's Trials (again) alongside this story, so take whatever happen in the non rewritten version with a grain of salt! ]
Chapter One
The sun rose as Sorrelkit slid out of the nursery, the sounds of her siblings' conversation about some story they heard still reaching her ears.
"Who kills off the main character in a stupid way? Drowning? She didn't even die a hero!" Flykit complained, probably lashing his tail in annoyance.
" Isn't that story true though?" Aspenkit asked, a note of confusion in his voice.
" Cats change the details of true stories alllllllll the time! Why not change this one?" Flykit whined loudly. " You want to know how I would have ended it?"
" Not really. Anyways, that's just how they assumed everything went. She drowned, but we don't know how." Aspenkit replied, his voice taking up the ' but actually ' tone that he got when talking about certain subjects.
" Oh come on! It's still a stupid -" Flykit never finished his sentence, instead letting out a squawk of protest that was quickly cut off.
Sorrelkit glanced behind her, where Aspenkit was sitting triumphantly on top of his brother. That's how their interactions usually ended when Aspenkit got bored. She shook her head, her whiskers twitching in amusement as she trotted towards the medicine cat den.
As she got closer she could hear the annoyed voice of Shadepaw coming from the medicine cat den. " - and next time get your own thorns out of your paw! It's that easy!"
" But that's your job!" Icerunner snapped back in reply.
Sorrelkit's pace slowed down before she completely stopped, glancing into the den.
" Get out of my den before I give you more than a thorn in the paw to worry about." Shadepaw hissed, lashing her tail.
" You could try," Icerunner scoffed in response, before stalking out of the den with his head held high. He didn't even acknowledge Sorrelkit as he passed by (She was used to that).
Shadepaw stood still for a few more seconds, before crouching down and sorting through a group of herbs, muttering to herself as she went.
Any other cat would announce their presence, but since Sorrelkit was 'special' she couldn't. She wrinkled her nose, glancing at the ground. Mistfern wouldn't want her to think like that. She gave herself a shake before stomping into the medicine cat den.
" What is it this time?" Shadepaw snapped, raising her head with narrowed eyes. Her gaze met Sorrelkit's and softed. " Oh."
In response Sorrelkit raised her paw and tilted it left to right, her head tilted. 'Are you okay?'
Shadepaw got to her paws, regarding Sorrelkit for a second. " Nope! This clan if full of mousebrains who keep getting thorns stuck in their paws! They're warriors, not kits!" She grumbled, glaring at the pile of herbs that hadn't moved. " Not only that, I need to figure out everything for myself!" After that statement her ear twitched and she narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
Sorrelkit gazed at the pile of herbs, her tail flicking back and forth. 'Help?' she asked, her head tilted.
The medicine cat in training studied her for a second, before rolling her eyes. " Sure, why not. I need to grab some more herbs anyways," She gestured towards the pile before continuing in a joking tone: " You'll be fine alone, right? No munching on the herbs while I'm gone!"
Sorrelkit nodded, her eyes wide. She could do it! She puffed out her chest, feeling a sense of pride. Shadepaw trusted her to be alone! She wouldn't disappoint her!
As Shadepaw left, casting her another glance, Sorrelkit started sorting through the pile. After all, what could go wrong?
" What do you think you're doing in here? Alone no less!" An accusing voice growled from behind Sorrelkit.
Sorrelkit whirled around, quickly glancing guiltily at the torn leaf that sat beside her. Lightslash loomed over her, her eyes narrowed.
Lightslash was one of the few cats that Sorrelkit never wanted to get on the bad side of (Did anyone want to? She was scary!). She stumbled backwards, frantically searching for a word in her vocabulary. She raised a paw, but before she could answer Lightslash's question another voice filled the den.
" What are you doing here? Sorrelkit was helping me!" Shadepaw stalked forward, fur bristling.
'Yes, helping!' Sorrelkit signed (Did Lightslash even know any of her signs?), but Lightslash had already spun to face Shadepaw, her fur bristling.
" Are you mousebrained? Or do you hate your role in this clan so much that you would willingly endanger the life of a kit?" Her voice was icy with rage.
" Sorrelkit is mute, not mousebrained!" Shadepaw snapped back in reply, narrowing her eyes. " And if you dare think otherwise -!"
" You're clearly the mousebrain in this situation! What medicine cat leaves a kit alone in a medicine cat den?" Lightslash cut her off, her voice rising steadily.
Sorrelkit scrambled forward, her eyes wide. Stop fighting! She wanted to cry out. Suddenly Darkmist appeared at the entrance, looking concerned. " What's…going on?" He asked quietly, his head tilted.
" Your apprentice is mousebrained! " Lightslash replied in an exasperated tone, signaling towards Sorrelkit, who ducked, looking awkwardly at the ground. " She left a kit alone in the medicine cat den!"
Darkmist glanced at Sorrelkit, frowning slightly, before turning his gaze towards Shadekit. " I'm sure she didn't mean any harm by doing that…" he said quietly, before adding in a shaky voice: " But Shadepaw, doing that could end up going wrong in several ways. Even if you didn't mean any harm, a kit should always be watched while in the medicine cat den. " His tone was soft and he had a haunted look in his eyes as he raised his head to make eye contact with Shadepaw.
" There's nothing dangerous in that pile." Shadepaw muttered sullenly, casting a defiant glare at Lightslash.
" She clearly hasn't learned anything. If she was my apprentice she'd be cleaning out nests for a moon, plus whatever Swiftstar had in store for her." Lightslash hissed, glaring at the medicine cat trainee as she left, her tail lashing.
Darkmist hovered by the den before awkwardly coughing. " Lightslash actually came in here to get me something for my throat. " He whispered, glancing back at the retreating she cat.
Shadepaw rolled her eyes, stalking over to the herb store, while Sorrelkit watched, her eyes wide. She just wanted to help Shadepaw, and now she was in trouble! She glanced over at the neat stacks of herbs she left before straightening up, an uncertain look on her face.
" Aha! This should help!" Shadepaw suddenly proclaimed, bounding back to her mentor and dropping a leaf on the ground. " Honey helps with sore throats!" Underneath her false cheerful tone Sorrelkit could still hear a hint of bitterness.
This wasn't something she could easily fix, was it?
