Honeykit sighed and sulked, lashing her speckled tail in irritation at nothing. She, Blossomkit, and Silverkit had been sentenced to their apprentice ceremony being delayed by one moon because of 'the incident'. The nursery had since been bare of most of the cats concerning Honeykit's friendships. Almost every kit had been made apprenticed, leaving behind only the previously mentioned kits and Webkit. Silverkit was chatting poor Webkit's ears off and Blossomkit was napping with Honeykit's and Blossomkit's mother, Beeflower. "Silverkit," Halfface called to her daughter, "Your fur is all messed up!" She smiled and laughed as her daughter pranced over, fur fluffed out like a pinecone.
Honeykit frowned, then smiled at her friend. Silverkit didn't notice and remained occupied. Honeykit jumped in surprise as she felt paws battering her face. "C'mon, let's go play!" Blossomkit purred and grinned. Honeykit smiled and nodded. She looked back at Beeflower but her mother said nothing but "Don't let anything sneak up on you so easily." Honeykit had taken the worst of the adventure; she'd fallen in a frozen lake on her head. Flowerpaw had just managed to grab her before she'd fallen through the ice. Her tail lashed in embarrassment at the memory. As a result, she was pretty weak, but she knew she needed some exercise.
Silverkit, Honeykit, and Blossomkit had left camp while Tsunamiwave had been kitting Webkit in hopes of finding food for their clan at an abandoned Twoleg's nest. They knew this last leaf-bare was hard and only wanted to help, but that wasn't how Hawkstar had seen it. Blossomkit giggled as she passed the moss ball to Honeykit, breaking her thought. It hit her light ginger paws and she jumped in surprise. She landed on it and tripped. "Oof," she croaked as she splayed out on the nursery floor. She heard laughter all around her and saw that everyone, excluding Beeflower and herself were laughing. She turned and saw that Dogpaw and Cariboupaw had come to talk to their mother and sister. She noticed her father, Iceblaze, was with them trying very hard not to laugh. "It's not funny!" Honeykit whined, her fur fluffing out to twice her size. Most of the laughing stopped, except for Iceblaze. She looked down at her paws and imagined just how silly she'd looked flailing about in the air like a fish on land. She began to laugh good-naturedly with them. "Okay..Maybe it is." She giggled and relaxed as everyone laughed with her. When they'd finished, she smiled as Iceblaze padded towards her. "Here, let me help you." He untangled her from the moss and grinned at his daughter. Honeykit and Blossomkit rarely saw their father; he was a senior warrior whom was very respected and therefore busy. They knew he loved them, but every time they saw him, it was either awkward or happy. This time, apparently, was a happy memory.
"Thanks." Honeykit smiled. Her crowd broke away into their own little cliques. Dogpaw was fawning over Webkit as he practiced crouching with Tsunamiwave watching over him protectively. Tidefur came in to see his son. He and Tsunamiwave were always fighting, but that didn't mean he didn't love Webkit. Cariboupaw ventured over to talk with his mother and Silverkit. Blossomkit showed Iceblaze her hunter's crouch and he criticized her, gently nudging her this way and that. She quickly got the gist of it and pounced on a leaf that had mistakenly fluttered into the nursery. She jumped up and smiled triumphantly with the leaf hanging from her mouth. Honeykit smiled at the praise her sister got and giggled as Webkit 'attacked' Dogpaw. She turned to see what her mother was doing.
Beeflower was watching from a distance, her muzzle wrinkled in disgust as she saw Honeykit look at her. The fluffy light ginger kit paid no mind and played with her moss ball. She watched from the corner of her green eye as Beeflower stood up and quietly ushered out of the nursery. Honeykit watched as she made her way to the medicine den. Cloudfrost had just been padding out of her den and jumped in surprise at the sight of her visitor. Beeflower began to speak, a look of worry flashing across her face. Cloudfrost seemed to argue for a bit but was reassured and nodded reluctantly. Beeflower smiled and walked back to the nursery. "Beeflower!" Honeykit squeaked, jumping up to greet her mother. "Do you think we'll be apprenticed today?" Beeflower didn't answer and pushed her away. Honeykit frowned, then fought back with a wave of determination. She was going to prove to her mother that she wasn't weak. "Cariboupaw!" She called, bounding over to the silver tom. "I wanna practice battle moves." Silverkit's brother blinked in surprise, then looked back at Beeflower for reassurance. She watched with interested narrow yellow eyes and nodded, then gave her paw a lick. Honeykit smiled enthusiastically as she followed Cariboupaw outside the nursery. "Okay, uh…Try dodging my paw swipes to work on your speed and balance." He waited for her to prepare, then swiped gently. She wasn't fast enough and he gently knocked her down. She scrambled to her paws and shook of the snow. She aimed at him and batted at him, but only caught the air in her paws. She frowned and lashed her tail. "I'll try again!" She squeaked, analyzing her opponent. "No. That's quite enough." Beeflower's voice boomed behind her. Honeykit jumped in surprise; she hadn't even noticed her mother come up behind her. She hung her head and nodded sadly, before padding back to her nest. Beeflower snorted and glared before heading back to hers. A chilling thought spread through Honeykit like a scorpion's poisonous tail touch. 'How can I ever be a warrior with my stupid clumsy paws?'
Hawkstar's voice thundered all around CrystalClan camp. Halfface squealed and quickly licked Silverkit clean. Silverkit whined impatiently. Honeykit sat a little ways away and groomed herself. Beeflower groomed Blossomkit and smiled down at her. The queens ushered their daughters out to sit underneath the CrystalShard. The CrystalShard was a large mass of crystals of which harbored the leader's den and meeting place. The leader slept on top of the CrystalShard along with their mate if they had one. The CrystalShard was so large that it harbored the deputy, Lotustail watching quietly behind Hawkstar, Hawkstar in the middle, and Rosemarytail, his mate. Honeykit forced excited bounces away. As she walked down, she noticed Iceblaze smile at his daughters, Boneclaws smiled at Silverkit, whom was his daughter. Halfface quickly joined her family after pushing Silverkit forward. Blossomkit and Honeykit walked side-by-side. Honeykit shivered anxiously. tail smiled kindly at them. She'd recently been a queen, mother to Brownpaw, Briarpaw, and Rubypaw, Starlingpaw, and Bramblepaw so she knew all three of the kits very well. Beeflower sat between her sister Daffodilfrost and Iceblaze.
"Today we welcome three kits as apprentices to CrystalClan. As some of you may recall, their ceremony was delayed because of an unnecessary little…adventure. Blossomkit, step forward." Blossomkit did so, quivering with fear. Honeykit longed to comfort her sister but didn't dare defy Hawkstar. "From this day, until you are a warrior, you shall be known as Blossompaw." He scanned the crowd carefully for an eligible mentor. "Aspenfur!" Aspenfur jolted in surprise as he was summoned. He watched Hawkstar nervously with his yellow eyes. "We honor your strength and quick thinking. You will mentor Blossompaw." Blossompaw padded over and they touched ears. She sat and watched eagerly for the ceremony to persist. "There's also a special edition to this ceremony." Cloudfrost shifted as Hawkstar flicked his tail towards her. "Cloudfrost had chosen an apprentice." Yowls of approval broke out; Cloudfrost was very old and getting weaker everyday so they'd all wanted an apprentice for her. Honeykit turned to Silverkit in shock. But her friend was always boasting that she'd be the best warrior! She'd never realized Silverkit had a interest in herbs. Maybe she just wanted to help her clan more than an average warrior? Then Honeykit noticed the same shock harbored in her friend's eyes. Her heart sank in horror as she realized what was happening. Hawkstar waited for the yowls to die down. "Honeykit, step forward." She did so, her paws numb with shock. "You shall be known as Honeypaw from this day until StarClan decides otherwise. Cloudfrost will teach you all she knows. Thank you for your special contribution to your clan." Cloudfrost padded over and bent her fluffy white ears to touch Honeypaw's.
"Silverkit, step forward.'' He once again analyzed his Clanmates. "Aukletwing!" A small gray-red-spotted she-cat jumped in excitement. ''You're a young warrior, however I hope you're ready to pass on your skills of tracking and your hunting skills to Silverpaw. Also, the rogue scents have persisted and we'll…" Honeypaw was barely listening. She felt dizzy, as though she'd been stabbed in her back with the knife of betrayal. Visions danced in her head: Beeflower talking nervously to Cloudfrost. "You're too clumsy, Honeykit," Bramblekit sneered, "We don't wanna play with you." "You're so bad at fighting, Honeykit!" "I don't know how you'll manage to be a warrior with that clumsiness." "No, you've got it wrong! You need to do this. If you don't get it perfect, you'll never be a warrior." "Pay attention more." Honeypaw broke from her memories ad gasped for breath, digging her claws into the ground. She leaned on Cloudfrost, too nauseous without support. Everything was a blur. She could barely make out the vision of cats. "Honeypaw!" She heard someone gasp. More words were passed and thrown at her. She nodded weakly and coughed once more before only feeling a blanket of darkness creep up on her.
Author's note:
Silverpaw, Dogpaw, Cariboupaw, Boneclaws, and Halfface do not belong to me. They belong to my Amino bestie, Peach Sofa. As always, CRITICISM IS WANTED! I forget what I was going to say, so byyyeeee!