Oriolekit stared into water that stared back. Images flickered in the depths, drawing her in, trapping her, keeping here there and making her watch.

She didn't want to watch.

She wanted to look away, to wake up, because she knew she was dreaming, she knew, she knew every single time she'd been here-

And she had been here before. She suddenly knew that for a fact. How had she forgotten? How could she forget the pond, and the grass, and the water that wouldn't let her go?

"It's okay," a voice said by her ear. A tail touched her haunches and she realized she was shaking. A paw touched her head and turned it, breaking her unblinking stare at the water.

She shuddered, a deep, full-bodied motion and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's okay," the gray cat beside her said again. She knew him, too. He was always there at the pond with her, and sometimes when she was awake, too.

"Why can't I look away," she whispered, her eyes still shut.

"I don't know," he mewed, and there was a palpable sadness in his tone. "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you."

"I want to wake up," she whispered to the cat. She felt his nose touch the top of her head, and then she was blinking in the dark warmth of the nursery. For a moment she caught a glimpse of the faint form of the gray cat, and with each breath she took, the image of the water slid further away from her mind.

Oriolekit was six moons old before she knew it. In fact, her mothers had to tell her before she remembered it. Somehow, the fact that she was going to be an apprentice completely slipped her mind.

Not that she wasn't excited. She was! She just.. thought she'd be more excited, maybe. Darkgaze was more excited, it seemed, but also a little sad.

"I'll be glad to sleep in the warriors den with Astertail again," she said sometimes. "But I'll miss taking care of you, Oriolekit."

Oriolekit didn't blame her. Darkgaze had been stealing more and more moments alone with her mate, impatient for the day they'd finally be together for more than an occasional patrol.

And so the day finally came when Oriolekit would be an apprentice instead of a kit, and life would change drastically.

She was surprised when her mothers took her aside rather than straight to the antechamber to wait for Batstar to call for the ceremony.

"We have something we need to tell you," Astertail mewed. Her voice was nervous, and she looked it; she only took small glances at her daughter, rather than always looking at her.

"We figured it should be now. You'll be very busy as an apprentice soon, and.." Darkgaze hesitated. "We don't want you to think bad of us, Oriolekit, or of yourself."

"What is it? Is it very bad?" Oriolekit mewed. Her paws shuffled. "Should I be worried?"

"No! No it's.. It's from the past. You see, um.." Astertail stopped. She and Darkgaze exchanged looks. "You see.."

Oriolekit's jaw dropped as Astertail spoke. They weren't Caveclan. Not originally. Oriolekit was half-clan.

"Shaleclan and Brushclan?" she mewed, confused. "But then how did.."

"Batstar let us stay," Astertail mewed. "It was very, very nice of him to, and we've mostly managed to fit right in.."

"Lizardfang and Patchfur don't like you," Oriolekit mewed. She remembered the hesitation they'd had at doing Darkgaze a favor.

"No. The older cats have had the hardest time getting used to us." Darkgaze swished her tail. "Are you mad?" she asked. Her voice was small.

Oriolekit sat on her haunches and thought. "No," she mewed eventually. "You love each other. Even cats with bees for brains could see that. That's all that matters, right?"

"Yes," Astertail mewed, relieved. "We were so worried you'd be angry at us.. We love you very much, Oriolekit."

"I love you both too," Oriolekit chirped. She took a moment to nuzzle both of her parents, purring.

When they reached the antechamber, the Clan was already waiting for them. Batstar beckoned Oriolekit forward with a nod of his head and she went willingly, taking a moment to brush against her mothers. She saw Honeypaw and Crowpaw, watching her. She hadn't spoken very much to them since the day they'd cleaned the elder's den together. She wondered what they were thinking.

Her gaze was drawn to the pond. Faintly she could see herself in the water, and under her reflection was.. "Oriolekit," Darkgaze hissed, jarring her out of her thoughts. She'd stopped at the water. Oriolekit flicked her tail apologetically and hurried up to Batstar.

He turned and walked down the tunnel, careful to keep his tail on Oriolekit's shoulder to guide her. "So they told you then?" he murmured so only she could hear.

"Yes," Oriolekit mewed back, and she heard Batstar make a noise that told her he'd heard her. Batstar had let them in the Clan, but Oriolekit wondered what he really thought about them.

She didn't get a chance to wonder. The tunnel gradually darkened until she was relying on her whiskers and hearing alone, along with Batstar's tail. The air grew heavier, weighing on her. She thought she heard a whisper. It sounded familiar, almost, fading in and out of her ears and then vanishing entirely.

She felt when the tunnel opened into the cavern where no light showed. Batstar lead her further in and stopped her, telling her with a simple flick of his tail not to move. She heard him move away. Something told her not to sit.

The whispering started again, only briefly. She strained to hear it, but the soft pawsteps of her clanmates as they joined her in the cavern drowned the voices out. She waited for them, straining to hear once the cavern had gone still again.

The silence stretched, pressing in on her until she couldn't even hear her own breathing. Batstar's voice was almost a light in the dark as he spoke. "Your Clan's hearts beat with your own," he whispered just as he had for Crowpaw and Honeypaw's ceremony. "Listen. Hear your Clan in you."

The silence crawled in again, but this time, as she listened, Oriolekit heard a thrum. It was different from when she'd been on the sidelines. It was directed at her, she realized. The sound was her Clan telling her she was one of them, that they'd be at her back until she joined Starclan.

You, whispered the faint voices. They were off sync, the word blurring together and fading in and out, layering over itself with a dozen voices. Us, the voices spoke, and then once more, We.

A shiver ran down Oriolekit's spine. Did this happen every time?

Batstar's physical voice was a welcome change. "Your name," he breathed, and she felt the words curl around her, changing her. For a moment she hung there, nameless, stripped of her identity. "Oriolepaw," he continued, and the name settled like a familiar friend on her pelt. "Your mentor. Fawntail," Batstar whispered as if bestowing a gift. And it was; she had been very fond of Fawntail, when Crowpaw and Honeypaw were still in the nursery.

"Oriolepaw," the Clan whispered a heartbeat after Batstar spoke. It was different from how the insubstantial whispers had been. She couldn't pick out any individual voices, the sound was so perfectly timed.

She heard the heartbeats again, the sound of her Clan perfectly in tune with each other. Oriolepaw heard the sound of Batstar landing on the ground. He must have been on top of something high up. His tail brushed her again and she followed him, trusting him to lead her out of the cavern and into the antechamber. She was glad when light appeared in the distance and she could see again.

Oriolepaw was glad to be in the light, where the air was easy to breathe. She didn't know if she liked the pitch black cavern. She moved across the antechamber, mentally testing out her new name. Her mothers murmured congratulations and told her how proud they were. Warm affection simmer in her throat, almost too much.

She moved to the Turtle Steps pond for a drink, hoping the cool water would bring her back down to earth. She lapped up a few drops and then paused, staring into the water again. The ripples stilled. The water seemed to open. Something itched at the back of her mind. A memory surfaced, floating on top of the pond.

And then whatever it was dropped back under like a stone as Fawntail mewed, "Well! Your mentor, am I?" Oriolepaw jumped, jerking her face away from the water. Fawntail continued, "Don't think it'll be all games like it was in the nursery, Oriolepaw. I'm going to make sure you're the best warrior you can be."

"I-I wouldn't think anything different," Oriolepaw mewed, stammering. Fawntail's expression softened.

"Good," she mewed. "But we'll still have fun, won't we?" A mischievous look crossed her face, and Oriolepaw remembered why she was fond of Fawntail. "Come on, let's get started," the molly mewed, heading for the cave exit.

Oriolepaw chanced a look at the water, worry creasing her face. Then she jerked herself away and followed her mentor, pace a little more nervous than it should be.