Hi everyone! We're skipping forward two moons as Tadpolekit is stuck in the medicine den during that time. Now, lets dig into the chapter!
"Ashclaw, I call on you for your first apprentice. You have shown confidence and bravery when a situation calls for it, and I trust that you will pass these skills onto Honeykit, who has reached her sixth moon, and is now Honeypaw, apprentice of ShadowClan" meowed Seedstar loudly to the clan, before starting the chant.
"Honeypaw! Honeypaw!"
Tadpolekit cheered her friends name, despite feeling an aching pain of sadness in her belly, as she realized that Honeypaw was not going to be in the nursery when she got out of the medicine den and returned to the nursery. The honey coloured she cat had forgiven Tadpolekit and Shadekit for using her as the bait when she they had sneaked out camp, and she had been nice enough to visit Tadpolekit every now and then. But now, she was an apprentice and she would have a lot less time on her paws. The sadness increased as she watched Honeypaw touch noses with Ashclaw before walking out of camp. It felt like all the changes in ShadowClan had happened while she was in the medicine den. Tadpolekit briefly tried to recount them all...
The apprentices den was beginning to get cramped, from what Tadpolekit heard from Ashenpaw. Snookpaw had become Snookwing and moved to the warriors den, but now, Reedpaw, Puddlepaw, and most recently Honeypaw all made their nests in the apprentices den. This was annoying for the bigger and older Ashenpaw, Owlpaw and Flightpaw. And more apprentices were on the way. Tadpolekit and Shadekit only had two moons to go before their apprentice ceremonies, and, Willowstorm had given birth to Jaykit, Robinkit, and Cardinalkit, who were now one moon old, and annoying pests; constantly running through through the camp, getting in the way, caterwauling when she was trying to rest. And how could someone be so happy? Had there ever been a time where she had been that care free, not having the threat of everyone she cared about dying?
Now in a bad mood, Tadpolekit stormed back inside the medicine den, and flopped down onto her moss. Feeling a bout of hunger all of a sudden, she stomped outside, and grabbed a shrew from the fresh-kill pile, and began to tear into it with more frustration and anger than hunger. She was glad she was now off milk, she could not drink Tansyfoot's milk quite so angrily without hurting Tansyfoot, and even if she didn't care about that, it still didn't work quite so well.
Once the shrew was gone, she sank back down into her nest and did what she had done best for the best the past two moons: stare at the wall and wait for her wound to get better. Frustration as powerful as a tiger ebbed up inside her. How long will I be cooped up in this StarClan forsaken den!
"Tadpolekit. May I check on your wound?"
Tadpolekit nearly jumped several fox-lengths. She had been so engrossed in her anger that she hadn't noticed Stormbreeze come into the den. She had tried to talk as little as possible since the attack, always afraid of saying the wrong thing. But now she needed to respond to Stormbreeze. She nodded briefly, and Stormbreeze began nosing around her wound. Tadpolekit watched her and did the exercises Stormbreeze told her to. She looked down at the long wound were she had been pressed against the rock. Or at least, the general area where it had happened. Her fur had grown back and she no longer felt much pain when Stormbreeze applied pressure to it.
Stormbreeze finished and went deeper into the den, staying there without talking to Tadpolekit for far too many heart beats. Frustration ebbed up in her until she could stand it no longer.
"When am I ever going to return to the nursery!" she blurted out.
Stormbreeze returned back to Tadpolekit's part of the medicine den, giving her tail an annoyed flick.
"You will leave when I say you can," she growled. "And I was about to tell you that I will get Juniperfern to check you, and then you probably can go. Can't wait for it to happen; you won't be bothering me."
Tadpolekit instantly felt small and sorry that she had gotten impatient. She knew Stormbreeze only wanted the best for her. It was unfair of her to be rude. Feeling bad, she curled up into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could. She didn't want any cat seeing her when she had been so stupid.
Juniperfern came into the den slightly later and briefly checked her wounds, while Tadpolekit meekly and silently went along with it. After a few heartbeats of uncertainty, Juniperfern nodded.
"You can go back to the nursery now. Let me or Stormbreeze know if your wound starts hurting again. Enjoy your kit-hood."
Tadpolekit gave a shy nod of thanks to the dark ginger she-cat, before slowly and uncertainly padded toward the nursery. She was greeted enthusiastically by Shadekit and Tansyfoot and responded in a happy and kind voice, but she wasn't happy and wasn't listening to her mother and brother. She felt depressed. All she had wanted to do for the last two moons was to get out of the medicine den, but now that she was, the long claws of terror were closing around her. Though she hadn't realized it, the medicine den had been her sanctuary, her safe place. She was never going to feel entirely safe again, out in the real world. One day, she was going to have to face that WindClan warrior again.
That chapter was pretty much a filler to show the change in Tadpolekit's personality. Also, next chapter there will be another time skip to Tadpolekit's apprentice ceremony, as everything that I planned to happen her while she was a kit has happened.
There will also be a slightly longer break than normal for chapter 6, as I am going to take a brief break from this story to write a Purdy x Mousefur one shot that I have wanted to do for some time. It'll be called The question he always wanted in case you want to read that.
Please review, they keep me going, and I'll see you next time!
Thanks!
- Willowstorm
