ShadeClan

This was the first big storm since Honeypaw disappeared. Although everyone kept telling him that the river was far away from camp, Darkkit couldn’t help but watch the entrance of the den in case dark flood waters came rushing in. So far, the only thing he could see was a few puddles outside that lit up with each lightning flash. 

Another crack of thunder sounded, and this time Darkkit couldn’t stop the squeak of fright that escaped him as he buried his head into his nest.

“Can’t sleep?” a voice said, just loud enough to be heard above the pouring rain. 

Darkkit peeked over the top of his nest to look at Tanglekit. At first glance, he didn’t look scared, but then Darkkit saw that his ginger fur was just a bit fluffier than usual. “Yeah…” he admitted with some difficulty. He knew he shouldn’t be afraid, that it was only a storm, but his pounding heart wouldn’t listen to his mind.

For a moment, he wished he was alone in the nursery again. It was much easier to hide his fear when no one else was around. 

A flash of lightning blinded Darkkit, and before the inevitable bang could deafen him, he buried his face into his nest and covered his ears with his paws. A few heartbeats later, a muted rumble slowly rolled over the sky instead of the ground-shattering thunder he was expecting. Hoping Tanglekit somehow didn’t see that, he slowly lifted his head, only for his fur to grow hot when he realized Tanglekit had gotten up from his own nest and was heading towards his. 

“I don’t need a kitsitter,” he protested weakly, even as the relief of having a warm body to press against threatened to make him purr.

“Freezekit’s basically living in Twigtooth’s pelt,” Tanglekit whispered as he got comfortable. Darkkit squinted at Twigtooth. Sure enough, if he looked hard, he could see Freezekit’s dark brown fur buried in Twigtooth’s side. “Besides, the wind is cold.”

It wasn’t that cold, but before Darkkit could point that out, another round of lightning illuminated the den, and he felt them both jump when this time the thunder immediately followed, sounding so loud it was like a tree had been struck down. Darkkit laughed breathlessly, but saw that Tanglekit was looking at another nest.

“Sparkkit, quit staring and get over here already.”

Darkkit blinked as Sparkkit got up and scurried over to join them. He hadn’t been aware that she was also awake, but the way her fur stood up and how much he could see her shaking even without the need for a lightning flash had him quickly scooting over to make room for her. It was a tight squeeze, but with a little maneuvering, they were able to find a comfortable position. In fact, pressed equally between Tanglekit, Sparkkit, and the outer edge of his nest, Darkkit felt his heartbeat slowly and finally calming.

More lightning flashed, but when the thunder came crashing down, he found that he was no longer quite so scared.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

“Bleakspeckle doesn’t like anyone,” Darkkit said from beside him. They were lounging in the nursery, watching Currentkit, Sparkkit, and Scratchkit play just outside. He paused, then added, “Except Honeypaw, but she’s gone now.”

“Is that why he doesn’t like anyone? Because Honeypaw isn’t here?”

“Nah, he didn’t like anyone way before that.” Darkkit sighed. “I kinda get it, though. Honeypaw was nice.” He lifted his head and leaned into Tanglekit’s space. “You guys met her, right?”

Tanglekit gave him a bat on the head, claws sheathed, to make him back off, making him laugh. “No, but our momma did.”

“She’s not our momma anymore,” Freezekit suddenly said from behind them. He was doing something to his nest. He claimed he was making it better, but Tanglekit didn’t know how that was possible; the nests they had now were already the softest they had ever slept in. “She’s not here anymore, remember?”

“Just ‘cause she’s not here doesn’t mean she’s not our momma,” Tanglekit snapped. 

“But she could’ve been, right?” Darkkit asked. He flinched a little when Tanglekit turned his glare on him, but continued, “I mean, doesn’t a real momma stay with her kits?”

“How would you know what a real momma is like?” Tanglekit hissed. “You don’t even have a momma.” He immediately regretted his words as he watched Darkkit’s face crumble. 

Darkkit took a breath. “...No, I don’t have a momma. But I know if I did have one, I wouldn’t want her going someplace else without me. That doesn’t feel very momma-like to me…”

“What are you guys talking about?” They all turned to see Currentkit glaring at them. She wore a stern expression as she said, “If you keep talking like that, you’ll make Sparkkit sad again.”

Tanglekit looked behind her and, sure enough, Sparkkit looked like she might cry again. Scratchkit was still trying to play with her, but even she could tell her sister wasn’t in the mood anymore. Tanglekit felt bad; he knew Sparkkit was taking this the hardest out of all of them. 

“I’m sorry,” Darkkit quietly said. “I know I don’t really know what I’m talking about…”

Tanglekit shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault you don’t have a momma.”

He shrugged. “Not having a momma isn’t that bad, you know… Not when you got a whole Clan with you. Before you guys came, Rimepaw used to sneak into the nursery when I got lonely. And Shadetuft likes to tell me stories sometimes. And Gladefur would play mossball with me, before he got sad about Honeypaw. And Twigtooth is always there to tell me things are gonna be okay. So, it’s not that bad.”

Tanglekit buried his face in his paws as he said, quiet enough that he thought only Darkkit could hear, “But I want a momma…”

Unfortunately for him, Freezekit had the best hearing out of all of them. “You know, Twigtooth is kinda like a momma. She’s nice, and she sleeps with us every night, and she makes sure all our bellies are full. And she’s always here.”

“But she’s not Momma.”

“But she could be a momma,” Freezekit argued. 

Tanglekit didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet and watched Scratchkit finally convince Sparkkit to start playing again. 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

She didn’t know what to say to most cats these days, really. Though it had been many days since Honeypaw’s vigil, her death still hung heavily above the camp. Darkkit had tried to ask her a few questions about the whole thing, but she had floundered and said something vague about StarClan before hurrying away. Ice-echo had finally woken up, but she still wasn’t quite all there and fell asleep frequently, and Hollyhockseeker made it clear that Twigtooth’s hovering was only hindering her ability to help Ice-echo recover. She could at least be thankful that Gladefur and Bleakspeckle hadn’t gotten into a verbal fight at all, but she knew their temporary treaty was only as good as long as they completely avoided each other during the day. 

And now there she was, alone with Gladefur and wondering if opening her mouth would do anyone any good.

Truthfully, she had wanted to go on this little border patrol on her own. She had done it before, with permission of course, but since the flood, both Clawstar and Gladefur were hesitant to let anyone go off by themselves. They were at least kind enough to not make her be the second cat in Bleakspeckle’s futile search parties; Clawstar had stepped up to that role. 

And with Hollyhockseeker staying in the healer’s den as much as she could, that left just Gladefur. 

She didn’t dislike Gladefur, but she wasn’t exactly friends with him. She was grateful he had pulled Ice-echo from the flood, but she didn’t know how to thank him without making him relive Honeypaw’s loss. It didn’t help that he hadn’t spoken much to anyone since the vigil. But wasn’t that all the more reason to talk to him? They weren’t friends, but surely he could use one now, couldn’t he?

“Gladefur—” she began, but was cut off when he stopped in his tracks, holding up his tail in a signal to be quiet. Twigtooth shifted her focus to their surroundings and heard what he had: loud rustling past the trees in front of them. As Gladefur stalked towards the noise, she opened her mouth to get a better scent. It was faint, so it took her a few moments to process what she was picking up, but when she did, her eyes widened. “Wait!” she shouted, leaping in front of Gladefur to stop him.

“What—?” Gladefur hissed, but she shushed him, eyes focused on the treeline. 

The rustling noise had stopped. Twigtooth didn’t have to hold Gladefur back much longer; she could tell when the scent hit his nose as well when he visibly relaxed and took a step back. 

“It’s all right,” he called. “You can come out.”

A long moment passed, then the rustling started up again, and it slowly came closer. Finally, a head cautiously peeked around one of the trees. It was a ginger molly. “Oh, well, hello,” she said, her voice breaking just a bit at the end. She cleared her throat. “Fine day, isn’t it?”

“Is there anything we can help you with? We can direct you back to the Twolegplace if you’re lost.”

“Twoleg—? Oh, no, no. That’s all right.” She glanced behind her, then looked back to them. “Uhm, well. I was wondering… Are you part of that new group of cats living around here?”

Gladefur exchanged a glance with Twigtooth. “We are.”

The cat’s face brightened. “Oh, good! Then you must know Honeypaw!”

“Honeypaw?” Twigtooth couldn’t help repeating. “You know her?”

“Well, yes. We met a little while ago. Had a nice chat. Is she around?”

“You’re… the kittypet she talked to last moon, aren’t you?” Gladefur asked. Twigtooth blinked, but stayed quiet.

“Oh, so she did mention me!” The cat purred. She took a few steps out from behind the tree, her tail waving in a friendly, carefree manner. “How is she doing? I was hoping to see her among you, really, but I’m sure she’s busy off doing… whatever it is you all do here.”

Gladefur didn’t answer, so Twigtooth quietly said, “Honeypaw… passed away some days ago. There was a flood. She didn’t make it.”

The cat’s tail lowered. “Oh…” 

There was a long moment where no one spoke. Finally, Gladefur asked the question that had been on Twigtooth’s mind ever since this cat’s scent hit her nose: “Where are your kits?”

“My kits?” The cat repeated, taking a cautious step back. She laughed nervously. “Ah, I forgot how well you all can smell. They’re just over there.” She flicked her tail towards a particular bush behind her. “They know to call out if they need me.”

“Why aren’t they with your Twolegs?” Twigtooth asked. She had never heard of a kittypet taking their kits outside of the safety of their Twoleg den. 

The cat didn’t answer at first. When she did say something, her voice cracked again, “We don’t have one anymore.”

“Ah,” Twigtooth said before she could stop herself. Now that was something she had heard of before.

“Do you need help with food then?” Gladefur asked. “I’m sure we could spare some if you really need it. We could even hunt for you right now—”

“That’s very kind,” the cat interrupted. “But anything you’d give us wouldn’t last very long I’m afraid. You see, I have five kits with me, and to be very honest, it’s been a bit of a struggle just getting enough food for myself.”

“You’d like to join ShadeClan then? We’ll have to talk about it with our leader, of course, but I don’t see why—”

“No,” she interrupted again. She wasn’t looking at them as she said, “Well, not quite, I mean. You’re right that I was going to ask you about joining your ‘ShadeClan,’ but only for my kits. I won’t be joining you all.”

“You won’t be…? You want to abandon your kits?” Twigtooth cried.

“I’m not abandoning them,” the cat snapped, any pretence of friendliness completely gone from her voice. “You don’t understand. I’ve tried living the wild life out here, but I’ve spent almost my whole life living with my housefolk. Longer than either of you have been alive, I figure. This life isn’t meant for me. I’m only out here because my housefolk put my kits here! They wouldn’t have survived more than a day on their own, so of course I went with them, because I wouldn't abandon them. But now they’re old enough to survive without my milk, and Honeypaw talked about how your ‘ShadeClan’ took her in when she was a kit. How there were other kits you all took in. So why wouldn’t my kits be welcomed the same way?”

“Those kits didn’t have mothers to go back to,” Twigtooth said lowly. “You said this life isn’t for you. What kind of life are you going to where you can’t take your kits with you?”

“That’s none of your concern. Are you going to take in my kits or not?”

Twigtooth was about to spit back a reply when Gladefur beat her to it: “Of course we will.”

“What—?”

“We’re taking in her kits,” he said firmly. “Don’t you remember what Shadetuft told us? Part of a Clan cat’s duty is taking care of kits. Any kits. It’s why we took in Darkkit and Rimepaw and… Honeypaw, even when we weren’t sure ShadeClan would work, because they needed our help. It’s clear to me that…” He faltered and turned back to the ginger cat. “I’m sorry, your name is…?”

“...Carolina,” she said, eyes narrowed but no longer spitting her words.

He nodded and continued, “It’s clear to me that Carolina here has made up her mind, and there’s nothing we can do to change it, which means her kits do need our help.” He gave Twigtooth a hard look. “Unless you’d rather we leave them in the bush?”

“Of course not,” Twigtooth growled. Her tail lashed as she glared at Carolina. “I’m not like her.”

Carolina’s lips curled back in a snarl, but Gladefur stepped between them. “That’s enough. We’ve agreed to help your kits, Carolina. Let’s focus on them instead of trying to bite each other’s heads off.”

“...All right. They’re just this way.” She gave Twigtooth one last glare before she led them through the underbrush. They didn’t have to walk far; it took only a few pawsteps for them to see the small bundles of fur. There were five of them, just like Carolina said, all about Darkkit’s age, and almost all of them stared wide-eyed at the three adults as they approached.

They could probably hear everything we said… Twigtooth realized with a pang. 

“This is Tangle, Current, Freeze, Spark…” Carolina paused after gesturing to the dark brown molly who had a small stub for a tail and said specifically to Twigtooth, “She was born like that.” As if she thought Twigtooth couldn’t tell the difference between a birth defect and injury. Twigtooth held in her retort as Carolina introduced the last kit, a ginger molly who was the only kit not looking at them. Instead, she was pawing at a leaf. “And that’s Scratch. She’s… quiet. Often lost in her own world.” Carolina went over and nudged Scratch, and it was then that she finally looked at Twigtooth and Gladefur, though she quickly lost interest and went back to inspecting her leaf.

“Do we have to go with them, Momma?” Spark asked in a small voice. Out of all of them, she seemed the most scared. 

Carolina bent her head down as she said, “Yes, you know that, dear. Don’t worry, they’ll be nice to you.” She shot a warning look at Twigtooth.

It was then that Twigtooth realized her own anger was clear as day on her face. Taking a quiet breath, she pushed that anger down and put on as gentle a smile as she could. Crouching down to the kits’ level, she said, “My name is Twigtooth, and that’s Gladefur. We have plenty of food and soft nests for all of you at our camp.”

“But none for Momma,” Freeze said, less like he was asking a question and more like he was stating a fact.

Carolina quickly said, “I will have my own food and soft nest. You won’t have to worry about me.”

Freeze didn’t say anything to that, but Twigtooth could tell that wasn’t quite what he was worried about. 

“We should be heading back soon,” Gladefur said. “Clawstar will want to know about this as soon as possible.” He looked to Carolina. “You know where to find us, if you ever need anything.”

Carolina nodded to him, then turned to her kits. However, before she could begin to say her goodbyes, Freeze stood and nudged Scratch, leading her over to where Twigtooth stood without so much as a look back to their mother. Carolina watched this with an unreadable expression, then finally said to Tangle, Current, and Spark, “Be good now, my dears. Momma will always be thinking of you.”

“Why can’t you come with us?” Spark whined, then squeaked when Tangle batted at her ears.

“Stop asking that!” he muttered. 

“It’s all right. I know this is confusing, darling, but you know Momma has somewhere else she needs to be, and this new place will be so much better for you. Okay?”

“Okay…” Spark murmured.

“Okay. Now, be a good kit and listen to Twigtooth and Gladefur, all right?” She used her tail to gently push them in the right direction. 

Spark still looked hesitant to go. Next to her, Current knocked their shoulders together and said, “Momma says it’ll be fine. It won’t be that bad!” Her reassurances didn’t wipe off the look of misery on Spark’s face, but it did get her finally moving.

Once all the kits were standing between her and Gladefur, Twigtooth turned to Carolina. They stared silently at each other for a moment before Carolina gave her kits one last look. Then, she wordlessly disappeared into the bushes. 

Twigtooth heard a small sniffle that broke her heart. She crouched back down and addressed all of the kits when she said, “It’ll be okay. Your momma might not be with you, but I am.” She looked back to Gladefur. “We are. All of us. That’s what ShadeClan is about. You’re a part of that now, and you always will be. Okay?”

It still didn’t seem to do much, especially for Spark, but Twigtooth knew that it would take more than just the words of a cat they had just met to make them believe. 

“Let’s go,” Gladefur said and began to lead the way back to camp.

All of the kits followed, except for Scratch, who looked torn about leaving behind the leaf she had been playing with. Twigtooth smiled and picked the leaf up by her teeth, then set it gently upon Scratch’s head. The little kit giggled under the leaf, then trotted happily after her littermates, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. 

When they arrived at camp, almost everyone was already out in the clearing, the sound of little pawsteps and tiny voices drawing their curiosity. Clawstar met them at the entrance and smiled down at the kits. “And who do we have here?” Gladefur quickly gave him a report of what happened, and although his expression dimmed a bit when he heard about Carolina’s decision, he quickly smiled again and said to the kits, “Hello, little ones. My name is Clawstar. ShadeClan welcomes you.”

They stared blankly up at him, and Twigtooth held in a snort of laughter as Clawstar cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, the first order of business is to give you all your new Clan names. Each of you will gain the suffix of -kit for as long as you stay in our nursery. Once you reach six moons, you’ll be made an apprentice and given the suffix -paw.”

“Like Honeypaw!” Current suddenly interrupted.

Clawstar was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, like Honeypaw. Then, once you’ve completed your training, you’ll gain a unique warrior name.”

“So… my name is Currentkit now?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Cool,” she murmured. 

“You’ll learn more about our Clan and customs later. For now, you should get settled.” Clawstar turned towards the nursery and called out, “Darkkit!”

Twigtooth looked and spotted Darkkit’s wide eyes from the nursery entrance. He startled when called and scrambled to get to them.

“This is Darkkit,” Clawstar said. “Darkkit, these kits are new members of ShadeClan. They’re around your age. I can trust that you’ll be able to show them around? Help them with their nests in the nursery?”

“They’ll be staying?” Darkkit asked.

“Yes, they’ll be staying,” Twigtooth answered with a purr. She knew how lonely he had been, being the only kit in the nursery.

Just as she expected, a big smile burst onto Darkkit’s muzzle. “Okay! Follow me!” he mewed, already bounding back towards the nursery. All of the new kits followed him eagerly, even Sparkkit, who seemed more comfortable at the sight of another kit. 

Well, almost all of the new kits followed Darkkit.

Twigtooth frowned when she saw Freezekit stay by her side. He had a troubled expression on his face. “Don’t you want to go see where your new nest will be?” 

He looked up at her, then after a moment, asked, “Where’s your nest?”

She blinked, thought of her nest in the warriors’ den, then said, “In the nursery. Right next to yours.”

Freezekit stared at her for a moment longer, then smiled. “Okay,” he simply said, then ran to catch up with his littermates. 

“Five more kits…” Clawstar murmured from beside her. “They might be a bit much to handle.”

Twigtooth watched Darkkit lead the others into the nursery, already chatting their ears off. She watched Sparkkit get too engrossed with the new sights to worry about staying close to her littermates. She watched Freezekit point things out to Scratchkit, as if he already knew where everything was. 

She smiled. “I think I can handle them.”

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

Days passed after the storm, and despite the countless patrols sent out to scour up and down the river, not even a clump of Honeypaw’s fur turned up. Even after the water level returned to normal levels, there was no sign of her. None of the sparse patrols from the other Clans that they encountered said they found her either, though there were whispers around camp wondering if they had even tried.

Today, Clawstar finally called off the search patrols and announced a vigil for Honeypaw would be held later in the day. Bleakspeckle had protested profusely, as expected, and stormed out of camp on his own. No one went with him, but no one stopped him either. 

He did, however, return in time for the vigil to start. One look, and everyone knew his search had been as fruitless as all the others.

Shadetuft now stared blankly at the empty spot in the middle of the camp’s clearing where Honeypaw’s body should have been. He had seen many mourning vigils, back in HawkClan. The war and the famine made sure he had. 

But there had always been a body.

His gaze slid over to his side. Curiously, when the vigil had started, Gladefur had not gone to the middle of the clearing to mourn with the others. Instead, he sat himself next to Shadetuft and refused to look up from the ground. Shadetuft observed him for a moment longer, then turned back to the main vigil as he murmured, “I knew this day would come. I had hoped it would not come so soon, and to one so young…”

“It’s my fault…” Gladefur said to the ground.

“There was nothing you could do,” Shadetuft replied easily. “If you had not stopped and helped Ice-echo when you did, then we would be mourning two empty spaces instead of one.”

“Ice-echo still hasn’t woken up.”

“Hollyhockseeker is doing her best.” He glanced at the healer’s den. The two of them were the only ones not in the clearing for the vigil, for good reason. “Ice-echo is strong. You should not give up on her so quickly.”

“But if I hadn’t taken them to the river…”

Shadetuft snorted. “Ah, yes, if you hadn’t taken them to the river. Just like if Clawstar hadn’t given you Honeypaw for an apprentice, and just like if I hadn’t recruited any of you into this Clan. None of this would be happening then, would it?”

That finally got Gladefur to look at him. “This is different—”

“Different how? Did you know for certain that flood would come? Did StarClan themselves drift down from the sky to tell you, and you ignored them anyways?” He shook his head. “None of us can see the future.”

Gladefur sighed. “Try telling Bleakspeckle that. I know he blames me.”

Shadetuft looked towards Bleakspeckle, who was hunched down mourning with the others. “Has he caused you trouble over it?”

“...No,” Gladefur admitted, “but he doesn’t need to for me to know what he thinks about my involvement. His glares alone could set fire to a marsh. I’m sure he’s avoiding me because he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back from trying to rip my throat out the moment I spoke one word to him.”

Shadetuft frowned. “That’s no way to live with a Clanmate.”

“It’s the only way to live with him…” he muttered. “I’m sorry for saying it, but whatever beautiful, peaceful vision you had for this Clan, it won’t become reality. Not with him still here.” Before Shadetuft could respond, he abruptly stood up. “If anyone asks for me, I’ll be in the warriors’ den.”

Shadetuft watched him go with a heavy heart, then sighed. All things considered, he knew the vigil could have gone far worse.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

Hollyhockseeker poked her head out of her den to see Bleakspeckle causing another fuss in the middle of camp. The cat he was yelling at this time was Clawstar, and while most times she would wave it off as another unreasonable hissyfit over something minor, the tension she saw in Clawstar’s stance made her pause.

“I mean, they haven’t returned yet,” Clawstar said. His voice was still calm, but his flicking tail gave him away. The heavy rain and wind partially drowned out his voice, and Hollyhockseeker had to step out into the storm to hear what he said next. “All I know is that Gladefur told me they were going towards the river to hunt.”

Of course, it’s about Gladefur, she thought with a sigh. She remembered seeing him leave with Honeypaw and Ice-echo earlier.

“In this weather?!” 

“It wasn’t even raining when they left,” she spoke up, meeting Bleakspeckle’s glare unflinchingly. “The storm came in quick. I’m sure they thought they had time before it hit.”

Clawstar nodded a silent ‘thank you’ to her before saying to Bleakspeckle, “They’re most likely on their way back now. If you just wait a moment—”

“Wait?! I’ve been waiting. What if something’s happened? I mean, just look around.” He gestured to the wind that was shaking the tops of the trees wildly and to all of their rain-soaked pelts. “You can’t tell me you’re not at least a little worried!”

“Of course I’m worried,” Clawstar said with a tone of warning. “But we need cats here to watch over the camp, and I’m not sending anyone out alone in this weather.”

“I’ll go with him,” Hollyhockseeker said, drawing looks of shock from the both of them. “You and Twigtooth will be more than enough to look after everything here. If Gladefur and the others are in trouble, then they may need a healer, and if they need a healer, then time is not on our side.”

Clawstar hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “All right. I trust that the two of you know what you’re doing. We can’t send out another search party for you two as well.”

Bleakspeckle looked ready to retort, but Hollyhockseeker was already heading to the camp’s entrance, forcing him to catch up or be left behind. When they entered the forest, he muttered, “Thanks…”

She quickly waved him off with her tail. “Save it. Like I said, time may not be on our side.”

They went quickly and silently after that. It was easy to track the patrol’s path through the forest; although any scent had long been washed away by the storm, the pawprints left in the mud were clear, highlighted by the muddy rainwater that pooled in the pawpad imprints. It was only one set of pawprints, though, and Hollyhockseeker could tell that Bleakspeckle was making note of that. The prints led them, as expected, to the river, and when they got there, they did not see a single cat.

But they did see the river. StarClan, did they see it.

Hollyhockseeker swore that it was at least a tree-length wider, if not more, than it had been the day before. Water flowed past them faster than the monsters they sometimes saw along the Thunderpath. As they stood there, she spotted a large broken log barrel past them in the current.

“There are pawprints going this way!” Bleakspeckle suddenly said, drawing her attention back to the ground. Sure enough, she could still make out the prints they had been following. They ran along the new riverbank, following the current downstream.

She had a very bad feeling.

Neither of them needed to say anything as they both took off in a run. Eventually, the pawprints became impossible to follow as the heaviness of the rain had already washed them away, but they didn’t slow down and instead switched their gazes to the river itself. After a while, Hollyhockseeker suddenly spotted a flash of gray within the swirling darkness of the water. “Wait!” she cried, and they skidded to a halt, slipping a bit in the wet mud. She squinted through the battering rain and saw it again; Gladefur, trying to drag something to shore.

“Honeypaw!” Bleakspeckle cried as they went to help. But then, just as Hollyhockseeker entered the water, he stopped dead in his tracks. And she knew why. Although the mud obscured the color of the cat’s fur, the one Gladefur was desperately holding onto was too big to be Honeypaw.

It was Ice-echo.

Hollyhockseeker managed to get a firm grip on Ice-echo’s pelt alongside Gladefur, and with the strength of two cats, they were able to escape the river’s current and pull her limp body up onto the riverbank. Signalling Gladefur to be gentle, they moved her further away from the water and to a stray patch of grass where Hollyhockseeker could take a look at her. The first thing she did was lean in to check her breathing. It was hard to tell over the howling wind, but she heard a small wheezing sound coming from her mouth.

“She’s alive,” Hollyhockseeker said, and Gladefur nearly collapsed next to her. She then began to check for any serious injuries.

As she did, Bleakspeckle rounded on Gladefur. “Where’s Honeypaw?!”

Gladefur turned a wild gaze to him. He was shaking, and the only part of him not covered in mud was his face. “She— I couldn’t—”

“Where is she?!” 

“I don’t know!” Gladefur burst out. “She got swept in first. Then Ice-echo. I tried following them, but I couldn’t… The water was so fast. But then I saw Ice-echo. She was laying on a fallen tree that was stuck between some rocks. She wasn’t moving, but the water was getting faster, and I knew the tree couldn’t hold. I had to get to her fast. I barely managed to grab her before it got dislodged, and then we were both in the water.” 

But Bleakspeckle seemed to stop listening to him halfway through as he turned to look frantically at the water. “She could be out there on some tree or rock like Ice-echo. We have to go find her—”

“No,” Hollyhockseeker snapped, but before Bleakspeckle could turn his rising anger on her, she continued, “Ice-echo is badly hurt. There’s water and StarClan knows what else stuck in her lungs, and she’s broken several bones.”

“Then you and Gladefur take her back,” Bleakspeckle said, taking a step towards the river.

She jumped to stand in his way. “Several bones in her back. I need the two of you to help me transport her. She needs to be stabilized, or she risks further damage.”

“But Honeypaw—”

“Honeypaw is gone!” She spat, stunning Bleakspeckle into silence. “It was a miracle from StarClan themselves that Ice-echo was placed onto that tree, and I will not waste such a miracle over your faint hope for another! Go and search for Honeypaw after we’ve reached camp if you must, but if you insist on endangering my patient further, then you will have to kill me to get to the river.”

Bleakspeckle simply stared at her, his mouth slightly ajar. 

When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything, she nodded. “Good. Now, bend down next to Ice-echo. Gladefur, on my signal, help me lift her onto his back. Carefully.” When neither cat moved, she lashed her tail. “Now!”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to tell them again. They both moved into position, and very, very slowly, Hollyhockseeker and Gladefur managed to get Ice-echo into a well-enough position along Bleakspeckle’s back. She then directed Gladefur to the other side of Bleakspeckle, and by getting their own shoulders underneath the legs and head of Ice-echo, the three of them stood up together without letting her slide off. 

They set a gruelingly slow pace back to camp. Hollyhockseeker could feel the tension in Bleakspeckle’s body next to her grow the longer it took, but he had learned his lesson and stayed silent. Ice-echo’s head was resting on Hollyhockseeker’s shoulder, and if she concentrated enough, she could hear her unsteady breathing.

StarClan, she prayed, let her hold out for just a bit longer…

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

Ice-echo looked up at the darkening clouds. “StarClan, I hope so…” Greenleaf was fast approaching, and the heat was already here. The past few days had been particularly hard for her and her thick black pelt. Gladefur had been kind enough to excuse her from patrols so she could stay out of the sun, but staying inside camp for so long made her paws itch.

“You could say that again,” another voice said, and she turned to see Gladefur himself approaching. He turned his face to the breeze. “It’s already feeling cooler, wouldn’t you say?”

She nodded. When she took a deep breath in, she could practically taste the rain that was on the way. 

“I don’t like the rain…” Darkkit muttered. “I can’t play outside when it rains, or less I get all wet and cold and sick, and then Hollyhockseeker might make me eat gross green things.”

Gladefur purred out a quiet laugh. “Stay inside the nursery then. Maybe you could take a nap? Nothing better than sleeping to the sound of rain.”

Darkkit scrunched up his nose as he thought about it, then nodded. “Okay. Maybe I could take a nap.” As he headed back inside, Ice-echo heard him say, “Nothing better than sleeping!”

She smiled, then turned her full attention to Gladefur, who lingered by her side. “Was there anything you needed?”

“Ah, well…” He cleared his throat, then looked towards the camp entrance. She followed his gaze and frowned.

“What’s wrong with Honeypaw?” It was the first time she had seen her so… irritated, head down and tail lashing.

Gladefur sighed. “We’ve been having a bit of a… misunderstanding. Every time I try to bring it up, her attitude just seems to get worse. Can’t say much of anything nowadays without getting into an argument, but she’s also my apprentice and she needs some more hunting practice…” He gave her a sheepish smile. “So, I was wondering if you would want to join us on patrol today?”

She raised her brow. “Join you so I can be, what, some sort of barrier between the two of you?”

“...You could also give her some tips, too, if you wanted. Besides, it’ll be cooler out by the river.”

Ice-echo's ear flicked. “You know, you could just make me go with you. You’re the deputy.”

“And have a patrol with two cats who resent me? No, thank you.”

She chuckled. The thought of running out in the forest again, feeling the cool breeze hit her, really was tempting… Finally, she stood. “All right. I’ll go. When are we leaving?”

Gladefur stood with her. “Whenever you’re ready. It’ll probably start raining while we’re out there, so it might be better to head out now and have plenty of time before it gets to be too much.” He hummed quietly. “Though practicing tracking scents in the rain could be useful training…”

“We’ll play it by ear then,” she said as they made their way to the camp entrance. 

It didn’t take long for Honeypaw to look up and see them coming. She visibly perked up when she realized Ice-echo was also there. “Are you coming with us?” she asked.

“Yup. When I noticed how cool it was out, I just had to ask Gladefur to let me come. Don’t know when I’ll get another chance before greenleaf really sets in.” She gave Gladefur a brief meaningful look and almost rolled her eyes when she saw his gratefulness plain on his face.

Whether Honeypaw noticed or not, Ice-echo couldn’t tell. In any case, she looked far more relaxed and smiled easily when she said, “Then let’s not wait!”

Gladefur let Ice-echo take the lead, and Honeypaw eagerly stuck herself to her side as soon as they were in the forest. Ice-echo was immediately glad she had agreed to come; not only did the cool breeze feel glorious against her fur, but she also realized how little she had spoken with Honeypaw since moving out of the apprentice’s den. It had only been the two of them there for a moon, and it had been such a welcome change to her sleeping alone. 

“So, how’s the den been?” Ice-echo asked. “Has Rimepaw calmed down?” Her warrior ceremony had happened just a few days after Rimepaw had become an apprentice. She remembered how Rimepaw had been so excitedly nervous for her training that she wouldn’t stop shifting in her new nest, which had annoyed Ice-echo greatly, since she had needed more rest for her final assessments. 

Honeypaw purred out a laugh. “Yeah, actually. She’s a lot more serious now. I think training with Bleakspeckle has given her more focus.” But as she said that, her smile suddenly disappeared and she threw a brief glance back towards Gladefur, who was doing his best (and failing) to pretend he wasn’t listening. 

Ice-echo ducked her head and whispered, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her ear twitched as she hesitated, then she suddenly broke out into a run. “Race you to the river!” she called before disappearing into the bushes.

“Wh– Race? Wait, Honeypaw—” Gladefur began to sputter, but she was already gone. 

“Just give her some space,” Ice-echo told him before he could go running after her. “You’re not exactly being subtle back there.”

He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I understand.” He flicked his tail towards the river. “You go on ahead. I’ll see if I can’t catch something around here before joining you both.” 

She nodded, then quickly ran to try not to lose Honeypaw’s scent. It was just starting to rain, and by the time she made it to the river and spotted Honeypaw near its bank, it went from a nice drizzle to a steady downpour, more than she had been expecting. Knowing Gladefur was likely to call off their hunt as soon as he caught up with them, she went over to Honeypaw with the intent to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

“Where’s Gladefur?” Honeypaw asked her without looking. “Did he twist his paw trying to beat you?”

“He caught scent of something on the way and stopped to check it out,” she lied easily, sitting behind Honeypaw and watching as the apprentice hovered a paw over the river. She didn’t think she would get much of any fish, not with the current being as fast as it was now. She added slowly, meaningfully, “He might be a while.”

Honeypaw was quiet for a moment, and just when Ice-echo thought she was going to ignore her unspoken offer, she sighed and finally turned to face her. “It’s not really a big deal.”

She hummed. “If it’s not a big deal, then you wouldn’t be trying to avoid your own mentor.” When it looked like Honeypaw was going to protest, she held up her tail and said, “I’m not here to cast any judgement. Just thought talking about it would make you feel better.”

“Talk, huh?” Honeypaw murmured, sighing. “That would be nice, I guess… Rimepaw’s not as good of a listener as you were when we shared a den.” They shared a smile. “Okay, then. But you better have meant it when you said ‘no judgement.’”

Ice-echo held her head high. “Of course I meant it.”

“Of course,” she purred, then grew serious again. “Well, it’s about Gladefur and Bleakspeckle. You’ve seen what’s been happening between the two of them. It’s been going on practically since this whole Clan thing started. And I’m just sick of it.” She got up and began pacing back and forth. “Every time I bring up one of them to the other, it’s like I’ve ruined their whole day. Gladefur doesn’t understand that Bleakspeckle took me in when I was all alone as a kit, and he’ll always have a special place in my heart because of that, no matter what he does or says. And Bleakspeckle doesn’t understand that Gladefur is—in a lot of ways—a really good mentor. It’s like… they expect me to choose one of them, but I can’t.” She stopped to look Ice-echo in the eyes. “I won’t.”

“Nor should you,” Ice-echo said. 

“Yeah. So I’m just gonna ignore them both until they stop being so mouse-brained,” she muttered, turning her attention back to the river. She doesn’t even bother pretending to hunt, however, instead opting to stare sulkingly at the rushing rapids. 

Ice-echo thought for a moment about what to say next. Truth be told, she didn’t know either Gladefur or Bleakspeckle all that well. Gladefur was in deputy-mode so often that it was difficult to have a casual conversation with him most of the time, and Bleakspeckle avoided most other cats in the Clan besides Honeypaw. That made promising Honeypaw she wouldn’t cast judgement easy, as she really had no judgement to give.

But maybe she could offer a solution.

“Listen, I don’t know if this will work, but maybe instead of pushing them away, you tried to bring them together?”

Honeypaw threw a glare over her shoulder. “I tried that already.”

“You said you tried talking to them individually. I’m saying try talking to them together.”

“...They would never agree to that. Bleakspeckle would probably laugh the idea off.”

“That’s why you don’t tell them that it’ll be the three of you.” When Honeypaw’s look turned more curious than irritated, she continued, “Ask them both for a training session, separately. Set it for the same time, and if they realize what’s happening, that’s when you lay on the guilt.”

A laugh burst from Honeypaw’s lips. “Guilt trip them into staying?”

“Exactly. And then you can lay into them. I’m sure the shock of it would freeze them in place right there on the spot, warm weather be damned. Maybe then they’ll actually listen and finally work something out between them.”

Honeypaw laughed some more, then looked back to the river. “That might work. Maybe.” She sighed heavily. “But they really are stubborn. I doubt a single sit down with the three of us can actually do much good.”

“Then you keep hounding them about it. As long as you’re there to annoy them about it, they can’t ignore the problem.”

She didn’t say anything to that, but Ice-echo did catch sight of a smile on her muzzle.

It was then that a sound floating above the sound of the wind, rain, and river water caught her attention. She looked around and spotted Gladefur emerging from the treeline. He had finally caught up to them, but he carried no prey with him. He said something again, but she couldn’t make out the actual words. She stood and took a few steps toward him, signalling to him that she couldn’t hear.

He came closer as well, and this time she could hear him yell, “Storm’s here! Head back to camp!”

It was as she expected. The rain really was coming down hard now, and it was impossible for anyone to catch anything in this kind of weather. She was about to yell back an affirmative, but then another sound reached her ears. She turned to see where it was coming from.

The sight of a large wave of water coming straight for Honeypaw was what greeted her.

“Honeypaw!” 

Maybe she hadn’t heard it coming, or she was too lost in thought, but by the time Honeypaw lifted her head, it was too late. Ice-echo only had enough time to take a single step forward before the wave crashed over the riverbank. It swallowed Honeypaw whole, and by the time Ice-echo blinked, she was gone. 

But the wave wasn’t done. It didn’t recede back into the river, and instead continued to expand rapidly outwards, faster than she could think. She heard Gladefur scream something, and then the wave reached her.

The force of it was strong. It knocked her off of her feet immediately, plunging her underwater. It was freezing, and the shock of it took the breath out of her. Even under the surface, the current battered her, flipping and tossing her in every direction. The water was dark and muddy and stung her eyes when she opened them. She knew she had to get air, but she didn’t know where air was. 

Just as the panic was beginning to set in, her back hit something hard and immobile, and the force of it was enough to fling her head back.

She felt a sharp blow behind her ears, and knew no more.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

“Cats of ShadeClan,” Clawstar called, “today, our Clan takes its next step forward.” He nodded down at the apprentice standing in the middle of the clearing. “Icepaw joined us with much potential, and with the help of her mentor, Twigtooth, and all of her hard work, she has grown into a fine young cat who now takes her own step forward.”

On cue, Icepaw took that step forward to stand taller in front of her Clanmates.

“Icepaw, do you promise to continue to uphold the warrior code and protect this Clan with your life?”

“I do,” she answered, voice strong.

“Then I now give you your warrior name. From now on, you shall be known as Ice-echo. ShadeClan is proud to have you as our first graduated apprentice.”

“Ice-echo! Ice-echo! Ice-echo!” the Clan shouted to the sky. Gladefur joined in eagerly. As he imagined all of the warrior ceremonies the Clan would have in the future as it grew in strength and numbers, he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.

Then, his gaze slid across the clearing and caught sight of Bleakspeckle and Rimepaw.

As promised, Bleakspeckle had been given his own apprentice earlier that moon. Gladefur couldn’t help but notice his clear lack of enthusiasm to be young Rimepaw’s mentor. He would catch Bleakspeckle stalking off to the training grounds with a scowl on his muzzle, or snap at Rimepaw when she had only asked about their training schedule. Even now, though they sat together, Gladefur could see the tension in both their postures and neither were looking at the other.

“Stop that,” Honeypaw hissed from beside him.

Gladefur blinked at her tone. “Stop what?”

“Stop judging him. You know he can tell when you’re doing it, right?”

Sure enough, when he glanced back over, he was met with Bleakspeckle’s ice-cold gaze. It only lasted for a moment, however, as Bleakspeckle was quick to leave for the warrior’s den now that the ceremony was over. “I’m not judging.”

“You are,” Honeypaw muttered. “You always are. You only ever see the worst in him.”

“Maybe I’d see the best if he showed it to me, but all I’ve seen is an immature cat throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants. Even making him a mentor didn’t satisfy him. Making Rimepaw his apprentice might have been a bad idea…”

“Well maybe if you actually gave him a chance, you’d see he’s actually a good mentor. Yeah, he looks angry, but that’s only because you won’t stop glaring at him every chance you get.” Before he could protest, she continued, “I’ve talked with Rimepaw. They might not be best friends, but she said she’s been learning a lot. And you know he’s helped teach me a few things before.”

He wrinkled his nose. Teach might be a strong word for giving Honeypaw the occasional tip and bad night's sleep. 

“See? You’re doing it again.”

“What do you mean, I’m doing it again? He’s not even in the clearing.”

Honeypaw scowled as she stood. “You know what? Do what you want. I’m tired of trying to be the mediator between you two.” And with that, she stormed off to the apprentice’s den.

Gladefur tried calling her back, but not even her ears twitched to show she was listening. He sighed heavily, then started to make his way over to where Ice-echo was beginning to start her night-long vigil. 

If his congratulations sounded a bit hollow, then he knew the cat to blame for it.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

Was it too soon to ask her to do this? He thought with a nervous flick of his tail. But just as his mind conjured up Bleakspeckle’s sneer and a taunting I told you so, the bushes began to rustle. He had to hold in his relieved sigh when Honeypaw stepped out into the small clearing, unharmed, but also empty-mouthed.

He gave her a small smile. “Prey gave you a hard time?”

“Yeah,” she said, but before he could go into the prepared speech he had for if she had failed, she added, “I met a kittypet.”

His smile disappeared. “A kittypet? Where?”

She gestured from where she just came from. Sheepishly, she said, “I talked with her a bit.”

Gladefur pushed down his first reaction before it made him say something he would regret. “What did you talk about?”

“Well, she asked me if I was a part of the new group of cats she heard was living around her. I figured she was talking about ShadeClan, so I said yes. She was mostly asking questions about me. My age, when I joined ShadeClan, if I liked it…”

“And you said…?”

“The truth.” Honeypaw must have seen something on his face, as she added, “I didn’t see a reason not to. And… I think she has kits. She had their scent on her. I didn’t see them, though.”

He nodded slowly. “And where is this kittypet now?”

“She left. Probably went back to her Twoleg den.” She paused. “Did I not do the right thing…?”

He sighed. “I’m more worried about how easily you gave her all of that information…”

“I thought she would want to join us…”

“It’s true that ShadeClan would be better off with more cats right now, but you should be more careful about who you trust out there. Not everyone will be friendly cats just wanting a place to stay. We’re a new, bigger group to this area, and some cats might take issue with that. They may even lie to you to get you to talk, then come back and use that information against us.”

Honeypaw’s ears flattened. “...Do you think she’s one of those cats?”

Shaking his head, he sighed again. “I don’t know. But if you really caught the scent of kits off of her, she may really just be a curious kittypet.” He softened his expression. “You won’t get in trouble for this. In fact, you did the right thing by telling me about her. When we get back, I’ll let Clawstar know and we can keep an eye out if she comes around again.”

She nodded and they lapsed into a brief moment of silence. Then, without looking at him, she said, “I wasn’t talking to her the whole time. I did try to catch a few prey, but they all noticed me before I could catch them.”

Gladefur could have purred out a laugh at her reluctant honesty, but held it in. “That’s all right. We still have plenty of time ahead of us to get you ready for your final hunting assessment. Do you know what you were doing wrong?”

“...I wasn’t concentrating enough. I ended up stepping on a few leaves, or I didn’t realize the wind had changed…” She frowned deeply at the ground. “I’ll do better next time. Both you and Bleakspeckle have been teaching me better than that.”

His eyes narrowed. “Bleakspeckle has been teaching you?”

She flinched. “I mean, just a little bit after our own training sessions. He offered to help give me more practice on the things I’ve been struggling with.”

“I see… Then I think I know what the real problem is.” Letting out a long sigh, he gestured for her to sit down. “I time our training sessions so that they are just long enough for you to get your training in without overexerting yourself. Too much training can end up being detrimental in the long run. Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“...Yes?”

“I mean, have you been getting as much rest as you were before Bleakspeckle started offering you those extra training sessions?”

She didn’t answer.

He nodded. “That settles it then. No more training for today, and tomorrow will be a rest day. That means no training from either me or Bleakspeckle. If he tries to push you into it, just send him my way and I’ll deal with it, okay?”

“Okay…” she murmured. After a moment, she finally raised her eyes again. “I didn’t take Bleakspeckle’s help because I think you’re a bad mentor. He doesn’t listen when I tell him, but you’re really not. I like having you for a mentor. I just didn’t want to fall behind…”

“It’s all right. I understand. You and Bleakspeckle are close, and it’s only natural to want to improve. But, Honeypaw, you’ll only get good results when you have enough rest. Bleakspeckle might think he’s helping you, but he could just end up delaying your progress. I don’t think any of us want that to happen. If you’re really concerned about something in your training, just tell me about it and I’ll adjust our schedule. No need for Bleakspeckle. Understood?”

“Understood,” she repeated quietly, looking back to the ground.

“All right then,” he said as he got up and stretched. “Now that that’s settled, let’s head back. Make sure Shadetuft and the kits have gotten some food, then you can help yourself to whatever’s left in the freshkill pile.”

“Okay…”

Gladefur noted her muted responses, but she got up and left the clearing before he could try asking her about them. Suppressing a sigh, he slowly followed her, wondering when Bleakspeckle would stop being such a thorn in his side.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

“Honeykit,” Clawstar called, and she almost tripped over her paws when she eagerly stepped forward. “Today, you join Icepaw in becoming an apprentice of ShadeClan. Over the next few seasons, you will train to earn your full warrior name. To help you along this journey, I have selected a mentor who will guide you to become the best cat you can be.”

A few murmurs rippled across the clearing. There were only a few cats it could be. Honeykit glanced over at Bleakspeckle, who was looking at her with pride in his blue eyes. 

“Gladefur.”

Her gaze snapped back to Clawstar. Gladefur? She watched in shock as the deputy stepped in front of her. 

“Please pass along all of your knowledge to this new apprentice, who from now on will go by the name Honeypaw.”

“Honeypaw! Honeypaw!” the Clan cheered, and it took her a moment to realize she was supposed to be touching noses with her new mentor. She lurched forward a little too fast and painfully collided with Gladefur’s nose. 

“Sorry…” she whispered, but he only gave her a small smile.

The rest of the ceremony passed by in a blur, and before she knew it, it was over. Belatedly, she looked to where Bleakspeckle had been, but he was no longer there. Just as she wondered where he could have gone, she heard his voice hiss, “What is the meaning of this?”

He was quickly approaching her and Gladefur, tail lashing behind him. The crowd that had gathered for her ceremony paused in dispersing, attention drawn to Bleakspeckle’s outburst.

“What is the meaning of what?” Gladefur asked cooly. 

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” he growled, taking a step forward. “I came here with Honeypaw. I was the one who took her in and cared for her before any of you came to us with your offer to join this ‘Clan.’ If anyone should be her mentor, it’s me. You can’t just take her because of one tiny mistake I did!”

“It was not his decision.” Everyone turned at once to see Clawstar walking up to them. “It was mine.”

Bleakspeckle opened and closed his mouth for a moment before he sputtered, “You made the decision?”

“Exactly,” he said as he came to stand beside Honeypaw. “And it’s precisely because you are so close to her that you’re not her mentor. A mentor needs to be impartial and willing to give criticisms when necessary.” He looked towards the elder’s den. “Did I get that right, Shadetuft?”

The elder dipped his head in the affirmative.

Bleakspeckle clicked his tongue. “What, and I couldn’t do any of that because I care too much about her?”

“That’s not a bad thing,” Clawstar reassured. He nodded towards the nursery. “There are still some kits who will be in need of a mentor in a few moons time. For now, trust Gladefur in being the best mentor for Honeypaw.”

He let out a mirthless laugh. “Trust in him? Sure...” Before Clawstar could say more, Bleakspeckle turned to Honeypaw, his expression only softening slightly. “You know who to ask if you ever need any better training.” And then he was stalking back to the warrior’s den, not even sparing Gladefur a passing glance.

Honeypaw watched him go with a small lump in her throat.

A light touch to her shoulder drew her attention to Gladefur. “Don’t mind him. He’ll come around eventually. In the meantime, how about a real tour of the territory?”

She forced a smile. “Yeah, okay…” As she followed her new mentor to the camp’s entrance, she couldn’t help sneaking a glance towards the warrior’s den, but there was no sign of Bleakspeckle.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**

“Thank you,” he said as Icepaw placed the shrew in front of him. She nodded and turned to leave, but he stopped her with a clearing of his throat. “You know, I’ve seen how hard you have been working. Why don’t you sit with me for a bit? Keep an old tom company while he eats his meal?”

Icepaw hesitated, then gingerly sat down next to him. They didn’t speak for a long moment as Shadetuft tucked into the shrew. Finally, he broke the silence. “I know this is all still new for you. How have you been holding up?”

She shrugged, still not really looking at him. He stared at her, slowly chewing, until she finally glanced at him. At his raised brow, she sighed and said, “It’s… strange. Being an apprentice and learning things from cats who might still be learning themselves.” She took a glance around the clearing, then added in a hushed voice, “The other day, I saw Clawstar get scared by the mouse he was hunting. It darted towards him when he was trying to stalk it and he let out such a squeak, you would’ve thought he had been the mouse. I pretended not to see it.” A beat. “Don’t tell him I told you this.”

Shadetuft blinked, then erupted in a fit of barely contained laughter. “Well, you can’t blame him. He never got much face-to-face time with mice when he was a kittypet.”

“Still a little worrying to see your own leader act like that. You told us there are other Clans coming back, too, and that the old ones were taken out by war. What happens when we’re attacked by things much bigger than mice?”

He hummed. “I did say those things. But we’ve been lucky. The other Clans are still getting their own bearings, just like us. I don’t expect there to be any bad blood between us for a while yet, not when each Clan has so few cats.” He took another bite, more as an excuse to think about his next words than to fill his belly. After swallowing, he decided on this: “StarClan helped me choose a leader. They were adamant that Clawstar was the best option, and I agreed with them. Say what you will about his hunting skills, but his way with words is something to be admired. He convinced you all to name the Clan after me, didn’t he?”

“...His arguments were good,” she relented. 

He nodded. “This is something that many of the old Clans forgot, and perhaps it led them to their demise: A leader is not just the strongest fighter, or the best hunter of their Clan. They should not be chosen solely on their ability to defeat their enemies. Win a war, you still lose many cats. Keep the peace, and you don’t have to lose anyone.”

The words lingered in the air as Shadetuft finally finished his meal. He didn’t know if Icepaw understood him completely, but she at least looked a little more comfortable sitting next to him. 

Just as Shadetuft was beginning to groom himself, Twigtooth came bounding up to them. After a short greeting, she asked, “Have either of you seen Hollyhockseeker?”

Shadetuft frowned. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh! Yes, uh…” She laughed, then cleared her throat. “I just… got a little splinter in my paw, and was wondering if she could take a look at it.”

He exchanged glances with Icepaw. “And do I want to know how you got that splinter?”

Twigtooth smiled. “...Maybe not.”

“She’s probably out getting her precious herbs,” Icepaw muttered, “since we supposedly messed that up yesterday.”

“Oh?”

“No one messed anything up, Icepaw,” Twigtooth sighed. “She was just trying to warn you about the proper method of handling herbs, not—”

“Bleakspeckle!”

The three of them startled at the yell which came from the middle of the clearing. There, they saw Gladefur, his pelt visibly bristling. Before him was Bleakspeckle, as well as Honeykit. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” 

Bleakspeckle looked as confused as everyone else as he answered, “Well, I was planning on going around the territory—”

“And you were going to bring Honeykit with you?!”

Uh oh, Shadetuft thought. He got up as quickly as his old paws could let him and cautiously approached the spat as it became more and more intense.

“Is that such a problem?” Bleakspeckle was asking, sounding truly genuine. “Honeykit’s almost six moons old. She said she wanted to get a headstart in memorizing the territory’s layout. I figured it’d be fine, since I’ll be with her the whole time.”

Honeykit stood behind Bleakspeckle, shifting from foot to foot as her wide eyes darted between warriors. 

Tail lashing, Gladefur growled, “I can understand a kit wanting to explore places they aren’t allowed to go yet, but I expect a fully grown cat to know better than to try and sneak out with one.”

Now it was Bleakspeckle’s turn to bristle. “We were not sneaking out! Do I really need the deputy’s permission just to go outside?”

“Yes, actually, you bird-brained, flea-ridden—”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” a new voice cut in, and they both took a step back as Clawstar moved to stand between them. “Let’s not resort to petty insults, all right, Gladefur?” The deputy said nothing in response, but his tail did lower in deference. “Now, what’s the argument going on here?”

“Gladefur is saying every cat in the Clan has to be guided by his tail, as if we were all two moon old kits,” Bleakspeckle quickly said, raising his head in defiance. “I’m not a kit, and Honeykit is supposed to have her apprentice ceremony any day now. I simply don’t see the problem.”

“You—” Gladefur tried to say, but Clawstar held up his tail. 

“I understand that you are used to deciding on things on your own,” Clawstar began, keeping his voice calm and neutral, “but you’re a part of a Clan now. It’s something that we all have to remember, that we are supposed to look out for each other. And that means telling one another where we are planning to go, so if you don’t come back, we know where to search.”

“I can take care of myself,” Bleakspeckle muttered.

“And I have no doubts about that. I’m sure you could handle any potential threat that you might run into. But Honeykit has no training, and we have not yet properly mapped out every corner of our territory. What if you came across a badger set that had an angry mother inside? Would you still be comfortable saying you could keep both yourself and Honeykit safe then?”

“Well—”

“And if you hadn’t told anyone what you were doing, and suddenly we couldn’t find you? If either of you had been seriously hurt or trapped somewhere, we wouldn’t be able to have enough search parties to find you soon enough.”

Bleakspeckle clicked his tongue. “All right, I get it. I’ll ask for permission next time…”

Clawstar nodded, then gave Gladefur a hard look. After a moment, Gladefur sighed and said, “I’m sorry for calling you… what I called you.”

A simple tail flick was the only thing Bleakspeckle did to acknowledge the apology, but it seemed good enough for Clawstar, who nodded once more and looked ready to put the whole thing to nest. Of course, that was when the entrance rustled, and out came Hollyhockseeker, alone and empty-mouthed.

Gladefur frowned. “Hollyhockseeker?”

There was an awkward moment as everyone stared at her, and she stared back. But instead of saying anything, she gave a small wave of her tail in greeting and quickly disappeared into the healer’s den.

“...Don’t tell me she went out without your permission,” Bleakspeckle growled, which raised Gladefur’s hackles, even as he looked at the healer’s den with uncertainty.

“She—”

“She got permission from me,” Clawstar suddenly said. “She wanted to go try and get some herbs. It was near camp, so I said it was fine.” He looked to Gladefur. “Sorry for not telling you earlier.”

“Herbs? But she didn’t bring any back,” Bleakspeckle pointed out.

Clawstar wasn’t fazed. “It’s still early in newleaf. There may not be as many herbs out yet as she hoped.” He waved his tail. “In any case, I think this discussion is over. Bleakspeckle, if you’re so adamant about going out, you can do a solo patrol around the border. Just let Gladefur know where you’ll be going.” When there were no immediate protests, he went to the healer’s den himself.

Twigtooth took that opportunity to swoop in and gently herd Honeykit back towards the nursery where Rimekit and Darkkit had been watching from. “Am I in trouble…?” Honeykit asked quietly, to which Twigtooth gently hushed and reassured her. 

After watching them go, Bleakspeckle turned to Gladefur and muttered, “I’m going to go near the river. It’s where I was going to bring Honeykit, but I guess that can wait until she’s my apprentice.”

Gladefur’s ear twitched. “We’ll see about that.”

They sneered at each other for a moment longer, then went their separate ways. Shadetuft watched them leave, then sighed heavily. StarClan give us guidance, he thought to the sky.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~**