“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.

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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.

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