Despite the chaos, two apprentices become warriors. Warmâhoney recovers from her scrapes. Chickadee wants to play. PebbleâPelt Is looking for a sign from starclan.
Summer, a lovely time to graduate. The leader seemed to think so. Stormâpaw had been adamant to graduate with bugâpaw, despite being moons older and further along in training. Speaking with Hazelâstar, it was obvious to see why they wanted to graduate with them. after the incident, the two young cats only had each to rely on. Storm was afraid that if she graduated early, bug would be all alone in the apprentice den. So she selflessly waited. And now, it was time.
As hickoryâstar climbed the high rock, the stone walls of the cavern echoing each step. He called out their names, both of them. A now excited StormâMask bounded to the front, twirling happily as she touched noses with warmâhoney for thanks. Hickoryâstarâs eyes flicked to the small grey cat before him, and smiled, despite the odd look of..determination? Rage? In their eyes. âAnd now, you shall be known as BugâCrawl, known for your steadfast thinking.â The clan erupted into cheers. They needed this happiness, especially after IoâRiverâs death. The clan was on momentarily lockdown until they made SURE whatever killed Ioâ was gone. The patrol said it may have been a wolf or cougar. Strange.
BugâCrawl squinted down, looking away at the grass. A soft voice piped up from behind him. âCongrats kiddo! Iâm real proud of you!â MothâCatcher. Bug didnât even bother turning around, the older warrior was sat at the camp entrance, a weak grin paired poorly with the bags under his eyes. âI know I havenât been uhm, sending you out for training much. But I have to guard camp, and even besides that you blossomed into a wonderful warrior!â BugâCrawl simply glared back at him, and simply strided over to a set of stones near the entrance to sit for their vigil, where StormâMask cheerily greeted him. MothâCatchers ears drooped.
It was to be expected, he shouldnât have forgone all those training Opportunityâs in favor of protecting the camp. Sure, the other warriors could pick up slack if he ever had to leave butâŚwhat he saw back then. Button. The blood, the yowls, the fear in his eyes. Moth just wanted to protect the camp, what happened to button, to wren, could never happen again. Not on his watch.
Forget training. Forget sleep. Forget food. BugâCrawl would just have to understand. Right?
Chickadee had been getting better at his walking, but not 100% perfect at it. Bristleweb had been clear in her message to hickory: Chickadee would struggle to be a part of the clan in battles. His legs, despite being whole and connected to his mind, did not work as one, and he would wobble to and fro. Hickory did not seem to care, simply happy his kit was alive and healthy. And since he was nearing 6 moons, he would shortly be an apprentice. But it annoyed him to all get out that he couldnât explore as much as he wanted anymore. âBut why!â He whined to Hickory as he was licked clean.
âBecause we..because weâre on a safety hold. Theyâre making sure that nothing dangerous is near camp before we send anyone out. That also means oustide our dens. Donât worry Dee-Dee, itâs just..a precaution.â ChickadeeâKit pouted. He hadnât seen âFriendâ in a while either. Was Friend scared of whatever was out there to? Maybe they should be invited to camp, just to feel safe! Chickadee opened his mouth to try and suggest it, before hickory was called out of the nursery by warmhoney. The tom forced a grin, standing to leave. âItâs alright, Iâll be back soon!â Chickadee nodded solemnly, and watched him
Go. Nowâs his chance! As soon as hickory was out of sight, he slowly snuck out of the nursery, and began his slow yet shakey crawl through the camp, keeping to the shadowed moss to hide. In the background, he heard Hickory and Warmâhoney arguing. Small snippets of things he didnât get. âYou have to tell-â âheâs too young! He cant-â âif you shelter him too much, he wonât know what danger is!â Were⌠were they arguing about him? Chickadee winced, feeling bad now. He stopped sneaking, sitting next to the mediator den, tears brimming. Why was he making others feel unhappy? He didnât want cats to be scared or unhappy, he wanted everyone to feel okayâŚ
Pebblepelt was groggy. She had slept late, and so as soon as the warrior ceremonies were over, she had slunk back to den and announced rather meekly that she would nap. The distant buzz of cicadas made a soft melody, the summer heat thankfully not permeating the cavern the clan lived in yet, but it wouldnât be soon before everyone was complaining about being feverish and tired. Great..pebble gently lifted her head as she tried to rise from her nest. The den was decorated in little symbols and moss, meant to calm anyone that entered for talks. But now they looked threatening and like a message. Message? That reminded her..she whispered softly to herself. âStarclanâŚare you there? IâŚI need help.â She mumbled softly to the air.
Just waiting for cats to come by with problems was..taking a toll on her. She felt alone in this, one cat to take the burdens of others and simply sit and watch as they hunted and fought. She felt useless. She felt like she had no motivation, no purpose now. She cried out again, a bit louder. âShow me anything, please just-â a rustle. Her ears perked up as she sat up, looking at the noise. It came from The entrance to the den. PebbleâPelt forced a weak grin, it must be warmâhoney. They had really been doing badly, mentions of not being able to sleep and all. âCome in!â Pebble cooed, a mediators work is never done. A paw, larger than her own, stepped into veiw, blocked by the canopy of leaves. Orange and white. Then another. Pebble froze, the scent of warm queens milk flooded her nose. No. It canât be. Pebbleâs nerves came alive as the exhuastion fades from her , replaced with fear. Before her, peaking into her den, was wrenâshine.
She looked bigger, much bigger than she was. Between her paws in her fur, pebbleâpelt could see black shadowy figures in it, three to be exact. Through the haze of horror, she could have sworn she heard one shadow mewl. Wrenâs eyes were too wide, almost bulging from their skull and foggy. Their mouth, where should have been a row of teeth and a grin was null. Pebble finally found her voice as Wrenâshine began trying to crawl her huge form into the den. âNO! NO GET BACK!â Pebble screamed, fur frizzing on her back. Any attempt to explain this was dashed away by the single thought to get away. She raised a claw- only for the figure to back up. And gently tilt its head away from Her.
Signaling something to her outside her den. Pebbleâs fur bristled as she shakily watched it, flicking her eyes away just for a moment- only to look back and realize Wren was gone. She scrambled from the den, ignoring the numbness and tingling in her paws to where the thing had looked- only to see chickadeeâkit. Their little eyes wide and teary at their sudden appearance. Oh.
She forced away her fear and painted a weak smile, laying next to the kit. âYou feel okay buddy?â Chickadee shook his head, and began to babble about all the problems and worries in their head. âHelpingâ? âNot wanting others to feel bad?â It sounded all too familiar to her. With growing dread yet hope, she gently cleaned the kits head, looking to where the monstrous wren had vanished. Whatever that was wasnât starclan. But, pebble had been given her answer. She would take an apprentice. She owed it that much to wren, to watch over her kit. âI promise.â PebbleâPelt mumbled, nuzzled her face against chickadeeâkits fur. Whether it was to wren or herself, she didnât know.
[PebbleâPelt has Lost susceptibility (-1)]
