#pondskip

"With all due respect, Rushseed, at this point fathering litters isn't going to help. Antlerfleck and I are the only two BleakClan-born cats capable of fathering kits, that is only going to get us so far," Sleekbloom said. "I hate it as much as you do but I'm thinking long term survival here."

"Well, it's not like Blue is going to be fathering any litters," Rushseed sniffed.

"If you have a problem with me being trans-" Blue bristled before Rushseed cut him off.

"Being trans isn't the issue here. I'm just pointing out that Sleekbloom's logic is flawed." Rushseed growled back, claws flexing. Wisteriakit's breath caught in her throat. She had heard many stories about how great a fighter her mother was, was she finally going to see her in action? Despite her excitement, Wisteriakit couldn't help but feel a pang for the Blue. If he was driven out, did that mean that Wisteriakit also didn't deserve a place in BleakClan?

Before either cat could spring at each other, Shadowstar emerged from her den and bounded between the two cats. "Stop this! Rushseed, it's okay. Sleekbloom came to me asking if Blue could join us. I told him its a good idea, our war against the Fringe has caused many, many deaths. I refuse to let them beat us by driving us to extinction, even if it does mean compromising our bloodline."

"Your mother would be ashamed of you," Rushseed spat. "If the great Dapplestar could see you now-"

Shadowstar flinched, and a for a moment Wisteriakit thought that she would cave to Rushseed, but then Antlerfleck stepped up to join his mate.

"Dapplestar made Shadowstar leader, and a clan leader's word is law. You would not be so bold as to break the code, would you?" Antlerfleck warned.

There was a long pause, and Wisteriakit wondered if Rushseed would attack Antlerfleck instead. After what seemed like an eternity, Rushseed smoothed her fur and backed down.

"Fine, but if this all goes to shit don't say I didn't warn you," Rushseed snarled and walked away, tail flicking.

"Well, Blue, now that you're here we've got to give you a proper name," Shadowstar dipped her head at the newcomer and made her way up to the Tallbranch. "Since we are already gathered, let's begin."

Wisteriakit watched Blue with curiosity. Now that the conflict had passed, his pelt had smoothed once more and he was looking steadily up at Shadowstar.

"Blue, you have not trained with us, but your survival as a loner in these woods for so many moons has proven your skill as a warrior. I ask only for your loyalty. I will make you a warrior, but should your devotion to BleakClan waver you will be driven out or killed. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?" Shadowstar asked, her hazel eyes meeting Blue's evenly.

"Shadowstar, I promise I will spend the rest of my days proving my loyalty to this clan. A friend of Sleekbloom is a friend of mine, you won't regret this," Blue vowed. Wisteriakit looked over at Rushseed, curious about how she was reacting to the fact that he did not use the right words. The deputy was glaring at the loner and Sleekbloom with a fury that Wisteriakit had never seen before.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Blue, from this moment on your will be known as Blueclaw. StarClan honours your friendship, and we welcome you as a full warrior of BleakClan. Now, as a way of proving yourself I shall give you an apprentice." Shadowstar beckoned forwards Seedkit and Gingerkit.

"Shadowstar, you cannot be serious," Rushseed yowled. "Inviting a stranger into our midst is one thing, but letting him train one of our warriors-"

"I'd gladly take on another apprentice, now that Yewswoop is a warrior," Puddlebud piped up, waving her now-healed tail.

"I'll give him Gingerkit, so he is not training a clanborn kit." Shadowstar conceded, looking a little wary. "But please, do not interrupt the ceremony again."

The murmuring died down, though Wisteriakit could tell that the clan wasn't happy.

"Why can't I be trained by a proper BleakClan warrior?" Gingerkit hissed in Wisteriakit's ear.

"You don't like Blueclaw?" Wisteriakit whispered back, surprised. "I wish I could have him as a mentor." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. What if Rushseed had heard? Looking back at her mother, she was glad to see she was too angry about the ceremony to be paying attention to her adopted kits.

"Gingerkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Gingerpaw. Your mentor will be Blueclaw. Blueclaw, you have a lot to prove to the clan, and so does Gingerpaw. I hope you two will make the clan stronger, and make up for your outsider heritage." Shadowstar announced.

Gingerpaw touched his nose to Blueclaw's with gritted teeth, but did not say anything more. Blueclaw was beaming with pride, and Wisteriakit was glad that he was not phased.

"Seedkit, you too have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Seedpaw. Your mentor will be Sleekbloom. Sleekbloom, it was your decision to bring Blueclaw into this clan. He will be your responsibility, and thus I am also giving you an apprentice so that you may show your friend your mentorship skills. I know this will be your last apprentice before you retire, so Seedpaw, I hope you gain as much wisdom from your mentor as you can."

"I'm going to be the best apprentice BleakClan has ever seen!" Seedpaw exclaimed as she touched noses with Sleekbloom.

"Not if I beat you there first," Gingerpaw growled playfully.

Wisteriakit felt a pang of envy. Now that Seedpaw and Gingerpaw had joined Fallowpaw as apprentices, it was just Wisteriakit and her siblings left in the nursery. She would miss the time she got to spend with her friends, her own apprenticeship felt ages away.

"Just two more moons, and that will be us," Violetkit said. "I wonder who our mentors will be! I think I'd be fine with anyone, except for Puddlebud or Yewswoop, they're scary!"

"I want Rushseed to be my mentor," Wisteriakit said, feeling resolve well up in her chest. If she was Rushseed's apprentice, she would know exactly how to make her mother proud of her. She would do anything Rushseed told her to, and she would be the bravest warrior ever.

"Apprentices aren't supposed to be trained by their parents, mouse-brain!" Violetkit laughed.

"No, but think about it! The warriors without apprentices are Shadowstar, Rushseed, Puddlebud, Antlerfleck, Yewswoop and Pondskip. That's six of them. There are five of us. Pondskip is probably too young to have an apprentice, she was made a warrior early for killing that rogue on her own. I think one of us will be trained by Rushseed." Wisteriakit said excitedly.

"Well, if anyone is going to be trained by Rushseed, it's going to be me!" Lilackit said, puffing out her chest. "Just you wait and see!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'm going to get Gingerpaw and Seedpaw to teach me everything they learn so that I'll be the best kit and Rushseed will ask for me herself!" Wisteriakit boasted.

"Alright kits, that's enough excitement for now. It's time for your afternoon naps," Trouthowl interrupted, herding the five remaining kits back until the nursery. Wisterkit looked back at Gingerpaw and Seedpaw, getting ready to go out on their first day of training.

Soon, Wisteriakit told herself. I'll join you soon.

***

"You'll never believe the task Blueclaw just gave me!" Gingerpaw bouded over to Wisteriakit. It had been a quarter moon since he had been apprenticed, and Wisteriakit missed him so much it hurt.

"What?" Wisteriakit asked.

"He wants me to play with you! Something about 'looking after the young of the clan.' I think he meant it as a chore to teach me some humility, but if he wasn't so new he would have known that we are best friends! This is no chore at all!" Gingerpaw grinned.

"So we can play?" Wisteriakit could hardly keep her paws still.

"We can play! How about another round of mossball? Think you can beat me this time?" Gingerpaw teased.

"You're on!" Wisteriakit growled playfully.

Despite Wisteriakit's determination to beat him, it was clear that even just a quarter moon of apprentice training had greatly honed his skills. It was more of a challenge than she expected, and in the end she once again found herself the losing party.

"Better luck next time," Gingerpaw gloated.

"Well, just you wait until I'm an apprentice!" Wisteriakit vowed.

"Oh, I believe it! I can't wait until you join us. The apprentices den feels so empty after how much space you and your sisters take up." Gingerpaw mused. "Of course, I can get more sleep without Violetkit's babbling but-"

"Hey Gingerpaw! Wisteriakit!" Pondskip's voice rang out across the camp, slightly muffled. She had just returned from a hunting patrol with Puddlebud and Yewswoop, and she was carrying the biggest rabbit Wisteriakit had ever seen. "Look what I caught, do you want to share?"

"Yes please!" Wisteriakit licked her lips. "Rabbit's my favourite!"

"I know, that's why I brought it to you!" Pondskip grinned, eyes shining. "It's too big to eat on my own!"

The rabbit was delicious, Wisteriakit ate until she felt like she was going to explode. Judging from Gingerpaw and Pondskip's expressions, they both felt the same.

"That was a great catch!" Wisteriakit said, dipping her head to Pondskip. "Thank you for sharing!"

The day was turning out to be one of the best that Wisteriakit had in a while. She had been so worried about her place in the clan once she had noticed that Rushseed only seemed to care about clanborn cats, but Gingerpaw wanted her, and Pondskip thought of her when she caught her favourite prey. She belonged, she was sure of it. She just had to show it to Rushseed so that Rushseed would believe it too.

As the sun began to set, however, the day soured. The rabbit that had filled Wisteriakit with such warmth had turned, and now her insides churned violently within her, making it difficult to stand.

"I'll take you to the Healer's Clearing," Trouthowl said, brows furrowed. "This doesn't look too good."

Wisteriakit tried to walk, but she was in too much pain. Trouthowl ended up having to carry her by her scruff. On the way, they were joined by Gingerpaw and Pondskip, who looked equally miserable.

"There must have been something wrong with the rabbit," Pondskip said darkly. "Puddlebud said it looked off, but I told her it was fine. I wish I had listened to her. I'm sorry, it's my fault you both are suffering."

Wisteriakit wanted to say something, but the pain was too intense. She could feel herself slipping out of consciousness. She was dimly aware of being set down on a mossy bed, and Primrosestripe sniffing her.

"Fallowpaw, grab the yarrow, we need to make them throw up the tainted prey." Primrosestripe sounded scared.

"Are they going to be alright?" Lilackit's voice piped up. Both she and Seedpaw had been brought to the Healer's Clearing earlier that day for heat exhaustion.

Primrosestripe wordlessly took the yarrow from Fallowpaw, not responding to Lilackit's question. Wisteriakit suddenly felt very scared, it was not like the head healer to be so blunt. She dutifully swallowed yarrow leaves as they were shoved in her mouth, throwing up as soon as they hit her stomach. Beside her, she could hear Pondskip and Gingerpaw retching and vomiting as well.

Once their stomachs were empty, Primrosestripe moved them to a clean nest.

"Fallowpaw, these three need close monitoring overnight. I want you to move Lilackit and Seedpaw to another den and stay with them for the night, You've treated enough heat exhaustion patients to know what to do. Don't hesitate to get me if either of them get worse or if you need help. The poison is out of these three, but only time will tell if they will pull through." Primrosestripe ordered.

"I won't let you down," Fallowpaw vowed. Her voice was the last thing Wisteriakit heard as she slipped into unconsciousness.

***

It was the middle of the night when Wisteriakit regained consciousness. Her stomach still ached and she felt too weak to do more than lift her head. Fallowpaw had burst into the den in a panic.

"Primrosestripe! Come quick! I-I think something's wrong with Seedpaw! It's like what happened with the cats who ate the rabbit!" Fallowpaw exclaimed.

"What?" Primrosestripe got to her feet. "But that shouldn't be possible! She couldn't have eaten the rabbit-"

Wisteriakit strained to hear more as the two rushed away. It took every bit of strength she had to keep herself awake, desperate to hear if her friend was okay. After a few minutes, Fallowpaw returned, shaking and crying.

"What's wrong...?" Wisteriakit rasped, her tongue feeling heavy in her mouth.

"Wisteriakit? You're awake?" Fallowpaw looked panicked. She glanced at Gingerpaw and Pondskip, who were both still unconscious. "I messed up, Wisteriakit, I messed up big time. Primrosestripe, she sent me away. She said I was getting in the way and that there's nothing more we can do for Seedpaw and that she's-"

Fallowpaw paused to choke back a sob.

"Seedpaw's dead."

Wisteriakit's blood turned to ice in her veins. She wanted to scream and cry and race over to Seedpaw to see it for herself, but she was frozen in place.

"It's all my fault, I never should have been a healer, I never even wanted this! I was going to be a warrior, and then a leader like my mom! If..." Fallowpaw trailed off as Primrosestripe returned.

"We've got to tell Shadowstar, but first, tell me exactly what happened," Primrosestripe said. "Seedpaw died from a poisoning, but I can't figure out how she could have been poisoned when she ate the same bird as Lilackit and Lilackit is just fine."

"It was me...." Wisteriakit lied. "I brought her.... some rabbit...."

Primrosestripe's gaze snapped to Wisteriakit, aware for the first time that she was awake.

"Thank you for your honesty, Wisteriakit. Come on, Fallowpaw, let's continue this conversation outside, and then we can go talk to Shadowstar together." Primrosestripe guided Fallowpaw out with her tail, and Wisteriakit once again slipped into unconsciousness.