Chapter Text
It's been a moon since the elder told a story. And Musickit loved it. She is now five moons old, and Lilykit, Riverkit, and Leafkit were getting apprenticed today. They were talking about it with Musickit and how Lilykit was really excited that they were finally getting apprenticed so that they could be great warriors!
Musickit was also perplexed as to why some Clan cats were behaving strangely toward her.It must be because of my mom, right? Musickit thought. It's probably nothing... She's so kind! Musickit thought she was lucky to have Holidaypelt as her mother, and Waterkit thought so too.
The world is so beautiful, nothing could possibly get in her way. Musickit smiled as Lilykit groomed herself, and Musickit was observing her. Lilykit then stopped to look at Musickit and then resumed.
Icerunner was proud enough that Lilykit was grooming herself on her own without her having to do it for Lilykit. Riverkit insisted to Icerunner that she was already clean, but Icerunner didn't think so, so now Riverkit is mad.
"Why are you doing this?!" Riverkit whined as Icerunner cleaned her.
"Because you have to look good for your ceremony!" Icerunner hissed as she tried to keep Riverkit from running away.
Riverkit grunted but knew what was coming. Musickit laughed and then rolled over. Lilykit finished, and then she walked over toward Musickit.
"Having fun, eh?" Lilykit meowed towards Musickit, who was laughing uncontrollably.
"Yeah!" Musickit meowed happily and grinned.
Lilykit laughed and then smiled. Lilykit then looked outside of the nursery to see that the leader was on the Great Tree.
"All cats old enough to swim, come join us in the clearing!" Hollystar yowled, and Lilykit looked at Musickit.
"Are time!" Lilykit meowed while grinning, stating that she gets to be an apprentice and she is so happy.
Lilykit then ran out of the nursery, and Riverkit and Leafkit followed. Icerunner joined in the clearing too.
"Can I come, ma?" Musickit asked, and Holidaypelt shook her head no.
"Can I peek through the hole?" Musickit begged Holidaypelt, and Holidaypelt sighed.
"Fine," Holidaypelt replied after a brief pause, and Musickit dashed towards the nursery's opening hole. Small enough for a kit to come through, but big enough for the queens to come through. The entrance to the nursery was covered by vines, but Musickit angled her head toward where she could see the Great Tree.
"We have three new kits to become apprentices today," Hollystar meows loudly. "Riverkit, Leafkit, and Lilykit."
"Lilykit, please step forward." Hollystar meowed, and Lilykit confidently walked towards the Great Tree. Musickit observed that she was excited, like, always.
"Lilykit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice. This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Lilypaw," Hollystar stated. "Your mentor will be Batberry. I hope Batberry passes what he knows onto you."
"Batberry."
Bayberry got up, and Hollystar watched as he slowly made his way toward the Great Tree where Lilypaw was standing.
"Batberry, you're ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be brave and outgoing," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at Batberry. "Make sure Lilypaw goes to the Coralreef at night."
Bayberry slowly walked towards Lilypaw, and they both touched noses. Lilypaw backed down, and Batberry went back to the clearing.
"Riverkit, please step forward." Hollystar meowed as Riverkit anxiously stepped forward.
"Riverkit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice. This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Riverpaw," Hollystar stated. "Your mentor will be Mudtail. I hope Mudtail passes what he knows onto you."
"Mudtail."
Mudtail walked over toward the Great Tree confidently, and when he reached the Great Tree, his eyes locked face to face with Riverpaw.
"Mudtail, you're ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be creative and loyal," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at Mudtail. "Make sure, as I said with Lilypaw, to take Riverpaw to the Coralreef at night."
Mudtail and Riverpaw then touched noses, and Riverpaw was happy that she had chosen Mudtail. Musickit observed again.
"Leafkit, please step forward." Hollystar meowed as Leafkit stepped forward.
"Leafkit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice. This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Leafpaw," Hollystar stated. "Your mentor will be Talltwig. I hope Talltwig passes on his knowledge to you."
"Talltwig."
Talltwig then walked over to the great tree and examined the birch wood that made it up.Then he looked at Leafpaw curiously.
"Talltwig, you're ready to take on an apprentice; you have shown yourself to have perseverance and determination," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at Talltwig. "Make sure, as I said with Lilypaw and Riverpaw, to take Leafpaw to the Coralreef at night."
Talltwig nodded and then touched noses with Leafpaw. Leafpaw didn't look happy when he got Talltwig, but he still touched noses anyway.
"Clan dismissed!" Hollystar meowed as she hopped off the tree.
"Leafpaw, Riverpaw, Lilypaw!" The clan cheered.
"Liked that?" Holidaypelt raised an eyebrow as she meowed that.
"Yes!!" Musickit meowed, and Waterkit looked at her with confusion as she just woke up.
"Where are Riverkit, Leafkit, and Lilykit?" Waterkit asked Musickit, and Musickit was surprised.
"They were just made apprentices!" Musickit cried for joy, and Waterkit smiled. Musickit couldn't wait for their turn to be apprentices.
~o0o0o0o0o~
One moon later, Musickit was standing by the Great Tree, and Hollystar was on it, and the whole clan was gathering in the clearing. Musickit could see Lilypaw and Riverpaw. But where was Leafpaw? Musickit wondered.
"Musickit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice. This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Musicpaw," Hollystar explained. "Your mentor will be [redacted]. I hope [redacted] passes what they know onto you."
Musickit looked at Hollystar curiously-who was she talking about? And why couldn't she hear her mentor's name? She then noticed a large, gray tom, and she realized it was Sharpfang! Her mentor was Sharpfang, the Clan's deputy! She was wagging her tail as the gray tom came toward the Great Walk. Except, it wasn't Sharpfang when he came close up. It was a moon-colored gray tom with sharp yellow eyes and a dark gray tail.
"[redacted], you're ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to have loyalty and determination," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at [redacted]. "Make sure to take Musicpaw to the Coralreef at night time."
The tom was glaring down at her, and it shivered Musicpaw down the spine. What could possibly this tom could want? Hesitantly, she and the tom touched noses. She then realized something. She looked at the crowd, and it was a bunch of cats she didn't recognize. Then she looked at Hollystar, and she had a dark golden pelt. She has a light one! She then looked at her surroundings, and the scenery changed. in a big, almost seemingly endless spruce forest. At this point, she was scared and started to run. Her paw went through the ground, and then she realized this was a dream.
She wasn't actually an apprentice! This was a whole dream made to scare her! What could the Dark Caverns possibly want from her? She then closed her eyes out of fear, and when she opened them, she was in the nursery next to her mom...
"No, no, no!" Musickit cried as she got up; she looked outside and then at her mom. Her mom wasn't there, and the whole clan wasn't there. Her sibling, Waterkit, wasn't there either.
"No, no, no, this is just one big nightmare!" She cried and then closed her eyes again.
~o0o0o0o0o~
This time, she woke up back in the nursery, and she freaked. Waterkit was confused.
"Um, you were meowing in your sleep." "Did you have a nightmare?" Waterkit asked, and Musickit sighed.
"Yeah, it's fine, though!" Musickit insisted, while flicking her tail.
"Alright, if you say so!" Waterkit meowed as Holidaypelt grabbed her by the scruff.
Musickit laughed as she watched Waterkit try to get out of Holidaypelt's grasp.
"Not funny!" Waterkit hissed as she managed to get out, but Holidaypelt grabbed her again.
Once Holidaypelt was finished with Waterkit, she then grabbed Musickit, and Musickit kept hissing and growling at Holidaypelt.
"Hahah! That's what you get!" Waterkit laughed when she saw Musickit do the same when she did it. Holidaypelt did the cleaning quickly and then set Musickit down. Musickit then did one final hiss at Holidaypelt. Musickit wondered if the next generation of cats were going to tell the story of tonight! Thinking about that thought gave her determination.
The leader was on the Great Tree, "All cats old enough to swim, come join us in the clearing!" Hollystar yowled.
Musickit got really excited and jumped around in the nursery, and then she ran out and went to the Great Tree while Hollystar watched her and sighed. Waterkit was close behind.
"We have two new kits becoming apprentices today," Hollystar announced to the Clan. "Musickit and Waterkit."
"Musickit, please step forward." Hollystar meowed as Musickit stepped forward, confident and excited but nervous because of the dream.
"Musickit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice. This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Musicpaw," Hollystar explained. "Your mentor will be Dusktail. I hope Dusktail passes what he knows onto you."
The light brown tom stood up and walked over toward Musicpaw. Well, that's different from my dream. Musicpaw thought. Dusktail softly glared at Musicpaw, and Musicpaw felt chills go down her spine. Well, maybe he's going to be nice.
"Dusktail, you're ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be brave and kind," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at Dusktail. "Make sure to take Musicpaw to the Coralreef at night time."
What's the Coralreef? Musicpaw thought as she went over towards Dusktail to touch noses. She has lots of questions. Dusktail looked over at Dustcoat, and Dustcoat glanced over at Dusktail. But then, as she was going to sit back down, Waterkit looked at the leader.
"Waterkit, please step forward," Hollystar meowed as Waterkit stepped forward.
"Waterkit, you've reached six moons, and you are ready to be an apprentice." "This day, until you receive your warrior name, you'll be called Waterpaw," Hollystar stated. "Your mentor will be Dustcoat. I hope Dustcoat passes what she knows onto you."
The light-brown she-cat looked surprised and uneasy at the same time. She had just gotten an apprentice, unlike Dusktail, who learned how to mentor from his old mentor. It was an old custom that StreamClan had, but it was shortly removed after Hollystar became leader. Dustcoat was a medicine cat apprentice but soon moved to being a warrior apprentice after Hollystar became leader. Maybe that's why she looked uneasy, as she didn't have any mentor training? Musicpaw thought. The only reason she knew it, though, was because Hollystar told her when she first met her.
"Dustcoat, you're ready to take on an apprentice, you have shown yourself to be loyal and adventurous," Hollystar meowed as she looked down at Dustcoat. "Make sure to take Waterpaw to the Coralreef at night."
"Err, Hollystar. I don't think I am." Dustcoat started to say, but Hollystar cut her off.
"It's alright. Teach your apprentice what you've learned from your mentor, you can also ask your brother too." Hollystar encouraged, and Dustcoat smiled a bit and touched noses with Waterpaw.
"Clan dismissed!" Hollystar yowled as she climbed down the tree.
"Waterpaw! Musicpaw! Waterpaw!" The clan cheered, and Musicpaw felt happy that she was finally an apprentice.