Smokekit POV:

Finally, I am allowed to leave the medicine den. I have completely healed, but there are several ugly, gnarled scars barely hidden beneath my pelt. Everyone looks at me with disgust in their eyes. Even if I had been ugly before, it was increased now many times over.

Darkkit hates me even more now. Every chance she gets, she bullies or taunts me. She can't harm me now that everyone watches us so closely, but the deep fury in her gaze shows me just how much she wants to.

Our apprenticeship ceremony takes place today. Icekit and her friends seem overly excited, and Darkkit looks more than ready to start fighting. Moonlight is grooming Darkkit, having just finished with Icekit. Icekit looks happy to be so neat and clean, but Darkkit is struggling visibly, clearly uncomfortable. I find myself stifling a laugh at the look of powerlessness on Darkkit's face.

Suddenly, I feel a paw pulling me aside and a tongue roughly beginning to groom me. I struggle, confused. Moonlight was still grooming Darkkit, and she was the last cat I'd expect to show me a small kindness such as this. "Hold still," a familiar voice growls sounding exasperated. It is Robinstride, the only one who ever seemed to care about me in the slightest. "You have to look presentable for your big day."

I stop struggling as much as I can, but it's hard not to. I notice she is extra gentle around my scars, careful to brush fur over them to cover them slightly. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, she lets me go. I turn to face her. She has a strange look of pride in her eyes, one I have never seen before in any cat. She looks as if she is about to say something when I hear a yowl coming from the center of camp. Barkstar, standing on the High-ledge, calls out, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High-ledge for a Clan meeting."

I know what this means. It is time for our apprenticeship ceremony. Icekit prances out towards the HIgh-ledge beside Moonlight, who looks incredibly proud. Nightstalker and Darkkit are the pure images of warriors. Despite my sisters' attitudes, all attention seems to be on me. I feel a firm nudge behind me as Robinstride urges me along. I nod and walk over, almost expecting something bad.

I go and stand beneath the High-ledge beside Darkkit. I feel her staring daggers into my side, but I force myself not to look at her. Instead, I look up at Barkstar as he begins the ceremony. "Icekit, Darkkit and Smokekit," he begins, "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 Icepaw, Darkpaw, and Smokepaw." I feel a swell of anticipation rise inside me as I wait to hear who will be our mentors. "Icepaw, your mentor will be Featherflight. Featherflight, you have shown great empathy for others as well and brought in much prey for our clan during leaf-bare. Your former apprentice, Brighthawk, has blossomed into a great warrior, and I am sure you will pass on all that you know to Icepaw." Featherflight approaches and touches noses with Icepaw, and they sat in the center of the ring less than a fox-length away from me. This pairing makes sense to me. Featherflight is an older warrior. She is a safe choice for Icepaw, as she won't take big risks, but she will still provide good training. Nightstalker wouldn't want anything happening to his precious little fragile Icepaw. "Darkpaw, your mentor will be Tigerfang. Tigerfang, you have shown great courage and skill in battle. I am sure you will pass on all that you know to Darkpaw." Okay, Nightstalker definitely got involved. Tigerfang is basically Nightstalker's second in command. As I watch the giant striped brown tom approach and touch noses with Darkpaw, I can't help but risk a glance at Nightstalker. He looks incredibly pleased. In less than a moment, he catches me looking at him. I see a menacing glint in his eyes that terrifies me. What did he have planned for me? I hold my breath as Barkstar announces my mentor. "Smokepaw, your mentor will be Robinstride. Robinstride, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You received excellent training from your former mentor Honeystep. You have shown great promise in all of your endeavors and showed great sacrifice when assisting your sister in caring for her kits. I know you will pass on all you know to Smokepaw."

I feel as if I am in a dream. Is this actually happening? I feel as though I am in a wonderful haze, a pool of honey. Everything slows. My thinking becomes fuzzy from excitement. Robinstride touches noses with me and sits beside me. I hear my clanmates chanting my new name. I vaguely hear Robinstride offering to take me on a tour of the territory.

Finally, one thing cuts through my euphoria. Nightstalker. His piercing glare penetrates through every wonderful feeling I had in my system and eradicates it like a plague. Clearly, he hadn't intended for me to get Robinstride as a mentor. Why had Barkstar taken his recommendations for Icepaw and Darkpaw but not for me? I am filled with a feeling completely the opposite of my dreamy euphoria. It is a cold, harsh sinking feeling resting in the pit of my stomach and resonating through my existence, unsettling me. I watch Nightstalker's sneer as he turns and leaves, only his anger remaining behind for me to confront. A deep hatred starts swelling within me, forming from the cold place in my belly. I can hardly breathe, hardly think, only focus on the evils that could have been tearing me to pieces this very moment, oblivious to the one forming in me.

"Smokepaw! Smokepaw, can you hear me?" Robinstride's voice calls, cutting through the darkness I seemed to be lost in.

"Yes," I reply, shaking off the unsettling feeling Nightstalker had left behind.

"I said, would you like to go on a tour of ThunderClan territory?" she repeated, me not having heard the first time.

I nod and follow her through the tunnel and out of camp, still confused as to what had happened.

***

??? POV:

The black cat approached the shadow. "All has been done as you requested," the cat informed.

"The red one will be a problem for us," the shadow replied. It had an old voice, weathered by time and creaky like old baseboards.

"I did all I could," the cat insisted. "If I could only know why–

"You will know soon enough. Just know that everything else is going according to my plan."