by crexmii » Sat Aug 26, 2023 9:07 pm
𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“call me fighter, I’ll mop the floor with you!”
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the tension in the air was so strong that helios
might have choked on it.
this was a scary new experience for the young kit,
as the patrol padded back to camp and led the way into
the leader’s den, covered by numerous ivy tendrils and lichen,
covering any sight of the leader.
helios shivered. not from the cold, it wasn’t cold at all, but from
something else.
was it fear?
“come in, petalpatch. I heard we have a… visitor in
our territory. bring him in.” a new voice hissed. this voice
sounded cold and serious, nothing at all like petalpatch’s
determination or gecko’s sassiness.
helios trembled again and slowly trailed behind the
softclan deputy, helpless. this was all calythea’s fault!
why did she have to do this? did she MEAN for him to get
caught? or was it an accident?
although she did say aerienn or something had planned
my fate out….
helios forced himself to swallow his uncertainty. he had to
stay strong, especially when facing the leader of this forest cat
clan himself.
he was face to face with a skinny tabby with blueish fur
and splotches of cream on her legs.
and her piercing green eyes stared back at him, expectant.
“he’s just a kit, so don’t be too fierce with him, alright, vi?”
petalpatch softly said, glancing at helios with a weird expression.
(sympathy? he didn’t know petalpatch felt that way.)
violetstar scoffed and mewed, “okay, calm down. and you could
start by NOT calling me VI.” she nudged petalpatch in annoyance.
her gaze fixed back to helios.
“you say you were guided by a…divine being? like.. a spirit?
what was their name?”
helios shuddered. violetstar’s voice gave him the chills, even if she
didn’t mean any harm.
“um….her name was..something like calythea. I’m not very good at
pronouncing it yet.”
violetstar’s eyes widened slightly, then went back to slits.
although, this time, she had a new glimmer of curiosity alongside the
suspicion.
“calythea? is she.. a green lynx with wings?” the leader prompted.
“y…yes? she sent me a sign — a moth that led me here.”
helios blurted.
violetstar dipped her head. “my apologies for my hostility, kit.
it is decided. you shall now be made an apprentice. and I mean now,
after this talk. now, what was your name?”
helios felt a sudden rush of disbelief, and a small tingly feeling that
made him feel all warm on the inside. he felt slightly…happy? even
though it wasn’t exactly his wish to join a clan, he felt good having
helped and pleased calythea.
that was..fast! calythea, did you see that?
“it’s..helios.”
“now, go. we’ll meet you outside for your apprentice ceremony,
and don’t worry. we’ll explain everything.” violetstar mewed.
a tall, green figure was seated neatly behind violetstar, smiling
proudly, one paw outstretched.
——————
helios was waiting in the clearing apprehensively, shaking
with tension.
several cats crowded round him to see what was going on.
then he heard the murmurs.
“what’s wrong with that kit? ugh, why does he look SO
weird?” some cat in the crowd growled with scorn and disgust.
“we don’t need any more.. OUTSIDERS! plus, what if he’s
faking that calythea led him here so he can gain our
trust and SPY on us??”
“eh, is that a newbie? what in the world does violetstar
want with him? somemore, he’s a kitten!” a voice
from the crowd hissed, perhaps a little too loud.
helios’s heart stung, as if the sharpest thorn on an
ivy tendril had pierced him there, and then he got stung by
a wasp in the same spot.
why don’t they like me? why do they think I’m so weak
and weird? he thought in despair, his flame-coloured
eyes staring around the clearing at the cats, met with unfriendly,
hostile stares.
just then, footsteps padded out of the leader’s den.
“silence. as you can see, this kit here is gathered….
to become an apprentice of softclan.” violetstar
mewed in an authoritative voice.
hushed whispers of confusion and annoyance filled
the clearing.
the leader pricked her ears and raked her gaze over the
rest of the clearing. “I said silence, and I mean no
sound at ALL.”
the whispers stopped, which helios was extremely grateful
for, and then she called, “helios. since calythea has been
said to have guided you here, I believe that you have a
great path ahead.”
the kitten’s paw pads began to tingle with excitement.
“so, I hope that calythea is watching when I declare you
an apprentice. come forward, kit.”
helios rushed forward, violetstar standing in front of
him.
“now, I give this kit the gods’ blessings, and proclaim
him an apprentice from now on. your name will
be changed to plum—”
helios uncertainly blurted, “wait. can I keep my name?
or is that illegal??”
he ignored the stares of disapproval radiating from the
clan.
violetstar just shrugged like this was a totally normal request
and mewed, “sure. we do that most of the time, actually.
I declare helios an official apprentice of softclan!
peralpatch shall mentor you, and teach you the ways
of our clan.”
the tortoiseshell from the patrol which found him earlier
stepped up towards helios and touched noses with him.
she whispered in his ear, “don’t worry. it’ll be okay.”
cheers of his name erupted, some of them half-hearted.
he ignored those.
for once, his heart felt so light, and like it was rolled
in a huge ocean of sunshine.
a friendly looking face popped out of one of the dens,
smiling at him encouragingly.
it was another cat, who looked the same age as helios,
and he was brown with…glowing blue rosettes?
helios felt his confidence boosted after seeing
that smile, so he puffed out his chest proudly.
he would finally be destined like calythea said.
but first, he had to thank someone.
--------------
"hey! who are you? thanks for...encouraging me."
helios ran up to the other apprentice, panting,
smiling awkwardly.
he just smiled and mewed, "no problem! this is great!
another apprentice to talk to! for so long, i thought i'd be the
only one. the name's glowpaw. you?"
helios instantly felt less awkward and mewed, "it's helios."
" very cool. wait...your fur! it's a cool colour like mine!"
glowpaw exclaimed, proceeding to examine helios's fur,
then showing off his own glowing blue rosettes.
"it looks like you're almost two different cats! you seem
like a cool cat. do you want me to show you around camp?"
helios felt slightly flustered at the compliment.
he'd never been called "cool" before. most of the time
his mother had just called him weird.
"yes, please!"
the two apprentices frolicked around camp, much to the
warriors' annoyance. glowpaw showed helios every cool thing
to see and do.
by the time helios was told to go to his new bed in the apprentices' den,
he had been feeling all happy all over.
he knew one thing for sure; he'd made a new friend.
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Last edited by
crexmii on Mon Oct 02, 2023 11:57 pm, edited 6 times in total.
