Tales From The Broken {COMPLETE}

Poppyfur's Betrayal -Chapter 1-

"Let all cats old enough to catch their other prey gather beneath the SunTree for a Clan meeting!" Foxstar's voice rang throughout the SunClan camp, Poppykit looked up from where she sat. Her paws tingled with anxiety, once again finding herself questioning her apprenticeship. What if I'm not a good hunter? What if I can't fight? The thought of fighting terrified Poppykit, she had seen what battles could do to cats.

"Come on!" Lakekit pushed Poppykit forward despite her reluctance. "We don't want to be late to our first ceremony!" Poppykit sighed and forced herself to stand up. Lakekit continued to push Poppykit towards the SunTree in the center of camp.

Nearly all of SunClan had gathered to watch this ceremony, except for the cats who were out on patrols, and Windkit and Berrykit who still watched eagerly from the nursery. Poppykit noticed Honeywing and Feathernose sitting outside the medicine cat den, Feathernose's mind seemed to be in another place, with a distant look in his blue eyes but Honeywing was watching intently.

Poppykit and Lakekit sat down in front of the SunTree, Lakekit stared up at Foxstar with a sharp excitement deep in her blue eyes. Poppykit forced herself to hold her head high, despite the fact that she wanted to run away and hide in the nursery again. To Poppykit's side, Moonfur and Owlfoot sat at the head of the crowd, watching with intense love. Beside them, Sandfoot and Applespots watched with excitement.

Poppykit moved her focus towards Foxstar, she had to stay focused. That's all I have to do. She said, taking a deep breath. I can do this! "I've called this meeting today," Foxstar began. "Because two of our kits are ready to become apprentices. Though we all wish Springkit was here to share this experience, we all know that she is watching over her sisters with joy and pride." Poppykit thought about Springkit, was she really watching? She was barely a moon old when she died, how was she getting along in StarClan?

Foxstar raised his voice and continued to speak. "Today is a proud day for SunClan, by naming apprentices we show that we will remain strong for many moons to come." Poppykit took another deep breath, trying to stop her pounding heart. "Lakekit, from this day forward until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Lakepaw. The mentor I have chosen for you is Flintstripe. He has mentored Slateclaw and Barkfang and both of them are exceptional warriors, so I have no doubt in my mind that he will be an excellent mentor to you."

Poppykit watched as the large, gray tabby stepped out of the crowd and approached Lakepaw. The two of them touched noses for a moment before stepping off to the side. Poppykit was now alone, her pelt tingled as it felt like every single pair of eyes in the forest was boring into her pelt. "Poppykit," Foxstar met her gaze, Poppykit forced herself to sit still. "From this day forward until you have earned your warrior name you will be known as Poppypaw. Brightclaw mentored Cloudstorm, so I know that he will have no problems turning you into an incredible warrior."

Poppypaw watched Brightclaw step out from the crowd, he looked at her with eager green eyes. At least I got a nice mentor, not someone like Falconclaw or Thornpelt. Poppypaw lifted her head, touching her nose to Brightclaw's, marking their new bond as mentor and apprentice.

Poppypaw and Brightclaw then went to the side and sat beside Lakepaw and Flintstripe. "Lakepaw! Poppypaw! Lakepaw! Poppypaw!" The meeting dispersed and Poppypaw and Lakepaw were left with their mentors.

"I told you it would go well!" Moonfur purred, nuzzling Poppypaw's cheek. Poppypaw ducked away from her mother, flattening her ears as her pelt burned.

"Yeah," She muttered, then looked up at Brightclaw. "What are we going to do?" She questioned her mentor, hoping it would be something simple like exploring the territory or collecting moss, she was sure that other apprentices would hate that but she was still terrified of making a fool of herself while hunting.

"We're going to go try out some hunting methods." Poppypaw's heart dropped. Of course. She withheld a groan and made herself look happy. Lakepaw was clearly more excited than she was.

"Awesome!" Lakepaw cheered. "Let's get going then!" Poppypaw's sister didn't allow any time to be wasted, she charged forward and Flintstripe had to run after her while Brightclaw and Poppypaw hurried after them.

Poppypaw did her best to focus on what their new mentors were teaching them, but there was a part of her that just couldn't focus on what Brightclaw or Flintstripe were saying or doing. They would explain the technique and demonstrate it but Poppypaw couldn't just keep the image or words in her mind.

The day went on and Poppypaw failed at every single attempt while Lakepaw succeeded. Neither of them caught prey but as the sun began to set on SunClan territory, Poppypaw felt like such a failure to her mentor and to herself. I know it's only my first day, but I can't help but feel like this is a terrible sign for my future as an apprentice.