Sweet as Honey

Honeykit peered out of the nursery, her tiny cream body quivering in fear. Everything looked so big outside! She didn't think she'd be able to leave the comfort of the small, warm den to meet the other larger cats. Murkpelt had told her it would only be of her best interest to set aside her fears and meet her new Clanmates, but ... she wasn't so sure about that. She just wanted to curl back up next to her mother and pretend those larger cats outside didn't even exist. Ears drawing back, the kit slunk back into the safety and security of the nursery.

Behind her, she heard her mother speaking to her in a somewhat brisk tone. "Don't hide, Honeykit. Go meet your Clanmates." This was followed by the black queen pressing her muzzle against Honeykit's backside and nudging her back out. Honeykit whimpered and whined, trying to make her way back around her mother to escape back into the den, but one more firm nudge to her side sent her toppling into the clearing. "And don't come back inside until you've made a friend," her mother called before slipping back into the nursery.

Quickly climbing up to her paws, Honeykit's breath began to quicken as she looked around her. All around there were cats of all different shapes and sizes and colors walking around, talking to each other, eating, grooming, playing, training.... So many new sights, so many new sounds, so many new scents.... The amalgamation of voices began to grow louder and more incomprehensible.

It was rapidly becoming too much to bear.

Knowing Honeykit couldn't retreat back to the nursery now thanks to her mother's order, she pressed her paws to her ears, trying to drown out the loud noises, as she looked around rapidly, trying to find a place to hide. Her blue eyes were drawn to a den on the other side of the clearing, the only one that didn't have at least two cats crowding up the entrance. Whimpering softly, she lifted herself back up to her paws and scampered over to the den, noticing a much more pleasant and therapeutic mingle of new scents she didn't recognize, but appreciated all the same.

She panted softly when she reached the entrance of the medicine den, and she began looking around as she entered. There were many strange items stacked along the walls and floors of the den, and they all had different scents. Spicy, sweet, mild, pungent.... She instantly felt calm in this strange new den, where she was far, far away from the loud hustle and bustle that was taking place outside.

The only resident medicine cat hadn't heard or seen the small kit come in, mostly due to his poor hearing and eyesight. Nonetheless, he was busying himself with sorting herbs and trying to memorize their names and their uses. Mossbloom came to mentor him as much as she could but of course she couldn't be there all the time; the times she wasn't there, Sagelight had to make do with the knowledge he was slowly building up. He hummed to himself, pawing through little piles of herbs as he ran through them. He thought he was alone so he was talking to himself

"Parsley...uh, bellyaches, queens' milk. Crinkly leaves. Poppy seeds, treats shock and pain and makes you tired. Small and black. Snakeroot...um, poison? Yeah, poison...small white flowers. Raspberry leaves, helps with pain and bleeding during--" Before he could finish, for some reason he felt the need to turn around and looked over his shoulder. He didn't expect anyone to be there; much to his surprise he discovered a small kit was sitting in the entrance to his den. Sagelight flinched and let out a small yelp, hackles raised. After his initial shock, he licked his fur to smooth it back down and laughed in spite of himself, getting up to greet her.

"Hey there, little one. Did you need anything, or are you just here to say hi?" he mewed, crouching down to get on her eye level. "I'm Sagelight, what's your name?"

Having felt a presence within the den nearly the same time the medicine cat did, Honeykit turned around to spot him just as he did, and his yelp of surprise spooked her. She squealed and curled up into a tight cream-colored ball, backing away into one of the corners of the den, her soft, short fur bushed out in fear. She had no idea she had been in the same den as someone else other than her mother!

The older cat didn't seem angry or even scary, though. In fact, his soft-spoken voice did wonders in pacifying her fear. Now that she wasn't breathing so heavily, she could now take in his scent, and she found he smelled strongly of the herbs within the den. Was he in charge of these herbs?

Slowly relaxing her muscles, the little kit rose up to a sit, still looking a little wary, but not nearly as frightened as she had been before. "Um, I-I'm Honeykit," she squeaked softly, suddenly losing the courage to continue looking the tom in the eye, instead glancing down at her paws. "I-I'm Spottedleap's daughter. Um.... I'm sorry for sneaking in, I didn't mean to scare you, Sagelight."

She glanced up at the rows of herbs, and her eyes began to sparkle in wonder. If this cat really was in charge of these herbs, that must mean he knows about them. Curiosity to learn more about the herbs and fear of asking a question she probably shouldn't be asking anyway battled fiercely within her, until finally her thirst for knowledge just barely won the war. "Um.... I hope you don't mind me asking, but, um ... what are those wonderfully-smelling herbs? Um, what do you use them for? I-I hope it's okay for me to ask!..." she suddenly helped, defensively wrapping her tail around her front.

His whole face lit up when she told him she was Spottedleap's kit. "Honeykit!" he cried, circling her with a spring in his step as he looked her over and sniffed her. "Your dad is my brother! I can see it now, you definitely look like him. But that means we're related! I'm your uncle." Sagelight had a big toothy grin, stopping in his prancing to lick the kit behind the ear. "How is your mother, is she well? And the other kits, how are they?" His questions came rapid-fire in his excitement; it took him a moment to calm down again. His little niece was asking about all the herbs.

"I'm the medicine cat of SkyClan," he explained, finally realizing that she was rather shy and lowering his voice so he wouldn't scare her. "I use these herbs to heal cats when they're sick or hurt. Well...I'm not a full medicine cat yet. My mentor lives in ThunderClan, her name is Mossbloom. I'm in training to become a full medicine cat." The tom crouched down again, smiling at her. "If you want, Honeykit, and your mother doesn't mind, you can hang out with me today and keep me company while I study herbs." Sagelight was absolutely thrilled to be talking to one of his kin. Which reminded him, he and Spottedleap needed to catch up some time when neither of them were busy.

Honeykit flinched with a soft yelp, not having expected Sagelight to burst into sudden excitement. One thing he had said through his racing that did manage to stick with her was that he was her father’s brother. Her face immediately brightened. He was family?

Then he asked her the question that had been floating around in her own mind. Her blue eyes widened with excitement, her tiny body beginning to tremble with eagerness. Sagelight was going to teach her how these amazing herbs worked? So they did have a purpose, and he was in charge of them. And now she was going to be in charge of them, too! ”Oh, my gosh, yes! Murkpelt wants me to make new friends anyway, and I really wanna learn more!” Her shyness catching up to her again, realizing how unprofessional she had reacted, she lowered her ears sheepishly. ”S-Sorry....”