Don't make someone your priority if you are only an option to them...

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The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the inside of the den. MistClan cats were nocturnal, or so they said, however, it occurred to Maplekit that her clan was up whenever they felt like it, sometimes in the middle of the day, other times in the dead of the night. The morning chorus of melodic birdsong drifted into the den. Maplekit had witnessed it all, but the peace did not last long however. A large shadow loomed in the Nursey and Maplekit knew that if it was her father visiting the Nursery, things would not go well. 

"My dear son Shadekit, please come with me, we are going to have a little chat. Silentkit and you, come along too," her father snapped, softening when he said the first part of his speech, and his voice sharpening when he said the latter section, especially the part when he was talking about her. Maplekit swallowed slightly and stood up. Maplekit knew that Heatherstalk must've noticed her fear and her foster mother murmured,

"Courage is grace under pressure. My darling, do not be afraid, follow your heart and I am sure you will succeed. Now hurry along, your father is waiting for you." 

Maplekit curled her claws into the dirt before reluctantly shuffling behind Silentkit, her ears alert in case this was some sort of trap her father had set up for her. 

But they were only going to the deputy's den, from what she could tell. Maplekit watched her father settle down in his nest and beckoned Shadekit over, leaving Silentkit and her sitting on the ground. 

"I am here to discuss with you three your future path, since your apprentice ceremony isn't until sunset. After I have told you what you will become and have dismissed you, you may leave, understand?" he asked, pausing slightly so that they could catch on to what he was saying. 

"Let's start with," he stopped, dramatically scanning the room and Maplekit rolled her eyes and saw her father's gaze land on Shadekit's.

"How about you, Shadekit?" he asked, his voice soft and warm. One that was usually reserved only for her former brother.

"Sure, father! I'd love to go first!" Shadekit piped up, his voice energetic.

"My dear Shadekit, it's quite obvious where you'll be going. The path of a warrior. You're strong, capable and extremely strategic. It was obvious when you defeated your former sister yesterday. I don't have much more to say, you're flawless and you may be dismissed, my son," Waspsting purred, nuzzling his son's ear.

Shadekit stood up and pranced out of the den, shooting proud looks at Maplekit and Silentkit, mostly Maplekit before he finally left the den.

"Little Silentkit, I think your path is clear. It's shining brightly in the sunlight. You will become a medicine cat. Your soft personality and sympathetic-ness of others made you perfect for this role. You may be dismissed," he curtly meowed, dipping his head as if to get her quickly out of the den.

Silentkit caught on and quickly scrambled out of the den. Waspsting's harsh golden eyes fell onto Maplekit and she knew that something bad was about to happen.

"Maplekit, what are we going to do with you? You are unfortunately my kit and you seemed to be slightly disfigured, aren't you? But you, being my kit, must excel in something. Let's see; you can't become a medicine cat as you can't gather herbs. You couldn't even tell the difference between poppy seeds and deathberry seeds! Alas, that means you can only become a warrior. But tell me, what can you do? You can't fight, you can't hunt and you aren't even a normal cat!" Waspsting meowed.

Maplekit cursed quietly, tail twitching with anger but kept quiet.

"Remember, you'd better pass your assessment. I don't care if you just scrape past it but you must do so the first time, understand? I can't stand being related to failures," Waspsting hissed, his voice suddenly becoming cold and harsh.

Maplekit nodded, marvelling slightly at how her father could change his tone from venomously warm to freezing cold in a blink of an eye.

"And just to let you know, I persuaded Cinderstar to make your apprentice ceremony the same time as Shadekit's. She wanted you to be apprenticed when Blizzardkit and Sharpkit had theirs. Aren't you so lucky to have such a kind father like me?" he purred, his voice oozing with venom and Maplekit tried to shake it off.

"Yes, I am blessed to have a father like you," Maplekit purred, hiding her sarcasm as well as she could, although anyone who listened closely could hear that she wasn't sincere.

"Is that sarcasm I hear in your voice? Maplekit, how ungrateful are you? I've done so much for you and this is how you repay me? I am extremely disappointed in you, I thought that you knew better than this," her father tutted.

"Sorry Waspsting, I will never do it again," Maplekit choked out, knowing that it was what her father wanted to hear and she might just as well give it to him. At least that will mean she won't get into even more trouble.

"Very well then, I'm glad you know your mistake. You may be dismissed," he sniffed, a satisfied smile creeping slowly onto his face.

Maplekit slid out of the den, tail twitching with anger and was soon confronted by Blizzardkit and Sharpkit who both snickered before Sharpkit sneered,

"Was your scolding fun? Shadekit told us that you were being told off by Waspsting, well? How did it go?"

Maplekit felt anger bubbling up but forced it down and stared straight into Sharpkit's eye before spitting out,

"It went more than fine. My apprentice ceremony got moved forward by two moons so I'm going to be apprenticed tonight. It's such a shame you still will need to wait another two moons before you get apprenticed, isn't it, Sharpkit."

She saw her denmate flinch slightly, not enough to notice if you weren't looking closely, but definitely enough for Maplekit to notice.

"Before you know it, it will be Sharpstar that you will be talking to," her denmate hissed, grey tail lashing with fury. 

"Oh, so you don't think that Waspsting will appoint his darling little son as deputy?" Maplekit purred, head tilted, glad for once that his brother's situation gave her the upper paw here. 

Maplekit didn't wait for Sharpkit to reply before prancing away, laughing a little at what she had accomplished. The weight on her chest lifted a little and Maplekit, for the first time in her life, she looked forward to her apprentice ceremony.

At the edge of the cloud there was a brilliant white patch, like white fur catching the sun. The rest was dove grey with a subtle hint of purple, just enough to announce the coming sunset. Which also meant that Maplekit's apprentice ceremony was approaching.

As if on cue, she saw Cinderstar emerge from the leader's den, her father whispering urgently into the MistClan leader's ear. Cinderstar's face was solemn, but gave a small nod, not revealing anything and Maplekit's excitement instantly turned to apprehension.

Maplekit watched as Cinderstar made her way to the High-ledge. After her father had taken his seat at the base of the High-ledge, Cinderstar yowled,

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey, please gather under the High-ledge for a clan meeting!"

Maplekit slowly made her way over, sitting a few paces behind the throng of cats, hoping that no one would notice her.

"Three of MistClan's kits has reached the age of apprenticeship. Silentpaw will unfortunately not be joining us as she will become a medicine cat. Ghostwhisper, I hope that you will train her well and hope that she becomes a knowledgeable medicine cat of MistClan," Cinderstar continued.

"Silentpaw! Silentpaw! Silentpaw!" the clan called out.

"Shadekit, please come forwards," Cinderstar called out once the chanting had died down.

Maplekit watched as her former brother stepped forwards, proud and smug at the same time.

"You will be apprenticed to Waspsting, and I hope that he will teach you all that you will need to know to become a warrior of MistClan," Cinderstar announced.

Gasps of shock and uncertainty were heard and Maplekit could feel annoyance rising up inside of her. Of course her brother had to be apprenticed to the deputy of MistClan. Who else would he have been apprenticed to?

"I know this is very strange, but I have consulted with StarClan and they have not argued against this. I promise all of you that Shadepaw will become the best warrior MistClan has ever seen," Waspsting reassured the clan, and Maplekit felt a twinge of irritation.

"Shadepaw! Shadepaw! Shadepaw!" the clan called out, Blizzardkit and Sharpkit being the loudest of them all.

"Maplekit, please come forwards," Cinderstar called, barely pausing for Maplekit to make her way to the front. It was as if she wanted to get it done and over with as quick as she could, "You will be apprenticed to Tinycloud, and I hope that he teaches his perseverance and determination to you," Cinderstar declared.

Maplekit bit her tongue as snickers and sneers were heard all around the camp. No wonder why Waspsting was talking so urgently to Cinderstar. And now she was going to become apprenticed to the worst warrior in the four clans. Tinycloud had failed his warrior assessment three times. At least. He was twenty-something moons when he had his warrior ceremony.

Tinycloud however, seemed unfazed and delicately brushed against Maplekit's nose, as if knowing how irritated and disappointed she was.

"Maplepaw! Maplepaw! Maplepaw!" the clan chanted, though it was evidently quieter than Silentpaw's and just a mere whisper compared with Shadepaw's.

"We wish you three the best of luck in your apprenticehood. Meeting dismissed!" Cinderstar yowled, wrapping up the ceremony.

Maplepaw saw Shadepaw making his way over to her.

"Hah! Imagine getting Tinycloud of all cats as a mentor. Good luck my former sister in passing your warrior assessment!" her brother taunted, obviously pleased that Maplepaw got such a horrible mentor.

"It really was no surprise though," her brother continued, "Cats like you deserve the worst there is. Cats like me however. Wait there are no cats like me. I was trying to say, cats similar to me deserve the best of the best, don't you agree?"

Maplepaw ignored him and looked at Tinycloud.

"Pay no attention to your brother, Maplepaw. He doesn't know anything. What he says about you tells you more about him. Now come on, go get something to eat from the prey-pile. Rest well tonight. We'll begin training at sunrise," he mewed cautiously, eyes twinkling with the light of the sun that was just peeping over the horizon.

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The worst feeling in the world is not being lonely. It's being forgotten by the one person you could never forget.