Crakekit’s Apprentice Ceremony

The clan was blooming with new birth. Wolfstorm had recently completed the ceremonies for two of his sons, and another she-cat had just joined them. Now, Crakekit would become an apprentice as well! The new role had provided challenges and a change for the young tom, but things had fallen into a routine. ”Let all cats old enough to swim gather below the Wet Rock for a clan meeting!” he called out, and they did so. Soon he spotted the kit he was looking for, and smiled.

His fur was neatly slicked back after what felt like moons of grooming by his mother, all the evidence of him being a rather rowdy and rambunctious kit disappearing for the time being. At her finally pausing the endless tirade of licks and signalling for him to join his clan, the caramel tom had immediately shot off with nothing short of excitement and wonderment in golden depths. Finally he was going to be an apprentice, he'd get to explore RiverClan territory and attend gatherings and meet other cats-- he was especially interesting in meeting their allied clans, ThunderClan and SkyClan. Swallowing down a purr, Crakekit took a seat near the front of the meeting and eagerly awaited the words he had heard quite often in the past few days.

Wolfstorm saw the kit, his fur groomed nicely. He rendered when he had received the name Wolfpaw. He smiled reminiscing brightly. He turned his gaze back to the very prepared kit. ”Crakekit, please step forward. You have reached the age of six moons and are ready to be apprenticed. From this day until you get your warrior name, you will be known as Crakepaw. And your mentor will be Nettlesplash. I hope that he passes down all of his knowledge to you.” Although Nettlesplash now had multiple apprentices, it would be a good fit. He leapt down to congratulate Crakepaw.

Whitepaw had been watching Crakekit's apprentice ceremony unfold. He liked watching ceremonies. He's only been to three, one of those being his, but he's already made up his mind that he enjoys them. As the ceremony went on, Whitepaw began to think back to when he met Crakekit. He had interacted with the tom once when he and his brother were still both kits. He rather liked the him. He seemed pretty fun like Waterpaw but in his own way. He was real excited to hang out with the tom some more.

When Crakepaw's mentor was revealed, after a bit more time had passed, Whitepaw's brows had raised in surprise. Nettlesplash would be taking on two apprentices at once? Well, he got his wish to get to know Crakepaw better. He couldn't help the grin that made its way onto his face. This was going to be interesting. After a minute, he padded up to the two once they touched noses. "Congrats on becoming an apprentice Crakepaw! I'm looking forward to training beside you." said the white furred tom with a bright smile. The older apprentice then turned toward his mentor, eyes holding a mischievous gleam. "You're quite greedy to be hogging up two apprentices Nettlesplash. Try not to overwork yourself. Don't want you getting grey hairs at this age. It'd truly be a shame if I'd have to call ya an elder." he said in a playful tone. He really enjoyed teasing others. It was one of the ways he alleviated stress and had fun with his clan.

His ears pricked intently as he listened to the ceremony, golden eyes betraying unadulterated excitement-- and was that a hint of nerves? The tom's thoughts briefly drifted to who he'd receive as a mentor and he found himself wishing for the deputy, he seemed like an awfully good mentor, although he'd be happy to receive anyone. Except Nettlesplash, after their first interaction the caramel tom had avoided him like a rotting fish and often found his tail twitching when he thought of the warrior.

Oh, great.

The golden tabby tom he so despised was now his mentor? Wonderful, absolutely wonderful, he thought with a mild tempered snort, and swallowed back his frustrations as he gave a curt nod to the deputy. Begrudgingly, he touched his nose to his mentor's, and tried not to let the hesitance show in his body language or eyes. Surprise caught him off guard as Whitepaw came to congratulate the new apprentice, and didn't show any reluctance in sharing a mentor - thank StarClan. There was something quite reassuring and calming in the apprentice's words and general presence, and a smile of gratitude dappled the tom's face, and his whiskers twitched in amusement at the playful banter he expressed. "I look forward to it too, Whitepaw. Let's hope we don't drive this old tom to the elders den before our training's done!" Crakepaw snorted, glad he would have a friend to go through this with.

"Oh great StarClan," Nettlesplash's low voice reverberated heavily upon the humid air, his blatant bemoaning resonating with an over-exaggerated undercurrent of misery. Reaching out with out a massive forepaw to cuff Whitepaw softly against the jaw, the action holding only enough strength to send the pale tom staggering a pace or two, "I can't tell who has more misfortune; you or me." If the infuriating grin that curled across the red tom's scarred lips was any indication of his current understanding of Crakepaw's reaction, it was glaringly evident that he caught the brief despairing expression that had flickered across the young Apprentice's features.

If Crakepaw was this upset by what he perceived to be a random stroke of luck, how would he react whenever he found that Nettlesplash had purposely requested to take on a second Apprentice.

Sharp teeth prominent within his gloating simper, Nettlesplash's dark eyes drifted between the two younger toms. "If I can handle Lightningstar, I think I'll be apt to handle a pair of minnows- although speaking of the Elder's den, perhaps we can finish up our day tomorrow with a nice evening spent cleaning out their moss?" The Warrior sardonically inquired, lackadaisically listing off the potential duties for the his newest Apprentice's first day out of camp. Without waiting to observe the two younger tom's reactions to his inquiry, Nettlesplash made to break away and search out his own companions for the evening, leaving Whitepaw with the instruction of settling in his newest denmate.