Tigerkit's Apprentice Ceremony

The sudden sneeze that constricted Acornpetal's chest was violent in its intensity, an unexpected response to the lingering dust and debris that seemingly clung to the High-Ledge in a perpetual layer of unwanted film. Giving herself a rigorous shake, due in part to her hopes of shaking away the dust and the nausea that seemed to permeate the cramped confines of her belly, the tortoiseshell turned a wary eye downwards towards the sparse crowd of onlookers who huddled below. Although the unfamiliarity of orchestrating ceremonies had somewhat eased, the discomfort that accompanied it seemed fully content in its new home.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the High Ledge for a Clan meeting!"

Tigerkit approached the ledge on tottering paws. He was a sizable kit now, compact and round-faced as ever. His littermates had outgrown the nursery. It was really happening; he was to be apprenticed in SkyClan. He had nearly forgotten all traces of his original clan, other than its name. He knew the face of the tom who had cast them out, but he remembered not a shred of their clanmates, camp, or scent. He had shoved it back in some distant part of his memory, a dusty corner which it would not return from. He was from SkyClan now, and he would climb trees and hunt birds as all his ancestors had.

He watched with fretful eyes as the newly-appointed deputy gathered the rest of the flock to begin the ceremony.

Neatly winding her tail around her paws in hopes of further concealing her anxious shifting, Acornpetal turned an apprehensive eye down upon the lingering shape of Tiger- the young, exiled kit displaying an energy so very unlike anything a young cat seemed apt to exude. Although Coal and her kits had been residing within SkyClan for quite some time now, it still felt as though it had been only a few days. Only when the last stragglers made their way to the loosely formed ring of cats did she finally raise her voice once more. "Tiger, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to find your place among the Clan." She began, voice carrying a sharp and determined undercurrent that was so unlike her emotional state, ”From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Tigerpaw. Robintail shall be your mentor and I am confident that she'll pass down everything she has learned."

Leaping off of the looming stone, the Deputy was quick to scramble down from the ledge, hasty in her attempts to join the ensuing ceremony.

Tigerpaw briefly smiled as his new name was announced, and he was no longer bound to the title of "exile." He hunted for his father briefly in the crowd, his link to this new place. For big cats they were named, and like a big cat he felt! His face suddenly dropped. Robintail? He met her eyes as she came towards him. Wasn't she Cypresspaw's mentor already?

He let the frown fade from his face as his teacher made her approach. No matter. He could be just as good as Cypresspaw... Silverstar wouldn't regret his decision. He tapped his nose to Robintail's and beamed brightly. "Thank you!" he chirped.

A memory flickered through her mind as she remembered this young tom from not long ago. It seemed she'd been cursed to interact with kits, intentionally or not. And the follow up seemed to be she was strapped to mentor them. Acornpetal had already given her the responsibility of Cypresspaw. Two would be a pawful. But no matter Robintail was ready to handle whatever the deputy needed her for. However, she found herself wondering whether it occurred to Acornpetal to have other cats mentor the young ones. She only had four paws after all.

There was a moment of hesitation as these thoughts came to her before she hauled herself to her paws and met Tigerpaw. Robintail's gaze held reserved measures of contempt and intregue. An exile turned apprentice, the blood of traitors in his veins. Yet the warrior herself had encouraged his bold ask a couple moons. He would prove himself and grow under her supervision to not follow in the path of his parents. Their noses touched, "We will train tomorrow. I look forward to seeing what you can do."