Blizzardkit's MCA Ceremony

Nervous white paws scraped together a variety of leaves and roots into two bundles, wrapping them with large leaves to keep them together and organized. The medicine cat responsible was full to the brim of nerves-- which, at this point, seemed to be his general state of being. Being without Spottednose so soon after his promotion to full medicine cat made Mistedsong anxious about everything he had to do. He was terrified of messing up, of not doing a good enough job, of disappointing StarClan. He held cats lives in his paws, he needed to be good at what he did. And with SkyClan rapidly growing back to its full strength, he needed help.

To say that Mistedsong agonized over his choice of an apprentice would have been an understatement. He watched the kits like a hawk stalking its prey, except from one of his usual perches higher above the ground of camp where it wouldn't look super creepy. He looked to see how they developed, how they treated others, their ambitions and their prowesses. He went back and forth a couple of times on his decision, once even deciding that he would be fine on his own for a little while longer and could ask another medicine cat for help if he really needed it. Earlier this unseasonably warm leafbare night, however, Mistedsong dreamed of snow. Endless snow, blanketing everything, so thick that you could hardly see a tail length in front of you-- a blizzard.

The tom woke in a frenzy. He briefly thanked StarClan for the dream, for helping him finally make up his mind, and gathered traveling herbs for the both of them. He set the two bundles just outside of his den before trotting over to the nursery, peeking inside. His green eyes fell on the white kit curled up near Breezebranch, and a strange sense of calm washed away most of his nerves. This was the right choice - he just hoped that the kit would not reject his offer. "Blizzardkit, wake up," Mistedsong meowed gently, hoping not to disturb any other cats but also unsure of how to actually accomplish that. "I have a proposition."

It was hard to tell if it was because of how early in life she had lost her real parents, not even able to grow old enough for her eyes to be ready to meet their loving gaze before the merciless Great War that had almost been the downfall of all clans took them away. Maybe it was simply the unusual adaptability and open mind of the kit, who seemed to thrive against whatever the world seemed to throw at her even in the most dangerous of seasons. Maybe…maybe it was simply that luck that StarClan had seemed to grant her from day one and had been at her side without fail.

But whatever it was, the rosetted kit seemed to grow mostly unaffected by a loss that could’ve crushed many, that of a family she would never meet, and in a forest that had turned into a ruthless, unforgiving scenario plagued of death, despair and grief for so many sunrises…Her soul staying kind, forgiving and warm. The one that for a good period of time, had been forced to endure being the only kit in camp, before StarClan blessed the clan with more.

She had grown to accept Breezebranch as some kind of adoptive mother, sharing her and her kits’ nest like if they shared the same blood…and so she slept comfortably against her warm fur. Dreams of the lands beyond camp, of other cats and creatures, even dreams of her chasing the occasional snowflake here and there. It wasn’t unusual she couldn’t dream with the greenery of newleaf, or the bright colors of the butterflies. Snow and ice were all she had grown to know.

However, her dreams were not meant to last as the subtle yet clear echo of a voice, calling for her, caused her dream self to stop her frolicking and the snowy wonderland around her to fade into darkness.

Her eyes opened slowly as she her body and mind tried to somehow return to the waking world, not used to being waken up except for the occasional rough waking from the other kits accidentally bumping into her during their playfights. Her head raised, her eyes adjusting to the still very dim light of the nursery, taking her a couple seconds to recognize the clan’s Medicine Cat, and a couple more for her mind to make the right connections to allow her to react.

“Mistedsong?” She drowsily tried to step out of her nest, her unusually long tail still curled around her body and causing her to trip and roll off the nest in her half-awake state “A proposition? Is this about a couple sunrises ago? When I accidentally knocked your herbs over?” She had already been scolded by allowing her curiosity to get the best of her and starting to dig through her herb stashes after trying to get to the sweet sticky golden liquid she kept in there. She simply liked how it tasted, which she had found after she had been forced to eat some herbs smeared with it to mask their bitterness when the grownups suspected she was catching whitecough due to the cold, she never intend to make a mess or chew on anything else like some accused her of trying.

Mistedsong tried to suppress a soft chuckle at the kit's tumble, covering it up with a soft smile. "No, an accident is an accident," he mewed. "Do you mind coming outside? I don't want to disturb the others," the medicine cat murmured, eyeing the other sleeping cats in the nursery, before withdrawing his head from the entrance.

He sat outside the nursery, wrapping his tail around his paws, watching the kit follow him out. "I wanted to ask if you would be interested in becoming my apprentice," Mistedsong finally said, green eyes twinkling in the soft moonlight. "The Clan is growing rapidly and I'm going to need more paws to keep up with everyone, and I think you would be a great fit to be SkyClan's next medicine cat."

Blizzardkit’s paws dragged across the frost-covered terrain as she mumbled an incomprehensible reply to Mistedsong’s request to follow him outside, but no real reply was necessary to understand the kit’s agreement. She might still not be 100% awake, but she was awake enough for common courtesy to kick in, she didn’t want to wake the rest of those still sleeping in the nursery, after all.

The cold breeze stroked her face as she walked out, encouraging her to stretch and yawn a bit to leave as much drowsiness as possible behind, ice blue eyes finally fully open and focused, and long tail held high instead of half-dragging on the ground.

With some subtle crunching coming from her weight causing cracks on the thin layer of frost that covered camp, she quickly made her way towards the Medicine Cat, curiosity fully taking over now that sleep had released her from its grasp. A proposition…she could only wonder what it was…she decided to be silent and listen instead of bombarding the older cat with questions, though…

And just like she expected, the answer she was looking for revealed itself sooner than later…

“Your…apprentice?” She had heard some cats commenting on the lack of a Medicine Cat Apprentice and Mistedsong’s hesitance on picking one, but she never paid them much mind. Mostly due to her lack of understanding on the situation thanks to her age.

The silence around them became overwhelming as the fluffy kit tried to process the information in her little inexperienced mind, part of her wondering if she was still asleep. This probably only lasted a second or two, but for Blizzardkit, it felt way longer…until it finally clicked and the shock was quickly replaced with excitement “Y-Yes…Yes! Yes! I would love to!” She almost bounced on her place as she replied, for just a moment forgetting that she was supposed to keep her voice down for the sake of the rest of the sleeping cats in camp.

The moment of terse silence unnerved Mistedsong. He was briefly overwhelmed by thoughts of doubt; what if the kit turned him down? He knew it was a possibility, but he hadn't planned for that. He thanked StarClan that his anxiety was for naught. The medicine cat chuckled for real this time at Blizzardkit's burst of excitement. "I'm glad to have you," he meowed, relief visible on his face. "If you're ready, we can go to the Moonstone tonight. You're old enough, and the sky is clear and the night young. I already prepared traveling herbs just in case."

Blizzardkit’s expression changed for half a second when the mention of traveling herbs was made. She really REALLY didn’t like the bitter taste of the herbs…

“Yeah…I would like to go tonight, but…are the herbs really necessary?” The young she-cat had never taken more than a couple steps outside of camp, so she really had no idea of how big the outside could be. She had no idea of how far away the Moonstone was, in her inexperienced mind, the world really couldn’t be too large in comparison to camp, so there was no need to eat bitter herbs when they could simply have a meal only a short time later, right?

Oh, was that mindset about to be changed.

Mistedsong smiled somewhat sadly at Blizzardkit's innocence. "Highstones is further than you would think. We're probably one of the furthest Clans, unfortunately, so you'll definitely need the herbs especially since you haven't really traveled before. I put some honey on your herbs, and that'll make it easier to stand the taste," the medicine cat explained.

He padded over to his den and picked up the two bundles of herbs, bringing them back over to Blizzardkit. He nosed open the slightly larger bundle and lapped up his herbs, mouth twisting a little at the taste. As much as the medicine cat had done this, he'd still never really gotten used to it. "We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

Blizzardkit’s ears perked up at the mention of honey. Now, that didn’t make her any more eager to try and eat a bunch of bitter herbs, but at least that meant the flavor would be at least a bit masked and it wouldn’t linger on her tongue for as long as it would otherwise.

She took a deep breath when the bundle of herbs was placed before her, closing her eyes and repeating to herself that this was not only her chance at becoming a medicine cat, one of the coolest cats in the clan in her opinion, after seeing them perform their duties so often since birth, but also the chance of leaving camp and seeing the outside world like she had wished to for so many moons.

And so, she led her breath to keep the scent of the herbs from making any cracks on the determination she had just managed to build up within herself and decided that the faster she ate the herbs, the faster this would be over with…so she quickly got as many as she could in her muzzle, barely chewing at all while trying to focus on the sweetness brought by the honey instead.

It didn’t take too long for her to be done with the herbs, and dear StarClan if she felt stuffed…she felt like she had just eaten a whole adult rabbit completely on her own. Her tongue rubbed against the roof of her mouth and teeth as she tried to get rid of any loose bits of herbs in her mouth “R-ready…I think…thank you for adding the honey”.

Luckily for her, Mistedsong didn’t allow her focus to linger on the bitter aftertaste for too long before leading the way out of camp, causing her to quickly follow behind, excitement feeling like a bubble about to burst within her chest.

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Blizzardkit was panting by the time they arrived to the Highstones, her paws felt like she had just stomped a bramble bush due to not being used to travel like this…and yet she kept bouncing excitedly with every step she gave, her eyes looking everywhere around her as she tried to take in all what the world had to offer at once. She had imagined large territories, even dreamed of them in the nursery, but they were so….so HUGE!!! And so different!

More than once she almost left the path in a curiosity-driven impulse, only the presence or even the voice of Mistedsong keeping her in check, forcing her to remember where they were going and why. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t want a chance at exploring more later on. Mistedsong was going to take her out to gather herbs, right? And not every herb could possible grow in SkyClan, given how different each territory looked…right? That could be a good excuse!

She was looking behind her at the now tiny-looking territories, barely able to believe how far from the only place she ever knew for so many moons she had managed to go on her first time formally out of camp…when she was forced to come to an abrupt halt by bumping into her soon-to-be-mentor thanks to not being focused on the path before her.

Mistedsong jumped almost completely off the ground at the suddenness of the kit between his hindpaws. He'd been here many times, but he still found himself wary outside of his own territory. "Be careful now, Blizzardkit," he meowed, relieved that it was just his companion that'd startled him. "The rocks here can be slick or sharp, you'd do well to watch your step. There's not a whole lot more to see here than rocks until we get to the Moonstone."

The medicine cat padded forward, closer and closer to the looming Mothermouth. "Once we're inside the Mothermouth, it will be nearly impossible to see, so either follow my scent or stay close to my tail and stay as close as possible," he told the kit. "We still have a ways to go." The darkness of the cave swallowed the two cats quickly, as it was already deep in the night. The walls narrowed around them as they went deeper, and Mistedsong instinctively took the path to the right. "The path splits here. Make sure that you always go into the right-side tunnel. The left is dangerous and the path unstable."

The damp, smooth walls of the cave brushed against the tom's whiskers as he headed ever deeper into the cave. Mistedsong had always had a very strong connection with StarClan, and he could feel the fur on the back of his neck rising as they came closer to the Moonstone. After a few more moments, he saw a growing light signifying the end of the path. "We've arrived," the medicine cat mewed, starlight glinting off of his green eyes in a mischievous twinkle as he entered the vast cave that housed the Moonstone.

The Moonstone shone spectacularly with the light of the moon that entered through the hole at the top of the cave. It bathed the two cats in a bright white light, and within it Mistedsong could feel the cold but comforting presence of their ancestors. If he had any remaining doubts about his choice of apprentice left at this point, they were all washed away by the blanket of StarClan's grace; he knew this was the right choice. "Blizzardkit, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan and return to SkyClan as a medicine cat?"

Blizzardkit's ears lowered a bit as Mistedsong spoke, not sure if he was going to be mad at her for bumping into him, given how jumpy he was in here, but she soon relaxed when she realized this wasn’t the case.

Her ears twitched a bit as she looked at the rocks under her paws, carefully running her paws across their surface. You could easily tell which path was the one that cats used the most by doing this, as that path was smooth, maybe even slightly slippery, while the terrain that wasn’t so commonly transited became rougher, the stones sharper, some maybe even sharp enough to cut a cat’s paw pad if they weren’t careful enough.

She silently followed her clan’s medicine cat towards the pitch-black entrance of the cavern that loomed before them, her whiskers twitching a bit due to anxiety and a bit of hesitation. She had often complained about how dark the nursery could get, but after seeing this she no longer had any ground to stand on with such complaints…

Her eyes went from the intimidating darkness to Mistedsong as he spoke once more. The Mothermouth…this was the Mothermouth…she had heard some stories, but now that she stood before it, things almost seemed surreal and for a good couple heartbeats, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was still asleep and this was nothing but a very realistic dream. Knowing they had to walk inside was intimidating to say the least, though. The shape, the name, the darkness…it almost felt like they were about to walk into the giant maw of a predator and hope they wouldn’t be eaten.

She had to shake herself for a second or two before following Mistedsong inside, many questions on the tip of her tongue but unable to leave her muzzle as the darkness swallowed them both. The tom wasn’t kidding when he mentioned to her how dark it was going to be inside, and this caused her to try and always stay in contact with the tip of his fluffy tail, not wanting to get lost. Part of her was even tempted to bite on the tip of his tail and hold on to it as a way to ensure this, but she held back, as thanks to her still young age, her whiskers had trouble reaching the walls of the tunnel, and often didn’t touch either side unless she moved to purposefully make them do so, which in turn meant losing contact with the older cat’s tail…thing she wasn’t thrilled about.

However, she couldn’t help but come to an abrupt halt that lasted a second or two as they reached the split path, facing towards it as a cold, ominous breeze coming from it ruffled her fur. It was strange, to say the least, both inviting and threatening, like the predatory gaze of an adder that paralyzed the prey before striking. She only resumed walking when the comforting feeling of Mistedsong’s tail against her body vanished “Has anyone gone down that path before? What do you find there?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if something in the tunnels forced her to politely lower her voice for some reason.

Blizzardkit tilted her head when a strange light started to leak into the tunnels, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t  glad to finally start to recover her ability to see where she was going, but what she wasn’t expecting was the large shinning stone that sat in the middle of the cave, shinning like a star fallen from the skies. There was something about the large stone that made her feel…strange? It was a hard feeling to put into words, but whatever it was, it was pleasant.

Paws moved on their own as she approached the stone, sniffing the air with curiosity as her eyes scanned the surface of it carefully. She probably would’ve touched the stone before time if Mistedsong’s voice didn’t pull her out from her thoughts, snapping her out from the near-hypnotized state she was in and causing her to turn around to look at him, paying attention to the old words he spoke, and that had been in the mouth of many Medicine cats before them.

“I do” The answer came almost as soon as the question was made, giving little to no time for Mistedsong to catch his breath after it. Her voice was calm and confident, as if the answer had been building up within her chest for a long time before the question was even formulated.

The medicine cat shuddered a bit at the kit's question about the left path in the tunnel. "I've never heard of any cat going down that path and coming back," he replied somberly.

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Mistedsong smiled softly at the kit's continued excitement, and fixed his gaze vaguely upwards, looking to his ancestors. "Warriors of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant them your wisdom and insight so that they may understand your ways and heal their Clan in accordance with your will." The words he'd heard only a few seasons ago filled him with a sense of giddiness; it was almost as if this solidified his place as a true medicine cat. It also filled him with a sense of sorrow, at the same time..

"Come forward, Blizzardkit, and press your nose to the Moonstone. It's time to visit StarClan," he meowed with an air of finality, waiting for the kit to follow his instruction before pressing his nose to the stone himself. Sleep quickly overtook him, excitement filling his fading consciousness, praying that he would be able to see the cat ripped from him long before her time.

When Mistedsong looked up and started talking, Blizzardkit couldn’t help but do the same, but felt slightly confused when her gaze only met the rough surface that made up the roof of the cavern. Now, she wasn’t a newborn, she understood what praying was, but being at the fabled Moonstone kinda had made her wonder how StarClan was going to present themselves to her. Many stories of interactions between cats were told, but few, if any, ever detailed how said interaction even started at all.

So, when she was asked to put her nose against the Moonstone and sleep, she felt both happy and a bit confused at the revelation…too many questions, too scarce answers…

She stepped forwards as instructed, mimicking Mistedsong and laying down before the Moonstone. After a couple more curious sniffs to the rock, she finally allowed her pink nose to touch the cold surface of the rock. Sleep soon took over the young she-cat’s body, and before she knew it, she was knocked out cold.

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Blizzardkit slowly opened her eyes, but unlike what she expected, the rough feeling of mixed soil and rocks of the cavern didn’t greet her, but that of a green, beautiful grass that reminded her so much of home…

With a sudden wave of curiosity and a bit of honest confusion, she quickly raised to her paws, looking around with wide eyes full of wonder. This felt like home, like ThunderClan’s forest, but at the same time it had a different feeling to it. It was hard to put into words, but it made her feel calm and carefree, even more than usual.

She started jumping around the grass with a sudden burst of energy, her muscles no longer tired nor her paws aching from the long journey to Highstones, looking around as a wholehearted kit-like laughter left her muzzle. She liked this place, she liked it a lot. Could this be StarClan’s territory? Had she really reached it? Or was this nothing but another one of her vivid kit dreams trying to make her think she did?

A warm, blissful sigh left Mistedsong's muzzle as he stretched his legs, the pain that usually knotted the base of his spine absent and his mind refreshed. He never tired of the energy that the fields of StarClan gave him. "Come, Blizzardkit, we're being expected," he mewed, padding over the hill they woke up on the other side of to meet the sea of cats with stars in their pelts.

At the head of the group, a calico she-cat stood, a mouth curled into a smile, eyes already fixed on the pair of cats. Mistedsong's ears perked up as he caught sight of her, speeding up to greet the cat that stood just taller than he did, rubbing against her side. "It's so good to see you, Spottednose," he mewed, voice thick with emotion. "You look... well."

Spottednose chuckled. "I would sure hope so," she replied in a high, honey-like voice. "And I see you've finally chosen an apprentice. I thought you were going to worry yourself into your greenleaf pelt early." The she-cat brushed past Mistedsong to address Blizzardkit. "I trust that you'll take good care of my apprentice, young one," she said, her amber eyes full of warmth. "From this day forth, you shall be known as Blizzardpaw. May the stars guide your paws in learning everything Mistedsong has to share with you."

The crowd of starry cats burst with life, seemingly endless cheers of "Blizzardpaw! Blizzardpaw!" erupting with no end in sight. The cacophony of voices was the last the medicine cats heard before they awoke once again in the cold cave of the Moonstone, the first light of dawn beginning to stream into the cavern.

Blizzardkit’s ears perked up with Mistedsong’s call, looking at him as he started to walk away.

Not without some reluctance, the young she-cat started to follow him, constantly looking around and having to hold back her eagerness to explore and frolic in this lush paradise. But as soon as the many cats with pelts of stars greeted them on the other side of the hill, her focus could only land on them.

She approached with some caution, staying next to Mistedsong, eyes wide with curiosity, wonder and some wariness towards the ghostly cats…but Mistedsong was not scared, and StarClan was supposed to be kind and good at heart, so there was no danger, right?

When she was addressed by one of the cats, one she kind of had a vague memory of seeing around camp in the past, she finally forced herself to stop hiding behind the cat that she would call mentor, stepping towards Spottednose. Her request kinda caught her off-guard, as she had no knowledge of how to take care of a cat so much more experienced and older than herself…at least not yet…she would need to learn to do so.

“I-I’ll try my best!” She meowed in response as she stood tall before the former medicine cat, trying to appear as determined and big as possible to back up her words.

Her ears moved lightly forward when the words of old were spoken, and when her new name was pronounced, she could almost feel it making her body vibrate with a strange energy that went from deep within her chest, to the tip of her tail and whiskers. Her eyes then scanned the sea of starry pelts as they chanted her new name in unison.

Her eyes finally landed on Mistedsong, a wide smile on her muzzle making itself present…before the voices started to fade and the world around her slowly darkened.

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Back in the cavern, Blizzardpaw’s eyes slowly opened. Her head raising and jaws opening on a wide yawn as she stretched. Her drowsiness didn’t last long once realization sunk in, causing her chest to puff up with pride and a gleeful giggle to let out her muzzle as she turned to look at her new mentor.

She no longer was a kit with a dubious path before her. She was Blizzardpaw of SkyClan, Medicine Cat Apprentice…and she was going to make sure to make her mentor and StarClan proud.