Thrushkit's Apprentice Ceremony

The smooth, well-worn stone of the Tallrock was shimmering faintly, the chilly light of day reflecting upon the soft dusting of frost. Brindleface's fur caught softly on the tendrils of ice, a faintly evident rustling sound just barley noticeable above the breeze, as she pulled herself atop the ceremonial meeting place. Straightening up, the Deputy’s voice rang out with a sharp note of purpose as she called out the familiar summons, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!"

Thrushkit was exciting beyond measure. Her mother had hinted that today would be the day that she would become an apprentice. She had managed to allow her mother to groom her messy fur, and the crazy pieces once wild and free were neat and tidy. She ran out of the nursery, sprinting at top speed to the bottom of the Tallrock. She sat, at once trying to calm herself.

Ebonypaw had only received her name earlier that day, and now there was another ceremony taking place…at least this time she took the time to figure it out instead of going in blind.

With a smile, she joined the crowd, no longer having to hide to do so, and playfully nudged Thrushkit’s back “Who would’ve thought our ceremonies would be so close to each other, eh?” She purred playfully, trying to not rise her voice too much to not appear rude “Excited?”.

Neatly winding her tail around her paws, Brindleface's attention remained fixed on the gallivanting pace adopted by the young she-kit as she approached the Tallrock. Only when the last stragglers made their way to the loosely formed ring of cats did she finally raise her voice once more. "Thrushkit, 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, "From this day on, until you receive your Warrior name, you will be known as Thrushpaw. I shall mentor you, and I look forward to passing down everything that my mentor once taught me."

Gracefully dismounting the looming stone of the Tallrock, the Deputy made to complete the ceremony with the traditional first greeting between Mentor and Apprentice.

Thrushkit giggled excitedly in response to Ebonypaw's words. Her good friend and her, both made apprentices in the same day... She was so lucky! She felt so much more excited now. Starclan, she was a ball of energy. "So excited! I can't believe it! I've been waiting for this since the day I was born," she said in response, making sure to keep her voice down.

-

As the kit was called up, she stood proudly. As the deputy spoke, she felt as if a great change had taken place within her. She dared not breathe. Then she heard that the deputy herself would be training her... She bit back her gasp as she bowed her head respectfully and jumped back to the crowd.

Thrushpaw!

She smiled at her friend and hopped up and down. "Ebonypaw! I'm an apprentice! Brindleface is gonna mentor me! Can you believe this?". The apprentice flicked her tail back and forth, antsy.

“Since you were born? So not that long, eh?” She chuckled at her own joke and only looked up once the deputy started to speak, stepping away from her friend to let her carry on with her ceremony uninterrupted, joining the crowd to not appear disrespectful. She would need to keep her jokes and teasing for after Thrushkit received her apprentice name and mentor.

As soon as the deputy made it official, she started chanting her name with the rest of the clan trying her best to be patient and let the newly named Thrushpaw to greet her mentor before making her way towards her with an ear-to-ear grin “The deputy’s apprentice. Aren’t you a lucky one?” She pawed at her now fellow apprentice’s face in a playful way “Don’t expect me to treat you any different from it, though, don’t let it get to your head!”.