Sagekit's Apprentice Ceremony

Thrushnose left the Highrock long enough to gulp down a mouse in some quiet corner of camp. Now she made her way toward the stone again, her steps certain. Another kit was due to be apprenticed today—probably the last for a while. She didn’t have it in herself to mind. As much as these ceremonies had wormed their way into her routine, she still preferred the parts of deputyship that didn’t involve addressing the whole Clan. At least she hadn’t had trouble choosing a mentor this time. Thrushnose paused to shake the loose fur from her pelt; then she began to climb. At the Highrock’s top, she straightened to face the crowd. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!”

Sagekit's pawsteps were light and airy as she padded toward the Highrock with anticipation glittering in her eyes. Her mother had taken care to groom her as well as possible before it was time for her to gain a new name, and the she-kit wasn't about to mess up her smooth pelt. She quickly scraped away any stray dirt or dust from the ground before she settled down and glanced up at the deputy. Hopefully this ceremony would be quick... although she was a fan of having the eyes and attention of the Clan on her and her alone.

Sagekit appeared right on time, anticipation clear in her expression and her smooth, spotless pelt. She had to know what this meeting was about. After all, she had sat through all of her littermates’ ceremonies before this. Thrushnose opted not to keep her waiting any longer. “One of our kits has reached the age of six moons; today, she will become an apprentice. Sagekit, step forward.”

As she continued the ceremony, the warrior’s gaze shifted from the crowd as a whole to Sagekit herself. “From this moment on, until the day you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Sagepaw.” Her attention turned, then, to the mentor she’d chosen. Wolfblaze had always been the type to speak her mind, and Sagepaw, from what Thrushnose had heard, could be awfully…strong-willed herself. It wouldn’t be an easy assignment. She hoped it would work out all the same. “Wolfblaze will be your mentor. I trust she’ll pass everything she knows on to you.” Another sharp snap of her tail, and she was gone, springing down from the Highrock to join her Clanmates.

Wolfblaze had been sitting in the back of the meeting, watching the ceremony with curiosity. Her large form was able to see above most of her clanmates, making it easy to sit there. She was still... shaken by the disappearance of her daughter, and while the pain would be there forever, there was a way past it, and she was finding it one pawstep at a time.

She'd never met Sagekit before, Wolfblaze, for all that she loved to play, hadn't been playing with the kits in camp lately. Though she supposed that would change soon, when she heard herself announced to be Sagepaw's mentor. Weaving her way through the rest of the clan, maybe accidentally bumping some pelts on the way, she brought her head low to touch noses. With a toothy grin, she looked down at her brand new apprentice. "Hey there 'paw, we'll start bright and early tomorrow. Better get over to the apprentice den quick before the other apprentices catch on and make you get the worst spot!" With a light brush of her tail, she padded away, eyes gleaming with excitement. She did love mentoring.