Dovekit's Apprentice Ceremony

For some reason, Egretswoop found herself spurred to attend this particular ceremony. Even as she already had an apprentice under her care, there was something... else that moved her paws. Brought her with particular curiosity to attend as Poppyshine had called out, the fox-hidden warrior taking a spot towards the edge of the crowd. No doubt, it would be a kit graduating to the rank of apprentice. That much had been obvious by it being Poppyshine's call. Perhaps part of her had just decided to take an interest in this round of kits, having known how important they all were to Owlcall. Still, the pale molly took her place, looking into the crowd with a curious twitch of her whiskers. Each now sound seemed to pull her attention. The breaths of all her clanmates, the shuffles of their steps. Even the slight swaying whisper that came from the willow tree. Persistent twitching of her ears also threatened to steal part of her never-focusing gaze, but pinning her ears back, she simply allowed it all to pass. Come and go, be a thought, and then released. Just like a leaf carried down the stream. After all, her focus was on the deputy and her words. Not the fact that there were now warriors scrambling about in camp beside her.

It would have been extremely understandable for anyone to presume that the gaze hidden beneath that fox pelt would have been cruel. Cold, calculating, perhaps just as mischievous as the creature itself. But instead, that couldn't have been further from the truth. A kit-like wonder seemed to fill them as her name was once more called. Egretswoop's tail had flicked at the call of her name, drawing her right back in from the distracting sounds of Riverclan's stream that had pulled her attention far away. It took the warrior a moment to compose herself. She had gone to war. She could keep herself together. Granted, the 'war' she had gone to was little more than a show of teeth and Windclan running with their tail between their legs, but it was still a true fight nevertheless.

Before her mind could catch up to her senses, the pale tom now stood in front of her. At the very least, custom seemed ingrained in her bones as she leaned forward to touch her noses gently with the tom's. Dovepaw. While not entirely focused on Poppyshine's words, her ears had still picked up his name, storing it deep in some trench of her memory. He was met with kind eyes, the eyes of newleaf honey that promised just as much youth and nerves as the apprentice himself no doubt had. With ears that seemed to never truly rise to their full height, Egretswoop dipped her head. "I am excited to show you all I know." Her own honest response. His voice sounded... kind. Strong. If she didn't know better, she would have presumed he was already defending something. Someone, perhaps. She'd known he had siblings- was he protective over them?

Those thoughts seemed to pull her away from her senses for just a moment before the floating breeze tickled her whiskers just enough to snap her back to reality. Shaking her head to force those very real sensations to bring her back to full consciousness, the molly let a small smile replace her overwhelmed features. "We can start early in the morning, when the world is a little more quiet. For now, go celebrate with your family." Egretswoop gently touched her nose to the apprentice's forehead, before taking a few steps away and curling her tail (and that of her fox pelt) around her. If her second apprentice stuck around to pay attention, he'd see how she seemed to tuck herself into the pelt like a comforting presence, but kept a look of pride and enthusiasm shimmering in her honeyed gaze. She was certainly excited to train him, the forest was just a little too loud for her at the moment.