Mintpaw's Medicine Cat Apprentice Ceremony

Crowstar wasn't sure why he was the one to receive the sign for Mintpaw's apprentice ceremony he did. Starclan had requested that Mintpaw took Rabbitfoot's place, and he wasn't going to argue with them in the slightest. The fluffy warrior woke up early in the morning, grabbing the herbs Oceanlight had prepared for their trip, and padded over to the apprentices' den. The fluffy leader poked his head in. He hadn't talked to the apprentice just yet, hopefully this would go well. "Mintpaw?" The leader called softly.

Mintpaw was curled up, as usual, in a heap. During the coldest moons, she and her friends had decided to push their nests aside and sleep in one big pile in the center of the Apprentice Den.
The small she-cat snuffled in her sleep and turned over, her murky green eyes opening slowly. "Wh... Crowstar?" The pale apprentice scrambled to her feet clumsily, unreasonable panic rising quickly. What had she done wrong? He must've found out about her latest patrols. She didn't mean to be such a bad hunter... I wasn't her fault, was it?
"W-w-w-what d-do you need, C-Crowstar?" Her stutter grew worse as she hurriedly groomed her tousled fur.

"I know you have been working hard to train in the ways of the warrior, but it seems that Starclan has called for you to walk down a different path. They sent me a sign requesting for you to be the next medicine cat apprentice, and to train under Oceanlight." The black fluffy leader said. Hopefully the apprentice would take it well. He knew that warrior training was the only thing that she knew so far, but maybe she was ready to accept her new destiny. If she was confident in this choice, they could quickly head to the moonstone, so she could fully accept her new role.

Mintpaw's large eyes grew round and for a moment, she did nothing. "W-what?" She whispered numbly. "M-me? A m-medicine cat?" The thought shocked her. True, she didn't have an aptitude for hunting or fighting, but she had never considered that the stars had a different path chosen for her. Her mother hadn't hinted it when they spoke in Starclan.
'Why?' Mintpaw had a million questions burning in her mind, but another look at Skyclan's leader made her swallow her words. Her whiskers trembled, but for once, her voice was steady. "Of course- I mean, when will we leave?"
The pale apprentice took a small step forward to demonstrate her readiness. All those moons she had struggled, desperate to walk a path that had never been meant for her.
Even as she spoke, Mintpaw was struggling to comprehend what was happening. She had found a way out. She didn't have to be Pansyface. She didn't have to be Fernpaw.
She finally had a chance to just be herself; Mintpaw, so different from her sister. Mintpaw, so reluctant to fight. Mintpaw, the medicine cat.

The leader looked at the apprentice. "Now." The leader turned, and grabbed the stack of herbs that had been prepared for them. "Eat these and then we can go." The leader pushed half of the stack over to the apprentice. It had been a while since he went to the moonstone but he felt this trip would have something in store for all of them. He was ready to speak to his ancestors again.

"Once you eat those we can go." The leader said. The black leader crouched down and lapped up his herbs. They still tasted as gross as he remembered. Hopefully his ancestors wouldn't be too mad at him for not traveling to the moonstone so often. If they delivered the sign about Mintpaw maybe they weren't too angry.

Now? Mintpaw hadn't prepared herself for the journey in the slightest... she wasn't ready for anything! What if Crowstar had made a mistake? What if Starclan refused to talk to her? What if they were attacked? Mintpaw couldn't fight well... "N-now? B-but... O-okay." Her tail twitched as she stared at the stack of herbs at her paws, taken aback by how fast everything was happening. She swallowed and began to eat the herbs, trying to hide her disgust. After she had finished, she slowly stood up. After a slight pause, she took a few steps forward. "A-alright. Let's g-go."
She tried to sound excited, but there was a slight lilt in her voice that betrayed her anxiety. She took a few deep breaths as she trotted behind Crowstar, stumbling occasionally.

Crowstar looked back at the apprentice. He knew she was nervous but it had to be done. "The only cats we should be running into will be clan cats, and they wouldn't attack us on the way to Moonstone." He was confident in what Starclan told him. The black fluffy tom turned and lead Mintpaw out of camp. Prepared to deal with the cold.

~Time Skip because~

The moon was already starting to rise by the time they reached Mother Mouth. He knew it was going to take them a while to get there and planned ahead for any rest stops they took. The fluffy leader looked at the young apprentice. "Let me know when you are ready to go in, I will lead the way. Just make sure you follow my scent because it will get dark." The leader informed.

Mintpaw's claws skittered across the ice-cold stone, and she shivered. She was only mouselengths into the cave but she could already feel the wave of freezing air that was ready to meet her.
Not even a moon ago, Mintpaw had left this cave with the comforting notion that she would never be faced with its terrifying darkness again, not even in her dreams.
She had left that cave as a warrior apprentice.
Now she returned a future medicine cat.
She felt a strange, hoarse laugh bubble out of her throat and swallowed the urge to cry. She bit her lip and stared into the blackness, feeling tears fill her eyes.
"I'm ready."
The voice was as cool and calm as the stone walls, without a stutter or a crack. Mintpaw couldn't say that her heart felt the same- it jumped in her chest as if fighting to escape.

Mintpaw stumbled as they walked, her whiskers twitching so much she could barely feel the cave walls. For a while, all she could feel was the quiet, insistent darkness pressing around her. She almost sighed with relief as a flicker of light shone ahead.

Without waiting for Crowstar's direction Mintpaw lurched forward, pressing her nose onto the Moonstone.

As the landscape swirled around the young apprentice, moonlight turning into a breathtaking starry world, it was obvious she had come to the lands of Starclan. A grey and white she-cat padded up with her whiskers twitching in amusement, "You most certainly do seem ready." Her voice seemed to echo through the air, filled with a renewed sense of self-confidence that only existed with the freedom Starclan offered from her brother. The afterlife had been so much simpler and less cruel than the forest had been. The former Windclan she-cat had found her peace in death.

Sageleaf stood tall and blinked bright green eyes as they scanned over the apprentice. She was younger now than in her passing, but with her strong stance looked like a warrior. Mintpaw, like the Windclan medicine cat, had followed the same path. They both begun their warrior training before life split them away and sent them down and path of healing. Mintpaw would be happy here. If only she had been able to share that same spirit. The ancestors had chosen well.

"Welcome, Mintpaw."

Occ: sorry for crap mobile posting. The next will be much better. I just wanted to get it going

Crowstar was glad to see that Mintpaw already seemed to be draw to the moonstone already. Hopefully this would go well. The leader curled up near the stone himself wishing to take this chance to speak to his ancestors as well.

The leader pressed his nose to the stone, waking up in the in the familiar territory of the starry and grassy plains. he black fluffy leader looked around before spotting a familiar pelt of Rowanberry. The warrior disappeared ages ago and never returned. The leader dipped his head. "Greetings Rowanberry. What brings you here?"

The warrior dipped his head in response. "I bring an important message. The apprentice you brought us, is getting the same message herself." The brown orange tabby responded. Rowanberry looked at the leader a serious look on the warriors face. The warrior didn't want to deliver this message but it was needed. He had to do it.

OOC: totally fine~
IC:
Mintpaw exhaled slowly, her eyes wide with a familiar feeling of wonder as she turned around, trying to drink in as much of Starclan as possible. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed that the aching fear had left her.
She jumped as a handsome gray and white she-cat approached her, and Mintpaw's feeling of peace shattered as easily as ice. She stood at attention, her paws trembling. Her first encounter with a Starclan cat had been relaxing, but this meeting was different. She wasn't Mintpaw anymore, and she had no idea how to be anything other than herself.

While the gray she-cat stood tall, Mintpaw seemed to shrink. Her murky green eyes followed the Starclanner's own vivid ones, struggling to reach the peace that seemed to radiate from all Starclan cats.
"Welcome, Mintpaw."
Mintpaw swallowed and spoke. "Hi."
She winced at the sound of her own voice- although her usual stuttering was gone, she couldn't help but notice how it sounded echoing off of invisible walls, high-pitched and trembling.
As she spoke, it struck her as odd that the she-cat had used her name. She'd anticipated a big change, to be ripped from all she had known.
So why the same name?
"I've always wondered how Starclan cats can manage to remember everyone's names." She mewed, trying her best to appear bold. "How do they learn them all in the first place?"

The former medicine cat laughed softly. It was her first meeting with an apprentice, and she was glad to have been chosen for this specific task. Despite her obvious nervousness, Mintpaw possessed other qualities that made her brave enough to speak up. The young she-cat would more than likely not be swatting cats on the head for their stupidity, but there was hope she would not allow herself to be pushed around by warriors. Sageleaf had often thanked her ancestors for giving her a spirit that allowed her to stand up to cats who had been fully trained to fight and defend the clan. Warriors were idiots sometimes. Her one regret was not being able to shake her bond to the one cat who it mattered with the most. She would guide Mintpaw to be better than herself. This future medicine cat would do so much more than she ever could have hope to accomplish.

"It's a Starclan secret." Sageleaf meowed, with the slightest hints of amusement to her tone as she padded closer to the Skyclan cat, "Suppose I tell you after we make this whole thing official? The rest of Starclan is waiting to see their latest medicine cat apprentice." Her green eyes sparkled with a joy she had not felt down within her den in Windclan. It was a feeling she had not felt since being newly apprenticed, but now felt every moment in the afterlife. Understanding her direction in life had taken until after she was dead, but now the former medicine cat was able to see that everything had happened for a reason and it was why she stood where she did today.

"Mintpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

Crowstar didn't quite understand. What did Rowanberry want to tell him? The leader sat down and wrapped his tail around his paws. "What is it then?" Is this why they requested him to bring Mintpaw instead of Oceanlight? The tom didn't quite understand.

"I need to tell you this." The young warrior said. The tom let out a sigh before speaking up again. "When the Shrike calls, A sacrifice must be made." Silence followed the message.

Crowstar tilted his head a little bit. What was that supposed to mean? What sacrifice? Territory? A life? He didn't get it.. Shrikes weren't too common even in Skyclan territory but they called all the time... He didn't understand. "Wait.." The leader looked up to see Rowanberry fading from view. "Wait! What is that supposed to mean?" Rowanberry opened his mouth to respond but he disappeared before any words could be heard.

The leader woke with start. His chest heaving. What was that supposed to mean? What did any of this mean? The black fluffy leader sat up off the cold cave floor, and wrapped his tail around his paws. He wasn't sure what that message meant at all.. Thinking about it just made his head hurt.. What was it supposed to mean... Now all he had to was wait on Mintpaw.. and not let the message hurt his head.

ooc: You two can keep posting now, you don't need me to post until after Mintpaw wakes up.

Mintpaw smiled shyly when Sageleaf laughed and shuffled her paws, pleased with herself. However, her smile faded and was quickly replaced by a nervous frown as Sageleaf padded closer. The taupe apprentice closed her eyes for a moment as Sageleaf spoke again, her ears flicking to show her nervousness. "Mintpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"
Was it?
All her life, she had wanted to become a warrior. She'd fallen in love with the thought of defending her clan's honor, fighting for truth and justice, and helping those who cannot help themselves.
But was a battle the only way to do that?
Was a battle the only way she could change from a small, shaking, clumsy apprentice into a she-cat her mother would've been proud of?
Mintpaw took a steadying breath, and when she opened her eyes, they seemed to burn just a tad brighter.
"It is." She mewed.
And her voice didn't shake.

Sageleaf smiled at the look in the apprentice's eyes. She was ready. There was a fire in the she-cat that the former Windclan medicine cat had never been able to find within herself when she had been in the same position. It was encouraging to see her so easily transition from the role of a warrior apprentice to that of a medicine cat. No doubt the ancestors had chosen well with this one. Her own eyes glistened both with the stars and a renewed investment in the ceremony she was about to finish.

"Then, on behalf of Starclan, I recognize you under a new role. From now until you receive your Medicine Cat name, you will continue to be known as Mintpaw. May you train hard and serve your clan well in this new position." The grey and white she-cat ended the ceremony by padding forwards to touch noses with Mintpaw, "Oceanlight will be your mentor, but Starclan will always be your guide." In her days down in the forest, Sageleaf had doubted the will of Starclan time and time again. However, she still followed them relentlessly. With the same faith, she knew Mintpaw would be well off.

OCC: AH you should quickly remind me what else you wanted said before we officially end it