Otterkit's Apprentice Ceremony

Rippedstar made his way to the tallbranch and leaped up onto it with ease. In his veins, blood still pounded with adrenaline and purpose. Since the confrontation with Windclan, he was more driven than ever to help his clan survive and thrive. There was the chance they would come and try to create more needless bloodshed. He hoped to avoid that and would do anything in his power to do so without bending to the other clan's will. Skyclan was no weak despite the things they dealt with and he wanted to show that. Of course, there was still room for improvement in training their apprentices more in the art of skillfully warding off enemies, but he would work on that. Also, in preparation, they were having ceremonies. Luckily, several cats were ready to earn their new titles. One of them being the kit named Otterkit. He barely knew the little tom, although he was interested to be keeping an eye on training more closely.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the tallbranch for a clan meeting!" His voice rang loud and clear throughout the camp for all cats to hear. Hints behind his tone now spoke of how he was driven by the success of his clan and a frustration with events. It was still strange to consider this was the same tom who had been the deputy. A core part of him died away with the relational aspect, something buried deep and would likely not have the chance to surface for a while. For now, he was simply finding a purpose and solace in his duty. His claws dug into the bark. After today, they would have another apprentice.

Otterkit ran as fast as he could out of the den, his little heart was racing so much and he was overwhelmed with readiness when it came to leaving the nursery. "Hey! I told you it was today, I knew it was gonna be today!" He wasn't talking to anyone, but cats had to listen to it anyways, "I knew it was gonna be today because I've been keeping track and I'm gonna be here for every second of it because I never miss a clan meeting and I never will! I'm going to be outta the camp, and explore, and hunt! Every exciting thing that a kit isn't ready for, but I'm ready for it, I promise you I'm going to train so hard and listen to everything that my new mentor has to say!" Looking his dull green eyes up to the tall rock, filled with determination. He puffed out his chest, locking eye contact with his leader.

Once Otterkit was down below, filled with an energy that pushed the leader onwards, Rippedsky continued, "We gather today to name another kit as an apprentice. Otterkit has reached six moons and is ready to begin his warrior training. Otterkit, please step forward." He hoped the chattering would stop for a moment as he continued, but regardless of what the kit said, the leader kept going with the ceremony, "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Otterpaw. As he has been doing a decent job with Snowpaw's training, Mumblefoot will be your mentor. I expect he will pass on his caution and devotion. May you learn well." As the cheers rose up in the air, the black and white tom dipped his head to the pair before disappearing into his den, once more returning to his thoughts.

Mumblefoot had joined at his father's call and settled near the edge of the clearing. His shoulders hunched slightly forward under the weight of the events with Windclan. He blamed himself for them happening in the first place. Even if they had not been the one to start the dispute, he should have dragged Hazelpaw away from the border, or at least done something more. With a sigh, he studied the ground, only half paying attention to yet another apprentice ceremony. When he heard his name, however, the little warrior's ears pricked. After all of that, after his failure, he was to mentor a cat? The warrior wanted to argue with Rippedstar, but before he could, his father had disappeared. With a low sigh, he muttered, "Starclan help me." He padded over to Otterpaw, smiling softly at the kind and talkative young tom he had met the other day. After touching their noses together, he tried to force something more than exhaustion into his voice and meowed, "We'll start tomorrow. Congratulations."

Otterpaw's eyes sparkled as he saw that his mentor was someone that he has already highly looked up to, he grew overly excited and sat himself down as the other tom padded close to him and touched the soft wet skin of their noses together.