Wolfkit's Apprentice Ceremony

Oh birdfeathers, he was deputy. Foxfire couldn't help but shake a bit as he ventured from the warrior's den. He was deputy. No matter how many times he repeated it to himself, that his Clanmates congratulated him - even if he could tell that it was a bit strain as he wasn't even close to being close to being good enough - it felt foreign. He was deputy. StarClan... And with this new position, came responsibility. He was in charge of apprentice ceremonies, of keeping track of how their training was doing and oh StarClan, why did he pick him.

He slowly made his way to the Highbranch, nervousness fluttering in his chest. He knew the words, he knew what to do. Wolfkit was six moons old - he could have never expected that he was going to have to do it - he was expecting to sit on the sidelines...But now it was on his shoulders. At least the answer of who his mentor should be was obvious. He sighed, bunching his muscles as he got ready to leap...Before he froze and slowly turned his gaze upwards to the Tallbranch.

The nervousness was interrupted with a jagged dose of fear. Heights. Oh StarClan he had to go up there. He couldn’t...Oh no. His tailnub started to twitch as he started to take a step back, before he forced himself to freeze. No. This wasn’t time to be freaking out, not in the middle of the camp. He swallowed past the fear, tilting his head as he stared at the branch. It...Wasn’t that high up, was it? No, it would be fine. A-After all, nobody had died falling from there...Right? He took in a deep breath as he hesitated, before shutting down the idea of even thinking of racking his brain of an answer to that.

He crouched, launching himself upwards. His front paws hooked onto the branch - apparently having not even been able to make himself jump that high despite the fact he should have done so with ease - leaving him to scramble his way onto it. It...It was a pretty thick branch, it didn’t really bow under his weight. He swallowed, his mouth feeling a bit dry as he carefully turned to stare out at the clearing. He could feel the panic rising in his chest at the sight of the ground seemingly being so far below him, but he fought past it. H-He couldn’t let Spottedstar down. “L-Let all cats old enough to climb trees gathering beneath the Ta-Tallbranch for a Clan meeting!”

Freshly groomed by his mother to a dark, sleek shine, Wolfkit sat quietly in the clearing, proud, determined gaze fixated on the new deputy's form. He had to admit, Foxfire didn't look very comfortable up there, but maybe be was just nervous. Wolfkit could understand that - though he forced himself into a calm facade, inside he was burning with anxiety - this was his apprentice ceremony! It had to be. But who would be his mentor? Truly he had no clue - no cat in particular was looking at him any certain, knowing way, and he'd not overheard any rumors, so whoever it was, was a complete mystery to the small, dark tom.

Kneading his claws into the dirt, Wolfkit shivered with anticipation, waiting as the clan gathered around him for the meeting.

"Wo-Wolfkit, please step forward," Foxfire managed to get out, wincing sightly as he stumbled over his words. He had heard them countless times, it shouldn't be that hard but the eyes of everybody scorching his pelt made his stomach flip and twist in ways he had never thought possible. But it was simple, he knew who would be the kit's mentor, he just had to get there... "Wolfkit, you ha-have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Wolfpaw. Your mentor will be me." The answer was simple - he was a deputy that had never trained an apprentice before, a broken code...But he couldn't help but remember the first time had gone hunting with his mentor.

A small bending of the rules. He must have known his son was going to be an apprentice so soon - and so it seemed that the answer was clear. He slowly inched his way to the tree, scrambling down and nearly kissing the ground the moment his paws touched it. Oh how grateful he was to be out of that tree and back on solid ground. He approached Wolfpaw, a small smile flickering on his face as he leaned down to touch noses. "Seems you get your wish after all, huh?" he added, recalling when he had first met the young kit. Strange how things worked out, wasn't it?