Daisykit's Apprentice Ceremony

Another kit was ready to become an apprentice. He didn't like to think that soon his own offspring would reach six moons and begin their training as well. Houndheart made his was to the tall rock and leaped on top to call the clan together, "Thunderclan! Gather below for a clan meeting!" Unintentionally, he found his claws attempting to dig into the hard stone as if it would steady him. It didn't help but as he looked down at the clan he stiffened and straightened up. There was no time for any weakness. He was the deputy now and he had to act like it.

The small body of the She cat bounded out of the nursery. “”My apprentice ceremony?” She whispered, thrilled. She hoped her mentor wouldn’t be to strict...or mean. What if I’m a terrible apprentice? She anxiously sat down, pushing her worries out of her mind. Today was her day.

Strompaw hurried out of the apprentice's den. Daisykit was bound to become an apprentice today! Ferretnose's and Dacedream's were too young, and so was Acornfur's kit, Smudgekit, but he cetainly was close. She'd just finished stuffing cardinal feathers in Daisykit's new nest, differing from the bird feathers of her brother's nest. Of course, Daisykit's nest was right beside hers, Coniferpaw's, and Leopardpaw's. Their corner of the apprentices den was by far the warmest now.

"Daisykit! Come sit with me until he calls you." Stormpaw mewed. Wrapping her tail neatly over her paws, she sat down and stared up at Houndheart, waiting for him to continue on with the ceremony.

Daisykit ran over to Stormpaw. She didn’t know her too well, but she had seen her around. She seemed to enjoy hanging out with her friend, Cedarkit, so she couldn’t be a bad cat. She sat down by the apprentice and realized how close they were in size. Daisykit was smaller, but she was relatively close to Stormpaw’s size. Well yeah, it makes sense. You are becoming an apprentice. She looked back up at Houndheart. She realized that inside of her she didn’t feel a deep desire to become a deputy, or a leader like her father. To much responsibility.

"Daisykit come forward." Houndheart called the kit to the front for the ceremony, "You're ready to begin training. Until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Daisypaw. Harefoot will be your mentor."

Daisypaw felt a bit of doubt growing. Is this really what I want? To be a warrior? She sighed, and padded over to Harefoot. She knew the tom a bit, he was Cedarpaw’s mentor, and she shared his coloring.

Harefoot thought this particular ceremony was rather... unceremonious. But he st obediently, watching Houndheart do his duty. He wondered if there was something he could have done as a mentor to make the snarky tom a bit less abrasive, but he decided that what was in the past was best left in the past and that age would round out the deputy eventually. His appointment as Daisypaw's mentor came as a bit of a surprise, considering he'd been much less energetic than his apprentice at the time, but perhaps Daisypaw and Harefoot would mix well. She seemed unenthusiastic as he approached.

"Hello, Daisypaw." He offered kindly, tapping his nose to hers as was customary. "Leafbare is coming to an end soon. I susepct training will go well in the warm weather that's coming."