Smallkit's Apprentice Ceremony

Seasons ago, Raventail might have welcomed any respite from his duties, even if it meant being confined to the medicine den. This moon’s Raventail had gotten tired of it after about two sunups. He wasn’t accustomed to being sick to begin with, but more than that, he’d hated having to strain his ears just to keep up with his Clanmates, to keep his paws grounded when they wanted to wander. Of course, better that than giving them all whitecough. So many of them were sick already, and Elmskip… For his first leaf-bare, Raventail had been too young to see the ugly side of it. There was no ignoring it now. But today—this part of today, at least—wasn’t the time to mourn.

The small tom tapped his paws against the Tallrock’s ever-steady surface. Whitecough had meant keeping his distance from the nursery, which, in turn, meant he’d never really met today’s ‘paw-to-be; all he knew was what he’d overheard, and what he’d overheard was that Smallkit’s name suited him in more ways than size alone. It would be interesting to see how—or if—apprenticeship would change that. Raventail took a deep breath, bellowed, ”Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Tallrock!” and settled back to watch WindClan gather.

Smallkit nervously paced around outside the nursery. Today was his apprentice ceremony, a big milestone for a kit. He should be more excited than he was, as when he saw other kits get apprenticed they were practically jumping out of their fur. A small part of him was excited and urged him to think about the adventures he was going to have as an apprentice, while the other pulled his thoughts into a darker spot and filled him with worry and uncertainty about what may happen. What if he got a mean mentor who scared him? What if he didn't know how to do anything right? What if he would never become a warrior? What if he'd become an outcast because of it? The list was endless. His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Raventail. This meant that the ceremony would be taking place soon. He'd never really spoken to the deputy, mainly because he'd heard that the cat was sick and couldn't really be near the kits and queens without them getting ill as well. He'd still learned from the other apprentices and the elders that Raventail was a mighty deputy.

Smallkit took a deep breath as he heard Raventail call the clan for a meeting. He walked into the growing crowd of cats and placed himself near to the middle of the group. He sat down with his head slightly lowered and wrapped his tail around his paws. He quickly slicked down any fur that stuck out from his pelt. 'This is it...', he thought, waiting for the deputy to continue the announcement.

Most apprentices-to-be tended to run to the front of the crowd well before Raventail asked them to; even if he didn’t know their faces, he could identify them by that alone. Smallkit…didn’t. Tail waving behind him, Raventail squinted into the growing mass of cats. It was only thanks to the Tallrock’s height that he spotted Smallkit in the crowd’s midst, well-groomed as only a cat due for a ceremony could be, yet, strangely, not trying to draw attention to himself at all. Well…maybe it wasn’t that strange. Standing in front of the whole Clan was easy to him; there was a time, however, when it hadn’t been. Raventail attempted an encouraging smile as he said, ”Smallkit, step forward.

”You’ve reached the age of six moons, and it’s your turn to be apprenticed. From now until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Smallpaw. Your mentor…” He hesitated. Though he’d had a night to think about his decision, it didn’t sit entirely right with him. Elmskip wasn’t the only cat WindClan had buried recently. Petalpaw had hardly gotten a chance to be an apprentice. Could he ask her parents to train another of their own so soon? It seemed…unkind, somehow. Every other option seemed the same. The deputy cleared his throat. ”Your mentor will be me.” He could only hope Spotlake and Crowspirit could trust him. As the Clan began to call Smallpaw’s name, Raventail leapt down—not to join them, but to meet the newly-named apprentice. He lowered his muzzle for Smallpaw to bump noses with him, if he wished. ”How does dawn tomorrow sound for training?”

With Raventail's words, Smallkit slowly made his way to the front of the clan, the Tallrock looming above him like a mountain. He  swallowed, knowing the whole clan, his parents, his siblings, his friends; everyone was watching him. The thought caused him to start shivering until he saw Raventail smile at him. It seemed like, as impossible as it might've been, the deputy somewhat understood how he felt just the tiniest bit. This made Smallkit feel a lot better as he took control over his emotions and even put on a smile. 'Today is a day to be proud and worry-free' He thought to himself. With Raventail's next statement, Smallkit couldn't help but let out a small mew of excitement as he heard the name. 'Smallpaw' He repeated the name in his head. He kneaded the ground, happy to be receiving a new name. But the question of who his mentor was going to be still remained. He listened as Raventail paused for a moment, looking like he was thinking, before announcing that he himself would be Smallpaw's mentor. "Wow! The deputy is going to be my mentor?!" He exclaimed to himself. When Raventail jumped down from the Tallrock to greet him, he touched noses with him. "D-dawn sounds great!" Smallpaw replied, puffing out his small chest a bit.