Dovekit's Apprentice Ceremony

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Rock!"

The call rang through camp as the sun glittered through the tops of the trees surrounding the ravine, and Minkstream watched as cats left whatever they were doing, some giving curious looks, others simply gathering out of a vague sense of obligation. I used to be one of them. It was still strange to look at it from the rock, as the one doing it, but no matter the thoughts swirling through his head lately, it was still his duty - one that only required he say a few words and then leap back down again. And that was it. That was it.

He forced his eyes towards the nursery, watching for the latest kit to be apprenticed.

At the deputy's call, Dovekit padded out of the nursery. Today was the day he would become an apprentice. It was about time too. He was getting far too big for the nursery, heck he was probably already too big for the apprentices' den but he would find out shortly after all. His white fluffy fur was tamed down somewhat, but it still stuck out in certain spots due to the fact it couldn't be controlled fully. Green eyes looked up at the deputy waiting on the next part.

His eyes caught the white pelt of the young tom, before going to the pelt of his mate in the crowd, a smile pulling briefly at the edge of his maw in spite of himself, though tinged with a hint of sadness. Little Rosepaw's death still tugged at his heart - another life needlessly lost. It cast a brief shadow over his eyes before he flicked his gaze back again, opening his maw. "Dovekit, step forward."

When the kit had done so, he continued, his tail-tip flashing behind him, "You've reached the age of six moons and are ready to learn the ways of the Clan as an apprentice. From this moment until you become a warrior, your name will be Dovepaw. Your mentor will be Batbite."

It felt strange to assign an apprentice to his own mate, but when he'd been thinking about who could mentor the kit, she'd just seemed... right. And after Rosepaw.... A quiet breath slipped from his maw as he leapt back down. Hopefully his feelings weren't wrong on this. The grass felt cool against his paws. He stood in the shadow of the High Rock for a moment, watching his mate move forwards to touch noses with the apprentice, a melancholy edge to the smile on his face.

When her own name rang out through the camp, Batbite blinked. It took her a moment to recall where she was; and another to finally process that she was again being trusted with an apprentice. She stepped forward to touch her nose to the newly named apprentice, purring in amusement. Dovepaw looked like a kit too eager to leave the nursery, and she could understand the desire to have a little more freedom - one she knew all too well.

"We'll start your training tomorrow," she told him, yet another variant on words she'd said before. "When you wake, find me, and then we'll begin."