Daykit’s Apprentice Ceremony

The Tallrock was simmering with sunhigh heat as Wildflower settled herself on top of the ceremonial perch. The molly had exchanged words with the queens a sunrise ago and had decided on Daykit’s mentor. She hadn’t wanted to give Downtuft two apprentices when others had none, but in the end the deputy decided it was more important to give Daykit someone she previously had bonds with. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!"

Daykit approached the Tallrock warily, a tiny glimmer of reluctance in her eyes. Her mother eagerly padded along at her side. The fluffy she-kit wasn't completely opposed to becoming an apprentice. After all, it was what most kits wanted. However, the idea of moving out of the nest that she knew, surrounded by kits and queens that she was familiar with, and moving to a new one was daunting. Daykit had seen the apprentices making their way around camp, leaving on patrols and coming back to camp with their mentors from a long training session, but it wasn't like she knew them. It would take a little bit of time for her to adjust, but she'd have to get over it sooner or later. Daykit had no idea how she was going to manage memorizing and learning the corners and edges of Windclan's territory with ease if she couldn't even pull herself together to leave her mother's side.

With a slight huff, the bi-colored kit sat down amongst the rapidly assembling crowd of WindClanners, trying to maintain a somewhat proper posture. All she could do was look down at her paws and shuffle them against the terrain, which was a habit that she had subconsciously picked up. There was no turning back and running back to the safety of her nest now.

“Daykit, please step forward.” Wildflower offered the bicolor molly a soft smile. She could hear the kit’s paws scuffing the dirt and guessed it was nerves showing through rather than excitement. “Daykit. You 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 Daypaw. Your mentor will be Downtuft.” She leapt down from the Tallrock and flicked her tail. She wouldn’t show it, but she was anxious about others (or specifically, Olivestar) criticizing her decision of Downtuft to have two apprentices when other warriors had none.

Despite the fact that Daykit was aware of this being her apprentice ceremony, a slight chill went down her spine as Wildflower called her name. She obeyed immediately, taking one rather small step towards the Tallrock. Daykit had never really paid that much attention to the spiel that the deputy went into whenever it was time for other kits to receive their apprentice titles, but she had no choice but to listen now. Her ears shot up straight as her new name slipped out of Wildflower’s jaw. That was who she was, now; an apprentice by the name of Daypaw. In all honesty, the she-cat was relieved to hear that Downtuft would be her mentor. Having a cat that she knew during kithood as a mentor would probably make her transition to her new rank a bit easier. Daypaw managed to put on a slight smile as she brushed against her mother’s shoulder to look for Downtuft.

Downtuft had been pleasantly munching on a rabbit, when he heard Wildflower's words. "Your mentor will be Downtuft." Downtuft nearly choked in shoke, coughing as the rabbit went down the wrong pipe from his audible gasp. Is Wildflower crazy? Violetpaw already probably hated his guts, and now Daypaw would as well. Standing up, he padded over to Daypaw, trying to look confident, and touched noses with her.