Onekit's Apprentice Ceremony

Eyes everywhere. It was only a few pawsteps since he'd started across the clearing, but already he could feel them boring into his pelt, like dogs latching onto a flicker of movement. Everything these days seemed more subdued, loud laughs no longer commonplace, with wary whispers and murmurs replacing them. Side-eyed suspicious glances, hunched shoulders and twitching tails. All because of this thing called Asylum.

A strange word. Wasn't it supposed to mean safety? If safety means the only thing you don't fear are predators overwhelming the territories, maybe. It was about all they were good for. His eyes stayed straight ahead on the Highrock, ignoring them as the cold strands of damp grass passed beneath his paws, the end of his tail twitching once. The poor kits who would have to be apprenticed beneath this storm cloud...

He let out a silent breath, slowing as he reached the base of the rock and bunching his muscles, powerful legs springing him to the top and its familiar rough surface. The last time he'd done one of these... Casting a glance up at the top of the ravine's walls, clawing bare branches of trees scratching against the white-wisped sky, he could remember a warmer day, when red leaves still fell from the trees and a former kittypet had been welcomed into their ranks. How long has it been since then? It felt like forever and no time at all. Breathing in the scents of the air, the sharpness of leaf-bare overwhelming the softer scents of grass and growing leaves, he turned his attention back down, towards the nursery, and resisted the urge to lift his lip even as his hackles bristled slightly at the lurker hanging around by its side - instead opening his maw.

The call rang slightly sharper than usual through the air this time, calling attention to the Highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

OneKit went over excited maybe their was something good about this ceremony

A small smile lifted the edge of his maw as the excited kitten came over. At least someone wasn't brooding over the recent insurrection of the Asylum, though kits usually didn't take much notice of that sort of thing, anyway. Hopefully that mood would also help the mentor he'd chosen, especially after her last apprentice....

The smile died away, a pang squeezing his heart. At least you don't have to see this, Dock.... Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth again. "Onekit, step forward."

When the little guy had done so, he continued, "Now that you're six moons, you are ready to learn the ways of the Clan as an apprentice. Onekit, from this moment until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Onepaw. Your mentor will be Cherryblossom."

A distinct feeling of relief came as he leapt back down from the rock and called the young cat's new name, the eyes of the shadows in the corners no longer focusing in on him. There was something just a little unsettling about having a bunch of predator-pelted foxhearts locked on his every move. Something that he didn't like, at all. But, The bitter thought crossed his mind, I'm going to have to get used to it. For now.

After MinkStream finished their speech. OnePaw ran over to CherryBlossom to touch noses.

Since the Asylum had taken hold over the forest, Cherryblossom had been tense, adding on to the stress and grief that had come with the loss of her last apprentice. Truth be told, the little tabby had considered going off in search of Hickorypaw, but her duty to the Clan held her back from the search. And so, her grief sat like a little weight in her stomach, ever present, and worsened by the stress of the pelt-wearers' constant presence.

When Minkstream had called the Clan together, the tiny tabby heeded his words, gathering underneath the Highrock, wary of the Asylum cats that had invaded her home. She watched, pelt prickling under the watchful stares of the intruders, as Minkstream called forward one of the remaining kits, Onekit, and quickly designated the little tom as Onepaw, assigning him to be apprenticed to... her?

Her mouth dropped open a little as the deputy made her the new apprentice's mentor, and she privately wondered why, with her last apprentice, Minkstream's daughter, having gone missing on her watch. With a small smile, she rose to her paws and made her way to the front of the crowd, where the small tabby touched noses with her new apprentice, her own height barely surpassing his.
"I'll teach you everything that I know."