Jaykit's Apprentice Ceremony

Leafbare was in full swing, but it didn't have to be all bad. Dawnhawk himself actually was enjoying the bit of snow on the ground. He was enjoying.... a lot of things lately. There was a spring in his step and a much softer look in his eyes. As he took his place beside the leader's den, he called out, his voice ringing with far less hostility and iron enforcement than normal. "Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather before me for a clan meeting!" And then he sat, waiting patiently as the clan gathered around him. His tail tip twitched. Dawnhawk's overall posture and attitude was relaxed. Something had changed within the pale tom. Something good? His eyes scanned the crowd for the one kit he was looking for, the one he meant to name an apprentice today.

Sootwhisker’s grooming had been extra thorough today. Rather, it would have been if Jaykit hadn’t squirmed out of her mother’s grasp half a minute into it. She didn’t see the point in looking nice for a completely normal, completely boring day. Besides, her pelt was going to get messed up anyway thanks to the snow and mud smeared across camp. But the strength of Jaykit’s opinion didn’t make her any faster or stronger, and Sootwhisker had seasons’ experience in kit-wrangling. Only a heartbeat after the cleaning resumed, a call rang out over SkyClan’s camp, muted slightly by the snow. Jaykit broke free again and darted forward, losing herself in the sea of older, larger cats. It wouldn’t work forever, but she was more than happy to stall for a bit. She plopped down in the middle of the crowd—and, with a grimace, raised the tip of her tail as far out of the slush as she could.

Dawnhawk spotted the kit he'd been waiting on not too long after he called the meeting. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he remained quiet until the intended kit's mentor also arrived. "Jaykit, step forward. You have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to become an apprentice. From today until the day you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Jaypaw. Your mentor will be Honeycomb." A warm feeling surged through him as he said her name, but he managed to keep his face neutral. It would be awhile before she would be due, so he figured she could use something to take her mind off of things for now. Maybe having an apprentice would be nice.

Honeycomb still didn't have an apprentice yet, but since she was still a rather young warrior, the pale ginger she-cat supposed that she still needed to wait a bit. Sitting up in her nest and almost padding towards the fresh-kill pile, Honeycomb's ears suddenly picked up a call. It was her mate, Dawnhawk's voice. No one really knew about her yet. No one really notice that she was getting rather plump. The only other cat who knew was Dawnhawk. Honeycomb wanted to keep it that way, since she knew the consequences of bearing the traitor of SkyClan's kits. Sighing to herself and padding towards Dawnhawk, smiling up at him before settling down, Honeycomb waited for the kits name to be called. Jaykit. A bird. A beautiful name. And then she heard her name. Sitting up straighter, Honeycomb glanced at Dawnhawk in surprise, before padding towards Jaypaw, touching her nose to the newly-named apprentice. "We will start training tomorrow. For now, get some sleep."

A name—Jaykit’s name—kicked off the meeting, and her mother’s insistence on making sure her pelt was spotless suddenly…almost made sense. She heaved herself up from the slush and stepped forward. Her tufted ears stood tall. She couldn’t risk missing a single word. Even the line of damp, darkened fur on her tail couldn’t so much as nudge her confidence. She was Jaypaw now. An apprentice. The kind of cat who was so busy with things that actually mattered that they didn’t need to care about messy pelts.

The second name to leave Dawnhawk’s mouth was nearly as important, belonging to her mentor. Honeycomb. A pretty name…and one Jaypaw had never heard before. Still alone at the front of the crowd, SkyClan’s newest apprentice turned in a full circle in search of the mysterious Honeycomb. At last, a pretty ginger she-cat emerged and padded toward her. Was that Honeycomb? The name certainly fit. Before Honeycomb could lean down to Jaypaw’s level, Jaypaw stretched up as high as she could manage and bumped her nose against her mentor’s. ”We have to wait that long?” she meowed, frowning, as she backed away. Wasn’t six moons long enough already?