Rookpaw's Medicine Cat Ceremony

Flintstar sat ridged in the ShadowClan's medicine den, watching Rookpaw with a hint of hesitation. "I...I don't know how this goes at all," he warned, eyes flashing as he steeled himself. It had been...Something when the medicine cat had called him into his den, expressing his certainty that he was prepared to be a full medicine cat. He hadn't been one to doubt - and besides, ShadowClan needed a medicine cat. Rookpaw had served them faithfully since Iniko's death - he had proven himself enough to the leader. But there was still the small problems in that they couldn't go to the Moonstone - certain he had heard that was where the ceremonies were done...And also he didn't know anything that went into it. Rookpaw's den would have to serve - StarClan had apparently spoken to him from his nest, so perhaps this would do just fine...? Hm... "And you are sure you are ready for your full name?" he asked - not doubting Rookpaw...But perhaps hoping, deep down, that Rookpaw would back out and he wouldn't have to go through with this ceremony as he could already feel the awkward energy in the air that he hated.

Rookpaw had called Flintstar into the medicine den. Not because of any injury that he had, but to give Rookpaw the honors of receiving his medicine cat name. Really, he felt extremely comfortable with Flintstar giving him his ceremony, much more comfortable than if the black tuxedo gave himself his medicine cat name, like he did when he became an apprentice with Iniko. He still missed the calico tom, but there was nothing he could do about his death, not back then, and certainly not now. All he had to do was look forward, and greet the future with anticipation.

Upon Flintstar saying that he had as much knowledge about medicine cat ceremonies as Rookpaw did - which was effectively nothing - Rookpaw smiled at his leader. "It's alright," he said. "That's what makes it genuine." When Flintstar asked if he really wanted to go through with it, the black tuxedo nodded. "Absolutely. I've been looking to this moment every day. And I wouldn't have asked you here if I wasn't 100% confident in my ability to be ShadowClan's medicine cat." Confidence rose from Rookpaw, unshaken by what would be an awkward ceremony.

Flintstar huffed softly as Rookpaw agreed that this was what he wanted. Suppose there was no getting out of it. He straightened up, taking in a deep breath as he tried to guess what words ought to be needed. He didn't know the customs, the words...Perhaps it was best if he treated it like a warrior ceremony? That, he could do. "If you are certain then," he meowed, dipping his head. He straightened up, squaring his shoulders to look regal as a leader should as he started to speak - seeing no reason in delaying this any further. "I, Flintstar, leader of ShadowClan, call upon my warr-" he cut himself off, blinking, having started to repeat the words that were so engrained in him from so many ceremonies. "...Erm, ...Medicine cat ancestors," he corrected with a fidget. "-to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways..." he drifted off, eyes falling toward the entrance of the den as he caught the sound of approaching pawsteps. ...Hm, that was indeed a problem.

Batglow wasn't aware of the situation taking place just inside of the medicine den, the sacred ceremony being preformed. What he was aware of was the thorn stuck in his paw pad that he got from fixing up some stuff around the camp. "Hey Rookpaw.." The words faded from the tom's maw as soon as he stepped into the den seeing the leader and the apprentice. Confusion etched his features for a moment, before he realized the words he heard just a few moments prior.. Oh. Oh stars.. He just interrupted the tom's ceremony.

Carefully the tom scooted off to the side, heading for the herbs and the cobwebs that were stored away in the other part of the den. He could take care of this himself. While listening in couldn't he? Batglow mumbled a soft "Carry on.." While he took care of the thorn stuck in his paw.

Rookpaw listened as Flintstar started the ceremony. Though the tom was certainly fumbling the words for it - probably because the ShadowClan leader had no idea on how to perform medicine cat ceremonies - Rookpaw thought he was doing a pretty good job on it. When Batglow entered the medicine den, Rookpaw turned his head to the ShadowClan tom. Before the medicine cat apprentice could say anything, the ShadowClan warrior left to move to the side of the medicine den where the herbs were organized, mumbling words under his breath.

Rookpaw turned to Batglow, smiling at the tom. ”Hey Bat, if you want I can help you find the herbs that you need. I’m still here, after all.” Really, the black tuxedo didn’t mind if his ceremony was delayed for him to help his clanmate. Though, knowing Batglow, the tom would probably be able to help himself due to his knowledge of herbs from being raised by Mothglow.

Flintstar sighed in relief at the fact that it was simply Batglow - feeling far more comfortable continuing the ceremony with him being the invading cat, after all Batglow had been like a son to Mothglow. Him in the medicine den at this moment didn't seem the oddest thing. So he dipped his head as the lanky warrior skirted around the edge of the den to reach the herbs, before he cleared his throat to continue on. Now where had he left of... "He has trained hard to understand the ways of..." As quickly as he had started, he drifted off again as he found that he needed words to swap out. Ah...What would work for this... "Healing and...Herbs?" he offered up, pausing for a bit to muse over them before he decided that he simply didn't have any other idea of what to use so it would have to do. "...And I commend him to you as a medicine cat in his turn. Rookpaw, do you..."

Yet another bout of silence drifted from the leader as he blinked, realizing that the entire next part wouldn't be suited for this medicine cat ceremony. He opened his mouth a few times as he ran different ideas throughout his head, trying to find one that felt right but the words just weren't coming to the leader. His fur started to prick as the silence dragged on, before he swung his head to the other cat in the room. "...Batglow, you wouldn't happen to know...?" he shifted on his paws. "Did Mothglow ever tell you...?" He wasn't sure what he was going for - Batglow wasn't a medicine cat, there was no real way he should know the wording but, if anything, Batglow was hopefully more creative than the leader and could come up with something that sounded good that they could work with.

Batglow's large ears perked up at the call of his name followed by his gaze. Yellow green eyes landed on his leader before turning to the medicine cat. "Oh.. Uhh..." His mind tried to think back on everything, on what he remembered her saying in all the time he spent with her in the medicine den. "I think it was something like do you.." The black tom paused as he tried to collect his words not wanting to mess this up anymore than he already had. "Do you promise to stand apart from clan boundaries, and act accordingly in times of crisis? I think?" Stars he hoped he was saying that right. At this point he ignored his wound in paw so he could help finish this ceremony.

As Flintstar spoke, the medicine cat apprentice sat back down on his haunches. This was his moment, his time to officially be named medicine cat of ShadowClan. And despite the Asylum's hope to integrate the clans into their group, it wasn't going to happen. The Clans' culture wouldn't fade that easily. Despite Flintstar fumbling with the words and Batglow ending up finishing the question in a very awkward way, Rookpaw really appreciated the ceremony.

Like he had said earlier, the awkwardness helped make it genuine and special. He definitely didn't think that another potential medicine cat had quite of a ceremony as he did today. "Definitely," he said, smiling confidently at the two toms. "I promise to stand apart from clan boundaries and act accordingly in times of crisis. Always have, always will." Of course, he had never dealt with the former, but he had dealt with the latter very well, and he did believe that he was worthy of being a medicine cat.

Oh, good. That was far better than Flintstar ever could have come up with. He nodded his head, content as he spoke up to finish off the ceremony. "Then by the powers of..." For a second he paused, before he took in a deep breath. For so long - ever since his mother had died, he had switched out certain words of the ceremonies. But perhaps, if any place, it was time to say it properly. "StarClan, I give you your medicine cat name. Rookpaw, from this moment on you will be known as..." Then he drifted off again. There had been a few issues with how quickly Rookpaw had sprung this onto him...One of being, that the leader fully accepted that he was terrible at names. If he had time to think, he could come up with suitable ones but he was blanking on naming Rookpaw in the heat of the moment. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he titled his head. "...What do you want your name to be?"

Rookpaw listened to Flintstar continue the black tuxedo's ceremony. The anticipation was building, larger and larger, to the point where he could hardly contain his excitement. He really wondered what his name would be... but at the very least, it wouldn't be all that he was. After all, he earned his place to be the medicine cat of ShadowClan, and he would be proud if he was the medicine cat in the future.

When Flintstar asked him for his name, the tom blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. "I guess Rookfire would be good, since I'm pretty fiery as you all know." After all, he was the cat who regularly voiced the frustrations of ShadowClan, and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. Really, the black tuxedo would be proud to wear that name for the rest of his life. He did like the name, obviously. But he also liked how he was able to choose it, just like how he effectively chose to give himself the name of Rookpaw as a medicine cat apprentice.

Another thing that was much better than the leader would have come up with. He was thinking 'Rookpelt' or 'Rookfur.' Rookfire was much better. "So be it." He lifted his head and cleared his throat as he spoke up, this time to truly finish the ceremony. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your medicine cat name. Rookpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Rookfire. StarClan honors your loyalty and wisdom, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of ShadowClan." He pushed himself to his paws and stepped forward, resting his head on Rookfire's as he would for every warrior ceremony before he drew back with a blink. "...I think you are suppose to touch the Moonstone and speak with StarClan now but..." he plopped down on his haunches, blinking. Hm... Ah, perhaps that part wasn't...That important?

As the ceremony continued on after Batglow offered his input, the lanky tom turned back to the herbs finally managing to take care of the small wound on his paw pad. "Congratulations Rookfire." The tom said in-between applying the right things to his injury. "I'm sure that Starclan will speak with him in his dreams tonight." Batglow mentioned to Flintstar before turning to look at the newly named Medicine cat once his little thorn wound was fully dressed. "Sorry I crashed you ceremony."