Brick's Apprentice Ceremony

Accepting Brick into the Clan wasn't an extremely difficult decision- if it was here that she wished to stay, Ivystar was willing to allow it- so long as she was able to prove her loyalty to the Clan. Her request to keep her name, however, was something that Ivystar was very hesitant about. It was a name that had been given to her by the Asylum, and was one of the last things keeping her bonded to them forever. The only reason she would allow it was so that the she-cat felt comfortable in the Clan, and to respect her wishes. With a bit of a sigh, she pushed herself forward and onto the Willow Branch. "All cats old enough to catch their own fish, gather beneath the Willow Branch for a Clan meeting!" She called out, feathery tail tip twitching rhythmically.

Brick had seen quite a few of these ceremonies over the past season, most often with kits about six moons old. She’d had a similar ceremony at five moons old, with Captain Lyralei granting her the position of Scout along with a shoulder scar to show for it. This time though, she’d asked Head Ivystar if she could officially stay in RiverClan. It scared her half to death to do it - mostly out of fear of rejection - but thankfully she was allowed to remain. Her own tail twitched beneath her hare’s pelt as she waited. Would the rest of the clan be so lenient? The hood of her pelt laying crumpled at the base of her neck, she craned her head to see who all was around. Why did she feel nervous?

"Rabbrick!" Sneezingpaw yowled, bounding over in her hop step trot fashion. Her green eyes, which were always wide, were very wide. "'Ts it right? Is it really true? Are you really becom'ng an' apprentice with me and Minipaw?" The black spotted apprentice's eyes were practically glowing, and she bounced around Brick happily.

"Can'ya teach us how'ta get a fancy pelt like yours? I think I'd look good in one. Can you make one out of fishies? Oh! Maybe then the fishies will think you're a fishy too!" Sitting down beside the older cat (although with Sneezingpaw's height you would've thought otherwise), her white tipped tail thumped happily and the apprentice beamed up at the molly.

Once Brick was present and in the middle of camp, Ivystar nodded and closed her eyes for just a moment before looking down on the she-cat. "Brick, please step forward," She mewed carefully, green eyes locked on the she-cat. "You have expressed your desire to remain in RiverClan, and I feel it right to grant you permission, under one condition." The tabby mewed, still gazing down at her. "You must train under the watchful eye of a warrior, and prove your loyalty to the Clan. Once you do so, you will be fully welcomed into the Clan with your warrior name to show for it. Does this sound agreeable to you?" Ivystar questioned, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. She'd learn to trust the she-cat, but for right now, she'd still be seen as an outsider. Brick would have to prove her loyalty to the Clan before the silver leader would put her full faith in her.

Brick’s ears pricked at Sneezingpaw’s meows and her shoulders relaxed. That’s right, she had friends here, in Sneezingpaw and Mountainpaw, and maybe even in Captain Loonwhisper. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of. “Yeah yeah!! I’ve never seen a fish-pelt, but that just means no one’s tried making one!” The younger apprentice’s energy was contagious it seemed - even if her chronically sniffly nose wasn’t - and the former Asylum Scout felt her normal joyousness come back.

At Ivystar’s words she practically stumbled forward as asked. She found herself nodding along with the Head said, until a significant pause came. There wasn’t supposed to be one in this type of ceremony, right? Indeed, all the words were off from a normal “Apprentice” ceremony. So... was she supposed to say something? By the look Ivystar gave her, surely, but she’d have to make something up! Were there any correct words? Maybe she could guess what they were.

“I am willing.”

...Was that right?

"Very well." Ivystar mewed, with a slight nod of her head. "From this day onward until your earn your warrior name, you will remain known as Brick. Your mentor will be Stormbringer." Stormbringer, her beloved mate, was a perfectly capable mentor who'd help Brick learn the ways of the Clan. Leaping off the branch, she approached Brick quietly and gently nuzzled her shoulder, before stepping away to allow the rest of the Clan to celebrate.

Loonwhisper was transfixed on the ceremony as it played out, thankful that Ivystar had taken it upon herself to complete it. He would not know what to say in such an unorthodox commemoration. He lay in the dusty center of camp, pluming tail sweeping to and fro in a wide arc behind him. He was contented with the state of things, if not a little curious, even wary. The death of his brother, and the imprisonment of his leader and sister, had left quite a sourness in his mouth. He knew that this she-cat was, by birth, a member of the clans... but she had no memory of it. Would he know how to swim, if not birthed by the river? Some said that blood was meaningless, and that allegiance was a choice... but if that were true, what was there to bind Brick to her homeland?

He held nothing against her personally. In fact, she intrigued him to the highest regard. The rab-cat. But, with Shira and Spark so detached from RiverClan from the very beginning, his hopes were rather low. Loonwhisper curled his claws into the ground, making little tally marks before erasing them with his pawpads.

He wanted her to stay. The trouble was whether or not she would. Loonwhisper learned early to not attach himself to others. The spontaneity of cats' investments sent him into a tizzy. But there was a quality to Brick that made him want to hold on. Thinking about it made him just the slightest bit nauseous.

Are you strange, too? "Brick! Brick!" he chanted with the rest of his clanmates, saucer-like eyes never moving from the rab-cat's face.