Thalia made use of a lifetime of training as she slipped silently into the apprentice's den, careful not to disturb those who were still fast asleep. Knowing what sort of training awaited them when they woke, it was best to let them enjoy their rest. Gently, she nudged the apprentice that had been trusted to her.
Rainpaw.
Shira and Foxspark's daughter.
(Was that irony, or was it poetic? Coincidence, or something inescapable?)
It was late, or maybe it was early - what was right, and what wasn't? She wasn't sure. Her eyes glittered in the darkness as she pushed aside her lingering worries. This wasn't a tragedy, even if she was uncertain of everything she was doing, and so there was no point in dwelling on her anxieties.
In truth, there was very little to worry her now - she was settling comfortably into ShadowClan, as much as she still felt like an outsider. She was starting to think that feeling never really went away, only growing fainter with time. She wasn't a warrior, exactly - they might call her as one, and she wouldn't protest, but she wouldn't take that title for herself - but she was ShadowClan by choice.
She had never been an apprentice, had never undertaken the ceremonies of a warrior; but she had been subject to another tradition. Once Asylum, she would always be Asylum; once a Nightstriker, she would always be. The scar on her face and the pelt that rested on her shoulders were marks of a past she couldn't escape.
Still, they trusted her with this, and she was determined to do right by them. That was what she had promised, beyond her own more understated goals; that she would lend her aid to ShadowClan in whatever ways she could.
"Sorry to wake you," she spoke quietly. It felt strange to whisper. "Are you ready?"
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