Poppypaw's Mentor Change Ceremony

Murkystrike jumped up Jaggedrock, standing tall atop it as she prepared to call the clan together. Briarthorn had left, joining SkyClan with the father of her kits, who had been none other than Bloodstrike. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled the news, the bitter taste in her mouth returning as she thought about it once more. "ShadowClan! Gather in the shadow of Jaggedrock for a clan meeting." She yowled, eyes searching for the apprentice she now had to assign a new mentor to. Her stomach lurched at the thought that she had trusted Briarthorn with the young cat, only to have her leave before her apprentice's training was complete.

Poppypaw walked towards Jaggedrock, looking up at Murkystrike. The mottled black and white she-cat wondered what the commotion was about.

Perhaps she would be getting a new mentor?

Poppypaw frowned. Her mentor ran off to be with the father of her kits... from another Clan. It was incredibly awkward for her to still be in ShadowClan knowing that Briarthorn ran off. Did the others think of her differently? Did they doubt her loyalty too? The questions made her nervous.

She looked up at Murkystrike, waiting for the deputy to continue.

Poppypaw arrived, and Murkystrike met her gaze. She smiled down at the apprentice, trying to be reassuring. This was no fault of her own, and Murkystrike hoped to make the most of this reassignment. She lifted her gaze to search the rest of the crowd before taking a deep breath. Briarthorn chose to leave, but one had chosen to stay. Perhaps not entirely of her own accord, but she had settled in and was a welcome addition to ShadowClan's ranks. "Poppypaw, please step forward." She paused to let the young cat do so before continuing. "Due to... Extenuating circumstances, you no longer have a mentor. However your training has only just begun, and you need the guidance of one. Shira will be your next mentor. She is collected and steadfast, and I trust she will pass these virtues on to you through the remainder of your training." Murkystrike blinked, looking between the two she-cats. Hopefully she had made a good choice... A better one than Briarthorn had ended up being.

Shira walked to another clan meeting.  There were so many clan meetings it seemed, which she really didn't like.  That was one of the few things about the Asylum that she liked.  All of the kits ranked up at the same time and four of them got trained together.  It was faster and easier.  Sure it wasn't as special as a clan meeting dedicated to you, but it was better for everyone else involved (honestly, Shira was just salty that she never got an apprentice or warrior ceremony).

She sat with the rest of the crowd, half listening... well at least not listening that much until she heard her name.  Her head quickly lifted up.  Murkystrike said something about her being a mentor and if she remembered right from what she heard at ceremonies and from her own kits that mentors taught apprentices how to hunt and fight and be a good warrior.  Shira had learned how to tolerate kits better after having her own, but still didn't really want to deal with teaching kits that weren't her own.  Still, she might as well do it and not make a big deal about it.

Shira put a good fake smile on her face and walked up to Poppypaw.  "Thank you, Murkystrike," she said.  "Poppypaw, we will start training tomorrow."