Pipkit's Apprentice Ceremony

Bloodstrike had found a new tallbranch, and Beechface was glad that she no longer had to climb to the top of Wolfstar's den whenever she had to fill in for a ceremony. It had always left her feeling awkward, and she was sure that Wolfstar appreciated his sleep no longer being interrupted as frequently.

She made her way up to the new tallbranch, claws digging into the bark for balance as she surveyed the camp below.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the tallbranch for a clan meeting!" Bloodstrike had told her who he would have apprenticed today and the mentor he would have chosen, for which Beechface almost found herself grateful. Skyclan had had a lot of kits recently, and trying to find suitable mentors for them all really did sound like a chore. She waited for the clan to gather below, searching for the cat she'd be naming an apprentice and their future mentor.

While his fur was relatively short compared to most of his clanmates, Pipkit had been sure to be up and groomed before his big day. Padding out of the nursery and into the clearing, he made his way over to Tallbranch where some-cat sat... it wasn't the deputy and trying his best to recall who the silver cat was, he remembered she was the clan's medicine cat. Why Wolfstar didn't choose another warrior of the clan to take Bloodstrike's place was beyond his knowledge, but maybe the medicine cat didn't have much going on right now and was able to help out of something. Someday... he hoped he would be able to help out his clean and leader like that. It wasn't like his father ever did, so he'd have to make his family proud somehow.

Sitting down, the regal lean white and brown tom looked up to the she-cat, waiting for her next ceremonial words.

Most of the clan was quick to show up, and Beechface couldn't help feeling relieved that no littermate made their way into a branch above her with his claws unsheathed and ready to kill, as had happened at Flashstorm's warrior ceremony so long ago. She spotted Pipkit's white and brown form, and the ceremony could finally get underway.

"Pipkit, 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 Pippaw." Pippaw, had Sunflower named this poor kit? That was the only explanation. "Wolfstar will be your mentor." Even at this young of an age, Pipkit didn't seem to resemble his father much in terms of personality, and the clan needed to ensure that he didn't turn out a halfwit fool like Sunflower. Surely there was no way the kit could turn out like Sunflower with Wolfstar as his mentor, right? He'd trained Beechface, after all... And now she was stuck as a medicine cat. Pippaw wouldn't share that fate, at least.

Ceremony complete, Beechface remained on the tallbranch a moment longer before leaping back to the ground.

Sitting up tall and keeping eye contact with Beechface, the tom's abnormally large ears perked up at the cat who was assigned to be his mentor. Wolfstar himself... he couldn't have asked for a better mentor! Nothing like having the clan's leader as his mentor, he would surely become a fine warrior in no time. Not like any unfortunate apprentice that got trained under his father, or so he assumed...

Getting up and trying his best to keep his cool composure, he made his way over to Wolfstar and touched the older tom's nose. "I look forward to training with you."

Wolfstar had already been aware that Pippaw would be his apprentice, and so he was nearby when the announcement was made. He had been so far pleased with Pippaw's temperament - something he certainly got from his mother, rather than Sunflower, and wanted to ensure that the warrior's cowardice wouldn't rub off on too many of his children. Wolfstar liked Sunflower, and was happy that SkyClan had more kits, but SkyClan needed warriors, not cowards, and, well, to put it bluntly, Sunflower was the literal definition of a coward.

He touched noses with Pippaw and smiled, "I look forward to it, too - we'll begin tonight, if you're not too tired?"