Duskkit's Apprentice Ceremony

"ShadowClan! Gather in the shadow of Jaggedrock." Murkystrike's mew echoed over the camp, summoning the clan to group under her. She stood on the edge of Jaggedrock, surveying the quickly growing crowd of her clanmates as they responded to her summons, but her eyes kept trailing towards the nursery. Soon, the young tom would leave the nursery, soon to be no longer a kit, but an apprentice of ShadowClan.

As his head peered out of the nursery's entrance, Duskkit quickly realized something. "It's my apprentice ceremony today, isn't it?" He purred to himself, padding over to the crowd of other gathering cats. Settling down to an empty spot, he gazed up at Murkystrike, tail flicking in an excited manner. "I wonder who would be my mentor soon.."

He muttered. Duskkit's eyes flickered with hope. Perhaps as an apprentice, he would get more friends soon, and that idea excited him to the very most. Exploring outside would be such a fresh and new thing to him as well, but that didn't stop the joy that rushed through the tom's body right now. Excited would be quite the understatement of him. Though not wanting it to be too obvious to the others than it already has, he kept the overjoyed thoughts inside of him, not wanting to splurt them out by accident.

As Duskkit emerged from the nursery, Murkystrike smiled. After waiting a little bit longer for the crowd to finish arriving and settle down, she continued. "ShadowClan! I've gathered you all here today to witness the naming of a new apprentice. Duskkit, please step forward." She paused while she waited for him to do so before continuing. "Duskkit, you have reached the age of six moons and are ready to become an apprentice. From this point forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Duskpaw. Your mentor will be Emberleap. I trust that he will guide your paws with patience and understanding." She mewed, nodding towards her previous apprentice before ending the ceremony and making her way off of Jaggedrock.

As he stepped foward, each paw steps of his swelled with mixed emotions of pride and joy. He raised his tail high, ears perked up widely to hear his new name. "I'm finally an apprentice now! Duskpaw, my new apprentice name!" Duskpaw's new name rang inside his head. He let out a purr of satisfaction as a warrior's name also got called out to become his mentor. He quickly made his way to Emberleap, sitting beside him with a straightened-up pose. He flicked his tail sharply, having a strong sense of determination to learn everything that he can from the warrior. Just from the looks of it, Duskpaw had already assumed he is fairly an experienced warrior, and would be able to pass down what the warrior has learned all along decently to him as his new mentor now.

His green eyes looked up to meet his new mentor's. They showed an unmeasureable excitement to them, something so hopeful and gleeful that perhaps only newly-made apprentices could show, and understand. The feeling of being able to prove himself well and helpful to his clan as an apprentice made him filled with joy. He smiled brightly to his mentor. "I'll learn everything possible from you!" He stated, followed along shortly by a purr.

Emberleap settled into the crowd, his tail pulled around his paws in an attempt to ward off the night air’s chill. It didn’t help much. He really missed his fox pelt these days… Not that he would have worn it at a Clan meeting, of course. The scraps of it he kept under his nest were risky enough as it was. Hunching his shoulders with a shiver, he turned his attention back to the Jaggedrock—not a moment too soon, because the next name Murkystrike called was his. He returned his friend’s nod, dazed.

Before he could start wrapping his head around the idea of being a mentor again, the apprentice in question appeared beside him. Duskpaw sat as tall and proud as an apprentice-sized cat could, green eyes gleaming. Emberleap considered this for a moment. Getting bogged down in worry hadn't done him or Firepaw any favors during their lessons; he doubted Duskpaw would appreciate it, either. “Well,” he said with a flicker of a smile, “if you want to learn everything, we’ll have to get started early. How does next sundown sound?”

Duskpaw purred, grinning. "Next sundown sounds great!" He mewed with agitation. Duskpaw was truly excited. Being an apprentice meant no longer needing to stay in the nursery everytime, and being able to explore every corner of ShadowClan's territory. Perhaps, he was a bit too excited. He could now do all the "cool" things that apprentices were able to do, and he felt thrilled just by the thought of so. Though now being an apprentice, his attitude still didn't change... For now. Questions ran through his head, wondering where they would head first, and how the outside would look like from his point of view. There were still a lot of things he needed to learn about, and he wouldn't let that opportunity slip through his paws.

Duskpaw felt sure that he needed to learn everything. At least, that was his main goal for now.