Elkpaw's Mentor Change Ceremony

Mentor reassignments was one of the things Ashstorm hated most when being a deputy.  It generally had a sorrowful feel to it, because normally something happened to the other mentor, this case was no exception.  Crickethop was a good warrior, and his death was untimely.  Ashstorm did not know the tom very well herself, but she knew what it was like to lose someone she cared about, which is why doing these mentor changes was so sad for her, she knew the kits that were training are most likely sad throughout it all.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather at Tallbranch for a clan meeting, please!" She called.

A somber rivulet of pawprints trudged through the scuffed snows of the clearing, the singular imprint of a dragging tail left to disrupt the otherwise immaculate placings of neat steps; Elkpaw's scrawny shape weighed down ever further by the burden of the past happenings, ever present against the shaded reaches of her subconscious. Ashstorm's summons did little to perk her up, did little to chase away the stifling pressings of grief that drifted between the prominent jutting of her shoulderblades. Instead, the Deputy was fixed with a quiet, detached gaze, reflecting of little emotion.

Ashstorm cleared her throat and looked down at everyone.  She spotted the two cats who she looked for.  She gave a small, empathetic sigh, but then decided to continue the ceremony.

"As you know," She addressed the crowd, "Crickethop is no longer with us." She paused, blinked, swallowed, and then continued.  "As a clan, we will all miss him greatly.  It is unfortunate to see a young warrior leave so soon." She shook her head.

"However, we must continue as a clan."  Her eyes turned to Crickethop's former apprentice.  "Elkpaw, please step forward."  She waited for Elkpaw to come forward.  "Because you have not yet finished your training, it is time for you to receive a new mentor.  Briarthorn will be your mentor."

Ashstorm was never close to Briarthorn.  She never wanted to be.  She tried to give that cat the benefit of the doubt at first.  Now?  She simply did not care about that cat.  She felt like nothing more than a stranger. Still, both of them needed either a mentor or apprentice, and so she would give Briarthorn another chance.