Beetlekit's Apprentice Ceremony

Ashstorm hated to admit it, but she honestly was starting to get used to these Dark Forest cats.  She would never enjoy them, or even generally like their presence, but it was true that with every passing day it felt more normal.  She made her way over to Tallbranch.  That simple tree made her feel more at home than most anywhere recently.  Doing the apprentice ceremonies was something she was very used to now.  It was something she did when Bloodstar was in charge and something that she still did.  It was the most normal thing now.

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

Beetlekit was old enough to climb a tree, now! He thought about climbing up Tallbranch itself when Ashstorm made her announcement, but he held some semblance of composure. No queen was coming to groom him for his special day, so he quickly ran his tongue over his paw and mussed the top of his head in preparation. The tom tip-tapped quickly to the base of the branch, both in-front-of-everyone and ever-so-slightly-behind-the-warriors. Nerves hit him all at once where they hadn't been before. His gaze shifted to just about every warrior in the clan, and the shadowy figures in their midst. Maybe... one of the shadows might mentor him. Could they? Beetlekit set his jaw firm and imagined such a mentorship. He knew that the spirits around them set the warriors on edge. Though they smelled rank and had scary expressions on their faces, they never did anything too intrusive. Maybe the warriors just had to get the thorn out of their side about it.

She noticed that small kit whom she looked for.  "Beetlekit!"  She called to him, "Please step forward."

Once the kit made his way to the front of the crowd, she continued.  "You have reached the age of six moons and are now ready to become an apprentice.  From today until the day you complete your training and are ready to become a warrior, you will be known as Beetlepaw.  Your mentor will be Spottedfrog."  She nodded towards the warrior she spoke of.  "She is a strong cat who will train you well."

With that, Ashstorm got down from Tallbranch, and briefly congratulated the new apprentice before moving away to allow others to congratulate Beetlepaw.

Beetlepaw purred in delight as he was christened a new cat. No longer was he confined to the walls of camp! His paws were on the path to warriorhood, now. He swept the crowd to see who was coming to collect him, where his eyes landed on a mostly-black she-cat with a diamond of white on her forehead. Beetlepaw's legs shook when he realized how large she was, and they shook even more when his gaze finally landed on her scarred face. He tried to tear his eyes away from the marks, but each time they rested curiously on the marred skin and parted fur. Spottedfrog was her name.

"You don't... look much like a frog," he meowed. "Who named you that?"

It was in his best interest to ask, he decided. If it had been Ashstorm, he better watch out, or else he might be named something equally unbecoming, like Beetleshimmer or Beetleface. All of his hopes for a rugged, awe-inspiring title would be in jeopardy. But maybe he had been rude? "It's a, erm, good name, yaknow, but I guess it just doesn't make any sense."

Having been watching this meeting in the background, as she did most of them, Spottedfrog was physically present, but unprepared for when Ashstorm called her name. It took her an extra second of processing before she understood what exactly had just transpired.

She had an apprentice? The constant sour face she'd been wearing since her return to SkyClan broke and shifted to surprise. The tip of her tail twitched as she watched the kit look around, eyes bright and excited, looking for someone - no, looking for her. Spottedfrog raised her haunches and plodded forward to meet him, but they'd barely gotten within a tail length before he launched into questions.

"Well... who named you, then? You don't look very much like a beetle." Amusement colored her expression, and she leaned in to touch noses with her new apprentice. "My mother named me Spotted, to honor a SkyClan leader that came before - my father's father's father. And my father added -frog, to honor my mother's ShadowClan heritage." She tilted her head a bit. "They live in the marshes, so there are lots of frogs, I guess." And newts, too... Instinctively, Spottedfrog lifted her gaze, starting to search the crowd for her brother, but quickly forced it back down again and giving the little tom a quick smile. To distract them both, she asked, "well, the day is still young - what do you say, should we go on a tour of the territory?"