Rowankit's Apprentice Ceremony

Poppyshine

Poppyshine groomed Rowankit, as was usual for her kits before their apprentice ceremonies. She spent the morning chatting as well, as she’d started to calm down a little more with some experience seeing her kits get apprenticed. She stepped back and looked him over, humming as she observed his beautiful fur that was already growing long. She licked back a bit of the fur growing into his eyes and nodded. “Alright. Let’s see you become an apprentice.” With a smile, she gave him one more affectionate lick and left the nursery.

She stepped up onto the willow branch and announced to the clan, “Let all cats old enough to catch their own fish gather for a Clan meeting.”

Poppyshine

Rowankit looked like a gorgeous little cat from where he sat, and Poppyshine was glad that she had spent the extra time to groom some of his more unruly bits of fur. She gave him a small nod and then looked back to the crowd to make the announcement.

“Rowankit. You have reached your age of six moons and are ready to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Rowanpaw.” She looked in the crowd until her eyes landed on one cat in particular. With the same hopes she’d given to him when she assigned his first apprentice, she felt the same hopes that Rowanpaw would assist in bringing him out of his shell—even if it was a bit forced. “Your mentor shall be Stormdance. May he teach you the importance of caution and grace.”

She stepped down from her place on the branch and waited for Rowanpaw and Stormdance to meet before she stepped in to smother Rowanpaw with kind words.

Stormdance

Stormdance smiled as he watched Poppyshine begin the ceremony, her pride clear as she looked at her kit. It always amazed him just how quickly kits seemed to grow up. And Riverclan had so many kits right now, it felt like the nursery and the apprentice den were both due to burst before very long. When he heard his name from Poppyshine, it didn’t come as quite as much of a surprise as when Woolypaw had been assigned to him. Poppyshine had spoken to him in advance about taking two apprentices on at once. That had been a shock. Still, Stormdance was honored to be trusted with both apprentices.

Stormdance walked up at Poppyshine’s indication, giving Rowanpaw a warm smile of greeting. He leaned down to gently touch his nose to Rowanpaw’s nose as he said, “I promise to teach you all I know, Rowanpaw. I know you’ll make a wonderful apprentice.”

Sandykit

Willow Branch

Like the last couple of times,
Poppyshine thoroughly groomed the apprentice-to-be. Unlike the last couple of times, Sandykit followed suit. She observed how Poppyshine wrestled with tangles and curly fur, copying the techniques onto her own. She trusted her mother's skill, despite how different her fur was from Rowankit's. Trust the process, she remembered someone telling her.

Once Rowankit was ready, Sandykit mewed a quiet goodbye before settling at the nursery entrance as she always did. Watching another sibling leave for the apprentice den. How many more would she watch until it was her turn? How many more did she want to? Her apprehension for her ceremony grew every day, but what about the day after? Being an actual apprentice- there were just so many ways to embarrass herself. It made her want to stay in the nursery forever. Will I ever be ready? an honest voice whispered. Her tail flicked back and forth in thought. Having Poppyshine or Brookstone as a mentor was comforting. With them, messing up didn’t seem so bad.

"Rowanpaw! Rowanpaw!" she yowled, hoping he would hear her from the nursery. Despite her hesitance, she couldn’t wait to share a den with her siblings again.