Cinderkit's Apprentice Ceremony

"ShadowClan! All cats old enough to silently stalk in the shadows, please gather around for a Clan meeting!"

It was with pride that Leopardsun called out the ceremonial words, waiting for another of her kits to come forward- this time, on ShadowClan land; where all was as it should be (if she allowed herself to ignore the lingering Twoleg presence and traps that littered their territory, as she had been). ShadowClan's camp was still in need of minor repairs, but comfortable and suited to them all the same.

Cinderkit had been carefully exploring the camp, so strange and different from the stones she had been born on and spent her earliest moons learning. Instead of towering walls of unyielding rock she was now surrounded by pine trees and marshes, and she had felt the struggle of getting used to this new territory, even in as small an area as the camp. As her siblings began to join the other apprentices, Cinderkit waited somewhat patiently for her turn. As her mother's call rang over the camp, Cinderkit joined the rest of the gathering clan, gazing up at Leopardsun proudly. Would today be the day?

"Cinderkit," Leopardsun purred, her voice warm. "Please step forward."

She waited for her daughter to do so, wondering how she would get along with her mentor. Fretting over simple things like that was... Refreshing, almost, after all the stress of managing ShadowClan and the other stresses that had followed.

"You have reached the age of six moons and are ready to become an apprentice. From this day until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Cinderpaw. Your mentor will be Swiftheart- I trust she will pass all that she knows onto you."

She looked over the crowd to find the warrior she'd named.

Swiftheart to Cinderkit, once upon a time; and now Cinderpaw to Swiftheart. It wasn't the reason she'd made the decision (and in fact she had worried briefly that the warrior would be upset by having to deal so often with a cat who shared the name of someone she'd lost), but she felt like the right choice.

Swiftheart had joined the meeting happily. She was in her usual good mood, happy especially that they were back home once more. The energetic warrior glanced up at leopardsun wondering who all was going to be promoted today.


Her jaw dropped a little when she heard her own name... She blinked a couple of times. She hadnt had an apprentice in awhile ever since her sister Harechaser who died just recently.

She smiled gratefully at Leopardsun, getting an apprentice was an treat and she felt honored that Leopardsun had chosen her to mentor Leopardsun's daughter.

Name wise, Cinder was the same name she had given her kitten before they vanished tragically, so it was a bit of a bittersweet but she couldnt have been happier to get to train them.


She spotted her niece and now apprentice and went over to her.

"hey you!" she purred softly and also super excitedly.

"Auntie Swiftheart is gonna do the best I can to train you" she nodded enthused.

Her mother answered her question when she called her name, and Cinderkit's whiskers twitched excitedly as she made her way to the front of the crowd, looking up at Leopardsun. She gave her the name Cinderpaw, announcing her as an apprentice, and naming her mentor as Swiftheart. Her gaze followed her mother's until they landed on her new mentor, and she purred as Swiftheart greeted her. "Hi! I'll work hard to make you, momma, and papa proud," she mewed excitedly. "When do we start? Now? I'm ready!"