Graypaw's Mentor Reassignment

This was not something Wolfblossom had ever thought to have to do, much less so soon after the apprentice's training had even began. In any case, Wolfblossom had been furious when she had been told the news, though her expression as she leapt to the tallbranch was one of careful neutrality. Yewfrost was gone, and life would move on - without him. His absence left an apprentice in need of a mentor, Wolfblossom's daughter. She had taken a couple days to mull over her decision in who to assign Graypaw too, and her thoughts had circled back to one cat she knew she could trust.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the tallbranch for a clan meeting!"Wolfblossom's voice rang out over the camp, and she sat back to wait.

---

Graypaw sulkily padded from the apprentice den at her mother's call. Her brother was a warrior, her siblings seemed to be doing well in their training, with mentors who were active and always taking them for some patrol or another... And here she was, languishing. Yewfrost was hardly present, and now he was just... Gone? Abandoned the clan? Did he care that little about his duties as a warrior? Her mother had trusted him to train her and this was Graypaw's first realization that not only had that trust been broken, but Wolfblossom could be wrong. Her apprenticeship had felt like a hole that she'd stumbled into, and while Falconmoon had freed himself of it quickly, Graypaw had found herself stuck.

---

Wolfblossom waited for the clan to gather, noting the sullen look to Graypaw's face. Her training had not been progressing as either of them would've hoped, it seemed, and Wolfblossom would not let her linger without a mentor for any longer than she already had. "Graypaw, step forward." The pale silver and white tabby did so, golden eyes downcast, tail tip twitching, and Wolfblossom sighed. "You have been without a mentor for long enough, to circumstances that weren't your fault. It is time you have a new mentor: Thornstalker. As I taught her, she will teach you, and I trust that she can pick up your training from where it was left and help you become as skilled of a warrior in your own right." Wolfblossom nodded at her former apprentice. There were other warriors who needed to have an apprentice, and Thornstalker already had Foxpaw, but Thornstalker was somebody that Wolfblossom trusted. She needed that, as did Graypaw. With the ceremony concluded, Wolfblossom leapt from the branch, while Graypaw glanced around for the short golden-furred she-cat Wolfblossom had named. She wasn't exactly excited... But if it meant she might finally get out of the hole she seemed to be stuck in...