Sparrowthron's Medicine Cat Apprentice Ceremony

Batsong awoke abruptly from a dream.  In her dream a clanmate had needed their paw healed from a thorn and the sound of a sparrows call could be heard in the background.

She blinked slowly awake thinking about it... "good stars starclan... why cant you just say 'hey bat pick sparrowthorn as your apprentice' why do you always make it so obscure"  she muttered quietly to herself.

The med cat sighed.  She had alot of time to reflect on what she now realized was such a poor decision recently at the gathering.  She had messed up big time and the clan was sure to let her know of that.  It felt pretty terrible in general.  Perhaps having an apprentice would be good though.  If nothing else she would be sure to try and help guide sparrow to avoid mistakes that she herself had made.

She was pretty sure that Sparrow hated her guts right now and ... she couldnt really blame the warrior given what had happened.  Batsong had never thought that the gathering would get so out of control as it had.  She would understand if Sparrow didn't like her at all or even despised her.

Regardless, it was still her job and duty to train the next apprentice to the med cat role... and since it was clear that Birchgaze was gone gone now it was needed that another cat would one day take her place.  In the back of her mind she hoped that day would be sooner than later.  She felt the whole clan was rightfully mad at her and she wasnt sure how she could maintain all this given everything.  The sooner she could train Sparrowthron the better... well assuming Sparrowthorn would even want that.  Just because starclan gave suggestions didnt mean she had to follow them as she had learned just now the hard way.  She would offer the position to Sparrowthorn but if the warrior turned it down she would be fine picking someone else too.

Walking over to her clanmate she gave a greeting to her.

"Sparrowthorn. I know you are angry with me, and probably apathetic and disappointed in me as well.  And all of these feelings are justified, I feel alot of these things towards myself too.  I messed up big time and didn't think through everything I should have. I failed you and the entire clan with what I did.  At the time I thought it was correct... but hearing everyone afterwards I realized just how wrong I was.

Despite all of this... I think I need an apprentice.  I know I should have no business asking you after all I have done.  But I want to ask you to do it for not just me but for the clan as a whole.


she sighed looking at her paws

"Its becoming more and more clear to me that I can't be in this position... not alone at least.  I want to talk with shrike and small and if you accept this, you as well... but I was thinking once you were trained and fully ready for it... I would step down and let you be the full med cat.  This was still hypothetical because she did want to run it by shrike and small first of course but if they agreed as well then she would heavily consider it.

But she wanted Sparrow to know first since if sparrow was to become mca, she should know going into it what was being considered and what she was signing up for.  "I would stay until you felt ready for it and had your full med cat name title, and know even after that I would always be willing to help you more afterwards... if you should want/need it

She glanced to her clanmate and she was pretty sure she could feel the anger gaze from sparrow burning into her.

"you can think about it as much as you need, I know this is probably a lot to take in

she paused thinking about it too.

"But sparrow?  Even though I understand all your grievances with me and even though you are justified in all of them.  If you accept this you need to agree that when we are training you will not let them interfere with your learning of the herbs.  Your anger at me is understanable but
I will not have the clan suffer from it.  If you accept I need to know you can put aside your feelings towards me during our training at least so you can focus on them properly, giving a cat the wrong herb can make them very sick and others should not have to suffer from my mistake.  So if you take this position promise me you can put aside this while we are training... Outside of training you are free to dislike me all you want and as I said... are right to do so."

She got up to her paws allowing the warrior some space to think it over.

"if you agree, come by my den later and we can do your ceremony" she whispered walking away

Sparrowthorn had been sitting on her own, awaiting the arrival of her fellow clanmates so they could begin a patrol. The stars knew how important it was to be vigilant after the fiasco that the gathering had been. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Batsong approaching with some kind of intent. Clenching her jaw, she turned to the Medicine Cat, eyeing her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion as she began to speak.

The warrior was unsure as to why Batsong was apologizing to her. She wasn't close to being immensely wronged, though she was obviously angry and upset that Batsong had put their clan in danger. Then she heard the word 'apprentice', and her ears slicked back. Holding her tongue, she let Batsong explain herself. Things about putting her anger aside, at least during training. How sorry she was. As she walked away, Sparrowthorn let out a huff, and resolved to go about her patrol as normal.

---

As the sun grew close to the horizon once again, Sparrowthorn entered the Medicine Den, spotting Batsong immediately. "I will put aside my anger to train under you. Starclan has called, so it seems I must answer." The warrior was unhappy about the whole situation, but if Starclan themselves asked Batsong to train her to become Windclan's next Medicine Cat, who was she to deny them. She had never been very good at healing, or having any kind of bedside manner, but all she had ever wanted was to protect her family. Maybe she was simply destined to protect them by healing them, instead of being on the frontlines.

Batsong didn’t know what to expect when sparrow appeared back later that day. She was pleasantly surprised by the agreement to do it. She nodded. K

She got some herbs and gave them to the warrior. Luckily sparrow already knew this route since this would not be her first moonstone

With a silent flick of her tail after they had both eaten the travel herbs she led the way out of camp


(Sorry for the short post. I am also gonna be out on vacation see member announcement for more details so this will be my last post here unless sparrow needs something beyond that. If you can keep an eye on moonstone topics till I get back thanks Alex!)

Sparrowthorn waited until nightfall, pacing back and forth within the Medicine Den. She hadn't wanted to tell her siblings yet. This had come as a surprise to them all, and she wasn't sure how to confront it yet. Taking care to not step on the sleeping form of Vulturepaw, the molly exited the den, noting the darkness of camp, the quietness. How easy it would be for Shadowclan to attack, while she and Batsong were away, playing at Starclan's messengers.

Soon enough, Batsong emerged with traveling herbs. Sparrowthorn ate them without delay, only scrunching up her nose as she swallowed. They were awful, bitter things, but better than nothing when going to the Moonstone. The path was familiar and well-worn with cats traveling this it regularly, it wasn't hard to follow Batsong up and into the small tunnels leading to the stone.

Retracing the steps she had taken what felt like forever ago, Sparrowthorn entered the glowing cavern with squinting eyes and hesitant paws. No going back now, right? She loved her clan, her family. This was a privilege. Her eyes flicked over to Batsong, she could just say no. Could just leave, be the warrior she always thought she would be. She wouldn't, though. She would protect her family, whether she liked the means, or not. Flicking her tail as if to shove Batsong into the corner where medicine cats, or others, rested during the Moonstone journeys they escorted, Sparrowthorn pressed her nose to the glowing stone, laying down as she did so. Soon, sleep took her, and she knew there really was no going back.

The stars seemed to swirl around the waking cat. The vision in front of the living room cleared to show the starry lit plains of Starclan. Standing in the middle stood a gray and white tuxedo tom. Yellow eyes focused on the cat in front of him. "Welcome Sparrowthorn." Ploverpuddle said. "I am Ploverpuddle, your new guide. Starclan accepts you in your new role."

As the dark of her slumber wore off into the light that enveloped Starclan, Sparrowthorn's green eyes focused on the form of tom in front of her. A simple guide, she supposed. She was now one of the intermediaries for Starclan now, it made sense that one would greet her. Dipping her head respectfully, a low, "Thank you, I will protect and serve Windclan with all I have," reverberated from her chest. As the stars faded, she found herself waking again, looking to the molly that was to be her mentor.

"When do we begin?" Sparrowthorn found herself asking as she rose to her paws. As angry as she was at Batsong, it would only do good for the clan if Batsong followed through on her words. Once she was trained, Batsong would retire. Windclan would be in her paws then, but those paws would be better than Batsong's. Her small form began to leave, without waiting for her mentor. She knew the way back, and besides, she had work to do.