Creekkit's Apprentice Ceremony

Badgermask sat somewhat nervously at the base of the rock - not that you could tell as her face was in its standard frown. She technically had known such a thing would fall under her care to deal with as she was deputy - even if it was temporary until Nightpaw proved himself to the Clan again... But it hadn't mean she had felt prepared when Leopardsun had mentioned the fact that a one or two of the kits were six moon old now. She sighed softly, straightening up with a swish of her tail. "All cats old enough to silently stalk in the shadows, please gather around for a Clan meeting!" she called out, feeling odd echoing the standard cry her mother used to bring the Clan together but there was little to be done but repeat the words that her mother had spoken so many times before.

Badgermask glanced over as Creekkit came rushing from the nursery, seemingly knowing what the ceremony was for...Hardly a surprise when he was the only kit old enough to gain their apprentice name unlike her who had her many siblings to contend with. "Creekkit, please step forward," she meowed as the rest of the Clan finished gathering, tail curling around her paws.

As the young cat stepped forward, Badgermask quietly repeated the words of the ceremony in her head - determined to get it right. Ever since she had realized this was a part of her duties for the time being, she had taken to memorizing the spoken words as much as she could. "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 Creekpaw," she meowed, meeting the newly named apprentice's gaze. "I will be your mentor - I will teach you everything that has been passed down to me and how to properly stalk among the shadows."

Truth be told, Badgermask wasn't eager to have an apprentice but there was no denying the discomfort she had felt in being named deputy - as temporary as it was -without being first given an apprentice as dictated by the Warrior Code. The Clan's anger over Nightpaw stemmed from his disregard of the code, it would not serve her to make little of it either even if her position wasn't meant to last. So, an apprentice... A sigh escaped her, but she quickly shook of her distaste as she padded forward to meet the newly named Creekpaw, leaning down to touch his nose.

Badgermask blinked as Creekpaw spoke up, giving him a soft look. Ah, right, yes - "Yes, training will start tomorrow. Take the rest of the night to get settled into the apprentice's den." Training, she would need to start trying to figure out what that would look like for Creekpaw. She waved him off with her tail, to go get to meet the other apprentices and sort out where his nest would be as she turned and started to pad off. Training, training...She would figure something out - and if anything, she could just start with what Leopardsun had done for her.

Harriertalon attended fewer apprentice and warrior  ceremonies now that she was busy in the med den. This one was special, however: Badgermask was preforming this ceremony.

While she had full confidence in her sister, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief from the confirmation that Badgermask had everything under control.

"Congratulations, Creekpaw: Badgermask is the perfect cat to be your mentor." She flashed a sweet smile at the new apprentice. She did have a soft spot for kits and apprentices; they were ShadowClans future, after all. And Creekpaw seemed to be a good egg so far. ShadowClan needed more of those.