Windclan Deputy Ceremony October

As Rapidfire climbed the tallrock, she felt a mixture of things, mostly saddened and disappointed in herself that Tigerstar's disappearance had occurred in the first place. All patrols had zero trace of him, cats returning from the far away lands such as Leo and Coy had not any trace of him either. As long as she had stubbornly held out for his return, she was becoming more and more painfully aware that it was a disservice to her clan to try and continue attempting to be their leader and deputy at once. It was beginning to take its toll on her entirety, no cat was meant to have the two jobs for this long. The entire reason for the splitting of leader and deputy was to have it be two cats.

Tigerstar had been her mentor when she was an apprentice, and even long after her warrior name he continued to teach her many things.

Looking out at the clan camp she took a deep breath in the clan needed a deputy, they deserved one. It would be un-responsible of her to not do this, if she too went missing it would plunge the clan into a leaderless time, something she was not willing to risk for the clanmates she was assigned to protect and care for.

"Let all cats old enough to run the moorlands gather for a clan meeting" she meowed out loudly for all to hear.

The strain that the missing Tigerstar had been causing through the camp had been starkly obvious, and it hurt Molehill to see his clanmates in such pain, especially Rapidfire. Hopefully her filling the spot of deputy and becoming leader would bring everyone some ease and rest in these trying times. If not, he wasn't quit sure what they would all do. The warrior wasn't exactly a pro at being helpful or comforting and it wasn't like he had too much wisdom to share, but he would certainly try. If his clanmates even wanted any help, that was.

Having been taking a little break after a morning hunt, his short ears perked at Rapidfire's calling. Making his way over to the Tallrock from the den area, the plump tom looked up at his mate with a lump in his throat. He assumed she was calling every-cat to a meeting for the very-awaited deputy ceremony and he knew that today lives would be changed... hopefully for the better.

Finding Fuzzface's pelt, he sat down and watched silently as his clanmates began to gather around, everyone's curious eyes up at their new leader.

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Sitting down beside his father, Bugpaw was intrigued as to what the gathering was about. "Dad, what's this all about?" the apprentice mewed in almost a whisper, not wanting to disturb any-cat around him.

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"I believe your mother is going to announce the new deputy," Molehill spoke softly, not taking his eyes off of his mate above. He knew she would be a great leader and while the previous leader's disappearance had be tough for everyone, seeing her up there made his heart flutter with excitement.

With no sign of Tigerstar's return, it seemed only logical for clan life to move forward. A deputy needed to be chosen, Rapidfire would get her nine lives... Windclan would keep moving, as their name implied. Cloudjumper turned toward the tallrock when Rapidfire's voice called across camp, eyes searching for Leopardwind to sit next to in the slowly gathering crowd.

Rainpaw walked silently over to her brother Bugpaw and her father Molehill.  She sat next to them and flicked her ears at their conversation, she was always the observant and shy one not saying much at all but very well aware of her surroundings and so forth.

Eaglefly sat amongst the warriors and for once was semi - serious, the prankter of a warrior was often found scheming his little goofy pranks for fun but he also had a flip side of wisdom that showed itself in times when it actually appeared to be useful.


Rapidfire looked at the camp filling in with her clan. All of these clanmates, all of them were entrusted to her to lead, a fact that made her paws feel a bit numb with anxiety.  She had promised to do anything in her power to keep the clan alive and it was plainly obvious that she could not keep doing what she had been.  She could not keep being their deputy and leader at the same time. Tigerstar's fate was unknown and she didnt know if they would ever learn what had happened to him, but her duty to the clan and to everyone here demanded that a new deputy be named.
How could she protect them if she grinded herself down further than she already had? Some of them would not like this, seemingly giving up on Tigerstar, but she had seen what overworking did to cats in positions exactly as she was in now with that of her own father.

"Windclan" she meowed bowing her head to them for a couple long moments,

"when I took my oath as a warrior I vowed to serve and protect this clan with my life. I promise you my resolve to do so stands just as strong as it did on the day I became rapidfire.  I feel in addition to this oath, I will also vow to tell you things as I see them... she paused

"even if that means bad news.  You have a right to know, for many of you as well have also taken the oath of warriors. How can I not share with you things after you have given everything to our clans survival? The news I have to break today is we still have no sign of Tigerstar, no knowledge what happened to him, additionally the news that I cannot keep best serving you as both your leader and deputy.

I need help she thought in a much quieter voice one that wasn't actually spoken at all.


"I ask these words before our ancestors of the stars, that they will approve my decision to name Molehill as our new clan deputy"

Listening to his mate’s words, hearing his name being spoken rang in his ears like a thousand bees and he shot his amber gaze down at his paws with his short ears tucked firmly against his head. Rapidfire had spoken to him prior to this clan gathering to be sure that he was alright with this new title and he had agreed to it… but now that it was all in the moment he wasn’t so sure, even after mulling over the idea of it for so long days prior. His clanmates would now look to him for guidance, support, and more… Could he do this?


Looking back up to the cream-pelted leader above, the confidence that she held in her tone gave him hope and a sense of overwhelming comfort. She wanted him to do this for a reason, it wasn’t like she had simply chosen him for the fun of it. She trusted him, that was all that mattered. Right?


Swallowing the lump that had settled deep in his throat, Molehill stood up trying his best not to show his nerves, though it was blatantly obvious due to the subtle quivering of his fuzzy tail and twitching of his plush ears. Giving the family members that sat around him a meek smile, the plump warrior began to make his way towards Tallrock to address the clan, or so he assumed that was what needed to be done. Unfortunately, he’d been so focused on not making any mistakes that he practically failed to see a round stone that was in his path. Stepping on it and sending his front paw flying off to the side, he let out a sharp gasp and his heart began to race a million beats per second as he hastily tried to correct himself. With his fur growing hot as he tried not to panic, Molehill quickly fixed his form and stood up straight with his paws back under him. Picking up his pace towards the large rock that Rapidfire stood on, he stopped at the bottom and turned around to face his clanmates. Great StarClan how he wished he could run back to the tunnels and hide for all of Leafbare.


Chest heaving, the brown tom took a moment to catch his breath. Part of him didn’t know what to say after that, but there was no time like the present and there was no better time to speak with his clanmates earnestly. He’d hoped to be able to share a better first impression of his capabilities as deputy, but here he was and now he needed to somehow salvage the situation. Whatever there was to salvage, if anything.


”I… I hope to be a good deputy and will do my best to serve you all as much as I can alongside my mate, Rapidfire,” the plump warrior mewed, doing his best to raise his voice among the crowd, though his tone was soft-spoken to begin with. Well, some intro to deputyship that was. Hopefully they didn’t think of him as a total fool… maybe just a little bit of one, which was fine by him.


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Peering up at his mother with curious eyes, Bugpaw’s jaw dropped to the ground when his father’s name was called. His dad? That was so cool! He didn’t know much about deputyship or really anything about leading a clan, but he bet his dad would be so good at it. He was a great father so that meant he was clearly fit for the job, right?


Wincing as his father proceeded to half slip on a pebble he was impressed by the quick recovery, although it was clear that the older tom was still nervous. ‘You’re going to do great, dad,’ he thought to himself silently, a wide grin on his maw. He wished he could’ve yelled that out through the crowd, but kept quiet. He’d have to tell Molehill later.


His mom a leader and his dad a deputy, who would’ve thought!


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He did it, he really did it.


Fuzzface never in a million moons thought he’d see the day where one of his kits made it to Deputy and he was honestly skeptical about the whole thing, with it being Molehill of all cats. The tom was still young and lacked experience, but a small part of him still gleamed with pride as his son stood up among the crowd.


Letting out a small chuckle at his son’s misfortune, the plump gray tom listened intently to the younger cat’s words as he made it over to the base of Tallrock with haste. Try to be a good deputy, he would. Succeed… only time would tell.