[Apprentice Ceremony] Willow and Elm

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar

So the day had come. Looking into the nursery at the kits of Swallowpelt and Otterfur, it was clear to any cat that they had outgrown the den and needed to shuffle onward, toward the next chapter of life in Pineclan. It was kind of saddening to Gingerstar, since it was an ending. They would never be kits again. From now on, they would be put under endless pressure, by both their mentors and herself. Their easy lives were over.

But this last moment of kittenhood, she allowed them, and for just a second, Gingerstar's eyes softened as she watched Elmkit and Willowkit. She wasn't a she-cat who drooled over the soft fur of a kitten, true, but something did stir in her heart. She couldn't deny it. She felt a little like a mother to each of them.

The moment passed quickly though and Gingerstar turned away from the nursery and regained her cool composure (though she sent a look around camp, secretly self-conscious for that second of weakness). Then, she began the clan meeting.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their prey, meet me-- oh you know the drill," She was impatient, edgy, and still a little emotional as she thought about what she was about to do. These were the first clan-born kits, and they would be the first clan-born apprentices. It was enough to make Gingerstar want to...share tongues with her deputy, or something. And being uncomfortable with that, it also made her snappy.

"Today is a special day for Pineclan, for we are about to witness the apprentice ceremony of two very special kittens-- Willowkit and Elmkit, will you please step forward."

She waited for the kits to do as they were told, and as they did, she observed each one. First, Elmkit. A tom. He was strong-looking, big and gruff and he mostly resembled his father, the kind-hearted Otterfur. She was impressed with his size, but his accent bothered her immensely, and she did not know if he was going to be the best warrior out there. After all, he was all muscle and fur and no brains. She'd need to stick him with a cat that could help him out with that.

Next, Willowkit. She was so small, she was practically a mouse. It was actually very disappointing, since she was the only female in the litter. But she was beautiful, a stunning shade of dark gray, and the way she was looking at Gingerstar gave the leader some hope for the future of her clan. She would need an equally strong female to really nurture her and send her in the right direction.

Gingerstar began the ceremony.

"Elmkit and Willowkit, you have reached the age of six moons. In the tradition of a warrior, you are now ready to become an apprentice of PineClan. You've demonstrated patience by waiting until your time comes, demonstrated strength by making it this far, and you've shown courage by standing before the clan, waiting for your apprentice name."

"As an apprentice of PineClan, you will be taught to fight for the honor of your clan. You will learn how to hunt to feed the members who cannot hunt, as well as yourself. A sense of loyalty and kinship will be instilled in you, one that you must protect and follow for as long as you live. And when you stand before us again, ready to receive your warrior name, you will look back on your training and never forget what you have learned."

"Elmkit and Willowkit, are you two prepared to become apprentices of PineClan?"
----

Willowkit

It had been unfair that Crowpaw's ceremony had been the day before hers. Really, really unfair. Why should he have become an apprentice before her anyway? They were all the same age (even if she was smaller) and so they should become apprentices at the same time. Was it really only because he was gonna be a medicine cat apprentice?

It was stupid, no matter what the reason.

Now, however, it was time for her ceremony. True, she wasn't going to be a medicine cat apprentice, but she was going to be a warrior apprentice, and to her, that was better anyway. She got to go out into the forest and hunt! She got her very own mentor! Nothing could be better.

So when Gingerstar called her name, a hunger stole into the young she-kit's eyes and she darted forward, not even stealing a glance at her brother. She stared at Gingerstar, waiting, waiting. It had been six moons of waiting. She wanted her apprentice name right now and then...then she would be back here, in this same spot, sooner than any other cat could imagine,and her warrior name would come next.

She listened to Gingerstar talk (booooring!) until the leader lowered her head and asked her that very, very important question.

Willowkit barked out the answer before Elmkit could even open his mouth. "I am!"

[/size]

[thistle.]

Elmpaw! Elmpaw! Elmpaw!

The brown tabby's soon-to-be name drummed loudly in the his ears. He could barely believe it: after six long, dreary moons of waiting, he would finally become an apprentice! Only a step away from the respected, powerful warrior he aimed to be. Words simply could not describe his excitement, and it was with a bouncy-heeled swagger that he came forward to take his place in front of Gingerstar. A slightly arrogant expression lay on his facial features -- after all, this was his moment. It was too bad that Crowpaw wasn't there beside him. He recalled their argument, which had occurred almost a moon ago, with a painful twinge in his heart. They hadn't had a chance to smooth things over, but seeing that his black brother was as cheerful as chipmunk, Elmkit was pretty sure that he had been forgiven. The tom snuck a glance at his other sibling. At least they would be able to train together for the most part.

Gingerstar's words had no real meaning for Elmkit. He barely registered them, waiting all the while for the question. Yadda yadda yadda. Can we get to the important stuff now? thought the tabby, rather impatiently. That was when the most beautiful sentence in the world reached his ears. "Elmkit and Willowkit, are you two prepared to become apprentices of PineClan?"

The young tom's reply was a split second after his sister's: "I am too!"

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar's eyes lit up again at the female's quick reply. Yes, with the proper amount of training and the right mentor, well, she would become a fabulous warrior, truly worthy of her birth clan. Gingerstar would tolerate no weak females in Pineclan and this little thing (she really was pathetically small, especially when compared to her monster of a brother) would be no exception.

The tom's reply came a second after the female's, and this made Gingerstar's muzzle twitch up in a slight smirk. A little slow on the draw, eh? Yes, the tom she would need was Loonstep. He had that annoying step and he was withdrawn, true, but he was actually smart. Very smart. He could pick up the slack with his dunderhead of an apprentice.

As for Willowkit, the choice was obvious. Ashstorm. They'd be a strong match...perhaps they would even blossom into good friends. Gingerstar loved uniting strong females together, for she had learned that females learn best when they can draw from one of their own. Toms were usually more of a distraction for she-cats

So, first the pretty Willowkit. Gingerstar cleared her throat again and said,"Then, in front of the clan, I name you Willowpaw, and you shall hold onto this name until the clan feels it is time for you to become a warrior and your mentor feels they've taught you all they can."

Willowpaw's eyes-- a mossy green-- lit up and a dignified smile lit up her face. It made Gingerstar purr, before the leader moved on.

"And I name you Elmpaw, and you shall hold onto this name until the clan feels it is time for you to become a warrior and your mentor feels they've taught you all they can."

Next, the mentors.

Gingerstar's eyes left the bodies of the two newly-named apprentices and then zeroed in on Ashstorm, and then Loonstep. She had notified Loonstep ahead of time, but Ashstorm's mentorship would be a surprise to her.

"Loonstep and Ashstorm, please step forward."

[/size]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Loonstep

He blinked. And blinked. And blinked again. Though he knew this moment had been coming, he still hadn't been quite prepared for it. Still, the hefty tom slowly, in his rocking way, stepped forward, feeling slightly awkward and embarrassed especially since the only other cat who came out of the crowd was, of course, Ashstorm, and he didn't even know her that well, having probably spoken to her a grand total of two or three times.

Like the self-imposed social reject he was, he thought cynically. But never mind that now.

He padded to the light brown tabby apprentice, touching noses with him as was traditional. Elmkit's eyes - a deep green - were like few other cats' eyes he'd ever seen. However, he could read nothing in their emerald depths. "Thank you, Gingerstar. I will do my best as befits this honor and responsibility, and train Elmpaw in the ways of PineClan." Nothing less than a formal reply would probably get him in trouble.

Ashstorm

It was that day. The day when that accursed animal came in and murdered her father while she hid and watched, blood everywhere on the hay...

The little warrior shivered as she squirmed in her nest, opening her pale green eyes, scared and fur bushing until she realized she was only in her nest at camp, not living in a bad memory.

It had been so long since that nightmare had come...

But wait...wasn't that Gingerstar's voice, calling a summons? It drove the lingering dream shades out of her head and launched her into the present.

She'd better get out there! Rising up on slightly stiff limbs, the yawing faintly striped she-cat stepped out of her bed and onto the rough floor of the warriors' den. Padding out with as much speed as her small frame could muster, she was just in time out to hear her and Loonstep's names called. At first Ashstorm was confused, but then she saw the the two young cats in front of her leader and realized what must be going on, which meant...she was a mentor now! And judging by the fact that the big black and white tom was touching noses with Elmpaw, that meant she was Willowpaw's mentor.

Running through the crowd at full speed, she dashed up to the just-made apprentice, somewhat delighted to see that she was small, gray-furred, and green-eyed, just like Ashstorm herself. They should get along fine. "Thanks, Gingerstar." She meowed in a surprised, delighted voice. "I'll do my best to shoulder this responsibility."

She hoped she could take care of Willowpaw as well as Miles had taken care of her.

[thistle.]

An almost involuntary purr rumbled in the newly named Elmpaw's throat. The excitement of it all was making him dizzy with pride and elation. Dreams of battling other Clans, exploring his territory, and training with his mentor were already awakening in his mind. And speaking of mentors... who would be his? Ashstorm, or Loonstep? He didn't know much about either of them, but he secretly hoped that Loonstep would be his. Ashstorm could be a soft-hearted sissy, for all he knew. Not like he wanted to insult her or anything, but she-cats-well, some of them-were pretty silly. That was highly unlikely for toms, in his opinion. Oh, whatever. They were approaching and he could barely keep still. He fidgeted, waiting.

The nose touch was a bit unexpected, seeing that Gingerstar hadn't even said who would mentor who. Elmpaw quickly found himself staring into the yellow-green eyes of Loonstep. His heart gave a little leap and he couldn't resist mewing a quiet "Yahooey!" He couldn't wait for the ceremony to be over; then he could romp through the pine trees of his home and chat with his mentor freely about the best places to hunt and the coolest battles that he had fought in.

... except the black-and-white tom's formal reply didn't quite fit into what he was thinking about: "Thank you, Gingerstar. I will do my best as befits this honor and responsibility, and train Elmpaw in the ways of PineClan." Honor? Yeah, whatever. Responsibility? Ptah! He could take care of himself, thank you very much! Apprentice training was supposed to be fun; hopefully Loonstep would act more 'normal' later on.

'Normal' meaning not as lame and boring as many old-fashioned warriors nowadays were.

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar

Gingerstar's eyebrows shot upward as Loonstep took the initiative and...finished the ceremony for her. Ashstorm followed his lead (which annoyed her) and well, Gingerstar didn't know what to say now.

Heck, why should she stress over it? As annoying as it was that Loonstep had been so obnoxious to take the ceremony onto his shoulders, and as irritating as it was that Ashstorm hadn't used her brain and stayed silent, this just meant less work for Gingerstar, and the ceremonies were just a practiced tradition from Forestclan life. Gingerstar herself didn't care for them that much, but they did hold importance and the cats liked them, so she kept them. Plus it was good to keep some structure that was similar to other clans, since they were so different.

But now, she didn't have to say her scripted piece. Perfect.

But she would embarrass Loonstep anyway, because he had stepped on her toes and she did not like that. It was rude.

"Alright then-- thank Loonstep for cutting our ceremony short. As you can all see, he is the mentor of Elmpaw. Congratulations, bla bla bla, I'm sure you'll do fine. Ashstorm, glad you caught on that the other one is yours. So we're done. Chant their names, get back to work. That fresh-pile is looking pathetic."

And with that, she left, in a bit of a huff. Yes, Gingerstar threw a bit of a temper tantrum, and maybe it wasn't proper leader behavior, but she wouldn't stand for a hasty tom stealing words out of her mouth either.
---
Willowpaw

The second that Ashstorm stepped out of the crowd, Willowpaw knew that she was hers. It just fit. Two she-cats together, two males together. Gingerstar would definitely have matched them up this way on purpose and Willowpaw was ecstatic about that.

'Sides, Loonstep had a weird way of walking and she had heard rumors that his brother was a Fogclan cat. She would be embarrassed to have a mentor related to the likes of them.

But then...something strange happened. Now, Willowpaw was not an expert at traditional apprentice ceremonies, but she knew that they were not supposed to go this way. Ashstorm touched her nose before Gingerstar could even go on. And they were both accepting their apprentices without even knowing which ones they got! Of course, the way Loonstep acted, he obviously knew beforehand.

And then Gingerstar made everything worse.

"Ashstorm, glad you caught on that the other one is yours. So we're done. Chant their names, get back to work. That fresh-pile is looking pathetic."

The other one? We're done? Get back to work?

Wait, wait, the other one?!.

A fire erupted in Willowpaw and an image of herself attacking the leader flashed through her mind several times. She was not the other one! She was Willowpaw, daughter of Otterfur and Swallowpelt, sister of Elmpaw, and future warrior of Pineclan! She was Willowpaw, and she deserved more than that off-handed comment! Her anger bubbled up into her throat and Willowpaw had to force a tiny smile to keep her cries from coming out. This was supposed to be her special day!

But it was ruined. Ruined.

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Loonstep

Ugh. Was it just him, or was it impossible to make Gingerstar happy? It seemed like she never smiled, never laughed, never did things lightly. Well, maybe she did things lightly, but it was like she didn't care, was bored with them, thought them unimportant. Apparently, even though she was a leader, she didn't realize the magnitude of certain things. Namely, honor and a good appearance publicly. Leaders. They always thought they knew best.

Oh well, at least Elmpaw wouldn't be like that. He hoped.

He waited a few moments for cats to disperse, then looked at his apprentice with a careful yellow gaze. He'd seen mentors train their apprentices before. But he'd always wondered something: did they ever ask the apprentices themselves what they wanted to learn? He had no idea. But he would. It seemed only considerate. Sure, there were basics they had to learn, but why not at least take their opinions into consideration?

Unlike Gingerstar.

"So, Elmpaw, what do you want to learn first?" He asked in a jovial tone. "You know, since I figured I'd ask YOU instead of just giving orders like our dear leader." Yeah, yeah, he shouldn't have jibed Gingerstar, but hey. Who could hear them anyway?

The black and white tom needed the brown tabby to like him, after all. Maybe this would help.

Ashstorm

Well, the orange she-cat had acted sort of weird...but Ashstorm wasn't going to trouble herself over it. There were more important things to be done. Hunting, obviously. First and foremost, good for teaching and good for the Clan. Besides, she bet that Willowpaw would just be dying to do something. Hunting lessons were perfect. Not that she would spend hours practicing with her. She'd teach by memory: teach her an outline today, and get into the finer points tomorrow.

"Okay, Willowpaw, you heard Gingerstar. We're going to go hunting. And you will show me how good you can be. Which I'm betting is good. After all, we won't let Loonstep and Elmpaw show off, will we?" She meowed in a conspiratorial whisper. And she was serious.

The gray she-cat tried to plan as she spoke. Hmm, now where would be the best place to start...? The river. The answer came to her almost as quickly as she'd thought the question. It was good for fish, and voles often made their dens there. Perfect.

[thistle.]

"Alright then-- thank Loonstep for cutting our ceremony short. As you can all see, he is the mentor of Elmpaw. Congratulations, bla bla bla, I'm sure you'll do fine. Ashstorm, glad you caught on that the other one is yours. So we're done. Chant their names, get back to work. That fresh-pile is looking pathetic."

Elmpaw snorted aloud, more out of amusement than anything else. He was also glad, though, that Loonstep had cut down on the time the rest of the ceremony would've taken. He could begin training now! Well, first he wanted to explore the territory. Then he wanted to train. After all, he had been cooped up in camp for six moons; he wasn't going to wait any longer for a chance to go out. His imagination was limited to the first stretch of trees just feet away from camp. A couple times he had adventured farther than he was allowed along with his siblings, but their mother's furious yowl drew them back like fishing hooks. Elmpaw's green eyes had become misty again as he daydreamed about his kithood. He wouldn't be able to turn back from apprenticeship now. (pfft, as if he wanted to)

Loonstep's hearty mew, which sounded strange compared to his formal speech in the ceremony, stopped him from going deeper into his reverie. The newly-made apprentice looked up, and without even thinking over his options, "Can we explo'e the terr'tory first? And then can we do some battle trainin'? I 'ready know some fightin' moves, y'know!" He dropped onto his back and flailed his forelegs, claws unsheathed and fake growls rising from his throat. He was still lying down when he said, "Hey, is our terr'tory really biggish? Like, bigger than other Clans?" He wanted something that would impress him; if his mentor said that PineClan's land was smaller than any other, Elmpaw would be more than disappointed.

[Whiskers]

The anger and astonishment did not vanish when Gingerstar swept away and headed towards her den. No, Willowpaw was still angry, still ready to spit and fight. She nearly forgot that her mentor existed, and when Ashstorm spoke, the first half was lost to Willowpaw's ears. She did, however, catch the bit about being better than Elmpaw and Loonstep.

Because yes. Yes she would be. Something clicked into place, and Willowpaw knew that she was going to leave Elmpaw in the dust when it came to apprentice life. She would be faster and smarter and stronger and more popular. And she would never be called 'the other one' again.

In fact, one day, everyone in the forest would know her name. The position of Pineclan leader was suddenly looking very appealing to young Willowpaw

"They won't," Willowpaw said with a confident calm. "You don't have to worry Ashstorm, I plan to completely pulverize my brother in everything that we do."

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Loonstep

The big tom smiled again. He liked Elmpaw's accent. It was a bit unusual, just like his step. How appropriate. He also liked the brown tabby's reply. The little tom reminded him of when he'd been an apprentice. So willing to explore.

"Okay. We'll go around all the borders. Fighting moves, huh? Well, I'll just teach you basic techniques for today. Not that I think you can't handle doing moves, but you're going to be tired after our walk, trust me."

Loonstep hoped Elmpaw didn't think he was being patronizing. Loonstep hated cats who were patronizing; he didn't mind being given advice, no. He just disliked being told things he already knew.

The next question puzzled the warrior, though. Why would the size of their territory matter? Well, he supposed it did, what with prey and all...

"I honestly don't know, but I'm pretty sure the territories are all about the same size. It's only fair."

Ashstorm

The little she-cat felt satisfaction warm her heart. Willowpaw was obviously decisive and determined, good qualities in a warrior. They would work well together, and maybe one day her apprentice would be more skilled than she herself. That would be a crowning accomplishment for the gray warrior.

"Good. Our destination will be the river, but I'll teach you along the way. Get ready to learn fast and act quickly. Now let's get going."

As Ashstorm padded smoothly towards the entrance to camp, she wondered if she was expecting too much of her apprentice. It was unusual for a cat to catch prey on their first day of hunting, after all. It had taken the tabby herself almost a half-moon to get it right. Still, at least Willowpaw was eager, and that was always good.

So it was out of the camp she stepped, into the early morning sunshine. Or what could be seen of it through the trees.