Post by Fawn on Jan 31, 2015 10:41:48 GMT -5
Lionstar
48 Moons || Tom || TreeClan
The ceremony was held at moon high, the long curving crescent hung in the sky like a great cat's claw, illuminating the massive tree stump upon which Lionstar conducted ceremonies. It had enough room to fit seven cats comfortably, so he sat at the edge facing the Clan, his voice ringing clear and strong as it echoed into the hollow. "May all cats of TreeClan gather for a Clan Meeting." Having heard the assessments of Sprucefur and Feathercloud personally, the time had come to once again welcome another warrior into Clan life; his only regret, if pressed by the medicine cat or a very close friend, was that that cat had to be Sootpaw. His concerns over the offspring of his moral enemy were unfounded, and Lionstar struggled every day with the notion that he couldn't blame the son for the actions of the father - no matter how little Sootpaw did to actually disprove his own lineage or inclination for darkness. It was best to get this over with quickly.
Lionstar sought out the unpleasantly familiar, eerie face in the crowd and beckoned him closer with a flick of the tail; there were so few apprentices in the Clan right now, and with three out of the four being too young for the ceremony, it wasn't hard to figure out whose special moment it was. Lionstar raised his voice, owing the dispassionate, silent apprentice the ceremony he deserved, though the golden tom thought he caught a flash of Mockingbird's eyes in the moonlight as they fixated on him. "I, Lionstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Sootpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
It wasn't as if he expected the would-be-warrior to say no, or bring up the forbidden topic of his father. The ceremony would go smoothly, and he wouldn't have to draw attention to Sootpaw any further; it was with a sincere sort of hope that Lionstar prayed to StarClan the gray tom wouldn't follow in his sire's footsteps. He had enough to fill up his time that further betrayal from the Clan would be most unwelcome - not that there was ever an appropriate time or place for that. Grayowl had shaken his faith in his Clan, and Lionstar was still trying to shrug away any suspicions he held for them, for the faces staring up at him - wondering, sometimes, just how many of them would leave TreeClan if they thought they could survive on their own. Just how many of them thought ill of him or his leadership.
Casting aside these dark thoughts as much as he could, as if making a grab for some sort of solace, Lionstar's attention rested briefly on Willowfur, and he felt a small wave of calm come to lap against the worried edges of his mind, her presence a much needed balm. Everything was going to be fine.
Tags: Phoenix, Insidious, nimble