[Fawn]

There was a chill in the air, a nippiness that was hard to ignore for those of light pelts and cold-sensitivities. For the TreeClan leader, however, there was a note of excitement in the air as well; it mainly came from the young warriors and two particular fluffy kits in the nursery, the approaching ceremony creating quite a buzz around camp.

After all, who wouldn't want to mentor the Clan leader's two younger sisters? Even though they were half-siblings, they still shared his blood, there was a link between them, and whether Lionstar wanted it to be the case or not, the Clan cats were bound to read a little too much into the cats he chose as mentors.
Hoping there would be no sore feelings for the cats who weren't picked, Lionstar leaped atop the Ancient Stump, calling out his signature yowl of congregation.
"Let all cats healthy enough gather beneath the Ancient Stump for a Clan Meeting!"

Though Lionstar had not told his siblings in advance that today would be their ceremony, they seemed to have picked it up enough in the excessive grooming from their mother this morning. Chuckling under his breath, Lionstar beckoned Silverkit and Rowankit closer, the attention and murmuring momentarily falling to them. Lionstar cleared his throat, spotting the two cats he had chosen edging their way to the front.

"The time has come for two Clanmates to leave behind the name of 'kit' and be welcomed into the Apprentices' Den. Silverkit," He turned his attention then to the little silver shaded she-kit, her head raising, her posture almost rigid as she did her absolute best to appear respectable, determined not to embarrass her brother or anyone else. Her eyes were alive with excitement and nervousness abound.

"Silverkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Silverpaw. Your mentor will be Nobleheart. I hope Nobleheart will pass down all he knows on to you."
Seeking out the scarred warrior from the crowd, Lionstar conveyed a silent message to the gray and white tom nearby; Take care of my little sister. I'm counting on you.

Silverkit spun around, her heart bursting out of her chest as she sought out the green-eyed warrior. My mentor is Nobleheart! Thank you Lionstar! Thank you so much! Almost forgetting her sister beside her, Silverkit seemed to quiver with excitement, flushing beneath her pelt and settling down a little when Nobleheart finally approached. Lionstar's voice rang out overhead;

"Nobleheart, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Bloodtalon and myself, and you have shown yourself to be highly-skilled and loyal to TreeClan. You will be the mentor of Silverpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Silverpaw." Dipping his chin in a curt nod of acceptance, the Clan leader switched over to the sorrel she-kit still remaining, smiling at the enthusiastic little scrap of fur.

"Rowankit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rowanpaw. Your mentor will be Luckeyes. I hope Luckeyes will pass down all she knows on to you."
Lionstar hoped that the older, slightly no-nonsense she-cat would be a good influence for his energetic, proud little sister. Drawing his golden gaze to the mismatched eyes of the older warrior, meeting her gaze approvingly;
"Luckeyes, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Bellowsong, and you have shown yourself to be tenacious and highly committed to the good of the Clan. You will be the mentor of Rowanpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Rowanpaw."

---

Word Count: 721
Notes: Posting Order - Fawn, Phoenix, Amber, Fuzzy

[Phoenix]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i48.tinypic.com/zt69tt.jpg] [/style]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/i3ubeh.jpg][style=padding-left: 13px; height: 188px;][style=height: 188px; width: 190px; overflow: auto; padding: 5px; text-align: justify; font-size: 13px; font-family: perpetua;] A familiar cry split the crisp, cool air, and a gray and white head, covered with scars, turned to automatically face the source. Tail flicking, he found himself somewhat relieved that the announcement had finally arrived. It had been the subject of conversation for the past few days in the warrior's den. Who would Lionstar choose to mentor his two young half-siblings. How much of an honor it would be to be given one of them as an apprentice. Nobleheart had briefly entertained the idea of himself becoming a mentor, but he had dismissed almost as soon as it entered his mind. Not only was he a new warrior, he was also young and rather inexperienced in comparison. In any case, he wasn't sure if he wanted an apprentice yet. He had just begun to become accustomed to the demands of being a warrior and was not quite ready to have his whole lifestyle shifted once more to accomodate another cat. The other warriors were not so inclined, for they continued conversing and speculating to the point where he feared an obessession in some cats. They're only two cats, He found himself thinking, thoroughly unimpressed, as he padded over to join the growing crowd. They're normal - fairly normal, at least. Lionstar's blood is not going to make them instant prodigies. Personally, he could not understand the fascination. If he had to admit it, they were fairly cute. Silverkit seemed to have developed some sort of infatuation with him ever since he had rescued her from that raccoon, and it seemed to have grown, rather than diminished, with time. He found it both amusing and slightly disturbing at the same time. Letting out a soft sigh, he settled himself down on the fringe of the group, ears pivoting toward Lionstar as the leader began to speak. Let's get this over with. Green eyes widened slightly when he heard his roll off of the leader's tongue, and he blinked, startled. What? Me? Amber eyes searched through the crowd, landing on his shocked ones and snapping him out of his momentary daze. The gaze was steady, conveying something, and though he could not have translated it word for word, he was confident that he had interpreted the look correctly. Dipping his head ever so slightly as he rose to his paws, he acknowledged the point, breaking eye contact first as he moved up to join Silverk-- Silverpaw. The she-cat herself was practically quivering with excitement, and as he drew closer and reality began to sink in, he found his own eagerness growing. Retaining control, he dipped his head, touching noses with his new apprentice before nudging her off to the side to make room for her sibling. As Lionstar began the other ceremony, he lowed his head, whispering quietly, "You ready to work hard, Silverpaw?" As Luckeyes became Rowanpaw's mentor, he glanced around the crowd for the she-cat. Upon spotting her, he lowered his chin slightly in congratulations. Chances were that they would occasionally be training their apprentices together. Starting off on the right paw would only make the experience easier and more enjoyable.

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[Deleted]

. : R o w a n k i t : .

279

Rowankit had, like the past few days, woken up early, sitting at the mouth of the nursery, green eyes staring toward the Ancient Stump. Today, however, her vigil was interrupted by her mother, Sandfur, pulling her back into the nest for a more-than-thorough grooming. Rowankit squirmed more than usual, now almost completely certain that today would be the day.

"Let all cats healthy enough gather beneath the Ancient Stump for a Clan Meeting!" Rowankit squirmed away from her mother's smothering tongue, shooting out of the nursery like a bat outta hell. The fluffy she-kit skidded to a halt beneath the Ancient Stump, her eyes shining brightly, excitement obvious in her stance. Rowankit squirmed impatiently as the rest of the Clan gathered for the meeting.

Silverkit, her sister, joined her, and Rowankit squirmed a little closer to her silver-hued kin, allowing their pelts to touch. Rowankit offered her quieter sibling a warm smile, before turning eager eyes back to Lionstar.

Silverkit went first, and Rowankit tried her best not to wiggle impatiently. After Silverpaw's mentor was named, it was Rowankit's turn. As she stepped up into the center of the semi-circle of cats, a wave of nervousness shot through her. Who would her mentor be?

As Lionstar spoke, Rowankit stood in silence. Luckeyes was named her mentor, and the sorrel-furred kit scanned the crowd. An intimidating she-cat had risen, and Rowankit gulped silently. She could do this. It wouldn't bee too bad. She could actually be a very nice she-cat. Her burly appearance could only be fur-deep...

Rowankit shoved the thoughts from her mind, instead stepping forward to touch her nose to her new mentor's. She was finally an apprentice!

[Deleted]

** no longer coding posts cause I am making tables this weekend.

The muss-furred TreeClanner had been one of the first to arrive upon the meeting ground, save for Lionstar and the kits to be apprenticed. The mismatched eyes of the warrior did not travel to take in her surrounding or pry into the lives of other cats as they arrived -- they remained transfixed upon her paws and her mind whirring full of thoughts of a pointed nature, involved with the state of her clan and the weather. Such mundane, simplistic thoughts would not be on the mind of the no-nonsense warrioress if they did not hold great significance to her life. The clan is starving and there is nothing I can do. It is NewLeaf and yet no warmth breathes through our land, Luckeyes thought to herself and, as if a bemused StarClan was there, a cool blast of air scoured her threadbare tortoiseshell pelt and whipped along the back of her slightly downturned ears.

Helplessness was not something that had ever sat well with Luckeyes. The last time she had felt as helpless as her did now was when she was a newborn kit: toothless, silly, worthless, and blind. While the TreeClanner did not blame her youth on herself she had placed blame in apprenticehood under the constant watch of Treeheart, her 'father'. What was StarClan's point in wasting such efforts in putting cats through emotional times? Why not borne them with every morsel of knowledge they needed through life so they could be properly integrated into useful, mainstream clan-life[abeit robotic] without wasting the knife of time that came with knowledge and experience? The tortoiseshell's skinny tail lashed for a few moments as she thought. For the amusement of StarClan? Is this what the weather is for, as well? Luckeyes wondered and her singular green eye seemed to dark with her thoughts a murky olive.

Tipping her head upwards from her paw suddenly, Luckeyes realized how blind she had been to the arrival of the other clan cats and the beginning of the meeting. Luckeyes focused on the leader's jaws and watched the off ivory teeth of the TreeClanner clash together through language. Apprentice ceremonies were somewhat dull to Luckeyes simply because they consisted of the same monotonous amalgam of phrases and terms that were weightless and unnecessary to the warrior. But, as Luckeyes gaze drifted up a touch to Lionstar's clear, focused eyes, she realized that this was not an ordinary apprentice ceremony. They talked of her.

Continuing to listen, ears suddenly perked and her muscles bunched together with energy. So, I am supposed to teach Rowanpaw to be a functional member of society? Luckeyes thought to herself after Lionstar had announced who she was apprenticing. Her mismatched gaze whirred to focus in on the apprentice, remaining unnoticed and a mostly silent observer. Luckeyes' instant judgment was that she would have a lot of character and would be a trouble to teach.

When Rowankit -- paw -- rose to touch noses, she too rose, her long, bony limbs tense and stiff from sitting for so long. Luckeyes padded over to her apprentice and touched noses in a curt, singular motion. No words were passed between the pair.

[Fawn]

With the Clan cheering on Rowanpaw and Silverpaw, Lionstar drew the meeting to a close, but not before adding his own voice to the chanting;
"Silverpaw! Rowanpaw! Silverpaw! Rowanpaw!"
Do well, you two. No matter what happens, I will be proud.

They weren't even his own kits, but he felt a wave of strong emotion and pride at seeing them progress into a promising future. Obviously that had to do with them being his own flesh and blood, but still, Lionstar basked in those feelings, stepping down off the Ancient Stump and surging forward, intending to congratulate them himself.

He had to get in line behind Sandfur and Bluestorm, of course, but he was here nonetheless.

"Yes! Of course!" Replied Silverpaw, the quaver in her voice a side-effect of how eager she'd been to respond, dipping her head politely to the scarred warrior Lionstar seemed to trust so much. "Are we starting right away?" Apprentices didn't have to sit vigil, did they? No, only warriors... Beautiful green eyes finding the warm sorrel hue of her sister's pelt, Silverpaw approached Rowanpaw fluidly, nuzzling her with a sisterly affection.
"Congratulations, Rowanpaw!" Silverpaw had never met Luckeyes before, the feline who had been chosen as her sister's mentor, but she liked the uniqueness of the she-cat's eyes. It made her stand out amongst the others, that and her raggedy pelt, but those weren't necessarily bad things.

"Well done, my darlings!"

Silverpaw spun around as the voice of Sandfur, their mother, sounded just behind, the silvery feline darting forward to nuzzle Sandfur affectionately, the warm purr of Bluestorm, their father, filling up her ears the closer he got. And then came the distinctive voice of Lionstar, the Clan leader - and their half-brother - seeming to dwarf them in size with his large paws and even larger frame. He smiled, licking each apprentice on the top of the head.
"Congratulations. I have faith that your mentors will do an excellent job in teaching you the ways of our Clan."

---

Word Count: 383
Notes: None~

[Phoenix]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i48.tinypic.com/zt69tt.jpg] [/style]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/i3ubeh.jpg][style=padding-left: 13px; height: 188px;][style=height: 188px; width: 190px; overflow: auto; padding: 5px; text-align: justify; font-size: 13px; font-family: perpetua;] Hinting at a smile, the side of his lip curled upward at Silverpaw's enthusiam. "Perhaps," He replied lightly, raising his eyes and looking past his new apprentice to the rest of the clan. Chanting filled the air, steady and rythmic, and a queue of cats began to form. Subtly, the gray and white warrior moved a little ways away from his apprentice's side, letting the two siblings have the moment all to themselves. He did not need to be in the picture now, for there was plenty of time for that farther down the road. Watching as wave upon wave of cats threw words of encouragement and congratulations at Rowanpaw and Silverpaw, he felt an unexpected emotion begin to seep through a solid wall of disbelief and pride. Nostalgia. If any cat who claimed to have forgotten their apprentice ceremony was actually telling the truth, he would be very surprised. He could not see how someone could forget all of the excitement and energy, innocent eagerness to see and venture out into the big world outside the camp. There were no worries about the lack of prey and the way fur hung off of the near-skeletons of clanmates. There were no thoughts of the danger that might lay out there, particularly in the shadowy forms of a lynx, raccoons and foxes, among others. Instead, there was the simple thrill of finally taking those first, important steps to becoming the best warrior TreeClan ever had. Somewhere along the way, those dreams of grandeur and fame had dimished, been shoved to the back of his mind when confronted with more pressing worries. The flood of cats had been reduced to a trickle, and when the last stragglers had left, he glanced at the sky. Resting fairly high in the sky, the sun shone brightly through the thin layer of clouds covering it. He judged that they would have enough time to at least visit one border. Or perhaps he would show her StarClan's Claws first. Vividly, he remembered his first sight of the stone spires, arching into the sky. Quietly, he approached Silverpaw again, briefly flicking his tail across her little shoulder - he had never been that small when he was an apprentice - to catch her attention. "They'll get to see you in the evening," He spoke, voice unusually soft, though still firm. "Let's get going, shall we?"

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[Deleted]

. : R o w a n p a w : .

196

Rowanpaw touched her nose to her mentor's, her excitement not allowing her to be put off by her mentor's erratic appearance and odd eyes. No words were shared, but Rowanpaw was okay with that. As the entire Clan raised their voices calling out the new names of her and her sister, Rowanpaw purred, her purr growing stronger as her family crowed around them.

"Congratulations, Rowanpaw!" Rowanpaw nudged her nose into Silverpaw's cheek.

"Congratulations, yourself, Silverpaw!" Rowanpaw beamed.

"Well done, my darlings!" Rowanpaw joined her sister in nuzzling their mother, before moving to bury her face in her father's fur.

Lionstar's rumble pulled the sorrel she-cat from her parents, her eyes bright and smile beaming. "Congratulations. I have faith that your mentors will do an excellent job in teaching you the ways of our Clan." Rowanpaw bumped her head into her half-brother's foreleg, smile never fading.

The Clan began to disperse, and Rowanpaw watched the exchange between Nobleheart and Silverpaw. Rowanpaw turned away from her sister and took a few steps to where Luckeyes stood. "So, Luckeyes, what are we going to do first?" Rowanpaw looked up at Luckeyes eagerly, more than ready to begin her training.

[Deleted]

The tortoiseshell she-cat could hardly resist wrinkling her nose as she reached out gingerly to touch noses with the newly named apprentice. Luckeyes was not used to contact of any cat. The TreeClanner was reserved and liked to go about her life completely solitary. She hunted alone. She patrolled alone. And Luckeyes liked it that way. The warrior's goal in life was to help TreeClan succeed in any way possible and Luckeyes felt that involvement with any other cat would simply get in her way.

Despite her loner take on life, Luckeyes was a fine mentor. Luckeyes was strict -- though, in her eyes, fair and just. Since Lionstar had placed Rowanpaw in her paws, Luckeyes knew that she must put all of her effort into training this she-cat. Luckeyes had little idea as to what she was getting into in training Lionstar's half sister despite her own judgment. The tortoiseshell did know from past apprentices, though, that when a leader assigned an apprentice to her that it was for behavioral reasons that only Luckeyes might be able to handle.

Hearing the cries of her clan mates all around her, the warrior pulled away from the apprentice a managed a tentative smile to the crowd. When Rowanpaw and Silverpaw's family began to move in to chat with the new apprentices, Luckeyes backpedaled and kept a safe distance from the family. She did not like crowds too much.

The warrior waited for a moments for idle chatter to finish passing between the TreeClanners before padding closer to the grouping to catch Nobleheart, Silverpaw's mentor, suggest that they go ahead and start training. The she-cat thought that the young warrior had a brilliant plan and was using training time very efficiently. Because of her feelings, when Rowanpaw approached the warrior, Luckeyes gave the apprentice a small smile. "Why don't you and I join Nobleheart and your sister?" Luckeyes suggested before flicking her mismatched eyes from Rowanpaw to the young tom. "That is, if Nobleheart and Silverpaw do not mind us tagging along,"

[/color] Luckeyes meowed in a somewhat amused tone. She could see no reason why the two would but she felt it was protocol for her to ask. She would never impose.[/size] [/blockquote]