[ti]Open[/ti]Hurried Ceremonies

[KingHarry]

In all honesty, Mothstar couldn't be bothered. Maybe it was old age sinking in, but he felt tired. The leader just wanted to nap right now - not giving the latest batch of apprentices warrior names. Duty called, though, and that meant that he had to do his job.

The leader yawned and stretched, before heavily leaping up to the rock he held clan meetings from. "Let all cats old enough to fight their own battles gather for a clan meeting!" He called as he climbed.

In general, the mood of the ceremonies was hurried. It wasn't that Mothstar didn't care - because he did, in his own way - but honestly, he was just so tired. Maybe he should talk to Cedarleap about it later? So might have something to help his old bones out, right?

"Orchidkit," Mothstar began, cutting straight to business. "It is time for you to become an apprentice. Your mentor will be Blackstreak. May he teach you all that he knows."

With little time spent on the pause, Mothstar moved on. "Sheeppaw, Lambpaw, Emberpaw, and Honeypaw; the four of you have all grown to be worthy warriors. StarClan and your fellow clanmates are surely proud of you. From this day onwards, you will be known as Sheepfur, Lambcurl, Honeydrop, and Emberface. I am certain that you will all continue to protect and serve your clan in the future."

There. Done. Not looking particularly happy, the great leader hopped down from the rock - stumbling a little on impact but quickly regaining his composure. He just needed a rest, that was all. Mothstar would surely feel less tired by the end of the day.

[GnawingOnIce]

Cedarleap turned her head as she heard Mothstar's voice, and padded to the entrance of her den. She stayed in her den, only peeking her head out. She saw Mothstar, looking a bit grouchy. Well, when was he not? Though, he's usually happy to do the ceremonies, isn't he? She tilted her head a bit in question, wondering as he spoke. When he was finished, he leapt down from the rock, stumbling a bit, making Cedarleap gasp a bit and take a few pawsteps forward before her leader regained balance. She stepped back into the entrance of her den, lying down. Maybe Mothstar's old age was finally getting to him?

[Cosima]

PALESTORM - -

With aching limbs, Palestorm made an attempt to limp out of the elder's den to spectate one of her precious son's many ceremonies. "There's my son!" She called out, lips curled into a smile. This ceremony, however, was seemingly lackluster. It was definitely missing the "umph" his usual ceremonies possessed. The apprentice, Orchidpaw now, had been shoved along her ceremony. Each of the warrior's names had been announced at once. It was obvious that Mothstar was hurrying to get this over with. She knew she'd have to knock some sense into him after this was done. "Orchidpaw! Sheepfur! Lambcurl! Honeydrop! Emberface!" She cried, joining the others in chanting their new names.

Soon after the ceremony, she hobbled to Mothstar's den. She had never thought condescendingly. After all, he is her favorite son! In this occasion, it was the complete opposite. She could see that Mothstar was not acting like himself at all.

"What was that out there? Is that the way I raised you?" She quickly shifted her insulting tone to a motherly approach. "You have such tired eyes, son. You have many more moons ahead of you! Pick yourself up and puff out your chest. There's still some spark in your eyes, I know it. Get some rest, and then show the world you're not going down without a fight. That is how I raised you, and don't you forget it!" She wouldn't let him get a word in edge-wise and grinned, treading off. Hopefully, he would follow her advice.

[Ringtail]

Honeypaw poked her had out of the apprentice den when she heard her leader's tired, aged voice. Today was the day! She happily pranced out of the apprentice den, tail held high. She sat rather close ot the rock cluster and happily joined in the joyful meows for the newly named and celebrated. "Orchidpaw, Sheepfur! Lambcurl! Emberface!" She mentally paused when she heard her new name..

Honeydrop?

She pondered to herself on why Honeydrop? She had taken some notice to the leader's rather fatigued state, lowering her ears. She would have thought her warrior naming ceremony would be filled with a little more excitement from her leader..But that was her imagination taking over, which could be very creative. She was tempted to ask Mothstar about her name, but she only assumed it sounded fitting.

Perhaps she would ask him later when he was feeling better. But she would hope to ask Starclan that her leader be feeling better.

The newly named she-cat warrior licked her paw and brushed it against her ear, rather happy she finally got her warrior name. Though she would admit, her leader did hurry the ceremonies along.

[KingHarry]

It was with exhausted eyes that Mothstar looked back at his mother. She was right, of course. Well, about some things, anyway. He did need to stop acting like this. It wasn't helping him - in fact, it was probably actively working against him. The problem was, he was just so damn tired.

His blank stare gazed back at Palestorm as she walked off, silent for a moment, and then... "I'm going to die soon." Mothstar called, loud enough for anybody nearby to hear too. Why he had said that, he wasn't sure. The leader felt that it was true, though. With his current level of fatigue, it had to be, right? 

[Miss Tactical]

Eveningblaze watched from afar as Mothstar hurried through his ceremonies. He narrowed his eyes slightly, had anyone else noticed? He flicked his tail and called out the newly named warrior names just as everyone else had. Hopefully the cheering would cause a distraction then he heard it. He looked around nervously had anyone else caught that? "I'm going to die soon!" Eveningblaze parted his jaw ever so slightly to say something but what could he say to a comment such as that one? Surely this tom had bees in his brains. He rushed over to his leader, his eyes staring in disbelief. "You have bees in your brain Mothstar, you don't tell your clan you are going to die when you have plenty of lives left!" He mumbled so only the tom could hear. It's not that he didn't trust his clan mates, but he had seen power hungry cats all over the forest and he was still relatively young himself. This clan was also mixed between rogues and clan born. Were rogues to be trusted? His eyes scanned the crowd, fur fluffed up, he wasn't about to make a scene, perhaps only he heard the leader, perhaps....well maybe.... he stood near the tom, shoulders broadened. "You should see Cedarleap" He whispered ever so slightly. 

[KingHarry]

"Cedarleap can't help," grumbled Mothstar in return. He appreciated the concern, he supposed, but it was really quite hard to feel happy about the fact that somebody cared right now. Really, all the leader wanted to do was stalk off and hide away from his clan for a while.

"I'm too old for this." There were elders younger than him, yet here he was - trying to lead and just exhausting himself in the process. It wasn't just physical exhaustion either - Mothstar was also experiencing emotional fatigue. 

Oh well. With any luck, this was just a phase and he'd be back to his usual, grumpy yet strong self sooner or later. If that didn't happen, well... There would be trouble then.

"Don't worry, Eveningblaze. I'm sure everything will be fine in the end. I just need time. Yes... Time." And with that, Mothstar left. He wasn't in a mood to continue talking - not even to his new warriors.