[ti]Open[/ti]Gather My Children, It's Time To Play

[Ringtail]

"May all cats gather around me! For it is time, to announce our common news for those changing ranks!"

What a strange way to annouce the ceremonies, but the flocked tom seemed to..exhausted. It was shown in his voice, his endless days of gathering supplies and sorting them into the much needed combination for ailments.

"We have a young kit rising to the stage of becoming a to-be, Fog That Fills the Forest. You are to train on becoming a prey-hunter and we, your tribe and our Ancestors above us, are rather eager for you to crawl among the forest floor, searching for prey, much as the fog you are name-saked for. We honor you and your willingness to bring caught-prey to our home, in the near future. Train hard and long! Your mentor shall be SUN IN CLOUDLESS SKY."

The leader nodded to both Fog and Cloud, congraulating them on the pair. Sun would show the young to-be Fog, how life could be seen in a serious note, and help mature the young tom to be a strong prey hunter.

"I would also like to welcome four new home-guards! May our ancestors light your path in guarding our prey-hunters from those that fly and those that pounce upon us. I welcome Moth that lands on Oak, Heron that Snaps at Fish, Screech of Swooping Owl, and Flame of Amber leaf..Please up hold your duties like many others before you."

He nodded to each of the young cats, rather honored to name to their duties. They would be strong cats, protecting their tribe mates from all sorts of dangers.

" We also have one new prey-hunter! Roar of the Howling Wind. We honor you and your strengths in bringing home caught-prey..Roar like the winds you chase, after the mighty rabbit and hare."

He nodded to Wind, same as he done the other cats. The leader soon turned away, silently disappearing back to his medicine forge of a den he called home.

[foggy]

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Although all the ceremonies were important, the guard wanted to be extra punctual for this particular meeting. She felt oddly nostalgic, a little sad, but mainly she felt proud of the golden tom who would be progressing onto his full duties today. Screech no longer needed her guidance and was now going to be making his own way through the tribe. Casting her mind back to when he'd first become her to-be, Dusk realised that he had come a long way and that the blue-eyed cat was finally ready to stand beside her and the other guards as a true home-guard of the tribe.

However, as the mink padded over, remaining a respectable distance from the ancestor statue, her aqua eyes couldn't help but focus on the healer. She noticed that there was something a little... lacklustre about his calling, a stab of concern shot through her. It surprised the guard that she would feel so strongly about the Firstspeaker potentially just having a bad day, but she was willing to put it down to him staying up to late last night, probably sorting out his herbs. She knew from experience how hard it could be the drag him away from his duties, maybe she'd have to have a talk with him about it, they needed him to remain strong. Plus, it also meant the she-cat would have a legitimate excuse to talk to him again.

There was little time to ponder, though, as the meeting quickly moved forward, it seemed the rest of the tribe had gathered around without her noticing. Fog became a hunter to-be, as most of the tribe had suspected, the tom kit had grown a slender, agile build during his time in the nursery. The stark white tom was apprenticed to her sister, and she turned her head to seek out the chocolate pointed hunter and give her a smile. Cloud was a strict and stern cat, like herself at times, but would be a fitting mentor to the energetic to-be.

Next was what she had been anticipating since the new moon had started. There were four home-guards, and Dusk was positively ecstatic about having so many new additions within the ranks, especially seeing as the prey-hunters slightly outnumbered those who were meant to guard them. That had been a small concern for her, and Dusk would've been more worried had she not had total faith in those who shared her rank. Her to-be was the third to be named, and Dusk bowed her head, realizing that her responsibility to the young cat had finally been completed. She wondered what she was meant to do with all her free time, more patrols?

Lastly, there was a single cat to join the ranks of the prey-hunters. Dusk briefly remembered that his mentor was Frist, the kit-mother who had only recently given birth to a litter, it was a good thing that she had managed to train up her to-be before she resigned herself to the mother's den. It became apparent that Wind was the final point of the meeting as, without another word, the yellow eyed feline disappeared back between the stone walls that held their herbs. Her eyes lingered, even after he had vanished from their view, and for a moment, she considered following him to see if he was alright, but Dusk wanted to congratulate her former to-be personally before they began to see each other only as fellow home-guards. She would have to catch the healer later on, hopefully when he was ready to admit that he needed a break or wasn't as busy with his duties, if that would ever actually happen.