[ti]Open[/ti]Morning Bliss

[sabs]

    Screechcall awoke just as the sun had begun to peak over the horizon. I light snowfall began to blanket the clearing of camp, one of the flakes landing on her nose and quickly melting. The snow made the camp eerily quiet, but serene. The senior warrior stretched, feeling her old muscles ache from the slight chill that the air provided. Turning her head to groom herself, she caught a glimpse of her grandson out of the corner of her eye. She gave herself a couple quick licks before turning her attention to him from the entrance of the warrior den. Others had begun to stir behind her and she felt the pelt of Thunderbird brush against her in an early morning greeting.

    A sigh of relief instinctively left her at the comfort of having Brackenstar back with them. It had been a few moons, but the scare it had left in the older she-cat, as well as many other warriors, lingered. She observed as he bunched his muscles, springing onto the rock above which he slept. Ceremonies? This early? An amused purr hit her throat as she began moving into the clearing in from of the rock before he even had begun to speak. A puff of mist could be seen in the chilly air as the leader spoke. Oh, the pride that welled in her chest at every ceremony and gathering was almost unbearable, she always felt as if she would burst.

    “All cats old enough to fight their own battles meet here beneath the High Rock for a Clan meeting!” His voice rang out in the still atmosphere as the rest of the sleeping cats awoke from their slumber and drearily wandered underneath the rock to hear Brackenstar speak. “I would like to begin by apologizing for my absence as of late, as well as the delay of ceremonies. I wanted to be sure these cats were ready, as well as have the perfect names and mentors decided upon.” He smirked. His eyes grazed all of Stormwatcher and Silvertongue’s first litter as they stood before him.

    “Spiderpaw, you have trained well under Otterspark. From this day forth you shall be known as Spidergaze. Though you may look to others as competition, be sure to also see them as your team mates, you’re not alone.”

    “Snakepaw, from this say forward you shall be known as Snakeleap. Tooth and claw are not your only weapons, remember to think before jumping into action.”

    The tabby tom paused for a moment before looking to the white and grey apprentices, both seemed to be pawfuls for their mentors. Though, this was no surprise to him as he called forward the ivory tom.

    “Palepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Palesun. Even in weakness, there is strength, and I am confident that you will shine through even the darkest of your days.”

    “Irispaw, Thunderbird has told me much about your training.” He smirked. “From this day forward you will be known as Irismoon. Life is ever-changing, don’t be afraid of it. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.”

    Brackenstar scanned over the new warriors, confident with his choices, but there was one more cat to be named today. He looked for the familiar red pelt as he spotted Rose, who stuck out like a sore claw among the brown and grey pelts of the other MothClan cats. “Rose, step forward please.”

    “Rose, you have trained vigorously under Cherryhawk’s watchful eyes. I have watched your progress carefully and am impressed with how far you have come since first...stumbling into our camp. It is with pride that I name you Rosewish. Your courage and strength are inspiring, and I think that all of your Clanmates have something to learn from you.” He dipped his head toward the red she-cat, then turned to face two bustling kits.

    “Mudkit, you shall be known as Mudpaw, and your mentor will be Bunnyblossom. Learn from her boundless energy and enthusiasm what it takes to be a dutiful warrior.”

    “Mousekit, until you are given your warrior name you will be Mousepaw. Honeydrop is a gentle and kind warrior that will lead your pawsteps to success.”

    Screechcall watched as the two little apprentices were named and assigned warriors with a smile. The leader gave one final speech, something about how MothClan is growing and strong and the like, before she cheered on the new warriors and apprentices. Soon it would be Newleaf and the Clan would be bustling with even more kits than before. A purr rumbled in her throat as she turned, looking for the familiar old face that was Bleakbelly.

[noctemq]

Cherryhawk beamed with pride as her apprentice earned her warrior name, Rosewish. It had been a strugglebus of an apprenticeship, but the two were able to do more than survive this past Leaf-Bare, dare she thought, maybe even thrived. Prey had been thin for the troublesome duo, but they did their best. Cherryhawk liked to think that she had helped Rosewish learn more about the clans, though everything else came naturally since her apprentice already held so much experience on other disciplines, such as hunting and the basics of patrolling. The torbie warrior was already loose with the code that rules over Mothclan, so it was also a valuable refresher for herself. Who knew that all trespassers had to be challenged? Cherryhawk usually shooed them out with a quick warning, but was otherwise amicable.

She sat with her chin up, a smile covering her muzzle. Her tail was wrapped around her paws, content with the hard work she had done in the past moons. Rosewish made a great addition to Mothclan and Cherryhawk was excited to see where warrior-hood would take her next.

[Broadwaykat]

Badgerkit was slowly but surely growing more adventurous. You had to, if you wanted to learn all there was to know about the world. You had to get your paws messy, and Badgerkit was prepared to do just that.

When she heard the call, she was one of the first little kits to shoulder her way out of the nursery, standing proudly in front of the entrance and doing it in part to try and block the way from any of her siblings or other kits from making it out too - even though she was one of the larger kits, she was small compared to some of the adult cats around her though, so she found that it didn't make for the greatest viewing.

"Can't see!" She mewed petulantly, trying to push a cat who was closest to her out of the way; her paws may as well hitting a solid stone wall than anything that moved. It wasn't fair - she should have been up there, up front. She was just as deserving as those bigger cats, wasn't she? It didn't matter that she'd have her turn at some point; she wanted it now!

[Rai]

 Mudpaw | M | MothClan

Did his fur look okay? He hoped so after the most intense grooming of his life moments before toddling out into the center of the clan for the leader's announcement. Mudkit rolled briefly in the dirt, disliking the way his fur now slicked back and laid smooth across his back and he could hear a tired sigh from his mother as he did so; her efforts to make him presentable failing within seconds.
With a hope to his step he bounded forward alongside the older cats with his head high, the first clan meeting he actually got to attend in the open and not watch curiously from the mouth of the nursery den. His mismatched eyes watched Brackenstar speak, gradually widening more and more and the sound of his name had him nearly burst from his pelt with joy-finally! Mudpaw! He wasn't super familiar with Bunnyblossom but the name was soft and he liked the sound of it so he desperately looked around for his near mentor in order to greet her with the enthusiasm that bubbled from his very being, threatening to drown the clan in his delight. 

[gingersnapsdacat]

Bunnyblossom sat beside her father, her fluffy tail gently laying across his own.
“Mudkit, you shall be known as Mudpaw, and your mentor will be Bunnyblossom. Learn from her boundless energy and enthusiasm what it takes to be a dutiful warrior.”
Bunnyblossom rose to her paws, gently and delicately walking towards the place where the new apprentices were meeting their mentors. She looked around at each of the apprentices, wishing that she had payed attention to which young cat BrackenStar had been speaking to when he announced that she was mentoring an apprentice. 
Mudpaw...Mudpaw...who looks like a Mudpaw....
After a moments deliberation, she decided to try her luck with the cream-pelted tomcat, thinking that his brown splotches looking sort of...mud like. 
"Hello, my name is BunnyBlossom," she purred happily, smiling at the tom. "You are Mudpaw, right?"

[Rai]

 Mudpaw | M | MothClan

"Yeah! I'm Mudki-erm-paw! I can't wait to fight rogues and hunt foxes!" The newly apprenticed young tom bounced on his paws in place, tilting to his toes then back to the ball of his heels as he rocked about unable to remain still for even the short conversation. "I wonder what my name will be-you don't look like a bunny or a blossom but it's a nice name anyways-I hope I don't get a silly one!" He was already moving ahead mentally, excited for the future and plotting his own warrior name for when the time came. Ah, you know, MudSTAR sorta had a good ring to it.
His mother had told him, though, that if he ever became clan leader she'd be retiring and he really didn't want her to retire yet-she wasn't that old! So he'd hold off on that for her sake.
"When. Do. We. Start?!" His words were punctuated with a brisk hop in place with each syllable, one thing was certain he'd definitely give his mentor a run for her money.