Home is not a place

[noctemq]

Blackmoon looked over the cats in front of him with a protective gaze. Time and time again, fate had tested Rootclan and they had survived. Against all odds, they were still standing. The smell of death made the air feel heavy as those that were still alive faced the consequences. He himself sported a new story; a set of slashes on his left shoulder adorned him like another medal won, it also had left him with a small limp that he hoped was temporary. Mistclan was generous enough to harbor the survivors of both Rootclan and Mothclan during their time of need, and the deputy would not forget it. Hopefully, Mistclan would be fine and wouldn’t need their favor returned, but if they did, Blackmoon would be ready to deliver. The changing of the night skies signalled to him that it was time for their Ceremonies to be held, and hopefully it would help raise morale.

He stood out of the way of the other cats and tried to find a corner where it wouldn’t be too disruptive to make an announcement. This was difficult since the Mistclan camp was so crowded, but he’d make due. ”Cats of young and old,” he echoed Screechstar’s usual call, standing in his place today, ”Gather around me for this moon’s ceremonies.” Blackmoon hesitated for a moment as Rootclan cats began to gather, and even some other curious ones as well. ”Over the past few moons, we have learned a hard lesson: home is not a place, but within each one of us. As long as we are together, we will endure.” Blackmoon stood tall, though it was clear how tired he was.

”Many cats have shown their bravery during these trying times and have earned their warrior names. Morningpaw, you will now be known as Morningbloom. Your resilience has paid off and you have bloomed into a true warrior. Echopaw, you are now Echowatch. You have honed your keen eye training with Red-dawn and now are prepared to be on your own. Cloverpaw, your name will be Cloverspark, may your animated approach to life rub off on all of us. Lotuspaw, you are now Lotuscreek, your calm demeanor is necessary during this time of chaos. And lastly, Lynxpaw, your name is now Lynxleap; nothing can stop your stride, as you’ve shown in your training.” His expression was rigid since his own apprentice, Bearpaw, was not in the crowd. He still managed to offer a polite smile to the new warriors despite this. A long pause passed for some well-earned celebration before turning his attention to a brown speck in the crowd.

”Claykit, please step forward. From this day and until you are a warrior, your name will be Claypaw and your mentor will be Crowlaugh. I hope he will pass down all of his knowledge to you.” Blackmoon’s eyes softened at the new apprentice and he gestured to Crowlaugh to come up as well. Training would be hard in this unfamiliar place, and he didn’t expect them to start with any hunting or fighting until they were able to get back to their own camp.

”I will be taking three or so healthy warriors with me to look for those whose who are missing, then we will circle back to Rootclan territory to see if it is inhabitable. Sundusk, I will leave you with the temporary role of deputy until I return. I trust that you will be able to handle yourself and any trouble that might arise in my absence. To any of those that wish to come along, follow me.” And with that, Blackmoon stood back up and left the crowd behind, heading towards the Mistclan camp entrance with his tail held low.

[Storm]

Claypaw
RootClan | Apprentice | Tom | 6 Moons | Heterosexual

Blackmoon's call seemed almost lost among the many cats, but Claykit stood and ambled in the same direction his clanmates had.  The kit may have been large, but he still was far from being able to see over the other clans warriors and his own oversized clanmates.  He couldn't tell for certain which corner his deputy had settled himself for the ceremonies and had to follow the others to take his place.  He wouldn't have bothered to join the crowd, but he knew it was his time to join his older adoptive siblings as an apprentice.  The chocolate feline wasn't as excited as one would expect, to him it was just the start of work that had to get done.  It would be over with eventually, he supposed.  

Claykit moved closer to be able to see and participate when his turn came.  He'd be the only kit moving out of the nursery- ah, well once they returned home at least- this moon. Leaning back on his haunches the tom sat, wrapping his fluffy tail around his flank and over his white paws.  His copper gaze held quietly on the apprentices being named, whisker twitching to acknowledge when his name was called.  Claypaw moved to his paws, eyes falling on the warrior named to train him.  A grin crawled across his maw, delighted to recognized the felines build and put a name with his face.  Maybe there was something exciting about this new process: learning about his new mentor!

[mewmehh]

As the Rootclan deputy gave his announcement, a few curious looks were cast their way. It seemed the new clan had wanted to most keep to themselves, but only out of politeness. At least, that's how Sablestar took it. Not that Mistclan minds that. The more xenophobic clan were less than enthused with their new leader's humongous gesture of kindness, so they took solace in knowing that Rootclan wanted to keep to their business and Mistclan could keep to theirs.

Watching the clan make their moonly ceremonies, the refoused tabby gave a small smile. Just at the edge of the Rootclan's ranks of warriors, a little Mothclan kit was busily poking her nose into business that wasn't her own. Perhaps Mothclan is more comfortable than I had thought. Sablestar snickered softly to himself as he watched Shadowkit cross the threshold of the group. She had creeping like her namesake around the edge of the tall cats, maw gaping in wonder though she was supposed to be sneaking. With a quick couple of hops, she miraculously managed to make it across a long tail and into the masses. It took the Mistclan leader a moment to place her before he caught a glimpse of her large black ears next to a rather massive spotted white cat, sat surprisingly still as she watched Blackmoon begin.

The corners of the leader's lip quirk up in a small smile, somehow inspired by the scene. Getting slowly to his paws, Sablestar shook the sleepiness from his bones and made it across the camp clearing in a few quick bounds. Glancing back one last time to the private ceremony, he then hauled himself up the craggy cave wall to his alcove and settled into a comfortable position. "Cats of all clans old enough to cross the waterfall gather here for a clan meeting!"

THIS IS A REGULAR POST!! This was just simply my way of kicking myself in the butt to get started on Mistclan's ceremonies <3

[Broadwaykat]

Swanstream practically glowed with pride as her little adopted kit stepped up to make that step as an apprentice. Oh, she had had this day plenty of times before - but Claykit had been such an odd little one compared to her true-born kits; she had been worried that something would have stalled, or someone would have ripped the kit away from her. The rats nearly had; but here he was; in a strange camp, but still becoming an apprentice of Rootclan.

"I'm so proud!" She cheered; feeling as if she could practically glow as she watched him meet his apprentice. Of course; she now had a few other things to worry about; but that would be time to think of future kits in the days to come.

---

The bites on Hawkspring's shoulders stung, but if anything they pushed him forwards, towards doing something to distract him from the pain. Of course, he was happy for his little adopted kit-brother, but the fact that there were some cats still missing stuck in his craw more than he'd like.

Not to mention, he was somewhat worried about a particular cat he'd come across. Magpie was a strange sort - but she'd been close to their lands last time he had seen her. Had she been affected by the rat's mass exodus? He hoped not, but it was both for thoughts of her and for wanting to find those missing clanmates that he stepped up and actually approached Blackmoon.

"Can I come? Please! I promise I'll keep up - my shoulder's hardly hurting anymore! I want to help!"

noctemq

[noctemq]

Blackmoon looked outside of Mistclan's camp. Everything seemed so unfamiliar, but at least he vaguely remembered the direction of home. Foreign smells of mildew and marshy wood dampened his usually acute sense of smell, so he had to rely on his sight. His memory of the evacuation was still clear; there was no doubt in his mind that he'd get lost on the way to Rootclan's territory. And if for some odd reason he did, he'd have the warriors by his side to help guide the way. He stood quietly, noticing that Mistclan had begun its ceremonies and Mothclan was about to as well. Witnessing three ceremonies back to back was a weird sight, though somewhat entertaining regardless of the circumstances.

He turned to face Hawkspring, his attention more focused on his bites than the tom himself. His amber eyes narrowed in uncertainty at the other's wound then relaxed once he realized it was no more serious than his own. "Thanks for volunteering. As long as you're sure those bites don't get worse, I'd appreciate the company," he offered Hawkspring a slightly awkward grin before resuming his normal position. Smiles never really suited his stern face. Once their merry little band hit a good number like three or four, Blackmoon would head off with them and leave Sundusk to help around at their makeshift camp-in-a-camp.

Broadwaykat

[Broadwaykat]

Hawkspring squared his shoulders as Blackmoon addressed him; despite the fact that they made his shoulder twinge ever so slightly. Okay, maybe he wasn't quite 100 percent ready - but he wanted to go and see what remained of their new home.

He might have been one of the youngest to remember their old home, but he also couldn't imagine the fact of losing one more place, once they had finally settled down. He wanted - no, needed to make sure that the rest of his clan was there, was alive. 

It was something his parents would want, and what he felt was the only thing he could do - after fleeing rather than truly staying to fight for the others.

[pants]

Coldstone silently watched as his deputy gave the ceremony, a few new warriors and a new apprentice joining the ranks. His green eyes just continued to watch somberly, not making much movement as the rest of his clan murmured and shifted as the event went on, a celebration surely to happen towards the end.

He was sitting towards the back of the group, his plume of a tail laid out flat behind him, bits of moss stuck to his long fur. Coldstone had a bit of a slouch, his body tired and wanting to go back to his nest. He had some bites, one on his shoulder, one on his haunches, and one on his ankle, but the pain from these wounds weren't painful to the point where he was convinced that he needed medical attention. The warrior just reminded himself to keep them clean and to get some herbs from the medicine cats when it kept him up at night. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped altogether, the wounds slowly closing and healing.

As the ceremony reached its end, the black furred tom began to stand and head back to their makeshift warriors' den, but at the last second, he heard Blackmoon's call, requesting warriors to go search for the lost clan members and scouting their clan camp. Coldstone stood frozen for a moment before looking to the MistClan camp, watching the hoard of cats going about their day. His dismal expression stayed the same as he observed. He would be safe here. But there were so many bodies. And he had barely anything to do in unfamiliar territory. Would he be able to take the stares of their host clan? No, he didn't feel welcome here...

"B-Blackmoon?" The tom raised his voice in order to be heard, ignoring any eyes that darted to him. "I'd like to go..." The warrior turned around, padding towards the deputy a few steps as he volunteered himself to go on the journey.

[Broadwaykat]

While Hawkspring was eager to go back into their territory to search for survivors - he was glad that it wouldn't be just him and Blackmoon. Coldstone was a little too...down...but while it was somewhat odd, he thought, to hear the tom offer to come and search, he was glad to hear it.

"Alright! Can he come too, Blackmoon - three heads are better than two, after all." He felt good knowing that there would be some senior warriors following along with them. honestly. Who knew what kind of danger they'd run into.