Post by Fireflake on Mar 6, 2020 8:08:08 GMT
Mantisstar stepped out of her den. She looked exhausted, but it was more akin to slumping in relief after a battle than it was to collapsing in defeat. Her mother was dead, the cat that had helped raise her was also dead, and her son was probably gone forever. It was enough to leave anyone breathless. Despite that, her younger half-brother had been brought back home, one of MothClan's warriors had stepped forward as a medicine cat, and she could finally stop wondering what was going on with RootClan. It had been an eventful moon.
In times like these, Mantisstar nearly regretted making her sister deputy. She could have just asked someone else to do the ceremonies this moon while she processed everything that had happened. It was probably for the best, though. Mantisstar's leadership was young, like her, and she wanted to define it by being there for her clan, until the end. Armed with the feeling that doing this meant she was resilient, the leader took a deep breath and leapt up onto the tall rock. "All cats old enough to fight their own battles, gather for a clan meeting!"
She didn't waste any time, flicking her tail for the cats in the ceremony to come forward as the rest padded out of the dens. First up was the tom that should have been apprenticed a full two moons ago. She would have liked for his parents to be able to watch this, but just as the thought struck her, she was sure that they were watching. "Fatkit, you've had to wait far too long. I know things have been rough for you already, but I also know that Volemouth will be there to support you and help you grow into a mature, confident, and loyal warrior for MothClan. We welcome you back as Fatpaw."
Her gaze lingered on him for a few moments before jumping to the littermates that she'd been watching grow into fine warriors. "Flurrypaw, from this day on, you will be known as Flurryheart. Your sense of duty is commendable, though I hope that it will never restrain you when it's not necessary."
She tried to catch the younger cat's eye, then quickly carried on, "Goldenpaw, your warrior name will be Goldenface. MothClan values your friendliness and confidence, and I look forward to seeing where you go from here."
Mantisstar stood there for a moment longer, then turned to leap down. She quickly changed her mind and spun around to face her clanmates. "As many of you know, we lost Ruststripe and Milkberry in our efforts to get our stolen kits back from that nasty group of rogues, and we were unable to recover Strikekit. I want everyone to know that while retaliation is on my mind, my personal feelings are not going to affect my leadership of this clan. The miserable lot looked like they might die out on their own anyway, when we left them. For now, we just have to keep in mind that Newleaf will be here soon, and the rough times of Leafbare will give way to new growth. That's what we have today, with these freshly-named cats. We have new growth."