[AbsurdJinx]

Originally Posted by Clover

Geckoleaf saw the change in her apprentice's face; the darkening of eyes, slight despair, and sadness. And the medicine cat could guess why; she wanted her mentor to be as excited and happy as she was, as ready for the future and brave, too. But, of course, Geckoleaf wasn't living up to that expectation. She swallowed down a lump of guilt, and looking at Juniperpaw with soft blue eyes, began to speak. "Juni, my dear, I apologize for being so... withdrawn." At this she shuffled her paws slightly, feeling awkward and miserable. Her ears flattened, and a quiet huff escaped her lips. "I'm assuming that you have heard of what happened to both Arcticpaw and Cricketpaw. The thing is, you never met either of them, and wouldn't understand how dear they were to me, and I simply lost both of them. One day, Arcticpaw vanished; disappeared like a wisp of cloud. Cricketpaw... well, Cricketpaw..." Geckoleaf paused, stiffened, back straightening, a somber emotion clouding her whole figure. "She was murdered, and I saw her day. She died while I was with her... and I don't want anything to happen to you. So I do apologize for lacking a certain quality of effervescence at the moment, but I do assure you, Juniperpaw, that you will come to a point where I am possibly your closest companion. I chose you on purpose, of course."

The fiery tabby paused for a breath, and to let the full weight of her words settle into Juniperpaw. After a few moments of silence had passed, she continued on. "And so, I ask you again; this is your last chance to abort being a medicine cat before your training begins. Are you ready to take on the responsibilities this entails?"

Juniperpaw realized that Geckoleaf had noticed her moment of disappointment, and she found herself wishing her mentor had not taken note. Guilt flooded her for feeling the way she had been feeling when Geckoleaf was suffering from something much worse - grief. Juniperpaw listened to the older feline carefully, ears erect and gazing into her mentor's gentle blue eyes. She was aware of what happened to both of the former medicine cat apprentices; most would say the RiverClan medicine cat apprentices just had very bad luck. But Juniperpaw didn't believe in luck or fate, as she believed everybody created their own luck and everyone was in control of their own lives. This is why she was going to prove everyone wrong - Juniperpaw would succeed Geckoleaf, and it would be because she worked for it, and not because luck was on her side.


She adjusted her posture confidently, straightening her spine and raising her head. Juniperpaw's eyes were narrowed with determination, and she also displayed Geckoleaf an equally-determined curl of the lips. ``Of course I am! I wouldn't be here if I weren't. And I just wanted to say that I'll always be here. You won't lose me, Geckoleaf. Now, let's do this.`` She playfully nudged her mentor's shoulder before looking to the stone in front of them through excitement-lit eyes.