ShadowClan Grimpeak

[Levi 99]

Shadefrost sat to listen to what had to be said

[Undertaker]

High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]

"From here on until you receive your warrior names," the ceremonial words slide out from the leader's maw as soon as she noticed that she had seven of the nine kits she had called for in front of the Shadowledge. Where Robinkit and Whitekit were, Dawnstar had no clue and couldn't bring herself to care. She did find it annoying that they dare waste her time and deprive ShadowClan of a new apprentice. She might have to think of a punishment to go with kits who miss their ceremonies. The numbers were starting to get ridiculous and Dawnstar was slowly growing increasingly irked with it. "You'll be known as Lynxpaw [ @Hanukkah Hawkice ], Chamomilepaw [ @littlelove ], Ashpaw [ @error ], Sunsetpaw [ @Ravensong ], Spiderwebpaw [ @Willowfern ], Howlpaw [ @NinjaBloss ], and Snarlpaw [ @Winter Jax ]."

Why are some of these names such a mouthful? Dawnstar wondered peering down at a few select paws with long names. If she were as petty as most cats assumed she was, Dawnstar would have forced some name changes. As much as she enjoyed a good challenge, Dawnstar wasn't going to stirrup trouble in her clan for no good reason.

"Sunsetpaw, you'll be mentored by Stormwing [ @Jae ]." Dawnstar glanced at the amber-eyed gray and brown tabby within the crowd. She couldn't recall if that kit was the cry baby who Goldenstep and Gingercry had coddled. It was that one or the other one, regardless, Dawnstar could tolerate crybaby kits to a certain point. Tears while training to become a warrior, would most likely end up with the apprentice buried six feet under, if not by a rival clan or a predator, Dawnstar would remove the weakling herself.

"Addersnow [ @Jackpot ], you've resided in ShadowClan for long enough, and aside from a small few concerns, it seems like you've settled in well enough. I've got quite the challenge for you." Dawnstar cocked her head, hissing softly, as she actually looked at the quivering mess below her. It wasn't Sunsetpaw, it was this one that was a disgrace to ShadowClan. "You get to train this quivering embarrassment of an apprentice." Disgust seeped into the scarred tabby's loud growl. "As you can see, her parents and kin have sheltered her to the point where she fears even her own apprentice ceremony. She's weak, appalling so, I'll be impressed if you can get her to stop breaking out into tears at every little thing."

Elmshadow was the one who brought up worrying about the snake in the first place, drawing Shadestorm's suspicion as well. That wouldn't do within her clan. Dawnstar wouldn't have her cats questioning the loyalty of the ones she brought in, regardless of how small, Dawnstar hated being questioned. Addersnow was permitted to her thoughts and ideals, but if she couldn't at least pretend to play the part of a ShadowClan warrior, Dawnstar would have to get rid of her and she'd prefer not to that, Redshrike seemed rather fond of tortie. If Addersnow was as smart as Redshrike was inclined to believe, she'd use Chamomilepaw to reinforce her place within the clan.

"Loonfeather [ @Zesha ], your last apprentice seems to have disappeared, Snarlpaw will replace them." Dawnstar's more or less stopped blaming her cats for the vanishing ones. She did feel that they should watch over them better, however. Dawnstar still hasn't figured out if Loonfeather is as soft as his father and sister. She was guessing he was considering on what good terms the pair were. The way the Goldenstep and Gingercry reared their kin baffled her. Dawnstar didn't like butting her head into her cats' personal affairs and so she wouldn't, but their young were going to be eaten alive if they kept coddling and sheltering them as such. Dawnstar would feed them to the foxes herself if Goldenstep and Gingercry kept letting kits turn into wimps. If the father and daughter weren't so obedient, or reliable in Gingercry's case, they'd both be dead. Elmshadow should be ashamed for allowing it. Perhaps she should start rethinking about him, if he couldn't help raise his kits into strong competent warriors for ShadowClan, how would he assist with ShadowClan?
Pity, she'd have to look elsewhere.

"Mistlegaze [ @vcrdant ], Lynxpaw will be training by you." Technically, that one and his siblings were extended kin of hers. Dawnstar had yet to bother acknowledging any of them as her family. Nothing they've done has proven to be particularly interesting or awe-inspiring as kits, and she wasn't expecting to see much from them as apprentices or warriors. They were all currently walking disappointments.

"Robinleaf [ @Mistletoe ], Spiderwebpaw is now your apprentice." He was the only one who had decided to speak when called, he was a bit more enthusiastic compared to the other kits. He was mediocre if not a little strange. Dawnstar decided to put the same level of faith she had placed in every other kit turn apprentice here, which was little to none. If he didn't die or disappear in the next few moons, that would be a feat.

"Howlpaw, your mentor is Rainysky [ @duskfire1 ]." Having more kits to assign mentors was kind of tedious. It was great and all that ShadowClan had more apprentices, but assigning mentors was so boring. She wondered if she started making warriors come up and picking out an apprentice if that would be easier or a bigger headache. At least she was on the last one... but didn't she have reassignments to do?!

"Ashpaw, Morningmask [ @Spider-Cow ] will be mentoring you." Dawnstar yawned as she finished with the last newly made apprentice. Her amber eyes rested on Rookpaw while she waited for all the mentors and apprentices to move out of the way.

"You're up." grumbled the feline to Rookpaw, eyes flashing a glance at a few of the other apprentices. She felt that several of them should be up here alongside Rookpaw obtaining their warrior names. They were taking too long to train. Comparing them to her would be a little much, she knew, but most of the older apprentices were pushing it. "Rookpaw [ @Shade. ], do you promise to protect and serve your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

[~Sayonara~]

[ @Ravensong ]

Stormwing purrs in Glee as he got chosen to be a mentor. He looked around, trying to find his new apprentice along the crowd. He trots around before finally spotting a lost looking kit and approaches her.

[Mistletoe]

@Williowfern

~Robinleaf~

The redish molly was surprised to have gotten an apprentice. Although with Dawnstar’s offhand behavior towards this meeting, she guessed her leader hadn’t put too much thought into it. Either way, she was excited to train her new apprentice. She noted with a smile that he seemed excited as well. She hadn’t spent much time around the nursery, so she didn’t really know the young tom. However she was excited to get to know him better. She got up and padded over to him, and leaned down to touch noses with him.

“Hello there! I’m Robinleaf.” She meowed softly.

[Quasar]

Addersnow | she/her | @littlelove

This meeting seemed to bring a rather large batch of new apprentices out of the nursery, but none of them really stood out. One of them - the tortie point - seemed to be nothing more than a snivelling, cowardly waste of resources, while the others just seemed to be your run of the mill kittens whose sight was still blinded by an easy life of being coddled by queens. Honestly, it would be a wonder if any of them ended up growing into anything more than just another average warrior to add to the already overflowing pile. Actually, even that might be out of reach for some of these cats.

Still, the one thing that was good about these kittens were the fact that their minds werent yet developed. They could be molded into cats that would actually be a worthwhile addition to the clan, even if they started out as a nothing. Then again, it all depended on who was in charge of that. An idiot could easily screw up the entire thing, leaving the kit even worse off than before.

As the tortie found herself thinking of how exactly these cats could become of use to the clan, she felt a small bit of surprise. Well, that was weird. Since when had she cared enough about the clan for that? It was strange, but she assumed feeling a sense of commitment to ShadowClan would end up being much better for her in the long run.

As the mentor assignments went on, Addersnow didnt really bother paying too much attention. Well, until she heard her name, that is.

The lean tortie didnt bother hiding the look of displeasure that crossed her face as she realized who she had been stuck with. Out of the six other kits, the one she had been assigned to was undoubtedly the weakest link of the bunch. While it was very obvious that mentoring this cat would be a good chance to further cement her standing in the clan, that didnt mean she was exactly eager to have to watch over a snot-nosed brat.

The apprentices name was frankly a mouthful, even compared to some of the other peculiarly named cats in the clan. Well, not like it really matter all that much. A name was a name, and there wouldnt be much use behind changing it.

Blue eyes narrowed as she gazed critically down at her new apprentice. Gosh, she was even more pathetic up close. ¨We start training as soon as the meeting is over. Know that from here on out, none of your cowardice will be tolerated, lest you want to be yet another cat who needs to be disposed of in favor of better options¨ her words held a threatening tone to them, but whether it would motivate or further scare Chamomilepaw wasnt of much concern to Addersnow.

As much as she would rather remain free of any burdens an apprentice might bring, if Dawnstar was already willing to give her the most challenging cat to mentor, than she assumed she shouldnt be all too mad about it. A challenge was a challenge, even if it came in the form of a tiny kitten. Actually, Chamomilepaws smaller stature might make this work out rather well if she ended up growing a backbone. Addersnow herself was relatively small (well, compared to most of the brutes that made up ShadowClan, at least), so she certainly wasnt unfamiliar with fighting tactics thats would make up for a difference in size.

Training would be merciless, but only because being soft wasnt going to make anything better. Well, that and the fact that she would prefer to get this over with as soon as possible. If anything, Chamomilepaw should consider herself lucky that she had landed with someone who wasnt a meek excuse of a cat.

[Pitou]

**Elmshadow**

A new feeling struck Elmshadow, one he hadn't expected. He watched his daughters as an extension of himself. They weren't though, right? They were just his daughters and daughters that were raised by their mother. But Sunsetkit and Ashkit stepped forward boldly, he lifted his chin just slightly, until Chamomilekit crawled forward, looking like she was ready to flee out of her pelt, tears glazing her eyes. How had he never noticed what she was growing into?

He kept his eyes on Chamomilekit as Dawnstar recited the ceremonial words and assigned mentors. Addersnow. He recognized the new Shadowclan warrior instantly. They'd gone out on the patrol together, where she'd tested his boundaries regarding respecting the borders. That interaction had left him suspicious, but now Dawnstar was assigning one of his daughters to her. He nodded once, respectfully. If Dawnstar trusted her enough then he had no qualms, and at the very least, from what he knew of the tortie she-cat, she was a strong personality, if anybody could turn Chamomilepaw around it'd be a cat like her.

But Elmshadow felt the rebuke in Dawnstar's words as she described his daughter. He'd failed. He lifted his chin higher, acknowledging that he had some blame in the kit's state. He hadn't given any thought to his kits, believing them to be Goldenstep's responsibility until apprenticeship, though he wouldn't hear of Goldenstep having done any wrong. Gingercry coddling his kits was news, though. What was that old tom doing softening his kits? But even that line of thought had him rebuking himself. If Gingercry was the one at fault for Chamomilepaw's cowardice then it was only so because Elmshadow hadn't been around enough to offset his softness.
__________________________________________________ _________

**Sunsetpaw**

The yellow-and-white she-cat beamed as Dawnstar called out her new name. She'd work to really earn that apprentice name and then work even harder to earn her warrior name! She smiled brightly at Ashpaw, it was such an amazing name! She couldn't wait to talk to her sister and get to use her new name! She turned soft eyes on Chamomilepaw, leaning over to give a comforting lick. She didn't know what to say to make the tortie-point feel better though she desperately wanted her to feel the same thrill that was coursing through her. Maybe when they really got started training then she'd finally start to see that not everything was so scary. Though Dawnstar's harsh words regarding her sibling felt like a claw to the face. Her pelt prickled in hot defense for Chamomilepaw but there was nothing that could be, or should be, said. Chamomilepaw would prove them wrong, she knew it! They'd all prove Dawnstar wrong! And suddenly her defensive anger toward Dawnstar dissipated and was replaced by a burning challenge. With an inward smile, she took Dawnstar's challenge, this would be fun!

Sunsetpaw turned and looked up at the warrior who'd approached her. She sat down and looked him up and down. "Are you Stormwing? Are you my new mentor? You see, I have a goal now so you have to be a good mentor, okay?"

@Jae

[~Sayonara~]

[@Ravensong ]

Stormwing purrs and nods, bowing down slightly to touch noses with his new apprentice. "I'll do my best," he replies softly. He meant it, he would not want to let his first apprentice down. He will shape this cat to be the best warrior he can make her. Pulling back, Stormwing looked at the sky to judge the time a bit before turning back to the apprentice. "What do you say we explore the territory first? Get to know the borders? I wouldn't want you to get lost or stumble into another clan's territory," he suggested. The last bit he added a bit jokingly and he flicks his ear. "After that, you can meet your new denmates. Why not go celebrate with your mother? I'll wait for you by the entrance." he turns, tail flicking to go sit by the camp entrance, grooming his paws idly.

[Quasar]

Hootkit | he/him | open

The light brown tabby sat in solitude amidst the crowd, dark green eyes gazing keenly up at Dawnstar as she assigned apprentices to mentors. His long tail tapped idly against the ground, curling against his side when cats started to move all around him. So...this was a meeting? He had heard the queens talking about them, but he had never participated in one himself. A lot of kits were getting their apprentice names, and he couldnt help but wonder if there were always this many promotions per meeting. Well, ShadowClan was pretty big, so it made some sense?

He frowned lightly at the leaders harsh words about Chamomilekit(paw?). That...didnt seem necessary. Dont get him wrong; he respected Dawnstar plenty, but that didnt mean she was perfect. Still, even though he wanted to speak up in the tortie-points defense, it probably something a kit should be bringing up. And...yikes, Addersnow didnt seem to be the best choice for her mentor at all. Definitely not the best choice, but maybe Dawnstar knew something he didnt. Yeah, that was probably right.

Hootkit rolled his shoulders, grinning proudly at the loud pop that was caused by the movement, ¨Chamomilepaw! Sunsetpaw! Howlpaw! Snarlpaw! Lynxpaw! Ashpaw! Spiderwebpaw!¨ since no one else was chanting just yet, he decided that if he started it out that others would follow suit. His voice was slightly high pitched, but it was still relatively deep for a kitten. He was nearing apprentice age himself, only having a moon or two to go until it was time for his own ceremony.

[vcrdant]

@Hanukkah Hawkice

At the sound of Mistlegaze’s name being called out, her eyes widened in surprise, but she couldn't hold back the smile that came across her face. Immediately, she knew that a good first impression was vital since she hadn't really talked to Lynxpaw that much. After all, this was Mistlegaze’s first time being a mentor, so it was natural for her to be nervous, but she still tried to push her nerves down. With a warm look in her eyes, she rose to her paws and padded to Lynxpaw. "Hey, I'm Mistlegaze, your new mentor." She softly touched noses with her new apprentice. "It's nice to meet you."

[Shade.]

Rookpaw watched as rfe apprentices relieved theft nentors. The way Dawnstar described Chamomilekit made her both internally laugh and cringe. Laugh because this whole situation was ridiculous amd her insults weren't even that original, and cringe because she hoped the same wouldn't happen to her. Even observing thus was awkward! Like watching people have an emotional argument or cry. Cringe. Eventually, the apprentices ceremonies seemed to be done and Dawnstar called her over. Her stomach went back to non-stop feeling like it was rotating diagonally. In fact, all her organs felt like doneone was mixing them into stew. Anxiety was an unpleasant thing. She felt her oaws were jittery. Of course, she tried to disguise those emotions and stepped up with her head held high.

And there it was. The oath. The one she'd heard time and time again. It was nothing. It was just empty words. Nobody meant that, right? You just had to say it. But that would be lying. Lying is bad! But what else could she do.
"I do." she replied deceptively steadily and looked up at the leader with a calm look on her face, almost glossy. She'd just lied.