[center][fancypost=borderwidth=0px; width:400px; text-align:justify;]He wouldn't be around forever. Death was a constant threat, a thin veil of dread hanging over the clans. In BloodClan, it had been much thicker- a heavy blanket weighing him down and trapping him within the confines of the city. Even still, he had not been aware of it. He had thought of himself as above death, too strong to ever fall at the claws of another. Because that was the only way to die, right? Truth be told, he hadn't known there even was another way to die. Old cats hadn't come by often, as usually people were killed before they could even reach that age. Most adults were immune to a majority of illnesses due to catching them as a kit then surviving.
Now, however, he knew better. Sickness could kill, old age could kill, Lord, even some herbs could kill. Now that he had all of this knowledge, he found himself doublechecking his own health and that of his clanmates. Not simply because of his rank in the clan, but also because there were just so many things that could kill them and they didn't even know how to stop it from happening. The fact that not everyone knew how to treat an illness or an infection struck him as odd now that he had known for so long. Perhaps that should be fixed?
But yet, with the way apprentices learned in a clan setting, he would hardly be able to work around the schedules in order to teach them all everything there was to know. Not to mention that some of them might start to get overconfident and start treating people incorrectly, thinking that they've got everything down pat. Then everybody would get infections, herbs would be wasted, clanmates would start dying... Not a good situation overall.
But he could promote an apprentice. A sole cat to follow in his pawsteps (though hopefully not all of them, he noted, not wanting any of them to starting assaulting cats and burning territories down) and learn the ways of a medicine cat. With an extra pair of paws around, he could treat his clanmates quicker. As well, he could pass on his knowledge so that the clan would be in safe paws were anything to happen to him. Yes, that was what he would do.
But who to appoint? The Maine Coon mix had spent quite some time thinking, mulling over the subject since Littlepaw's demotion. It would have to be somebody who he trusted to stay attentive, somebody who showed a good work ethic and was likely to stick to whatever task Audenine would give them. They would need to be around often, somebody who was close to their clanmates in order for the clan to trust them.
Finally, that afternoon, he had made his decision. The muscular, slightly chubby tom climbed out of the window of the medicine cats den. He jumped down from his perch, hitting the ground with a thump. Slowly, he strode over to the center of the camp, glancing around the area with soft yellow eyes. "Everyone! I've got an announcement, c'mon over." A moment was spent awaiting the arrival of his clanmates. He took that time to sit down, letting his large fluffy tail swing back and lay on the ground right behind him. Once enough cats had gathered, he would continue. "I've decided on my apprentice. The next medicine cat apprentice of SkyClan will be Wasppaw."
Hopefully the apprentice would accept. If not, he supposed he could choose another one, but he figured Wasp would be the best choice out of the possible candidates. If he was being honest, he wanted to teach Cricketpaw about herbs as well, though not nearly for the same reason. He just didn't want the tom to end up overdosing. Aud didn't quite trust him enough to shape up and actually treat their clanmates, though. Not until he started recovering from his addiction.
