Life in EverClan

OOC: Whenever you want, or now doesn't matter.

IC: Riverpelt greeted her son with an affectionate purr, "I'd be glad to accompany you, Salmonsplash."

Snowfoot padded over Hawksight, "It's about time we took Lionpaw and Rosepaw out for an assessment ." Hawksight nodded, "I'll be glad to have one of my apprentices made a warrior." He thought about his former apprentice, Turtlepaw, and where he might be now.

Snowfoot flicked her tail, as if she was trying to dismiss the sudden depressing tone the conversation had taken. "Well," She stood up finally, "I'll get Rosepaw, you get Lionpaw." And with that she turned and padded over the apprentices' den and mewed, "Rosepaw time to hunt!"

Snowfoot led Rosepaw to the entrance of the camp where Hawksight was waiting with Lionpaw. "Let's go!" She ushered with her tail as she exited the camp. "Alright, Lionpaw and Rosepaw, you may go up ahead to catch some prey." She mewed. Lionpaw padded on ahead, wondering whether to crouch or sprint. He paused, straining for a scent. As he peered into brush, he noticed wavering movement. Lowering his haunches, he crept towards to movement and saw that it was a squirrel cracking a nut on the roots of a tree. Lionpaw tensed up, and remembering to keep himself downwind, sprang forward and landed on top of his target.

Lionpaw finished off his catch and gave thanks to StarClan for it's life. Meanwhile, Hawksight observed Lionpaw performance and purred with delight. Snowfoot saw Rosepaw's catch, most definitely pleased.
Her ears twitched as Hawksight padded up behind her. "What do you think?" He mewed quietly. "It may be a bit too early to say." Snowfoot whispered, "But so far, so good." Together they watched as Lionpaw dashed off in search of more prey.

Lionpaw opened his mouth to catch a scent, but there was nothing. "Mouse dung!" He muttered under his breath. "Having trouble?" A voice behind him giggled. Lionpaw turned around suddenly, frightened by the fact someone had snuck up on him while his back was turned. He turned to find a small she-cat whose whitish-grey pelt glistened like SilverPelt. Her scent was that of EverClan and yet not of EverClan. It was the scent of something otherworldly. "Shouldn't you run back to your mother?" He hissed, unsure of what to think about this stranger. The she-cat shook her head, "Nah, my mother's busy." Lionpaw furrowed his brow in confusion, Who leave a kit to wander this far from her home? he wondered. "Well?" The she-cat asked impatiently. "Well, what?" Lionpaw replied, not knowing what in StarClan the kit was talking about. "Well, aren't you going to ask my name?" She answered. "Fine." Lionpaw was getting annoyed at how brash the kit was. "What's your name?" "Mistykit!" She smiled. "And you're Lionpaw, aren't you?" Lionpaw's jaw dropped. "But, how did you know?" He gasped. "Oh, that's easy!" Mistykit giggled, "We StarClan cats know everything!"

Lionpaw's eyes widened. "St-St-StarClan?" He stammered. "You betcha!" Mistykit giggled. "Oh!" She gasped as a look of recognition came over her. "I just remembered why I'm here!" She smiled, turned to face the river, and dashed off. "C'mon!" She yowled over her shoulder. Lionpaw willed his feet to move as fast as they would go. It took all of his effort to catch up to Mistykit. "Where are we going?" Lionpaw asked. "You'll see." Mistykit winked, and sped off again with her speed redoubled. This time when Lionpaw tried to speed up it felt as he had the power of StarClan surging through his veins. He saw that Mistykit had stopped on a rock jutting out of the side of the gorge. As he approached the rock, he saw that it overlooked the falls. "Come," Mistykit beckoned, sounding suddenly solemn, "look into the water."

Lionpaw stared into the waterfall. The coldness of Leaf-bare tried it's hardest to freeze the water, but the water was too strong. The more he looked at the falls, the more he realized he could see something in the rippling waves, or rather something made of the waves. Slowly the nose, muzzle, teeth, eyes, ears and legendary mane of a lion formed amongst the foam and spray of the falls. It's giant jaws parted to release a thunderous roar that shook the entire gorge. Lionpaw did his best to keep his balance upon the shaking rock. With the rippling of thousands of watery muscles, the lion leapt, gliding over Mistykit's and Lionpaw's heads and landed further downstream and rejoined the river. With that, the moment, and the vision, were gone.

"What does it mean?" Lionpaw whispered. "It mean this, Lionpaw" Mistykit mewed with a sense of purpose that Lionpaw didn't even begin to understand. "Leaf-bare's icy grip will shatter with the Lion's roar." And with that, Mistykit faded until Lionpaw could no longer see her.

Hawksight was beginning to get worried. He and Snowfoot had found Rosepaw easily enough, he still had not found his apprentice. Hearing a rustle in the bushes, he turned to face the source of the noise. Out of the bushes came Lionpaw. His pelt sparkled with beads of water and his eyes glowed with an almost otherworldly light, deep with understanding. Between his jaws he carried a fair bit of prey, which brought Hawksight relief. "Come on." Hawksight brushed his tail against Lionpaw's flank. "We have a ceremony to attend to."

OOC: Yes, very.

IC: Rumblestar leapt on the CenterStone. "All cats old enough their prey gather here by the CenterStone." He yowled. "I have an announcement to make." He paused aware that eyes of every cat in the clan was on him. "Rosepaw you demonstrated kindness and graciousness. With these gifts and the knowledge passed on to you by your mentor, Moonlight, do you promise to serve clan faithfully, even at the cost of your life?"