ready and steady [windclan meeting]

Rabbitear yawned luxuriously, flicking his tawny tail. A lovely day so, naturally, the tom had been snoozing the hours away tucked into a nook just outside of the WindClan camp, barely putting in any effort to mask his telltale scent. From deep within a pleasant dream, one that involved a great number of she-cats, he felt the unwelcome arousal of voices. The afternoon, as of yet, had been a relatively quiet one, thus he had been given the luxury of a well-deserved (maybe not) nap. The tom’s oversized ears twitched, registering the far-off call of Redstar blabbering on about something or another. Rabbitear opened one eye, heavy and lucid from slumber, before promptly shutting it again. Oh StarClan, a gathering.

Ah, yes. Right. Sandpaw would be graduating today. His apprentice had passed his assessment, if barely, just days before. For moons, the young tom had been showing actual promise. Had pestered Rabbitear to no end for training. Battle practice, hunting, tracking. Again. Again. Again, Rabbitear! It had, frankly, been exhausting. He had slowly, very slowly, gained a begrudging appreciation for the boisterous, if infuriating, apprentice. Never did Rabbit think they would be here- would have the young tom be upgraded to warrior status. Especially after the last moon of training, which had essentially been nonexistent. Sandpaw had stopped learning, stopped paying attention. Lost whatever spark had been previously inside him. Whatever cause still remained unknown, despite his mentor's prodding. The curiosity had been eating at Rabbitear. Now, he was afraid, their forced relationship was coming to a close and his opportunity to discover his secret was quickly passing. The thought, he was sure, would continue to gnaw at him. He had wanted to hold him back, to tell Redstar he wasn't ready. But, the moments to do so had slipped away like water poured onto an outstretched paw. Gone. So graduate he would.

Rabbit had a distinct dislike for gatherings, no matter the cause. Even his own warrior ceremony had been greeted with a huff and a melodramatic show to his sister. Cats all in one place at one time often made him feel more than a little claustrophobic. All the emotions, bunched up and rippling through the crowd. The tom thus remained in his well worn-in sleeping perch for a few minutes longer. The commotion grew in strength, however, with more and more of his clan mates meandering into the open space surrounding the central rock that Redstar was undoubtedly squatted upon. He should probably support Sandpaw, right?

Rabbitear rolled his green eyes, groaning internally at his thunderously loud clan mates. He slowly climbed to his feet, stretching his back languidly, before making his way into the clearing. He was late, just barely catching the end of the leader’s words. The He settled into the warm flooring, baked by the high overhead sun, and surveyed his apprentice. Sandpaw looked supremely uncomfortable. Guilty, even? Certainly not ready to become a warrior, to sit vigil tonight and protect the clan tomorrow. The look on the younger tom's face stirred genuine concern in Rabbitear, and he weaved his way closer, brushing pelts as he went.

He fixed Sandpaw with a steady gaze, doing his very best to conjure an expression that resembled encouragement; sureness. Both of them should have been jovial, proud, excited, on this day. After all, they had made it. It felt wrong to see his grown apprentice look ready to throw up his morning meal.
NOTES: crescendo okay WOW he's already warrior-ing that was quick

And if you're still breathing

Rabbitear&Sandpaw

` r i v e r & crescendo