[spade]

@Clover

Following her new mentor's pawstes as she seemed to easily make her way into the dimly lit cavern that stretched before her, Cricketpaw's mouth began agape by just a hair. The darkness and shadows that surrounded her sent shivers down her fur, but apart of her also welcomed it, as if it was somehow a home she'd never known about. Her bright blue eyes, vibrant with curiosity and wonder, floated around, begging to take in every detail of the landscape her paws now graced. She could feel the smooth surface beneath her, worn down by countless pawpads that had walked this very path before her. Was this where her father had come to receive his lives? Somehow, that ignited a tiny fire within her, and exasperated a warm feeling deep in her chest. She had been so excited to reunite with him, and now she was walking the same path he had, albeit hers for a much different reason.

The still young RiverClan she-cat let her gaze rest on Geckoleaf as she stopped, letting her own paws come to a halt beside her new mentor. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest, like a fish trying to swim upstream, battling the current every inch of the way. There was no breeze this deep in the cavern, and ahead of them a light glowing from the sacred Moonstone. It nearly took her breath away when she had first witnessed it stepping in behind the RiverClan medicine cat. Now, a warm rush of pride filled each crevice of her body; she had been selected as Geckoleaf's apprentice. Though she hadn't gotten to know the medicine cat too well, since she was just barely three moons old when she was taken from the Clan, something about her seemed familiar. Maybe it was because Cricketpaw was unsure if her own mother was still alive. Perhaps it stemmed from the one longing desire to have a deep and meaningful connection in her life - not just another 'acquaintance'. Whatever it was, a smile graced her youthful maw as she looked up at her mentor, eyes shimmering with hope and excitement, more sure than they had ever been.

"I feel as though I am the least qualified cat for this," Cricketpaw stated honestly, heat rushing to her ears before she continued. "But, I also feel like somehow, this is what kept drawing me back to RiverClan, even while I was away. I am eager to learn the ways of a medicine cat, and to follow in your pawsteps, Geckoleaf." A calm, content tone shaped those words, leaving Cricketpaw's mouth in a voice just barely above a murmur. Every inch of her pelt tingled as if she had been struck by lightning, and it took every fiber in her body to remain still. Ever since she had left behind her mother and siblings and made the tremendous journey back to her home, Cricketpaw had never been one hundred percent sure of any decision she had made. What if her siblings were now all dead? What if her mother was no longer the feline she had looked up to all those moons ago? Yes, there were many choices the Bengal had made in her short life that she wasn't all too certain of - but accepting her role as RiverClan's next medicine cat? A smile spread across her face once more as she realized that this is why StarClan had called her home.