[:blue:]

Originally Posted by Lilly

(apologies for this being so late! just got settled in California~)

As her new starry Clanmates all went before her, each of them passing on the life the held within them, Cricketpaw sat nervous, ears twitching as waves of anxiety rolled over her. She hadn't been in StarClan that long it felt, and definitely not long enough to be given the honor to attend a leaders' ceremony. It wasn't just that she was a former RiverClan cat giving a life to future ShadowClan leader - given the two Clans history, it seemed unprecedented - but the fact that she just had absolutely no idea what to do. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, a loud thumping that she was sure every cat in StarClan and beyond could hear. Just breath, she reminded herself, and her blue eyes seemed to clear just a bit.

The former medicine cat apprentice watched as Fernpaw exited the clearing, leaving Goldeneye searching for the next cat to give him a life. Praying that no mistakes were made since the ceremony was so close to being over, Cricketpaw rose to her paws and slid forward, her movements fluid as she appeared in the light shrouded clearing. "Greetings," she began, dipping her head as a sign of respect to the new ShadowClan warrior. She didn't know much of him, but sincerely hoped that he wouldn't carry Halestar's resentment towards her father's Clan. "My name is Cricketpaw. I am the former medicine cat apprentice of RiverClan." There was much more she wanted to say, to tell him, but her blue eyes just shimmered as she stood facing the larger tom.

"With this life, I give you the willingness to understand. May you use it to see the eyes through every member of your Clan, and beyond." A moment of silence hung between them before the young Bengal stretched her neck forward lightly touching her nose to his. She felt the flow of energy travel through her body and surging into Goldeneye's own. The transfer of the life left her a feeling of relief, but she knew it wouldn't be the same story for Goldeneye. Understanding what each Clan member was going through at any given time was a difficult task - the pain, anguish, joy, ambition, all these emotions occupied various thoughts of multiple ShadowClanners. All she hoped was that he would be able to learn to understand each cat he came across.

What had felt like moons was over in a matter of a few heartbeats, and soon Cricketpaw found herself dipping her head before retreating into the shadows. Her duty was done, her life given to Goldeneye. The rush of adrenaline felt as though it had poured out of her, clinging to the life that had resided within her, only to be passed to Goldeneye. She finally felt as though she could breath a sigh of relief, and once again settled into her place amongst her ancestors, patiently watching the closing moments of the ceremony.

Goldeneye was silent once again. That had happened a lot during this cerimony. It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary of him, and it probably wasn’t even out of the ordinary for ceremonies. He watched the next cat come out of the starry ranks, and, automatically, something clicked in his mind. He could remember this cat. It was...Cricketpaw, right? She had been the Riverclan apprentince when Shadowclan had first arrived in Riverclan. He didn’t know when she had died, or anything like that, and now he felt somewhat bad. Well...what if this wasn’t Cricketpaw? Imagine how awkward that would make this whole thing.

His thoughts were confirmed when Cricketpaw spoke up. He listened to her speak in pure silence. He was basically holding his breath. He wished he knew what to say. He wished he knew how she was already in Starclan. Well, maybe eventually he would learn that. But for now, however, he just listened. He was sightly disappointed when she stopped talking for the first time. It was somewhat obvious to him that she wanted to say more. However, she didn’t, so Goldeneye remained silent for the time being.

Once again, his thoughts drifted to wondering what all the other leaders’ ceremonies were like. However, that didn’t really matter right now. He let the life flow into him, trembling slightly as he felt a rush of adrenaline. Adrenaline. That was an almost new feeling for him. He had only really felt it during the flood. It had only been about a moon ago, yet, here he was, now a leader. It felt weird that Halestar wasn’t going to come back with Shadowclan. However, a leader had to do what he had to do he supposed, as hesitant as he might be to do it.

One last life. One last one. Then it would be official. He wanted to hide the trembling, but it was there, one last cat. He had to steady his breathing, looking through the ranks silently, unsure of what else to say or do currently.

(( @Empress Of Evil ))