The Starcave

[Rani]

(This is not in relation to any starcave meetings this starter is simply for Snakepaws medicine cat name please treat it as private)
@Rainquail

The young tom had told Coldamber everything, of course he did, after the medicine meeting that had gone so badly and turned into an ongoing disaster but it was still so hard to see a worry come true. He'd told the older medicine cat about Sparrowskip leaving, about how he was alone, about his worries that in his absence he would soon be named full medicine cat in turn, about how it worried him, about how he didnt believe in starclan like he should for his role and she'd listened. (She always did, Coldamber was an actually reasonable and kind cat like that.)

So here he was, adhering to their emergency plan in case Snakepaw was right about his worries, slipping into the starcave two nights after the last meeting concluded to be named. Coldamber should be here with the knowledge of how this actually worked (and probably the personal knowledge that the normal ceremony wouldnt work) and it was only that thought that kept him going. Two days wasnt really enough time to be ready for this was it though. Not at only 9 moons old, not amidst another unforeseen disaster. But he was here.

"Coldamber? You in here? We were right, of course we were, Sparrowskips left and Im to be medicine cat in his place."

[Abyssopelagic]

Despite the situation in WindClan, Coldamber felt it was her duty to help Snakepaw in the absence of his mentor and now that this responsibility was falling onto his much younger shoulders, more than ever he needed her.
If he hadn't told the other Medicine Cats, there was a reason to it, whether it be a lack of personal connection or Clan rivalry and a wish to keep that knowledge hidden from anyone who might use it against them.
She had made her way to the Starcave early, to wait for Snakepaw. Although she and Snailswirl had never been introduced or inducted into the role of Medicine Cat through ceremony, she thought it would be ok to improvise.
It wasn't the words that made it important or work, but the intent and thought behind it.
Shortly after she had arrived, Snakepaw padded along, looking tired and admitting what she felt she already knew. She approached him and pressed her shoulder into his, head coming down to lightly settle onto the top of his.
"I'm terribly sorry Sparrowskip left this to you. I will do everything I can to make this easier for you," she whispered to him, softly.
She gave him a moment before she pressed into the real matter at hand.
"Are you ready? To be named a Medicine Cat in full. I'll let you have some time if you need it."

@Rani

[Rani]

@Rainquail

Support was nice. Support was really nice especially when Snakepaw felt he had none and was cast adrift in the cruelest coldest river imaginable. He had Foxblaze at home and Coldamber who understood the duties he was burdened with and that was enough. The tom leaned into her warmth softly murmuring
"Im sorry to draw you away from windclan right now I know you must be struggling. As soon as windclans free, because I know you will be eventually, tell a riverclan cat over the border to tell me and Im gathering a patrol to bring you some herbs and prey. Its the least I can do after all youve done for me."

Eventually pulling away Snakepaw swallowed nervously as he pulled away but breathed in deeply before firmly replying. "No but lets do it anyway. How is this supposed to work?"

[Abyssopelagic]

Coldamber murrs softly as she pulls away and takes a step backwards, thinking, having unintentionally ignored the first half of what Snakepaw had said, only hearing the question.
She thought about it. She hadn't had any living cats to ask, so she'd sought her answer in StarClan. However, she didn't want to adhere strictly to any sort of traditions, as she thought the intent was more important.
"Traditionally, the cat initiating the apprentice to Medicine Cat and the apprentice themself sleep in the Starcave and conduct the ceremony in StarClan, but...." she paused, mouth twisting.
"If you would much rather not, I don't thi k it would matter if we stay awake and in the present world."
She wasn't entirely aware that Snakepaw didn't believe in StarClan, just that he seemed to have an aversion to the ancestors. She didn't know his life, so she wouldn't judge. Well, even if she knew him better, each cat's belief was their own and she didn't feel it right to impose beliefs on others.

@Rani

[Rani]

@Rainquail

"Yeah but.... Honestly do medicine cats even generally linger long enough to last to properly name their successors full medicine cats? I dont think Ive ever seen or heard of it happening... Thats probably not a good sign lets move on. The cycle needs to break in some way.

I dont need starclan to tell me if Im ready. I've been doing everything I can to keep my clan together and I havent failed yet. I wont fail. What I need is for someone who believes in my ability knows about me and actually gives a damn to give me a name I can be proud of."
He trusted Coldamber with that where he didnt trust any other medicine cat or any other cat in general. To the tom the faith of a living cat in him was far better than a some fictitious dead ones.
"We're under the light of the stars and the moon right now. If that matters it should be enough." Moving forward felt more important right now.

[Abyssopelagic]

Originally Posted by Rani

@Rainquail

"Yeah but.... Honestly do medicine cats even generally linger long enough to last to properly name their successors full medicine cats? I dont think Ive ever seen or heard of it happening... Thats probably not a good sign lets move on. The cycle needs to break in some way.

I dont need starclan to tell me if Im ready. I've been doing everything I can to keep my clan together and I havent failed yet. I wont fail. What I need is for someone who believes in my ability knows about me and actually gives a damn to give me a name I can be proud of."
He trusted Coldamber with that where he didnt trust any other medicine cat or any other cat in general. To the tom the faith of a living cat in him was far better than a some fictitious dead ones.
"We're under the light of the stars and the moon right now. If that matters it should be enough." Moving forward felt more important right now.

Coldamber felt a surge of pride for the cat in front of her.
Not too long ago Snakepaw would have likely scoffed and turned away, refusing to partake in Medicine Cat rituals. At one point she worried he would have turned away from his duties to serve his own purpose and yet, here he was, facing a destiny chosen by someone else that he never believed in, ready to give his all for this purpose.
"I appreciate your belief in us as the still living, instead of looking to the dead for answers."

She herself was guilty of this at times, growing tired of the bickering and emotions of her companions and seeking the guidance of someone intangible, an outside view to the situation.
She approached him once more, now readying herself to give him his ceremony.
"StarClan, spirits of our ancestors and the Medicine Cats that came before us. I call upon you to look upon this cat in front of me. He has trained in the ways of a Medicine Cat and I feel him worthy to take his place as another among our rank in the name as a Medicine Cat in full."
These were not the words to be spoken. You were to emplore that StarClan find the cat worthy, but.... she didn't care what they thought. She didn't need someone else to tell her that he was ready, was worthy of his position.
He had grown so much and she wouldn't let anyone take this away from him. This was his moment.

"Snakepaw, do you promise to uphold the Medicine Code and heal your Clan in times of both peace and strife?"
This was it. His answer would solidify his status as a Medicine Cat and he'd be one his own, more or less. Being in different Clans..... meant they could only train so much and at certain times. She wished she could sweep him away, take him under her wing in WindClan unstead, give him a better future..... but what future was there for WindClan or for Snakepaw in WindClan?
She felt powerless and she hated that. What happened to her pride? Her happiness in how far he'd come? Where had this anxiety come from?

((I'm so sorry it took me this long to reply))

[Rani]

Originally Posted by Rainquail

Coldamber felt a surge of pride for the cat in front of her.
Not too long ago Snakepaw would have likely scoffed and turned away, refusing to partake in Medicine Cat rituals. At one point she worried he would have turned away from his duties to serve his own purpose and yet, here he was, facing a destiny chosen by someone else that he never believed in, ready to give his all for this purpose.
"I appreciate your belief in us as the still living, instead of looking to the dead for answers."

She herself was guilty of this at times, growing tired of the bickering and emotions of her companions and seeking the guidance of someone intangible, an outside view to the situation.
She approached him once more, now readying herself to give him his ceremony.
"StarClan, spirits of our ancestors and the Medicine Cats that came before us. I call upon you to look upon this cat in front of me. He has trained in the ways of a Medicine Cat and I feel him worthy to take his place as another among our rank in the name as a Medicine Cat in full."
These were not the words to be spoken. You were to emplore that StarClan find the cat worthy, but.... she didn't care what they thought. She didn't need someone else to tell her that he was ready, was worthy of his position.
He had grown so much and she wouldn't let anyone take this away from him. This was his moment.

"Snakepaw, do you promise to uphold the Medicine Code and heal your Clan in times of both peace and strife?"
This was it. His answer would solidify his status as a Medicine Cat and he'd be one his own, more or less. Being in different Clans..... meant they could only train so much and at certain times. She wished she could sweep him away, take him under her wing in WindClan unstead, give him a better future..... but what future was there for WindClan or for Snakepaw in WindClan?
She felt powerless and she hated that. What happened to her pride? Her happiness in how far he'd come? Where had this anxiety come from?

((I'm so sorry it took me this long to reply))

Snakepaw didnt care much about the words, pleas to starclan who would never respond but the intent behind them warmed the tom to the core. Coldamber belived he was ready. He was half trained and still young trying desperately to hold his clan together in a crisis, a stress they two cats shared. The struggle to keep an entire clan alive and together through all odds weight piled on top of already weighty duties when it was neither of their places to do so. And if she who understood the trials believed he could make it the apprentice would put faith in experience not the stars and take that as his sign. He was ready.

"I swear to help my clanmates upon my life, my love and all I survived in my time. I'll hold my duty above all else heal my clan and keep them strong with everything I can."
Perhaps it was sad or worrisome the words and how much he meant them. The intent behind them. The promise to abandon his own desires, needs and everything he was for the sake of others but that was a medicine cats burden wasnt it. They as a group would always sacrifice for the whole until there was nothing left with little thanks and no promise of an end. All they could hope to do was support eachother and Snakepaw quietly sweared that he'd do that too for Coldamber. She believed in him and he'd make sure that belief could never be doubted.

[Abyssopelagic]

Coldamber leaned foward and pressed her nose to Snakepaw's forehead.
"Then by the authority vested in me, Snakepaw, from this moment foward, you will be known as Snakeheart," she leaned back a bit, eyes shining.
"May you carry foward with my blessing as RiverClan's new Medicine Cat and know that I'll always be proud of you and just how far you've come."
She allowed herself to drop the formal airs she had donned and leaned foward to pressed her shoulder into his, enwrapping him in a hug and a final word of advice before they parted ways, though she hoped they might speak without the weight of duty hanging over them.

"Your road ahead is long. Don't be afraid to find others to trust. Make friends wherever you can, my dear."
She lifted her head briefly to look directly at the stars, challenging them to say otherwise, as if they could answer her, to shun her for not seeking their blessing before naming this cat. But they did not answer, they only winked back at her.
With the lack or resistance, she let herself relax and the tension ease from her mind. There would be no opposition for her Snakeheart. Not today.

@Rani

[Rani]

And so with a nose touch and a blessing, he was Snakeheart.
It wasnt a name he expected. The tom knew full well what other cats thought of him, snappish angry and biting at the best of times to anyone without a care for retaliation and heart wasnt a suffix many would think suited him. Maybe the full name yes, Snakeheart; the heart of a serpent poisonous and dangerous but the tom knew that wasnt what Coldamber meant by the name. Coldamber knew more than most how deeply Snakeheart cared for the clan and the lengths he would go to help them, its how he grew close to her in the first place. By drawing her off in a gathering and whenever possible to ask for some way, any way to help his clan.

He wasnt Snake hearted to her he was Snake known to her for his heart. And the thought warmed him like the sun as he leaned on the older mollys shoulder a low purr rumbling his his chest. His ears flicked as the advice and his flat and serious expression faded as a small slightly mischievous grin curled around his muzzle as he prodded the molly.
"Sounds like good advice to me, Ive already got someone here and I trust and consider a dear friend and its turned out pretty well for me."
The harder edges of his often razor confidence softened as he noted her tension the burden weighing down on her in a sort of invisible pressure and he quietly added
"I hope you can think the same of me. I mean the chances of us being able to rely on the other medicine cats are basically none. With Frostpaw being Frostpaw and Rainywhisker being unable to reign her in in the slightest thunderclan is a bust, Im not touching that with a dead rat when I have the option of sane cats. And Ebonyfang is..... well Ebontfang he's not bad but.... Yeah.
Does the medicine cat role just attract weird cats? I dont know much about the cats who held the position before us but is this a trend?"

She needed to be able on focus on lighter topics everything that was going on in windclan was so much if the toms sharpened jabs managed to earn a smile or chuckle he'd be happy. He was a medicine cat now and it was his duty to help and heal he'd start by helping her.

@Rainquail

[Willie Warf]

Muffin sat there for a few moments, thinking about if she should follow Stonefoot or not. I could be a trap... she thought. But it won't hurt to just take a look, I am stronger than Stonefoot anyway. She padded after him, hurrying to keep up, the bell on her collar jingling as she walked.

Stonefoot stopped at the starcave, hearing whispers as he entered. "Welcome To the Starcave." he said to Muffin. @Feathercreek