COMMON MAN'S PROMISED LAND — medicine cat ceremony

[RAVENSONG]

With the words of Dawnglare finished, and Lichenpaw and Magpiepaw's apprenticeship now officially begun under the light of the Moonstone, it was time to "share tongues with StarClan" as they said. Ravenpaw settled alone at one side of the stone, curling his paws underneath his skinny form and wrapping his tail tightly around his body. All he could hear was the sound of breath against the cold, cruel walls of the claustrophobic cave. A reminder that he was still alive.

The disgruntled taste left in his mouth after Dawnglare spoke the ceremonial words to him that were meant to be Beesong's was subsiding, but still bitter at the back of his tongue. I should have not come. He suddenly felt a surge of doubt well up in his chest. If he left after the rest of them fell asleep, they would not know. As quickly as the idea was born, it died when he realized how foolish it was. Snakeblink was not the bodyguard that the other medicine cats believed he was. Snakeblink was his cover.

If ever he was allowed one special moment in his life, it would have been this one. Instead, he was forced to come here alone, without his mentor to guide him and announce his full ceremony like he was supposed to. Instead, he got the medicine cat of SkyClan to speak precious words—a cat that Ravenpaw would respect only for his seniority as medicine cat, but nothing else, as far as he was concerned, might as well be just as mean as Ravenpaw himself. Had Dawnglare decided to name him with those words, Ravenpaw was convinced he himself would have snapped—and what then?

Someone was watching over him, clearly, since that had not been the case.

Ravenpaw was stalling. He breathed in sharply, closed his eyes and pressed his nose to the stone, too hurriedly to even have time to wonder what lay beyond for him.


@BEESONG

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[Rain]

Starry paws make their way across the landscape, a place that would look vaguely familiar to Ravenpaw as it was nearly a mirror of RiverClans territory. Long tendrils of willow trees sway softly in the breeze and the soft burble of the river can be heard in the background. It is a peaceful sort of place and for a moment he is happy that his friend, for Beesong had once been a dear one, had gotten to spend so much of his life surrounded by such beauty.

Upon his face is a gentle but sad smile, understanding for the apprentices loss reflected in his gaze. "I am not who you were probably expecting" he says softly, his tone holding hints of his own mourning for the life that had been lost. "I am Rain, in life I was the leader of the Pine Colony, before I was killed in the Great Battle. Your mentor and I were, at one time, close." Beesong had left the pines to serve a higher purpose after Rain's death. He grieves for the scarred toms loss but a small part of him is glad to be reunited. His fight was finally over, there would be no more pain or hunger and they could sit by the river and talk like they once had. "Not too long ago, it was Beesong who stood before me, a very similar look in his eyes" he muses, remembering the ceremony of the cat who had come before Ravenpaw "I never expected to have to do another ceremony so soon. I am sorry for your loss" too young. Both Ravenpaw and Beesong had been too young. But as much as he wishes he could, he cannot change the tides of fate. "We do not have much time together so we should begin"

He steps closer and tilts his head to the sky, his yellow eyes shining with some hidden emotion "I, Rain, on behalf of StarClan speak these words before you now" he says "Ravenpaw, you have trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat and the ways of the stars and though you still have many things left to learn, you will continue to serve your clan for many moons to come." there was time to fill the gaps left by his former mentors swift passing. He would watch over the tom like he had Beesong, guide him when he could. He just hopes it'll be enough. "Ravenpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat? To stand apart from others and to protect all the cats of your Clan equally, even at the cost of your life?" he quiets after this, waiting solemnly for the ebony furred tom to answer.
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[RAVENSONG]

He opens his eyes to a landscape that he knows like the back of his paw. Ravenpaw squinted, fur bristling as his nose flared. He stood still in his place, as if not quite believing he was where he was meant to be. The calmness and serenity of the atmosphere made the nerves pulsing through Ravenpaw's body and mind seem ever louder. He could fail to conjure up a time he felt more alive than now.

An unfamiliar figure approaches him. Ravenpaw stood his ground and raised his head. His lanky tail swished behind him, disturbing the ethereal plants if his body still was solid. The stranger was right—he was not what Ravenpaw was expecting. "What? Didn't he make it here—?" He swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat, and instead of feeling joyful over the occasion, could only linger on what he had lost and what had been taken from him. Dawnglare taking over the words meant to be spoken to him by Beesong, and now even in StarClan he could not meet his mentor a final time.

His grief rolled off him in waves, and when he looked into Rain's eyes, the tears he had done so well to this point had finally welled up and sparkled at the creases of his sea-foam-like eyes.There would be time for frustration later, all he could do now was shed his stony pelt and surrender.

"I do." He said, very quietly. His eyes squeezed shut. "I do." He repeated, louder.

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[Rain]

He can sense the disappointment and the grief roiling off the young tom who stands before him now but he does not say anything. His eyes flicker to a spot beyond him where he is certain the rest of StarClan watches, unseen and hidden from the living. His gaze remains there for only a moment before it returns to Ravenpaw, who is saying 'I do'. Rain nods his head affirmatively before continuing on with the ceremony. "Then by the powers granted to me by the stars I give you your true name as a medicine cat" his eyes glint with a knowing look and he gives the tom a soft, yet sad smile "Ravenpaw, from this day forward you will now be known as Ravensong" It was a good name, one that he hopes the tom will be pleased with. "StarClan honors you for your passion and your strong-will and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of RiverClan" he would need both virtues if he was to overcome the struggles that he was yet to face, for surely life in the clans would never be easy.

He steps forwards and reaches out to touch noses with the newly-named medicine cat "Wear your new name with pride and honor" he says quietly, his eyes flashing with a, brief, hidden emotion before he turns his attention back to that distant point over the tomsshoulder. "It is time for us to part now, but just know this is not the last time you shall meet with StarClan, this is not goodbye." a soft smile lifts at the corners of his lips before he brushes past the tom, dissolving into a mist along with the starry landscape that now falls away, giving once more into darkness so that the other may wake and return to the living.

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