ceremonies
THUNDERCLAN holds its ceremonies under the sun. kits, entering their sixth moon, gather by highrock as the sunrises, hoping their leader’s voice will rouse the slumbering clan. warriors have until moonrise to celebrate with their friends, and warriors often go on one last dawn hunting patrol before they retire, wanting to provide one last thing for their clan.
queens name their kits on their first sunhigh, after they’ve shown their first glimpses of a personality. even thunderclan medicine cats, typically more comfortable at night, are particularly skilled at reading signs in the sunlit clouds.
tragedies are done at moonhigh. deputies are often appointed at the last moment, and vigils begin when the moon is at its peak. battle patrols prepare to strike at dawn, risen in the night, a reminder of the violence of what will come.
RIVERCLAN holds ceremonies at dawn and dusk. kits become apprentices at dawn, their mentors spending the first morning assessing their swimming, and in the afternoon, as the new apprentice moves their nest, their mentor finds them the first trinket that will be truly their own. they will act as a moonrise patrol, exploring the territory in the light of the stars, knowing their warrior ancestors are looking for them.
kits are named soon after they’re borne, shouted to the clan by a queen’s fretting mate or an awestruck medicine cat’s apprentice, witnessing their first birth. changes in deputy are named at dawn, but the official change will not happen until dusk. if a deputy dies, a new deputy will not be appointed until dusk.
apprentices become warriors become elders at dusk. there is no duty to be completed, only celebration. a new warrior will watch a celebration in their honor, showing they have learned restraint, and when their vigil breaks in the morning, they will be greeted by their friends in celebration.
SHADOWCLAN holds ceremonies at moonrise and moonhigh. kits names are announced at moonrise, the queen peaking out of the nursery to see her clan honor her. apprentices are made warriors, moving into their new den with warnings not to stay up too late, for they have the sunrise patrol the next day.
warriors are made at moonhigh, and their names aren’t shouted, and they sit in silence until sunhigh. they are exhausted when they are released, but nests have already been prepared for them, and they will sleep until their names are shouted out come moonrise.
deputies and elders are made at moonrise, their clan greeting them for a meal. to appoint a deputy late is to suggest a lack of faith in them, and has never been a good omen. and omens: medicine cats speak during tilt, when the clan is quiet.
WINDCLAN holds ceremonies when it is time for them. as the wind is every changing, so are they, not grounded in trees or rivers as the others. kits are made apprentices when their mentors have been notified, with nary a warning given to the poor queen, who will frantically try to groom them before they stand in front of the clan.
thus the vigil of a warrior can be of variable length, some lasting from sun tilt to dawn, and others from moonhigh to sunrise. but no warrior minds. they have exhausted themselves, racing through the territory, proving they know the moors or tunnels as fluidly as they know their own tails.
deputies are made when they are needed, and elders at their own request. but moonrise is reserved: a medicine cat needs a chance to speak what they see, and it would be a foolish leader who dared interrupt.
SKYCLAN once held ceremonies at tilt, when the birds were quiet, but now, they hold most ceremonies at low moon, when the spirits are strongest. kits get their names late, as the queen thinks of what she wants them to be or who she wants to honor, but they are announced with pride, hoping their warrior ancestors hear them chanting.
apprentices are made at low sun, born from a time when they were not always gathered. they will spend their time with their mentor, abandoning the nursery quickly. skyclan is resilient: kits have been raised on the stories of the hardships they’ve faced, and they know not to take moments for granted.
but everything else is done at low moon. deputies are never rushed and never delayed, but made with the same pragmaticism and gracefulness that has protected skyclan through all this time. warriors will get to eat a meal with their friends, happy in the knowledge they have passed their assessments, and warriors often ask to be put on the moonrise patrol before they become elders, aware of how lucky they are to have it.
WHEN TIGERSTAR MADE TIGERCLAN, this is where they failed. he was a thunderclan leader trying to act for shadowclan and riverclan. shadowclan apprentices were startled, and their mentors unsure of what to do without a full day to tour each part of the territory, and riverclan mentors struggled, wondering when they would find their apprentices a token.
shadowclan queens fretted, fearing they would be asked their kits’ names so soon after birth, without even a moment to think of what they were like. shadowclan warriors missed the celebration on completion of their vigil, and riverclan warriors did not feel comfortable participating in their own celebration.
leopardstar, too, did not know how to respond. she did not know how to insist sunhigh was too hot for them to gather, and how her warriors must rest. the urgency of hunting at dawn and dusk was lost on tigerstar, for in the forest, prey never truly sleeps.
ON THE GREAT JOURNEY, clans had to adapt. there were few ceremonies to hold, but those that were held were held when it was safe, and always as soon as they could. no one wanted to miss a chance they may not get back.
WHEN SHADOWCLAN DISSOLVED, they were disoriented with the ceremonies, or the way skyclan felt the need to seek approval from their ancestors so directly.
they thought she was holding them at tilt, denying her medicine cats a chance to speak, and they feared not just for their old clan but for this one, which headed the stars in name alone.
BUT LIKE THE FIRST SKYCLAN, they were willing to adapt for strength. as thunderclan held ceremonies when all could hear, and as riverclan held them in their most important moments, and as windclan held them as was practical, and as shadowclan held them as tradition told them to, skyclan held them to make their clan strong.
and these are why even as clans grow peaceful, they will not grow together.
