Little Hawk glanced out of the entrance of the cave sleepily. She always did this, waking up early to see the sunrise and staying up late to see the sunset. She loved it. It was always beautiful, and she loved seeing the deep shades of red and blue and indigo and purple and pink, it was amazing. She mostly enjoyed this experience because no other cat seemed to care about the beautiful light shows that would occur every day. It made it feel special, that these moments were hers, and hers alone. They didn't belong to the leaders, or any other toms for that matter. And they couldn't take them away from her, like they did with everything else.

She was staring as the sun slowly slid past the peaks of the mountains when she heard cats stirring. She immediately snuck back into the trainees den, and curled up into her nest, hoping no cat saw her. The last time she was caught, and Mud had been sure to leave a sizable scratch on the muzzle for her actions. It took all of her strength not to lash out at the tom, but she knew she would have lost, after all, she had no training in any sort of fighting techniques, while he had moons of it.

She hated not being able to at least defend herself. She wanted to learn, to be able to provide for her tribemates, to be important. But sadly, no other she-cats could defend themselves or teach any skills other than how to act around toms, some healing procedures, and how to be quiet. And who in their right mind would want to learn how to be quiet? She hated it. But she hated "The Ceremony" more than anything.

"The Ceremony" was basically when she-cats got handed off to toms as soon as they turned 7 moons. The leaders, Night and Flame, would decide for the toms in the group what she-cats they would be with, and if the toms accepted, the she-cats would then become the tom's responsibility for the rest of their miserable lives. Little Hawk hated it, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't escape because without any basic skills she wouldn't survive half a moon outside of their territory. So she stayed with the Tribe of the Valley, helpless and trapped.

Little Hawk turned to her best friend Tansy, who was also anxious for "the ceremony." Theirs was taking place today, and they were very anxious. Tansy and Little Hawk hated the system, they wanted to escape, but they were scared. So they stayed, and gossiped, and waited. Always waiting.

Little hawk hissed to Tansy,

"Hey. Pssssssssssssstt… Hey!"

Tansy jumped up and looked around, eyes half closed. Clearly confused about what was happening.

"It's today.." Little Hawk said.

"Unnnhhhh.." Tansy replied, getting up slowly and stretching, then she proceeding to lick her soft, tortoiseshell chest fur down, trying and failing to make it look neat.

Both were the only she-cats in the trainees den, the rest were toms. They were scared. They didn't want to be turned over to older warriors, but they didn't want to be mates with any tom at all. Yes they both had crushes, (Tansy liked Long Talon, while Little Hawk personally preferred his brother, Falcon), but they were too young to mate. They had heard stories about young she-cats not even 10 moons dying while kitting because they were too young and weak. They definitely didn't want that.

Littlehawk look around the den, spotting Falcon's dark brown, tabby pelt in his nest, murmuring to his brother while glancing over to the two she-cats. Littlehawk felt her messy fur fluff up, her pelt heating as she became embarrassed. He was very handsome, and nice. She personally thought that if she had to have a mate this young, he would be the one she wanted to have.

She returned to looking around the den, spotting Ice's brilliantly white pelt among the gloom. He always seemed intimidating and cold-hearted, just like his name implied. She would not want to spend the rest of her miserable life with him. Nu-uh. She glanced over to Shade's nest, the black tom was still curled up with his tail over his entrancing grey eyes, still sleeping. He was always a sleepyhead. He was mysterious, always keeping to himself. Little Hawk was always wary of him, but they had a good relationship. Sort of. If you counted looking at each other and sharing eye rolls when some cat was being stupid was considered having a relationship with someone. He was practical. She probably wouldn't be too mad if she was stuck with him.

Then she looked over to Breeze's nest. The almost black tom was smoothing his long fur down. Little Hawk rolled her eyes. He was too smug about little unimportant things. He annoyed her to death, he made fun of her, and he was just a huge jerk. She did NOT want him as her mate. Under any circumstances. She would rather be mates with an older tom than that cat. She despise him, and she was pretty sure he despised her, with his constant critical attitude about everything she did. She couldn't stand him, but she wasn't too worried, she was sure that Night and Flame wouldn't make that decision. She was sure they saw how they argued, who would want to listen to that if they became mates? Plus, he would probably refuse her even if they were chosen for each other.

Tansy finally got out of her nest and padded to the entrance of the trainees den. The camp was in the shelter of a rock shelf, it hung over the camp providing protection from wind and rain, and in the back there was a series of small caves that had been converted into different dens. It was cozy, it was their home.

Tansy peaked out of the den, seeing her tribemates waking up and stretching in the clearing under the rock shelf. She glanced over and saw Flame and Night chatting quietly, probably about the ceremony Tansy assumed. She turned and made her way through the nests to Little Hawk. She looked scared, but Little Hawk saw the effort Tansy made to try and hide it. Little Hawk sympathized with her, her stomach hurt so bad and it felt like her throat was started to close she was so nervous. The looked at each other and nodded silently and sat with their heads pressed together.

They sat like that for a bit, trying to calm each other's nerves when they realized that cats had started to gather in the clearing under the rock. Tansy glanced back through the entrance of the den terrified. Little Hawk noticed her fur starting to spike up and smoothed down Tansy's pelt with her tail, attempting to make her look neat. Tansy turned and Little Hawk flicked her ear softly with her tail tip, trying to signal with a look that it would be alright, even though it wasn't. They both padded out of the den and sat beside the wall, trying to make eachother look neat. Tansy attempted to smooth down Little Hawk's tufty pelt to no avail,

"My word, your fur just will not cooperate, will it.." Tansy forced out chuckle as she attempted to smooth the fur rising alone Little Hawk's spine. After she stopped trying, they both sat quietly in the corner of the cave made by the rock, waiting for the leaders to start the meeting and decide what would become of them for the rest of their lives.

Little Hawk saw Flame and Night climb onto the big stone near the side of the cave, they stood together silently, waiting for the tribe to gather around the rock before beginning.

"Today is a big day.. Four young cats will be joined by matehood today, and will soon bring prosperity and kits to the tribe. By having this ceremony we will be able to guarantee a bright future for us, and help us to know that we will survive for many more moons." Flame said, glancing around at the cats gathered beneath him.

Night turned and looked down to Tansy and Little Hawk, who were huddled together off to the side. He beckoned them over with a look, making the two she-cats stand and sit in the path cleared by their tribemates.

"Here we have two promising she-cats," Night started, "Today is the day where they will get a mate and start on their journey of serving the tribe. From this moment on after you have been assigned a mate, you will become their responsibility, and it will become your responsibility to provide young cats for the tribe and be supportive of your mates," Night said, looking down at the two she-cats.

Little Hawk trembled, this was not what she wanted. She wanted to hunt and fight like the toms, she wanted to be equal and not treated as something that provides kits and can be taken advantage of. She didn't want this!

"Tansy," Flame called out, "Please step forward." Little Hawk saw the fear flash in Tansy eyes as she stepped forward. She looked so small against the stone, her tortoiseshell pelt trembling with fear.

"Ice.. Please step forward as well."

Oh no. Oh no no no no no! Tansy couldn't be paired with Ice! He was too mean and cold to be paired with her! She would never survive! Oh Tansy! Tansy looked utterly horrified at Flame's choice in a mate for her. She was shaking so bad Little Hawk was sure everyone noticed.

" Ice, do you take Tansy as your mate, til death do you part, will you provide for her and keep her well fed and healthy enough to produce kits?"

Ice looked back over to Tansy, he sniffed her soft, tufty fur glancing at her with his piercing eyes, his gaze devoid of emotion.

"I do."

"It is settled, I now proclaim you two mates!" Flame meowed, his words ringing and bouncing off of the stone creating an ominous echo, as if declaring a death sentence. The toms cheered while the she-cats looked on quietly, keeping blank expressions on their faces, showing no emotion. The two young cats forcefully touched noses and walked over to the side to sit down together.

Little Hawk felt so bad for Tansy, she hoped she would not turn out as unlucky as her. She prayed to whatever controlled the lands that she would be okay, and that Tansy would survive. She shuffled her paws in front of her, barely breathing as her chest seemed to close.

"Little Hawk," Night's voice rang through the hollow in the stone, barely penetrating the she-cat's choking thoughts.

"Please step forward." She stepped forward. Her heart felt like it had moved and taken residence in her throat. She tried to calm her nerves to no avail as Night's luminous yellow gaze looked across the cave. She felt her heart leap in her throat as Night turned back and glanced at one cat in particular, she couldn't breath, her fate was being decided right before her eyes, everything was going to change. She felt her heart stop at his next words,

"Breeze," Night said. Little Hawk felt her head spin, not hearing the rest of what Night had said. She could barely concentrate on what was happening as Breeze stepping forward, standing beside her as her small frame trembled. He couldn't believe what was happening. Was Night insane?! Any cat in their right mind would never pair her and Breeze. They hated each other! They would never get along! She felt like her world was slipping through her paws, as she tried in vain to grab it, to save it.

"Breeze," Night continued, "Do you take Little Hawk as your mate, til death do you part, will you provide for her and keep her well fed and healthy enough to produce kits?" Breeze turned back to Little Hawk, his gaze unreadable, he sniffed her fur as custom and during a fleeting glance, they locked eyes. But it ended quickly and Little Hawk was too distracted to catch any emotion in the look.

"I do." Breeze said, looking at her. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, or why he had even said yes. To her. They totally hated each other, right?

"It is then settled, I now proclaim you two mates!" Night howled, his voice loud and ringing in Little Hawk's ears. The toms, again cheered wildly while the two young cats stiffly touched noses, the she-cats again also looking on with no emotion visible from their still gazes, except maybe pity and sorrow.

Little Hawk walked over to where Tansy and Ice were, Breeze padded beside her swiftly. The two pairs of mates sat together quietly while the leaders turned to sort out the jobs for the day. Tansy and Little Hawk looked over to each other with terrified expressions. What was going to happen to them?