NOTE: In my au the Ancients are Scottish, so in the dialogue there is some Scottish slang. If you don't understand what they're saying, either look it up or read the whole sentence aloud, as a lot of it is phonetic.
"Ma! Ma!" I cried, sinking my paws into Broken Shadow's thick fur. She stirred, albeit slowly, and stared at me with half-closed amber eyes.
"Ma's sleeping, dear. Gang to bed."
I shook her again, tugging at her fur excitedly. Surely I was being annoying, though even now I know my softpaw self had good reason to be. Today was the day I had been waiting for since I was born.
The day I would become a sharpclaw... or die trying.
"It's the big day!" I yowled in her ear, and she shook me off with a grunt before stretching. "I'm gaunnae be a sharpclaw!"
Her eyes brightened some; I remember it irked me at the time that she had forgotten, but to be fair I was the first of her kits to take the assessment. She wasn't a bad mother, and probably forgot about my sharpclaw ceremony because she was so protective as to never talk about the assessment within earshot.
See, unlike you warriors, with your apprentices, my kin only had softpaws, who were cats under eight moons old, and sharpclaws, who were older. The moment you are born you are a softpaw, and you become a sharpclaw only after surviving the assessment.
"Oh, dear me," she chastised herself. "I must hae forgotten! You're probably late by noo, and Rock willnae keep the tunnel gates open for long."
"He's gaunnae die!" sang my younger sister, Far Field, and Dark Sky nodded enthusiastically. Broken Shadow's eyes darkened, and for a moment I was confused. Why did she take my siblings' jeering so seriously? Did she agree with them?
"Cut thon oot," Broken Shadow hissed, using her paw to guide them in line beside her. "We're gaunnae wish yer older brother good luck at the gates, and I will hear naw mair nonsense frae either of ye!"
I took in a deep breath, feeling how the crisp air cooled and calmed my rapid heartbeat. This day was one I had been training for since I could walk. My first hunt, my first run, my first Frozen Song Festival... they all led up to this moment.
I am ready!
