Here's a new chapter! This one is really short, but I should be able to post another one around the end of the first half of the month so stay tuned!
Grasslilac liked Olivepaw just as much as his other apprentices, he really did, but he had to admit that being asked how the assessment went to schedule a warrior ceremony for all Snaildapple's now grown up litter was a relief. When he had agreed to take the young tom, Blossomstar had promised him that it was the last time, and he had accepted without hesitation. If there hadn't been so many kits at once, she probably would have left him alone after Mumblepond.
Training Olivepaw hadn't been a difficult task either: his apprentice was hard-working – even if he tended to conveniently forget things he didn't want to do – and his tendency to daydream had drastically reduced since the first moons. But Grasslilac had felt old age settle in his bones with each passing moons, and he knew that it was time for him to join the elders' den. Though 'join' was a bit of a stretch; he had been sleeping there for moons already and he would be alone, now that Flipspot was gone.
They had been mates for so long that he barely remembered what it was like to be without her. The leading trio of MistClan had still been a group of unruly kits rolling around in the dust when she had first intertwined her tail with his, and it had been quite a shock to realised how much time had passed since then.
It had been Flipspot and him against the odds for so many seasons that the grief had left him stricken and bereft at first. Now, he felt infinitely better – StanClan was watching, Pricklesong had reminded him gently, without any of her usual wit before adding that now that the tall she-cat was with them, she would certainly mock him for moping too long when he would finally join her. Somehow, it really made things easier: Grasslilac's mate was in his heart, and wouldn't have wanted him to lose his good humour. Not after everything they had endured together.
Which was why he had found it in himself to look proudly at his last apprentice during the ceremony, and chant the three new warriors' names with the rest of the Clan.
"Mousefur! Silverbird! Oliveseed!"
It didn't seem to come off as a surprise for anybody when Blossomstar called him next. He really must have been getting old.
"Grasslilac, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?"
"It is."
"Your Clan honours you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest."
Everyone chanted his name and it warmed him from the inside, heart fluttering.
Finding himself alone in the elder's den was still a bit difficult. No bedding held Flipspot's scent anymore, but he would have to get used to it.
This was a new part of his life and he would still share it with his mate, if only in thought.
This story will have a slice of life vibe for a few chapters because nothing that I could transform into plot happened...