Rites of Ascension to Adulthood – Day 1

Day 1 – This Should be Easy, Right?

1st of Nymm (first day of summer), 989 YK

The Rites of Ascension to Adulthood start on the first day of summer and last about a week and a half. They’re a great party if you’re not one of the cubs that have to partake. This year, Talks Like an Idiot (not my sister’s real name) and I were to partake. There were five of us total; Me, Brook of Small Fishes (my sister’s real name), Bag of Marbles, Obsidian Shoe, and Right Side of the Pan.

Just so you know, we don’t call each other by our full names like that all the time. So, to put it in easier terms; Me (Silence), Brook, Marbles, Shoe, and Pan were in for a pretty tough time. Each day there’s an event that the adults put us through to “determine your strengths, your weaknesses, and your place in our clan.” And so, you know, these days that is total BS. At least for the Clan of the Red Leaf who pretty much have all moved to Stormreach and most of whom rarely set foot in the jungles because city life is quite a bit easier. Obviously, there are those that do (my dad is one) but as a whole, the Red Leaf’s have become citybound merchants, entertainers, bodyguards, etc. Anyway, that’s beside the point and the Rites are a tradition. A tradition that should be respected, and when it comes down to it, I’m glad that we do.

So, day one starts out a bit easier than others. We must jump a young triceratops. First, the younger cubs and non-warriors of the clan chant our names while we get whipped with wooden sticks by the warriors. Did I mention how much ‘fun’ this is? No? Good, cause it’s not. So, we go through that and then we’re dropped (one at a time) into a long pit that’s just wide enough for the triceratops to charge down. Then a clan magic-user casts something on the dinosaur to piss it off and a chargin’ it goes. Meanwhile, the Tabaxi youth (me in this case) stands at the other end waiting to show their stuff. Little tip here, it’s good to get a running start when trying to bound over an enraged beast. Marbles just stood there and let it come to him. It didn’t go well but he lived. Broke his leg and he got a horn to the shoulder but didn’t die so it’s a win.

Back to me.

The moment that dino started toward me I took off full tilt towards it. Now, there are vines hangin’ down from the sides of the pit if you really get scared, but I don’t recall anyone ever using ‘em and I wasn’t about to be the first. Hmmm… you know what? This isn’t really that great a story. Marble’s was, but the rest of us cleared the dino without too much of a problem. I will say that I cleared it by the most, but it’s not like that bit o’ braggadocio improves the story much. The point of this is supposed to prove how brave we are. I say Marble was the bravest, but most say he’s just the dumbest. They’re probably right.