When Annette woke up Scott had already left the den. She sat up and was short enough that her head didn't hit the ceiling. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and found that only a few of her new tribemates were still in the den. She unzipped her backpack and grabbed her brush to brush her hair. She looked at her clothes covered in mud splatters and shrugged. Slowly and quietly as to not wake her tribemates, she crawled out of the den and found Scott sitting by the pond again. But this time he was laughing and messing around with Denice. Annette watched as denice turned into a dog and jumped into the pond, splashing Scott, who laughed. When Denice got out of the water he shook his coat of fur making water rain down on Scott. They collapsed on the ground laughing hard and wiping tears from their eyes. Annette smiled, Scott's never been this happy since we got Spot from the animal shelter. Walking up behind Scott she tapped him on the shoulder,
"Have you decided? I know I have." She said, excitement started to grow in her chest as she thought about becoming a true member of the Paw Tribe.
"Heck yeah! But I wanna surprise you." He said mysteriously.
"Hey guys!" They heard someone yell, turning around they saw Adrien and Spot. Spot was the one who yelled. When they got to the twins and Denice, Spot said,
"The ceremony's about to start. Are you guys ready?" Spot barked. The twins nodded. They followed the two boys to the base of the Great Tree. For the first time they saw the whole tribe, the tribe was sitting criss cross in a semicircle around the tree. They were all in their human forms and they were sitting in groups based on their class. The group to the left was Lower Class, in the middle was Middle Class, and on the right was High Class. Elder Paw sat on a root on the tree with Mitzi and Amara to his left and right. Spot told the twins to stand in the empty space in front of the tree and went to go sit with Middle Class. Once two stragglers joined Elder Paw started.
"Members of the great Paw Tribe I'd like to thank you for joining us. As you may all know these two teens want to join the tribe. Annette Adam and Scott Adam have visited Mitzi and have had their jewels made." Mitzi nodded at this and gave the twins a reassuring smile.
"I have thought and I'm willing to let them join our tribe. But if there are any objections please speak up now and I will hear your case." He waited for a minute. Annette became more nervous as seconds passed. Someone cleared their throat but didn't say anything. Almost as if they were afraid to speak up against Elder Paw. He nodded,
"Alright. The tribe has spoken. Annette and Scott Adam please step forward." As they stepped forward they gave each other a reassuring glance. When they had done so Elder Paw walked over and stood in front of them. Amara and Mitzi walked and stood on the twin's sides. And the three began to talk as one,
"As the Master Class leader, healer, and jeweler of the Paw Tribe we use our magic to bind and join you to the tribe." They raised their hands and closed their eyes. The twin's jewels started to glow as the Master Class lowered their hands at the jewels. Just like what the twins saw Mitzi do yesterday, mist started to shoot out their hands and into the twin's jewels.
"Think of your animal." They said. Annette squeezed her eyes shut and imagined her animal as vividly as she could. Her necklace started to get warm as she thought but she didn't let that distract her. After a few moments Elder Paw, Amara, and Mitzi lowered their hands to their sides. They stood in silence and when they moved it was to walk back to the tree. When the jewels stopped glowing ears and tails appeared on Annette and Scott. Annette admired her white fluffy tail. It had black spots on it. The ears on her head were small but looked like her tail. When she looked over at Scott she saw small tan ears with black tips and a short tan tail with a few black stripes at the end. Scott looked at her with a huge smile on his face.
"Now comes the real challenge. You must transform into your animal form. The faster you do so will determine which class you will start in." Elder Paw said calmly, sitting back on the Great Tree. What?! Annette didn't even know how to transform. Her heart started to beat faster and she looked over at Scott. He had his eyes closed and he looked like he was concentrating on something. His animal! Think about you animal Annette come on! She thought to herself. Closing her eyes she imagined a Snow Leopard just like before. She kept the picture in her mind even after she heard some applause behind her.
"Woohoo!" Scott yelled. He must've succeeded...but Annette kept the picture in her mind but thought even harder. She imagined fur washing over her body and walking on four paws. Suddenly she felt goosebumps run down her arms and down her back. She dared a peek and the ground was suddenly closer than it was before. Did I fall?? Annette went to put her hand on her forehead but saw a paw instead! She yelped and looked at Scott who was now a Bobcat?!
"You did it!" He purred and pounced on her. She purred back and playfully nipped his ear.
"Hey!" He laughed. When Scott got off her she noticed his jewel glowing copper. Middle Class! Good for him! But wait… Annette looked down at her jewel which was somehow still around her neck. It also glowed coppery bronze. She was in Middle Class too! She breathed a sigh of relief, they were in the same class and they weren't in Lower Class. The Tribe all transformed into their animal forms and they were surrounded by mammals of all kinds and species. They all purred and barked congrats. But finally the commotion died down and Elder Paw dismissed everyone to go back to their duties and play.