Aspenpaw's Warrior Ceremony

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the willow branch for a Clan meeting!" Today's ceremony was a little different from the usual ones, as it was Fishstar's nephew's warrior ceremony. It was nice to see that her family was growing up, as well as Riverclan growing stronger along with them.

Whitefoot lazily got to his paws, ambling over to the call of Fishstar. Another ceremony? It's a nice day for one. He approved thoughtfully, searching the growing crowd for his brother Troutstep.

Most cats would be excited to be earning their warrior name. Aspenpaw was not one of them. The tom carelessly made his way to the willow branch, his mother close at his heels. She, on the other hand, was ecstatic about his ceremony. He was her first kit to earn their name, despite being the youngest. A proud purr sounded loudly as she pressed forward to lick her son's fur down. The small tabby grunted in response, his ears bending back and his muzzled crinkling. Mistfeather saw the look of distaste on the apprentice's face and pulled away, her smile fading away slowly.

"You should be excited, it's a momentous occasion. The moment you hear your name will be the moment you know who you are," the older she-cat meowed, her tail curling around his. Aspenpaw shook her off and stepped away, keeping some distance between them.

"I know who I am. I'm not a kit anymore," he grumbled in response. The deputy sighed. She could tell something was bothering the tom, but his lack of communication and expressionism made it hard for her to assume anything.

Whitefoot gave a somewhat happy yet confused grunt as he saw the apprentice he had fished with moons before step up to the clearing. Is this for him? I hope so, he did well. His odd grunt somewhat concerned him, was he making friends, or at least trying to? What's happening to the anti-social cat?

OOC~ Will Whitefoot's friendship be accepted? The world may never know, until later. Of course.

Fishstar watched her nephew approach the willow branch. She narrowed her eyes as he dryly dismissed his mother's words. Today is his warrior ceremeony.. Why in the world is he so upset? A warrior ceremony was an occasion that one looked forward to since their nursery days. Nervousness, the RiverClan leader could understand, but annoyance? Unhappiness? What was up with him?

He should be thankful he got this far. Some cats don't survive past apprenticeship. Fishstar's thoughts turned briefly to Fogpaw, but before she could get lost in her memories, she snapped back into reality. Now's not the time to reminisce.

"Aspenpaw, please step forward."

The light gray tabby took a step forward, keeping his blank eyes plastered on his aunt. He let out a small sigh and stood, he ears slightly down and his tail dusting the ground. The apprentice glanced back, spotting Whitefoot sitting close by. Aspenpaw gave him a quick nod and returned his attention back to Fishstar.

Fishstar furrowed her brow as her nephew got up, eats tilted back and tail hanging motionless behind him. The nerve of that young tom. Does he understand how important this day is? Nonetheless, she continued the ceremony.. Even if part of her felt that Aspenpaw didn't wholly deserve it.

"I, Fishstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained had to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in turn." She locked her gaze with Aspenpaw's, hard and unblinking. "Aspenpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend you Clan, even at the cost of you life?"

Aspenpaw kicked the ground in boredom, not paying any heed to his aunt's obvious frustration. "Sure," he meowed dully.

ooc: why am i making him such a little shiet

Sure? Sure?

She'd couldn't believe her ears, and frankly, she'd had it. Anger coursing through her veins, Fishstar leapt off of her perch and landed squarely in front of her impudent nephew, glaring thorns into his eyes. He was not taking this seriously. "How dare you take this as lightly as you are," the RiverClan leader hissed. "How dare you shame a time-honoured ceremony just because you're not feeling up to it. Do you have any idea how many cats who died before they could become warriors wish they could be in your spot right now? You trained to earn this position for so long, and you don't even care?" Turning and climbing back up to the willow branch, Fishstar said in an icy voice, "From this day forward, Aspenpaw, you shall be known as Aspenberry, but from the blatant disrespect you have displayed today and in the past, you will not receive my blessing until you prove yourself worthy of it." With that, she dismissed the Clan with a stiff flick of her tail, clearly not wanting to discuss the matter further.

Aspenpaw, now Aspenberry, could feel the animosity in her words. Holding back a growl in response, he bowed his head to please the she-cat, as well as his mother, his eye twitching as he concentrated on not lashing out. He stood straight, and headed towards the entrance to stand vigil for the night.

The only satisfaction the tom began to feel out of this, was knowing he would no longer have to train under 'his father'. The tabby knew he was hiding something. He wasn't trustworthy, unlike how his sisters and mother saw him. There was something off putting about the older tom, something the brand new warrior could not put his paw on. All Aspenberry knew, was that Ashcloud was not his father, even if they were related through blood.

ooc: lol finally got to this