Adderpaw's Warrior Ceremony

"Let all cats old enough to capture their own prey join here beneath the Jaggedrock for a clan meeting!" Leopardfang's voice rang through the camp clearing.

Adderpaw joined the clan beneath the Jaggedrock, his long black fur swaying as he walked. If he didn't keep it in good condition, it would be a tangled mess, but Adderpaw believed that to do anything with anyone, you had to be presentable first. The small runt, who still looked like a young apprentice, stared up silently at the deputy, who reminded him very much of his daughter Tigerflower, Adderpaw's motherly figure.

Leopardfang looked down at the small tom, vaguely reminded of Shimmerheart. "Adderpaw, step forward. I, Leopardfang, deputy of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Adderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" 

Tigerflower watched from the nursery entrance, a small flicker of pride in her chest. Even if Adderpaw wasn't her real son, he was a tom worth fussing over. He had been a good and loyal apprentice who would make a fine warrior, and she was more pleased than she had been in a long time.

Adderpaw stepped forward when instructed to. "I do," he said in reply to Leopardfang's words.