Spotfur's Elder Ceremony

With a deep heavy in his heart and confused feelings, the Riverclan leader jumped to the Willow Branch. This wasn't a usual ceremony. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time he had to retire a warrior... a tom who was younger than him. He always saw himself as a rather young leader, considering that he was the youngest of the actual leaders of the clan. However... that wasn't entirely true. Jaystar wasn't that young and energetic cat he used to be. He was still strong but he was more mature and his body sometimes reminded him of that fact.

The Riverclan took a quick glance at the camp. It was a shame... Despite everything... Spotfur was a good warrior with great potential. But Shade took that from him and now those rogues... He deserved to rest after all he had gone through. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the willow branch for a clan meeting!" His voice sounded less strong, less happy but he tried to keep his mind cold and not let his emotions influence his head.

Barely able to hear it, Spotfur heeded the call and, alert, made his way to take a place in the crowd. A ceremony, perhaps? Maybe his own. He didn't want to become an elder. He wanted to keep fighting until he couldn't anymore, but he supposed, now was that time. The damage that the young rogue had done was permanent and he was deaf in one ear and a little hard of hearing in the other. Everything sounded muffled, as if he was underwater, and there was no way for him to be a good warrior. It made him frustrated, however, for Coldpaw to have said that he belonged in the elders' den and now, not many sunrises later, here he was, retiring. But Coldpaw would have to take care of him and check him for ticks and fetch him moss, so that would be sweet revenge. Maybe then, apprentices would listen to him. He turned his eyes up, to Jaystar who seemed to be mildly nervous about this.

The tom glanced at the maimed warrior with sadness in his heart but instead of showing it, he gave him a friendly, kind look of comprehension. "After the last rogue attack, I'm sad to say that today one of our warriors, one of our clanmates... will join the elders' den, accompanying Shellwater and Cloudstone."

Jaystar relaxed his body with a small struggle in his throat as he tried to find his voice. "Spotfur, is it your wish to give up your life as a warrior and retire to the elder's den?" After he said yes, there would be no turning back. He knew the spotted tom wasn't in conditions to keep risking his life due to the warrior's life... but it still felt wrong because... it wasn't his fault he ended like that.


Silverfang lifted her head, destroyed and exhausted. She hadn't been sleeping well after Sootwhisper's death and now this had to happen. She never expected to see her son being an Elder before her. Of course... she was old and tired. She could retire at any moment. But he had something to do first. The senior warrior couldn't find peace until she could fix her mistakes... her biggest mistake who was still alive, wounding and attacking her clan. He had to be stopped... and she had to do it...

The scarred she-cat looked at her son with her odd eyes, not saying a word. She wasn't disappointed. Despite his troublesome apprentice-hood, Spotfur ended up being a good, loyal and strong warrior. He accomplished her expectations and more. Now it was time for him to rest...

Spotfur blinked his tired eyes. He hadn't slept well due to his ears, and- it was funny- now he was able to sleep all he wanted. That wasn't a good thing. The tom sighed. "It is." He couldn't believe it. Elderhood was not for him. There was plenty of older warriors who were stronger than he, and he hated that. But he knew, there was no way. There was no other way for him to live.

He nodded closing his eyes, respectfully. It was his choice and he, as the leader, had to accept it, even if he thought it was unfair to him. "Then I accept and grant you your wish. Riverclan honours you and all the service you have given to us for the past moons. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest." He mewed, finishing the ceremony with a short move of his feathery tail.

However, he didn't come back to his den. The grey-furred cat jumped off the branch and made his way to the new elder. With a sad smile, he greeted him. "I know we sometimes had disagreements but I always thought to were a good warrior, Spotfur. I'm grateful to you, not as your leader... but as your brother, your friend and clanmate for all what you've done for Riverclan. I'll make sure you spend your resting days in the best way possible."


Silverfang came after Jaystar. The scarred she-cat walked to her son and licked him lovingly. She was shaking inside, destroyed by the guilt of her son's status. But outside, the warrior showed a neutral face until she approached her son's good ear. "I'm proud of you, no matter what happens... and I'm sorry..." The last words sounded almost as a cry and the she-cat's eyes were started to cover in tears but not of them fell. Silverfang stopped them as she stepped back a little to smile a little for her son.

Spotfur offered a half smile to Jaystar. "And we don't have to agree on everything. But you're my leader and I'd follow you and the rest of Riverclan to the ends of the world." He turned to Silverfang, his fierce mother. "Don't be. None of this is your fault. The only reason I'm an elder now is because of rogues."

This was wrong. Why did it have to be this way? With a darkened gaze, Scorchclaw watched the proceedings of Spotfur's elder ceremony. It was the first one that he had ever witnessed in his life. It hadn't been hard to predict that this situation would take place. Following the rogue attack, the spotted-furred tom was practically deaf now. While he had been able to survive with three legs, now his disabilities were too much for him. As Spotfur voiced his assent, the RiverClan deputy grit his teeth. The cat in question was only several moons older than he was, and Scorchclaw was still a fairly young cat. Spotfur wasn't an elder. He was a warrior and should have continued to be one. There had to be some other way, except that there wasn't. With only three legs and his hearing so badly damaged, he couldn't survive as a warrior. The harsh reality was unchangeable.

The ceremony drew to a close, but the large brown tabby found himself rooted to the ground. His clanmates were approaching Spotfur to offer words of consolation or encouragement. As the deputy, he should have been one of those cats. However, Scorchclaw couldn't will himself to move. Could he look Spotfur in the eyes right now? If he had had four legs, the injuries he had suffered at the rogue's claws might not have been so severe. Despite the rough patches Spotfur might have gone through in his life, he had shaped up to be an extremely loyal, courageous warrior of RiverClan. Then why, for StarClan's sake, did it have to end like this?