Quailpaw's Warrior Ceremony

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Highrock for a clan meeting!"

Another day was bringing another warrior ceremony; this time for Quailpaw, one of Minkstream and Batbite's kits. The clan had several older apprentices now, all of whom seemed to be making good progress in their training. Nettlestar hoped she would get to welcome them all to the rank of warrior soon, and present each and every one of them with their new name, as she would do for Quailpaw today.

Quailpaw walked out at Nettlestar's call. He had two hunchs about what it could be. The first one was that maybe a missing kit could be found and the second on was that maybe it was his warrior ceramony. I guess I won't know until I hear more. He thought as he sat near the front of the crowd.

The summons twitched at his ears, and Minkstream padded over, a low buzzing sense of excitement in his paws, though a sort of deep swirling sadness tugged at his heart, too. The misgivings and protective annoyance had faded, mostly - he couldn't stay mad at them forever, no matter what mousebrained things they did. And if he was honest, he probably would have done it, too. Almost had. He turned his attention to the crowd gathering and the impending warrior ceremony again, thoughts of a certain ginger pelt flashing painfully through his head. Dock might never have one of these.... Forever she'd stay as Hickorypaw, at least in their minds. Never to be seen again. He shook the thought off firmly, casting his eyes around the clearing and searching for a dark tabby pelt as he wandered over.

There was Quailpaw, walking up to the front of the crowd, and he went over, gently butting his son's shoulder. "Hey 'paw. Looks like something's happening, wonder what?" He said breezily, a hint of a twinkle in his eyes as he glanced up at Nettlestar.

Nettlestar saw Minkstream glancing up towards her, and she met her deputy's gaze for a moment and nodded. It must fill one with pride to watch one of their kits receive their warrior name-- but it must be worrying, too, she guessed, knowing they would be taking on more responsibilities and danger. Either way, she knew it was a big moment. She wondered for a moment how her father had felt when he had conducted her own warrior ceremony, and hoped she'd see Darkpaw have her warrior ceremony someday soon, too.

She turned her gaze to Quailpaw himself, who was standing near his father. "Quailpaw, take a step forward, please," she called to him.

"I, Nettlestar, leader of ThunderClan, 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. Quailpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Quailpaw looked up as Nettlestar had indeed announced his warrior ceramony. He stepped forward, a sense of excitement that he hadn't since he was kit overwelming him. "I do." He said, nodding his head eagerly.

Nettlestar nodded. She appreciated the apprentice’s enthusiasm; he would make a good warrior.

All that was left, then, was to finish the ceremony and give the young tom his warrior name. Normally picking a good warrior name was one of the more difficult parts of preparing for the ceremony; it took some time to decide on something that felt like it properly honored or recognized the new warrior’s talents and experiences. But Quailpaw  had made the job quite a bit easier than usual, as he had personally requested the name that she was about to give him.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Quailpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Quaildock. StarClan honors you, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan,"

Quailpaw's eyes shined as he was his given. A name he had requested to honor his lost sister. His new name.


As the sound of cheering filled his ears, Quaildock let out a small purr of excitement. If only Dock was here. He thought before puffing out his chest. He was warrior now. He had to look strong.