Sunpaw and Whinchatpaw's Warrior Ceremony

"All cats old enough to swim gather to hear my words!" Reedstar called from the willow branch, digging in his claws as it swayed and creaked under his weight. I hate this tree. he thought to himself, feeling nauseous from the inertia. Why did I fight so hard for it?

As the leaders words hit Sunpaw's ears, he rose from his nest in the apprentice den and stretched out his sleepy muscles. Then he trotted out to the willow branch, flicking his paws up as he walked. After he got to the branch, he sat down, wrapping his tail around his golden paws.

Whinchatpaw padded into the clearing, looking at the 'new' leader, it had surprised her when the tom had broken out into the camp that one morning, and she had never thought that her leader had been a traitor, though, Whinchatpaw would forgive the she-cat for her intentions were mislead, but, there was no room for forgiveness, and she had learnt that long ago, and once more when she had seen the Riverclan 'leader' fall before the clan's paws.

But it didn't matter now, it was her ceremony, along with another cat's, she had learnt the apprentices name, and it was Sunpaw, of course she didn't know much about the apprentice, besides his name.

The reddish-brown apprentice padded towards the clearing, sitting herself shyly before the rightful leader, avoiding eye contact with the tom, her superstitions about not being accepted were wrong, but also were right, she felt accepted, but also felt as if they talked about her behind her back, slyly speaking about her origins and how her right face was deformed about the incident.

Reedstar looked on each of them satisfaction. RiverClan was in dire need of more warriors; their enemies grew in strength all around them and Leafbare still held the world in its icy grip. He breathed deep before launching into the old words, watching as his breath billowed out into a misty cloud. "Sunpaw, Whinchatpaw, step forward." he mewed, watching the crowd part around them. "I, Reedstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Sunpaw, Whinchatpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I..." The apprentice trailed off in thought at the leaders word, 'How dare she doubt her own loyalty, after all she had done to get here, how hard she had trained, to swim, to fight, and to hunt. She was going to be a warrior, and when she was, she was to be loyal to her clan, despite their doubts!' Whinchatpaw looked up towards her leader, daring to make eye contact with her leader, a slight burst of courage pressing her to say her words.

"I do!" She meowed, tensing up a bit, her doubts rushing back, the she-cat looked down once more, afraid that laughter would burst through the clearing at her loud voice.

Sunpaw watched the other apprentice as she walked up, but quickly turned his attention back to the leader. As the older tom spoke, the young tom listened closely, stepping forward when instructed. When it came time to speak, Sunpaw hesitated for a moment, but then realized he was doubting his loyalty. Then he quickly said, "I do."

Reedstar looked questioningly down on Whinchatpaw. What was with that hesitance? His gaze lingered on her for a few more moments before he shook the thoughts away. It was none of his business. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Whinchatpaw, from this moment you will be known as Whinchatwing. Sunpaw, you shall be known as Sunfur. StarClan honors your energy and bravery, and we welcome you as full warriors of RiverClan."