Heronpaw's Warrior Ceremony

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!" Reedstar's call came, ringing through the clearing. The old willow bough creaked and swayed under his weight, but he remained still and obstinate as stone. RiverClan would be gaining another warrior tonight.

Heronpaw stretched in his den, blinking owlishly in the sunset light as he rose to his paws. What was all this about now? He hoped nothing was wrong - but some clan meetings could go either way. Even the gathering of late hadn't been exactly what he could call friendly.

Hopefully this would be a friendlier ceremony. Even though he had just been through his assessments, and certain that he would be prepared, he wasn't exactly looking forward into leaping into another battle - no matter how noble the reasons behind it were.

Reedstar swept his gaze through the knots of cats as the Clan gathered, searching for that pale, silvery gray-blue fur. His eyes met Heronpaw's as he emerged from the den. "Heronpaw, come forward," he said, straightening up on his perch. "You've trained long and hard, and it's time for you to become a warrior." He let his words sink in before reciting the old script that he'd repeated what felt like a hundred times before. "I, Reedstar, leader of RiverClan, 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. Heronpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Him? A warrior? He had been working up to this day for so long, and yet he was still shocked to find that the day had come. He froze only for a moment, before he sprang to his paws and approached Reedstar.

"Y-Yes, Reedstar." He replied, cursing the stumble in his words. "I'll do it. Of course I want to protect our clan!" He had already fought and tried to defend his friends. He had been training for this day for what felt like ages.

That could have made him purr, but Reedstar kept the straight face. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Heronpaw, from this moment you will be known as Heronwing. StarClan honors your courtesy and composure, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan."

Heronpaw, newly named Heronwing, straightened up his head, thrusting his shoulders back a bit and feeling strangely...calm now that it was over. Yes, he was still embarrassed by the tremor in his voice earlier, and truth be told worry about the current climate with the clans still broiled within his heart, but still - he was a warrior now. And he couldn't help but feel that maybe things would be different now. Like he was suddenly, perhaps magically, more capable than he had been before.

"Thank you, Reedstar." He whispered serenly, bowing his head in recognition. He could do this.

He hoped.