Sheeppaw's Warrior Ceremony

You'd think she'd get tired of all of the ceremonies, but she never did! Darkstar made the swift hop onto her rock and called out, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather under the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Sheeppaw padded out of the apprentices' den, heading over to join her Clanmates that were also hurrying to gather beneath the Highrock. She wondered what this meeting would be about, perhaps another apprentice ceremony, because there certainly were a lot of kits currently in the nursery.

Blacktwig was completely full of happiness. On the rare occasion that he knew what the ceremony was going to be, he was positive it was a good one. He took a seat beside his sister, purring. "Hi, Sheeppaw." The warrior greeted. His tone had started out excited, however, toned itself down as he progressed with the sentence. He needed to look somewhat professional, didn't he?

Pinewhisker joined the two cats with a quiet and calculated pace. "Anyone aware of what's Darkstar going to say?" the warrior yawned and pricked his ears to hear what other cats might be murmurring. But he had a hint, and he nudged Sheeppaw. "I heard you'll be a warrior soon." he purred.

Sheeppaw smiled at Blacktwig as he arrived, "Hi."
She then snorted as she was nudged by her mate, replying to his nudge by nudging Pinewhisker back, softly.
"You think that I'm gonna be made a warrior at this meeting?" She asked, her voice rising a bit with hope. Then she composed herself quickly with a small and dismissive shake of her head.
"I doubt it."

"Yeah you are, sis," Blacktwig interrupted with a grin and a snicker. For a moment he looked to Darkstar, then back at the two lovers. "Don't you dare think you're not!" Blacktwig hissed jokingly, yet a soft chuckle replaced his counterfeit aggression.

Swanpaw padded over, settling down beside the group, turning her head to look at Sheeppaw. It was obvious that Sheeppaw would be having her ceremony sometime now, so this had to be it.
"Hi, Pinewhisker, Blacktwig, and Sheeppaw," She began, "Or should I say future warrior." Swanpaw said, with a wide grin.

"Yep! My little sis, a warrior." Purred Blacktwig, nudging Sheeppaw. He was being so overly brotherly, it was literally sort of irritating. But he seemed fine, anyways.

Sheeppaw flattened her ears against her head, feeling her cheeks growing hot with embarrassment as she was nudged by her older brother, who was being a little bit too brotherly. She shot Swanpaw a small and sheepish smile, "Well, that's the third person that predicts that I'm going to be a warrior. I guess...I am." She said, with a shrug.

Blacktwig just kept smiling. "That's the spirit!" He purred enthusiastically. Soon, he would live long enough to see someone go from being a kit, to a warrior, in the span of his own life, while being a warrior himself.

The cat of the hour was here! "Sheeppaw, please step forward." Once the apprentice had done so, she continued. "I, Darkstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in turn." Darkstar turned her head to set her yellow gaze on the she-cat. "Sheeppaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Sheeppaw responded, with a solemn nod. Yet inside, she felt her heart begin to flutter with happiness. She was pledging her loyalty to her Clan...to defend it at all costs...but StarClan meant nothing to her.

Mosspaw ran out of the apprentice's den, slightly flustered. Foxdung, I'm late! She quickly took a seat next to Blacktwig, and smiled as she saw it was Sheeppaw's ceremony.

Blacktwig smiled and gave a nod in greeting, starting to instinctively purr. He didn't exactly know why, but the silvery she-cat's presence made him feel fuzzy inside. He then turned his attention back to Sheeppaw, his little sister, and Darkstar, the leader he knew so well.

Pinewhisker broke off from Blacktwig as soon as he saw Mosspaw join him. After keeping his eyes on Sheeppaw, beaming with pride so odd to him, he looked the the older tomcat and how anxious he looked, and frowned in disgust. "That's how you play you dirty kitten?" he hissed in a low voice.