Flamestrike's Elder Ceremony

"Let all cats old enough to capture their own prey join here beneath the Jaggedrock for a clan meeting!"

The words rolled off of his tongue more naturally than a few moons ago, but it still felt foreign for Magpiewing. As he perched himself on the jagged stone, his thoughts drifted to the reason behind this meeting.

It was always weird seeing cats much younger than himself drift off into the elder's den. While some are for understandable reasons, such as this one, some are for who consider themselves "too old" for a warrior's duty. Part of the deputy felt jealous. Yet the cat who made his journey into a life of rest wasn't one to be jealous of.

He knew something was wrong as soon as Honeydrop visited him. Flamestrike had recently injured his leg, and it was no secret that something serious had occurred with this injury. Yet the clan kept their hopes high for a smooth recovery. It wasn't until Honeydrop made her way towards the deputy that he knew there was no such luck. It took a short visit to the Flamestrike in the medicine den to understand his choice.

No cat could ask anything else from the warrior. He dedicated his life to ShadowClan, and carried out his service well. Magpiewing was proud of the tom, and although he would miss the warrior's presence during patrols, he knew this was for the best.

Larksong peered up from where she sat crouched near the fresh-kill pile, her ears perking but her expression quickly turned to dread when she saw the expression on her father's face. She got to her paws, moving slowly toward the middle of the clearing to take her spot as she dimly realized who the ceremony was most likely for. Her eyes darken as she spared a glance around the clearing as she took her seat, trying to spot Flamestrike while her chest felt crushed by the guilt that plagued her. But there was nothing to be done with that guilt - there was no way to go back and undo his injury.


Smokestripe peered from the warrior's den as he heard Magpiewing's voice ring across the clearing, pulling himself out as he moved to take the spot next to Larksong. He glanced up at the deputy as he tried to judge what this ceremony was for, halting as a feeling of dread swelled up in his chest. "Oh..." he managed with a swallow as he ducked his head, solemnly taking his spot next to her. When it came to what had happened, he wished he could have been of more help. He had done his best, gotten Honeydrop as swiftly as he could but yet...Yet it seemed there was little they could have done to stop this.

Firestone approached the Jaggedrock, looking with curious eyes at the deputy of Shadowclan calling for a meeting. It was probably only another apprentice ceremony or warrior ceremony, like always... however, something inside of him told him that this time it was different. He could feel it in his heart and when he sat down, his tail flicked nervously, showing his anxiety about what was happening. The warrior searched with his green eyes for his family, hoping that they were here too.

The bedraggled, orange tom limped awkwardly from the medicine cat's den. It had become his new home. Honeydrop had been attending to him constantly since the incident. Even shifting slightly now caused the pain to shoot up his foreleg. There was no doubt that he would never be able to perform as a warrior again. Flamestrike's career was done. His eyes were dull and focused only on the ground in front of him. He had not told his family yet; he could not bear to watch the disappointment in his son's eyes as he stepped away from life as a warrior. However, it would be impossible to continue. Even a few days later, the would was still firmly bound and had shown no signs of ever healing properly. His mate had been crushed. But, that could not compare to the pain he felt in his own heart about becoming a burden to the clan. He was undecided on which hurt more: the loss of his purpose, or the stabbing feeling that was now a constant in his limb.

Without saying a word, he settled down near the center of the clearing. There was no doubt Magpiewing would ask him to come forwards during the official resignation ceremony. It would be futile to try and hide at the edge of the crowd. He sat down awkwardly with his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. The flame colored tom did not even bother to attempt to wrap his tail over his paws. He did not care anymore, everything had ended. Guilt seemed to settle in his chest as he considered how incredibly tired he was. The tom, while not the oldest cat, had already been through so many emotionally straining traumas. He had fought in battles, he had protected his clan, his paws were stained with the blood of enemies and kin. Part of him was relieved he would get the chance to rest, every other ounce of him hated himself for it. In the end, Flamestrike settled into a numb feeling as he waited for the deputy to speak once more.

Waspstep padded out of the Warrior's den at the call. He knew it was time for an elder ceremony. Flamestrike's in fact. The brown warrior was unsure on how to feel about this. The other warrior was younger than him yet he was retiring before him. It made him wonder if he should retire soon too, but at the same time the brown warrior knew that Flamestrike had been badly injured. News spread around the camp quickly.

The senior warrior let out a small sigh. His time would come eventually, and he didn't feel like it was anytime soon. He still had a lot left to give and he knew that. The brown warrior went over ti the Jagged Rock and waited on the ceremony.

Starlingpaw padded out of apprentice's den with look of regret. She wanted her mentor to continue with being so exellent warrior. Just because of one eagle so proud cat had lost warrior rank. She-cat was happy that this had happened at the very end of their training and she was ready.

Boulderfoot joined other ShadowClan cats with looking away from Flamestrike. After all Boulderfoot was one of the cats which were on the patrol where eagle had attacked senior.