Mumblepaw's Warrior Ceremony

Crowstar called out to his clan. "Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather here for a clan meeting!" The tom waited for his clan to gather. He wasn't super sure on Mumblepaw's progress in his early time as an apprentice, but it seemed the young nervous tom made much improvement over the last couple moons.

The small apprentice quickly abandoned his place at the edge of the clearing. What little scraps of his meal were left could be cleaned up later. Crowstar's call was more important. Immediately his mind jumped to worried thoughts. Was there something wrong? Would the clan soon be under attack? Was a clanmate dead? A shiver went down his spine at the last thought. The tail-less tom stared up at Crowstar. Mumblepaw studied his face intently to search for some hint at what this could be about.

"Today I have gathered you all here because the time has come to name a new warrior." The tom looked around before he finally spotted the apprentice he was looking for. He had worked hard to earn this ceremony. "Mumblepaw please come forward." The leader said.

Shock washed over the little black and white tom's face. Him a warrior? He cocked his head as if to question Crowstar's decision. However, he quickly realized every cat was staring at him and his ears burned hot in embarrassment as he slowly padded to stand right below the tallbranch. Am I ready? This seems too soon... All of the anxiety he had been struggling to push away threatened to break through to the surface. But, Mumblepaw swallowed and straightened himself up a bit, all the while finding himself wishing Bonestrike was there.

"I, Crowstar, leader of Skyclan, 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. Mumblepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Crowstar asked. He knew Rippedsky was proud of his little kit. Eventually, the leader felt, Mumblepaw would be a praised warrior like his sister.

He was still shocked and in complete disbelief as the fluffy, black leader continued the ceremony. Mumblepaw watched, missing the exact words as Crowstar said them. There was a brief pause as he collected himself. The apprentice was a bit flustered, but realized it was his time to speak, "I, uh, I... I do!" He managed to push some conviction into his voice at the end despite being tripped up for a moment.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Mumblepaw, from this day forward you shall be known as Mumblefoot. Skyclan honors your persistence and ability to make progress. Congratulations." Crowstar said. It was a shaky start for the newly named warrior, but Crowstar saw his progress from the afraid young apprentice to this now able new warrior. He was confident in Mumblefoot's abilities.

Persistence. Progress. His ears twitched as those words stuck out to him. Was there really something that worthwhile within him? Did Crowstar and Starclan see it? He had no idea. That bit really stuck out at him before he backtracked to the point of this whole thing... he was a warrior now. Mumblepaw was no more. A new sense of responsibility washed over him. The black and white tom was no longer training to be one of the cats who would serve his clan, he was one of them now. His paws shifted awkwardly as he doubted himself, but the calls of his clanmates began to rise into the air and he straightened up. Rippedsky's voice was one of the loudest. His father, the great deputy, had always been his biggest supporter. For as much as he was aggravated by the older cat's positive nature and inherent skill, he could not help but feel grateful.

Mumblefoot nodded silently in thanks to all of his fellow Skyclan cats who let their voices rise into the air for him. He knew a majority of it was from a sense of duty, it was simply what was done. However, he was appreciative of it. They could have chosen now to speak at all. His eyes darted over to Echoflame, his littermate. She had already been a warrior for moons and he just now was going to stand by her side. He found himself willing with every fiber of his being that she would accept him as a denmate, even though she was so incredible and he was, well, a failure. Even under the pretense of a warrior name, not everything had changed and he was still a coward. Maybe that would come with time. He sure hoped so.