Flickerpaw's Renaming and Apprentice Ceremony

This wasn't a regular meeting and it was surely not a common apprentice ceremony. Jaystream felt nervous about his clanmates would react to his and Ivystar's decision but it had to be done and he had to do this announcement. He took a deep breath and with a more serious face than usual, he called his clanmates raising his tail up. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the willow branch for a clan meeting!" The deputy waited silently for one apprentice to come... one who had been seen as a prisoner for moons but now everything would change for her... if she decides to stay in Riverclan as one of them.

Flickerpaw had butterflies in her stomach. Any day now, she would begin to redeem herself. She had always liked ceremonies. Most cats' second ceremony was their Warrior ceremony. Hers was... another apprentice ceremony. One little mistake, her mind wandering for a split second, had changed her life so much. As she thought about it, it seemed almost comical.

Heronflight and Wrenpaw sat down calmly.

"-I-I c-call this meeting for an announcement." He started at first with a trembling voice, trying to choose the right words for this controversial decision. "After a request came to me, I discussed with Ivystar in her den an issue that can't be ignored and it's Flickerpaw's current status. As you all know, she was condemned to stay in Riverclan for the rest of her life, away from her birth clan, as a prisoner after Fawnsong's murder but now... moons have passed and she has expressed me her regret and her wishes of paying her debt with our clan in other ways."

Jaystream stopped for a few seconds to see the reactions of his clanmates. Then, he fixed his eyes on the orange she-cat, who seemed as nervous as he was. The deputy took a deep breath and puffed up his chest, just to be seen as the confident leader he should be. "Flickerpaw, please step forward." He mewed.

Flickerpaw took a shaking step forward. The other apprentices might not like her sharing rank with them. Burr she wanted this. They might think that she would kill them in their sleep... ha.

Duckpuddle, from where she sat in the crowd, looked over at Flickerpaw with approval in her sharp green eyes. The Clan had labeled her as a cold-blooded murderer, a criminal who had no chance at a happy life, a cat who deserved to suffer because she killed another. However, over the moons that Duckpuddle had been able to observe the apprentice from afar, she had seen nothing but remorse and longing. Not a longing to kill another cat, but a longing to be free. The brown warrior found it to be fitting and fair that Flickerpaw would be training under a RiverClan warrior to become a full member of the Clan that had taken her prisoner. If that didn't show Flickerpaw's determination to prove that she was truly sorry, nothing did, and Duckpuddle respected her for that. No matter how much sympathy Duckpuddle had for the former ThunderClanner, the warrior could not empathize with the fact that Flickerpaw was officially abandoning everything she knew - her family, her friends, her ThunderClan training. Family was something that Duckpuddle was ignorant of, for she had none. It was easy to imagine how it would feel to leave them behind, though.

The deputy did not say the faces of his clanmates because of he feared he would hesitate by seeing the rejection of some of his clanmates. Instead, he kept looking at the apprentice with serious eyes as he continued. "Flickerpaw, you're here today to prove you truly wish to join our clan by becoming one of our apprentices. Is it your wish to leave behind Thunderclan, your family, even your name in order to become part of our clan? Do you swear your loyalty to Riverclan and only Riverclan?" This was surely not like every apprentice ceremony. He never asked those kinds of questions to Riverclan kits who were becoming apprentices but Flickerpaw wasn't Riverclan... she was born in Thunderclan and he had to make sure she was really going to be loyal only to his clan. Traitors couldn't be allowed in their ranks.

Silverfang couldn't believe it. Letting the murderer of her sister be an apprentice?! It was unfair. A killer shouldn't be rewarded and the warrior disliked the idea of sharing a den with that creature in the future. However, despite her clear disapproval to this ceremony... she said nothing. The experienced warrior only narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jaystream and the fur of her tail bristled. She was mad but her loyalty to her clan and to the leader was more powerful. She would never disobey her deputy or leader's orders, even if she disagreed with them.

However... that didn't mean she had to treat Flickerpaw was one of them. She was certainly not going to do that... she couldn't forgive her for what she did to her family.

Flickerpaw had already made her choice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Silverfang furious, but instead blinked and looked back into green eyes similar to her own. Self - conscious, afraid, and serious. Her training would be hard. She would not have her brothers and sisters to help her get through it. Silverfang and other cats like Shadefang might passive - aggressively bully her with unusual tasks. Loyalty to Riverclan. Against her own - no, she must not think that way. Riverclan was her clan now. And she would fight for it, to the death of she had to. Maybe then her debt would be repaid. Her voice was sure, unwavering, and stronger than it had ever been since she had killed Fawnsong.

"Yes."

"Then, with everyone in Riverclan witnessing your vow, I strip you from your Thunderclan's name to give you new start here in Riverclan. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw by everyone in the clans. I will be your mentor from now on and you'll be forbidden to leave my side every time we leave the camp until you've truly proven you're ready to become a warrior." And finally, she was one of them. The deputy left the branch with a hop and he walked to the reborn apprentice. He lowered his head to touch her nose quietly as part of the formality of the ceremony. Now, she was part of Riverclan and she was going to be seen judged and seen as one.

From the shade of an overhanging tree, Scorchclaw watched Flickerpaw's apprentice ceremony with a glittering, cold gaze. He had never thought that the ThunderClan prisoner would actually become one of them, and this unexpected turn of events was startling. He usually never questioned his leader's decisions, trusting them to be the best, but he couldn't help the sliver of doubt that crept in this time. Did Jaystream really believe her words? No matter what she said, it was impossible for her to become fully loyal to RiverClan when she had spent most of her life up till now as a ThunderClanner. If a battle ever broke out between the two clans, could she really fight against her family and friends? No, he didn't believe she could. Perhaps, though, that was the only choice left to a cat who had been taken from her clan, forbidden to return.

The one relief was that Flickerpaw--now Flamepaw--was to be Jaystream's apprentice. The fluffy brown warrior knew the deputy would definitely keep a close eye on her. He would stay silent for now, but he was definitely not going to be trusting her anytime soon.