Thornpaw's Warrior Ceremony

Another apprentice ceremony? Thornpaw sighed and stood from her recently finished meal. Stretching, she padded over to join the other cats that had begun to gather around Jaggedrock. She couldn't remember how many of these she'd witnessed now. But then again, for all the apprentices they had, it seemed like an awful lot of them had met an untimely end long before the had the chance to receive their warrior name. Sootpaw had been one of them... and the thought of him brought a dull ache to her heart. Much like the scars that marred her face and body from that day, his loss was no longer fresh and bloody. Some nights it kept her up, wondering what he thought of her now and how he'd taken to life in Starclan... but the pain had lessened considerably.

Much like how she had with her missing eye... she'd adapted to it. Turning her cool green gaze to the dark tabby tom perched atop the large rock above her, she steeled herself to the possibility that this next apprentice would turn out the same as Hollypaw or Rosepaw.

"Thornpaw, step forward."

Thornpaw blinked at him.

Oh.

Well she certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Rising to her paws, she broke from the group of Shadowclan cats and stepped forward. A flicker of bitter amusement sparked in her as she remembered the last time she'd been in this position, looking up at Littlebrook as she'd been told that her brother was to be mentored by Magpiestar. She almost laughed aloud as she remembered how angry she'd been... how jealous she was of her brother for getting the cooler mentor.

Her amusement suddenly faded.

She was becoming a warrior... without him.

This wasn't right. They'd received their apprentice names together, why was she receiving her warrior name alone? An all too familiar feeling began to bubble up from somewhere deep inside her as she sank her claws deep into the soil beneath her. It wasn't fair. Why was she here when he was up there? He should be right next to her, grinning cheekily over something as simple as getting his warrior name just a heartbeat before her. She looked to her left, practically able to see a hazy outline of the tom beside her. He'd be bigger than her by now, and he'd be rubbing it in at any chance he could. She grit her teeth as those old wounds began to feel fresh again. No... she wasn't going to let this happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were going to lead the clan one day. He promised he'd be her deputy when they were kits. She wasn't going to let him be another one of the many apprentices she'd seen die. She wouldn't stand for it!

Turning her gaze back up to the Shadowclan leader, green eye blazing with indescribable emotion, she nodded. "I do... on one condition." She paused for a moment, gathering the words. She knew all eyes were on her. Eyes full of of confusion or outrage all mutually boring into her dark pelt, but still she didn't budge. She couldn't think of a time where an apprentice had ever done anything like this before, but that wouldn't stop her. She rubbed cats of all ages the wrong way on the daily just for fun. She wasn't the type to back down easily anyways, she was doing this.

Staring directly into Scorchstar's orange eyes, she finally named her price.

"You must name Sootpaw as well."

She watched the leader for a long moment, indescribable feelings swirling inside of her.

Thornbriar

Sootstrike

A small smile made its way on to the new warrior's face. It was a foreign movement but... not unwelcome in this moment.

They were warriors.

Together.

She closed her eye for a moment, taking a deep breath. Thornbriar never could have imagined things would turn out this way, not after everything. But she wasn't unhappy. Sootstrike... it suited him. He would have liked it, she knew. Opening her eye again she looked at Scorchstar with an expression of gratitude, nodding to him respectfully. The tom had done something for her that she was certain he didn't understand the sheer magnitude of. Sootpaw had been her world. Her everything. He'd given his life in one final, heroic act of loyalty, and she could never truly repay that... but she finally felt like she'd done something for him. Something that felt right.

In that moment she recognized Scorchstar as a leader she could trust. He understood and recognized the bonds of loyalty, and lately that seemed to be a difficult thing to come across. As per custom, she rasped her tongue over the tom's shoulder and silently swore her life by him and the clan.

She was a true warrior of Shadowclan, and she'd give her life before breaking that oath.