Muddypaw's Warrior Ceremony

Dusk was falling on SkyClan's camp as Wolfstar padded back home, a fat squirrel dangling from his mouth. He placed it on the fresh-kill pile, eyeing the other offerings. The season had been kind to them so far, and prey was in abundance - they needed more warriors out there hunting it. With a quick sprint, Wolfstar leaped up to the mouth of his den, lifting his voice for all to hear. "Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather before me for a clan meeting!"

Even though the sun hadn't properly set yet, Muddypaw was already considering going to his nest when he heard Wolfstar call a clan meeting. A little reluctantly, he turned his pawsteps away from his original route to the den, and instead joined the rest of the clan gathering below Wolfstar. Primroselight joined him, and he mewed a greeting, but ended up stifling a yawn. He had been on the dawn patrol this morning, and as he had learned pretty quickly into his apprenticeship, he wasn't someone who could survive on a low amount of sleep. He briefly wondered what was happening, but unless it was big and important news, it probably didn't concern Muddypaw directly anyways.

"We are gathered here today to give one of our clanmates their warrior name and rank," Wolfstar said, once the time to start had come. "Muddypaw, please step forward." Once he had, the leader continued. "I, Wolfstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down upon 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. Muddypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

A small sound of surprise escaped Muddypaw when he heard his name. It pulled him out of the half-asleep haze he had been in and immediately had him panicking. He wasn't ready to be a warrior yet. Sure, it would be fun not to have older cats constantly watching him, and it would be great to replace the -paw at the end of his name, but did he even deserve it? I believe in you, Muddypaw. Do not fret. You will be a great warrior. Silentwhisper's comforting words crossed his mind, certainly not for the first time since their meeting. He kept repeating them like a mantra in his head, and almost forgot to step forwards and say his part. It was only when he felt a gentle nudge from Primroselight did he focus again. "I do." 

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your name: Muddythorn, SkyClan honors your loyalty and optimism." The leader dropped to the ground, padding over to touch noses with the newly named warrior.

Muddythorn. The newly-named warrior took a moment to fully register what had happened. So now, finally, he was a warrior. He gently bumped Wolfstar's nose, and turned back around to the rest of the clan. He saw Primroselight probably chanting the loudest, and his ears turned hot with embarrassment, but it didn't matter. He was a warrior! At long last. He thought -thorn was a bit of an unusual choice, since he didn't really view himself as spiky (Beechface had that one covered), but maybe it was more like the kind of thorns that protected the nursery, kept everyone safe. Yeah, he like that a lot more.