Wolfpaw's Warrior Ceremony

Minkstar leapt up onto the rock, ready for another warrior ceremony, said soon-to-be warrior's name stuck firmly in his mind. His call rang through the camp, a confident smile on his maw. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Rock for a warrior ceremony!"

Wolfpaw leaped to her paws at the sign of a clan meeting, trotting over to the Highrock with haste. She knew that soon it was going to be time for her to become a warrior, she just didn't know exactly when. That's why she made a point of at least being fast, cause she was excited! The gray apprentice gave her fur a few licks as she sat down, directing her amber eyes towards Minkstar. There was a small amount of nervousness in her, but it was drowned out by the assumption that she would become a warrior, so Wolfpaw sat there, confidence lacing her joyful gaze.

Minkstar smiled as the apprentice trotted up, among the first to gather beneath the rock. She's enthusiastic, I'll give her that! Opening his maw again, he locked her with his gaze. "Wolfpaw, it's time for your warrior ceremony; step forward if you agree to receive your new name and the responsibility that comes with it."

When she had done so, he continued with a slight purr on the edge of his words, "Then I call upon our warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to learn the ways of your code and the knowledge of her Clanmates, and I commend her to you as a warrior in turn." Meeting her eyes, he raised a brow slightly, expression warm but intense. These were no idle words to be glibly thrown away. "Wolfpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code - no matter what? And to defend and protect your Clanmates, old and young, friends and enemies, even at the cost of your life?"

Among Wolfpaw's first thoughts were, Yes!, and among the second thoughts was Oh I've gotta step forward! With haste she stepped forward, beaming at Minkstar with unbridled joy. When Minkstar's gaze turned intense as he uttered the final words, hers did in turn, turning from a huge smile to a smirk of determination. With one singular thought before her words, she said, "I do." She wasn't about to turn down becoming a warrior, of course she would give her life for her clan! Becoming a warrior is what she had worked for since she was born, she wasn't about to stop now.

A corner of Minkstar's maw twitched up higher than the other for a moment at Wolfpaw's confident response. I like this kit. There could never be too many spirited warriors in ThunderClan. Opening his mouth again, he continued, "Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Wolfpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Wolfblaze. We honour your passion and optimism, and welcome you into our ranks as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

He gave her a dip of his head from the top of the rock as the crowd erupted in cheers, calling her new name. Joining in, he leapt down from the rock and watched friends and family crowd around to congratulate her. I think I'm starting to like this ceremony. The vague worry deep in his gut that he'd mess it up somehow dissipated, easing and washing away as he let a smile pull at his maw. Can't change the past, but I can do better moving forwards.

Watching Wolfpaw's warrior ceremony from the sidelines as a rather newly-made warrior himself had been much more exciting than he'd been expecting. It gave him a strong sense of nostalgia and déjà vu. It felt like only yesterday that he'd been sitting in the crowd watching this very same she-cat's apprentice ceremony. He'd seen her grow from a kit to a warrior and he couldn't be prouder of her. She worked very hard and absolutely much deserved her warrior name.

"Wolfblaze! Wolfblaze!" he chanted as he slowly made his way over to her once the ceremony had come to a close. "Wolfblaze! Congratulations on receiving your warrior name! I'm very proud of how far you've come." Kestrelswoop nudged her with a gentle shoulder, pride glittering in his warm green gaze. "All your hard work has finally paid off! You deserve this so much. If you want, I was thinking that we should go out and hunt together sometime. We didn't have much of a chance to do that when we were apprentices but now that we're both warriors, we should definitely make that happen."

"Wolfblaze! Wolfblaze!" Webpaw cheered from alongside his clanmates. The newly named warrior was a cat he had looked up to ever since she had taught him the moss ball game when he was younger, as well as the concept of self-improvement that went along with it. He made his way through the crowd, already planning out how he wanted to personally congratulate her and let her know that he was trying his best to follow right behind her. Someday soon, they would be able to be proper moss ball rivals without the age difference handicap that had always existed between them.

He halted in his tracks as he saw Kestrelswoop at her side. Uncertainty bubbled within Webpaw. Would he be interrupting something if he tried to speak to her now? It seemed so to him at least. He could just sit there and wait. But at the same time, he didn't want his presence to rush their interaction. Mulling it over for a moment, he concluded that he could always congratulate her at a different time. After all, shouldn't she have a little more time now that she no longer had apprentice duties every day?  Maybe that wasn't how that worked, but it would make sense if it did work like that.

For now, Webpaw settled on catching Wolfblaze's eye for the briefest of moments. He gave her a nod, acknowledging her new status. Then, he silently slipped away into the crowd of cats.