Cherrypaw's Warrior Ceremony

Two in one day. A smile crossed briefly over Minkstar's maw as he stood on the High Rock again, a touch of pride flickering to life in his chest. They were growing, more apprentices becoming warriors. That couldn't be anything but good, right? Especially... with those they'd lost.

He opened his maw, calling the summons again. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Rock for a Clan meeting!"

Cherrypaw heard Minkstar's call for the second time today. She hoped this would be her ceremony, since the previous one was her sister's. She carefully plucked a few items from her nest and placed them in her fur. Ceremonies were important, so she had to look as nice as possible. She walked out of the den and found a place to sit amongst the gathering crowd. She waited for the meeting to begin and watched the leaves falling into camp.

Kestrelswoop was really proud of Cherrypaw and how far she'd come. He'd been watching her progress and her growth. Since their first day training, she'd shown potential. She had many interesting quirks that left him scratching his head however, they hadn't seemed disruptive nor dangerous. After plenty of time training and tracking her skills, Kestrel had finally deemed her ready for warriorhood. She was mature enough and her skills had improved tremendously. So, the tom had forward that information to his father and now Cherrypaw's ceremony was beginning. The warrior sat close to his apprentice and nudged her with a gently paw. "You look lovely. Chin up and head held high okay? It's your time to shine. I hope you know how proud I am of you." he murmured with a smile as he turned back to look at the younger cat. She seemed ready for the ceremony to start.

Minkstar smiled at the sight of the little apprentice with a few important items woven into her pelt sitting next to her mentor. Can't say it's a bad habit. Opening his maw, he called her forward. "Cherrypaw, it's time for your warrior ceremony. If you agree to go through with it, step forward now."

When she'd done so - and who was he kidding if he thought she'd gone to all the bother of sticking her precious item into her fur just to back out - he continued, sticking mostly with the  standard words just to be a little less predictable. "I call on my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and appreciate the forest maybe a little more than some of you I knew. I commend her to you as a warrior in turn." Looking down into the soon-to-be warrior's gaze, he asked the all-important question. "Cherrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, protect and defend all its members - whether you care about them or not - even at the cost of your life?"

Cherrypaw heard the familiar voice of her mentor beside her and pricked one of her ears toward him as she waited for Minkstar to continue. She nodded her head and felt anxiety and excitement bubbling up inside of her. She wanted to be a warrior, and yet still felt nervous to become one. She listened to Minkstar called her forward and stood up. She walked to the front of the crowd and watched as the ceremony continued. She tried to regain her usual calm demeanor before calling out, “I do” That was so much easier than I thought it would be! I’m going to be announced as a fully fledged warrior in just a few moments! She couldn’t help but excitedly thinking.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I grant you your warrior name," He said, letting the end of his tail flourish. "Cherrypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cherrycloud. We honour your friendliness and your... appreciation of beauty, and welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

The clearing erupted in yowls, and he joined in, leaping down from the Highrock as the new warrior was congratulated on all sides.

Cherrypaw listened to Minkstar naming her as a warrior of ThunderClan. Hmm, Cherrycloud. I like it, she quietly thought to herself before everyone started to yowl her new name. She felt a large surge of pride for herself. She couldn't believe she was finally a warrior! She couldn't wait to be able to go out on her first patrol as a warrior!