Yewpaw's Warrior Ceremony

It was painfully obvious that Morningstar had done absolutely no work in Skyclan dedpite standing in for its leader. Bloodstar jumped to the Tallbranch, shaking his head briefly before shouting, "Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the Tallbranch for a clan meeting." He plopped his rump down and patiently waited for the clan to gather.

Though Morningstar was now long gone, Yewpaw’s hackles still instinctively raised at the voice calling for a clan meeting. It was something that he would never dare say to neither father nor son, that at times their voices were eerily similar. The tuxedo tom stepped away from the wall of the apprentice’s den - leaving a bundle of twigs behind, as he had been in the middle of repairing a particularly drafty section - and moved within full view of the Tallbranch. This was the normal state of things, but Yewpaw had honestly become slightly accustomed to the unmoving, yet unrotting, limp form of Bloodstar. How lucky he should be to rise again.

Satisfied that the clan had gathered, Bloodstar looked down at Yewpaw before speaking.

"Today we witness a new warrior joining Skyclan's ranks. Yewpaw step forward. I, Bloodstar, 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. Yewpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

He wasn't sure if he cared that all of his warrior ancestors could be watching him right now. He'd never met a single one. Nor did he feel any better by imagining that it was just Crickethop, Elkpaw, Oliverain, and Lynxpetal watching him from the stars. They should've been able to watch this from amongst the crowd. He loved them; he hated them. He couldn't tell the difference between those two feelings anymore. Was this what missing someone felt like? Though his face betrayed little of his turmoil, Yewpaw still sucked in a deep breath to quiet his heart. "I do."

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name, Yewfrost Skyclan honors your hard work and level-headedness ."

Another warrior added to the clan. Skyclan needed the numbers. He leaped from Tallbranch and rested his chin on Yewfrost's head. After muttering a congratulations into the new warrior's ear, Bloodstar stepped back to let the rest of the clan congratulate the newest warrior.

Beechfang had watched the warrior ceremony quietly, glad to see another apprentice finally climb the ranks. Yewpaw had seemed to flounder for a bit after his mentor and friends' deaths, but she was glad that he continued to move forward despite everything.

When Bloodstar named him and ended the meeting, Beechfang padded forward, "Congratulations, Yewfrost." She mewed with a dip of her head in acknowledgement before stepping back as the rest of the clan gave their own congratulations to Skyclan's newest warrior.

Driftcloud lumbered out of the warrior's den with a yawn, catching the tail end of the ceremony. Blinking, he broke into a grin when he realized it was Yewpaw's, his kithood friend. Regretfully, he hadn't kept up with the tom much, life had gotten a bit hectic, but now he had all the time in the world.

"Yewfrost, Yewfrost!" they cheered, padding over to speak with the new warrior. "Hey, congrats. Before yer vigil, you should make yer new nest next to mine, 'kay?"

Yewfrost let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as his new name came down. Yewfrost. His ears twitched at two voices closer than the rest and he turned to just barely catch sight of Beechfang before she stepped back into the crowd. But Driftcloud, it felt like ages since they'd talked, even though the dens were hardly a few fox-lengths away. His eyes softened at their suggestion. "Yeah." Perhaps things would be better if there was a familiar face beside him.