Yarrowpaw's Warrior Ceremony

A stricter leader would have demoted them to kits. Given them even more elder duties, maybe. For their foolishness, Perchstar was still not even sure whether they were truly ready to become warriors. And yet, the "extra" month of Yarrowpaw and Woolypaw's apprenticeship had passed. Yarrowpaw's leg had nearly healed up. He'd get his warrior name-- then, his foolish companion. The leader stifled a sigh of annoyance as she ascended the Willow Branch. Ceremonies were supposed to be a time of celebration. Yet, she was still worried about their ability. At the slightest hint of self-risking behavior, she wouldn't hesitate to revoke their names. Do they really deserve this much vitriol? Just because you were so scared for their lives? Just because they made you face yet another fox? Surely the near-death experience ought to have scared the recklessness out of them. Still, it was with an even blanker, more neutral face than normal that the leader called out, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own fish gather for a Clan meeting."

Perchstar's eyes caught on the lanky apprentice, watching as he walked out to his ceremony-- then, tripped all over his scarred limb and became a pile of legs on the sandy ground. A quick spike of alarm came and went, replaced with an unamused exasperation. Had the tom really healed enough? Was he really ready to get his warrior name and go out on patrols and hunt? Stars. What is wrong with me? Why does this apprentice annoy me so much? She simply shook her head and sighed, waiting for the tom to get up. Once he did, her eyes-- kept carefully blank of expression-- met his. "I, Perchstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has worked hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I... recommend him to you as a warrior in his turn." He had completed his training. He had healed. He would become a warrior, and learn from his mistakes, and not cause her any more headaches. "Yarrowpaw. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Perchstar nodded. It seemed that he had truly learned his lesson, and would do his best to be better. She supposed that was all she could ask. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day on, you will be known as Yarrowblossom. StarClan honors your friendliness and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan." She leapt down, ending the ceremony with the customary brief touch of her muzzle to the top of the tall tom's head. It was difficult, as they stood nearly eye-to-eye. However, she looked at him carefully, then nodded once more and backed away. Truly, she did not bear any real dislike of the tom. Hopefully his new name would be a chance for him to be worthy of the term "warrior."

Woolypaw watched from the front of the crowd as Yarrowblossom- ha!- fumbled his way through his ceremony. On the one hand, Woolypaw was ecstatic for his best friend. They'd been waiting for this for so long! On the other...

"Yarrowblossom! Yarrowblossom!" He grinned, approaching the freshly named warrior. "Congratulations! I'm happy for you, and I love the name. Very pretty." He purred, whiskers twitching with his efforts to hold back good-natured laughter.