nightpaw's warrior ceremony

Mottlestar lept to her place on the Highrock. It would be her first ceremony since getting her lives, and as she stepped around the rock, there were tiny pawpads in their wake. It wasn't like she hadn't done a warrior ceremony before... so why was she so nervous? Shaking her head, the leader took a breath before calling out. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!"

Nightpaw exited the elder's den to the call of their new leader (and didn't that feel strange, even just in her mind), and swiftly changed course from the apprentice den to the gathering crowd of ThunderClan cats. She wondered what it would be- an announcement to do with the change of power, or perhaps a ceremony? Regardless, she didn't want to miss it.

It wasn't that hard to spot the apprentice in question within the crowd. Holding her head high, Mottlestar's tail swished along the earth behind her. All she had to do was focus on the ceremony. "Nightpaw, please step forward." She called. "Nightpaw, you have trained hard in the ways of the warrior, and you have done your part to earn your full place in Thunderclan. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and serve Thunderclan, even at the cost of your life?"

Nightpaw blinked once when Mottlestar called her name. As she stepped forward, she mused that a part of her had half-expected that she would never hear those words; that she would be doomed to forever be Nightpaw and nothing more than that. She had been an apprentice so long (what cat could have guessed that Eggdrop would gain her full name before her warrior sister, the first of them to be apprenticed?), had faltered more than once. Had nearly lost faith in herself as well as her Clan.

Countless days of grief and mourning, but she had eventually come out the other side.

There was no time to hesitate when the only thing she had ever wanted as much as this was before her. "I do," she spoke clearly and confidently; feeling blessed as if the stars themselves- her beloved kin who dwelt now within them- were shining on her in broad daylight.

This is for you, too. Milkpaw, Whitepaw, Shadepaw. I've lost you, but you're still here with me in every way that matters.

And all personal thoughts aside- to stand proud in such ceremony was an honor in itself, to be named before the Clan.

With countless words on her tongue, she kept her silence. It wouldn't do to interrupt.

It was a clear answer, one that spoke no doubt behind it. Then no doubt, in turn, would come from the small tortoiseshell above as she spoke her response. "Then by the powers of Starclan, you shall now be known as Nightdancer. Thunderclan recognizes your skill and your spirit. Tonight, as is custom, you will sit in silent vigil, guarding your clan as we sleep." She allowed for the first cheers to ring out among the crowd, before adding in her own. "Congratulations, Nightdancer."