Brackenpaw's Warrior Ceremony

Another evening, another warrior ceremony. Brackenpaw had not been back in the clan for long, but he had undertaken the trip to the moonstone like any other, and while Wolfstar personally wished to be a bit harsh on the young tom for the grief he'd caused between the wolves and his disappearance, it was long enough behind them now that she could not let her personal wishes get in the way of running the clan. The new leader stood on the tallbranch, gazing across camp.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the tallbranch for a clan meeting!"

At the call of his grandmother, the first since she had received her lives, Brackenpaw was quick to gather beneath the Tall Branch. The tom took a seat beside his sister, his tail flicking lazily. Perhaps today would be his ceremony, he’d bet Honeydew they’d be denmates again within ten sunrises, and this was certainly less than that. His eyes drifted to Wolfstar, hoping for a confirmation of his thoughts from the new leader.

Wolfstar smiled softly when she spotted her grandson sitting near his sister in the crowd. Despite the scare, she was so glad that he and Ambersun were home, where they belonged. "Brackenpaw, step forward."

"I call upon you Skyclan, and our warrior ancestors to look upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of the warrior code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." Wolfstar began, "Brackenpaw, do you promise to provide for and protect the clan, and to uphold the code, even at the cost of your life?" Her gaze was on him, searching, waiting for the ceremonial answer but more interested in what his actual reaction to the oath would be in body language, tone and hesitation or lack of.

Brackenpaw stepped forward, casting a wide smile at Honeydew as he did so. He wished he bet something real now, but he was happy to gloat, and be with her again. His attention was on Wolfstar as she spoke the oath, words he already followed. “I think I put the clan before my own life back at the lakes…” he mewed, letting out a chuckle, before straightening up. He should be more serious, and maybe the wolves and his disappearance weren’t something to joke about. Before Wolfstar could reprimand him and rethink her choice to make him a warrior he straightened up. “Sorry, obviously I do promise to uphold the code and protect this clan.” meowed Brackenpaw. He looked back at his siblings, mostly that portion of the clan he would protect, but maybe one day he’d be as fond of the rest as SkyClan as he was them.

Brackenpaw spoke with a soft chuckle, and Wolfstar sighed quietly to herself. "And put Ambersun in danger, she saved your hide." She replied, "Your leader, your deputy tell you to run, they are not telling you that out of cowardice. Sometimes following orders, even the ones we disagree with or seem cowardly, puts less cats in danger to begin with. But I think you understand that now." Of course his oath would not be a simple one like his siblings or the other warriors she had recently named... Wolfstar really should have known.

"Nevertheless... You returned to us safely. You have shown more than a willingness to protect the clan. From now on you shall be known as Brackendawn, and we honor your courage and strength." With that, Wolfstar leapt from the tallbranch, padding up to her grandson and offering him a smile.

"You scared the fluff out of me. I am proud of you, though, and you were far braver than any apprentice ought to have been that night. Braver than most. Making sure everyone escaped had to be my priority. To fight or flee those beasts was not a decision to make lightly, either way." She mewed, fine line between bravery and stupidity there might be, but part of her did respect it. "You will sit vigil tonight while the rest of us sleep, I hope it's a quiet one. Congratulations, Brackendawn."

“Yeah well…” he opened and closed his mouth several times to snap back a clever retort, but Brackenpaw decided better of it. There were numerous things he could have said like ‘I didn’t ask for Ambersun to save me!” or “someone had to distract them!” but his mouth remained closed, letting the ceremony conclude so he may receive his new name.

Brackendawn. Not half bad. He grinned widely.

The tom stepped back to join the celebrations with his clanmates. Thanking them all for their congratulations, his grandmother’s voice sounded behind him as she joined them too, and he headbutted her shoulder gently. “Thank you, Gramma.” he purred “I didn’t feel as brave as i did when i had the bright idea of attacking them once i came face to face with the beasts, but it was too late to not commit then.” he added admitting it quietly to the older she-cat.