Lilypaw's Warrior Ceremony

"I vouche for Lilypaw." The medicine cats voice called out from amongst the gathered crowd, stepping forward to be in full view of Leopardstar.

Heatherberry had not been around for the majority of Lilypaw's second apprenticeship, but she did know one thing: "Lilypaw hasn't been to or has sent anyone to the medicine den since her arrival, nor has anyone gone missing or died between her return and now. That is enough for me to feel comfortable to see her return to warrior status. I feel she knows the ways of ShadowClan still." Whether or not the orange spotted mollys heart beat for ShadowClan didn't really concern her so long as she kept her claws from her clanmates throats. A scuffle or two was bound to happen, but malice with intent to seriously harm would not be tollerated. So far, she hadn't shown any of that.

One thing about Nettlepaw was that he was always punctual, and if he knew he had to be somewhere he'd turn up early. He could never risk losing out on any gossip so of course he was sat all proper for the clan meeting. The tom had nestled himself between his favourite denmates, and stared up at Leopardstar expectantly. The meeting could be about anything, and his pelt prickled in anticipation. Leopardstar began to speak again and Nettlepaw leaned forward, ears perked only for...

This was a sick joke. No way. Unbelievable. "Is she serious?" he hissed in a hushed whisper to his friends. Though as the spawn of the dark forest stepped forward, and voices rang out began to vouch for her, he felt his blood run cold. This was a mistake, none of these cats knew Lilypaw at all! They didn't know her character! While Nettlepaw was certainly far from perfect he knew what she was really like, what she would bring upon ShadowClan. He may be a far cry from perfect and he also didn't care too much for clan loyalty with all his friends across the border, but he wouldn't sit down and take this.

The white apprentice stood up abruptly, and pushed through the throng of cats until he was at the front. Then he turned to face them, not making any eye contact with Lilypaw, knowing her she would already have her assumptions about him. She can have them, but it doesn't change the truth of my words.

"I object." stated Nettlepaw his voice loud and clear.

He waited for the shock, and anger across the faces of several ctas to pass before continuing. "Lilypaw is not fit to be a warrior. Obviously I'm not an idiot, I know this probably seems rich coming from me and my dislike for her isn't a secret, but I don't dislike cats for nothing." he continued "Over the past few moons I have been bullied and harassed by Lilypaw. I doubt anyone even believes me, but it is true." His head hung in shame. "She has used her age to pressure me into doing duties that aren't mine, to yell at me, to attack me personally, to lie and accuse me of things I haven't done 'because she's older and knows more'. She did not follow the rules given to apprentices too, and when reminded she insulted me and tried to intimidate me she told me 'a lot more cats would like me if I shut up' and 'that no one respects me'and that's just scratching the surface." he chanced a look up at Leopardstar, he knew after this his name would be ruined forever just like she wanted, but he couldn't sit by. He wouldn't/ "I believe these things were said to silence me and scare me out of speaking up about how cruel she is. In summary Lilypaw isn't fit to be a warrior, she doesn't follow the code, she showed no growth towards bettering herself and she's cruel to me and possibly other cats younger than her. Laugh at me and boo me and tell me 'I'm wrong and immature' that this is 'just apprentice drama', but it's not and so I can't vouch for Lilypaw in good conscious." His mismatched gaze swept over the crowd, and he finally looked at Lilypaw. There was a slight tremble in his legs, but his face was almost void of emotion "Thank you."

And with that, he slipped back to his place, trying to ignore everyone but his friends. Swiftheart was going to be so disappointed in him for saying anything, and he'd probably gone about this all wrong. Leopardstar would hate him and wouldn't listen because he hadn't brought this to her attention privately, but he'd tried to mention it to Sablestrike. He had ignored him too. He felt so alone and this outburst would make it worse, but, but, but. Nettlepaw curled in on himself hiding his tears. This wasn't fair on him. She had started this and he... He tried to stand up for himself, but she kept going, and now he had to do this, and everyone would hate him and maybe his friends weren't even his friends anymore now, and and and... His sides shook, hopefully he was hidden behind Orchidpaw and Crabpaw's fluffy pelts. This was even more humiliating than when Sablestrike had yanked him away from Lilypaw.

Swiftheart had joined the meeting. She settled down grinning happily, this was her sisters big day of being a warrior now.

She had thought for so long that she was the last sibling, so when Lily was home again it was such a relief and reassurance to have family again.

She gave a thankful nod to her good friend Heather as she vouched for her sister.

and, another nod to larkshine. She made a little note to herself that she ought to hang out more with other warriors she enjoyed meeting new friends and had not gotten to know all these new warriors yet.


She was about to step forward as well when another white furred cat beat her to it: her apprentice.


She flicked her ears back as he spoke about how much he and lily did not get along.
She felt her heart thump thump a couple times.

She had never expected this. She had thought this vouching thing was just a formality that Leopardstar wanted and that it would be over in a matter of minutes. Now Lily was being dragged up on trial of sorts??!

This was the second sibling she had to watch get their name and reputation drug through the mud.

However, all at the same time, this was her apprentice and even if she belived his feelings and attitude to be misplaced she didn't want to make him feel unheard which was the only reason she had not drug him off by his scruff. She would let him speak, it was important that everyone got their opinions. Though she wished her apprentice and sister would just get along.

They could both get along with her why not each other?

The temptation to rebuke nettlepaw was high but she wouldn't do that now. Not in front of everyone, as his mentor she was also supposed to be in his corner of sorts too.

She let out a sigh looking between the two: once again she was caught between wanting to support her sibling and something else that came up.

It all reminded her all too much of Night and she felt her chest tighten and her stomach ache.

"please just get along" she whispered to only herself

Sablestrike had been content with simply watching this ceremony in silence. If he were to speak up it would only put Lilypaw in a worse position, but luckily it seemed that the ceremony would be completed soon. At least until he saw Nettlepaw break from his group. The tom let out a deep sigh as he was forced to listen to the apprentice's complaints once more, and as Pineblossom spoke Sablestrike gave up the idea of a peaceful ceremony. One apprentice had already turned it upside down. It was as if he was a magnet for this sort of thing. What really took him by surprise however was the thorough explanation Lilypaw gave. It detailed the other instances that he hadn't been around to witness, and also told him that Lilypaw, an apprentice, had taken a kit out of camp without the company of a warrior. As she finally finished, Sablestrike rose to say his piece before anyone else could cut in.

"I have already spoken to Leopardstar about the relationship Nettlepaw and Lilypaw have. In my experience with handling these two, both have been antagonistic towards each other, but Nettlepaw has taken that a step further by attacking Lilypaw right in front of me. He has already been punished for this, and the matter has been brought up to Leopardstar as well. I am not disregarding Nettlepaw's claims, as I have seen the way they interact with each other, but I know that Nettlepaw is the more aggressive one when it comes to their childish fights. Lilypaw, as a former warrior and Nettlepaw's senior, should have distanced herself from her denmate the moment these squabbles started, and I should have done more to ease the tension between these two, but I've failed to do that." The blame for letting things get to this point was partially his. Perhaps he should have been stricter with Nettlepaw, or confronted Lilypaw to force her to avoid her fellow apprentice, but he had hoped the older molly would have been smart enough to do that on her own. "That fight was my first time learning about any of this, but I should have investigated this matter more thoroughly. I did what I thought was right at the time, but that clearly wasn't enough."

"Still, Nettlepaw does have a point. You have broken one of our rules in leading Cloudpaw from our camp, Lilypaw. Apprentices are not permitted to leave camp without being accompanied by a warrior, and by your own admission, you have have done just that. Even if you were once a warrior, you are not one now, so these rules still apply to you." He would let Leopardstar handle that. If Sablestrike kept going he would end up agreeing with Nettlepaw and objecting to Lilypaw gaining her warrior name. He hadn't spoken much with Lilypaw since her arrival, but what he had seen from her didn't make him want to vouch for her.

Crabpaw had gathered with the rest of the clan, quickly forgetting whatever task he'd briefly been set on for what Leopardstar had to say. Lilypaw's ceremony? He'd immediately glanced at Nettlepaw with the realization. At some point, his brother had mentioned the she-cat but he hardly remembered why. Nettlepaw said many words all the time and it was difficult to retain them all when his mind bounced in so many different directions. However, as he heard the accusations thrown around camp, something was sparked in the ginger-pelted apprentice. That was his littermate.

Boundless energy and untamed fury blossomed from the same place in Crabpaw, an inherent nature tapped into only at certain moments. If he had a tail, it would have been lashing relentlessly. His whole body shook with rage. Instead of addressing Leopardstar, or calling out in support of Nettlepaw and Batpaw, he turned on his heels towards Lilypaw and stopped short with their noses only a mouselength away. Looking cross down the bridge of his nose and with eyes burning with fury, and unusual look for the tom, he scowled.

"Lilypaw! Nettlepaw is a good cat and he's never attacked a clanmate before and always follows the code. He's my brother! I know! I don't know why you were gone for so long but you don't know how to be a Shadowclan cat!" His empassioned speech was one purely of frustration, lacking any sort of desire for formal arguments. All he wanted was to defend his brother and uphold the clan he had been born into. This was not it. Fury was written across his face, indignation. Logic didn't matter, all that mattered was defending his brother.

Sniffling, Nettlepaw dried his tears as he heard Pineblossom speak up. For a moment he was hopeful that his story would be believed and all would be well, but then Lilypaw was speaking up, twisting the story of events, painting herself a victim, asking for him to accept her apology in front of the entire clan. He opened his mouth to tell her exactly where she could shove that apology and to point out all her lies, but then Sablestrike was speaking too. Was the deputy almost agreeing with him? And then Batpaw was by his side backing him up and Crabpaw was giving Lilypaw a piece of his mind. He felt warm and fuzzy, despite his upset that some cats were on his side. The tom sniffed again, maybe this time he would be able to speak, thank his supporters and set the record straight, except he was cut off again.

Nettlepaw's features morphed into a look of shock, as Leopardstar moved to continue the ceremony, as she reprimanded him and Batpaw, but Lilypaw? No, Lilypaw was fine. Nettlepaw began to splutter, stamping his feet because he didn't know how to get all the angry energy out, or to stop this. His eyes became wide, almost bugging out of his head as long ears lay flat against his skull. This was disgrace, and it had to be known. "Lilypaw is not taking accountability," he hissed "And she is lying." The tom fixed his eyes on the offending cat, he could have let it go if she hadn't spoken up, hadn't lied, hadn't defended herself with falsehoods. "It's no secret I attacked her, and I have taken accountability for it. I was angry and hurt from her lies and I wanted it to stop and I was taught to stand up to bullies, so when words weren't enough i used paw, but I did not use claws. I would never hurt a clanmate, I just wanted to be left alone. I may have been aggressive, but not once did I ever seek Lilypaw out, and I was only ever aggressive because she has always been cold and cruel to me. If Lilypaw wants to lie about why I acted how I did then I have no qualms about exposing the truth."

"The first I met Lilypaw I was doing my duties, bringing moss to the nursery. That's where I met Cloudpaw who was a kit, I asked to play mossball with her after finishing my chores and she was rude and then she squashed her mossball, and demanded I make her a new one as it was my fault. I refused and things escalated and she attacked me, and I went to leave the escalating situation. I did not do anything wrong. This is when Lilypaw inserted herself. She accused me of bullying and harassing this kit, of picking on someone younger. I was upset and yeah I was harsh about it, but if someone is yelling at you for something you didn't do I doubt you'd be happy either. She threatened to get Sablestrike involved, that she would tell him the things she was accusing me of.

"The second time we spoke it was because Cloudpaw had come looking for me while I was asleep, I wasn't quick enough to rise and so she tore all the moss she could find up, I had been asleep, I had done nothing at all and she still insisted on blaming me. She left to get Sablestrike and I was fearful that she would spread more lies to him that I would be in trouble for stuff I didn't do. I tried to tell Sablestrike I was innocent, but Lilypaw said I was dishonest and kept further insulting me, so that was when I lashed out. I received punishment and a very stern telling off from Swiftheart and Sablestrike, where I informed him of what she was doing... I don't know what happened with what I told him, but I did."

"The final time we met Cloudpaw was trying to leave camp unaccompanied, as no one else was there I did the right thing and stepped in. I told her it wasn't allowed, but then..." he sighed, exasperated with Lilypaw's lies, with this whole thing. "Lilypaw showed up, she blatantly ignored me and everything I said and told Cloudpaw she would take her out. I reminded Lilypaw that she was an apprentice, that she couldn't do that, that it would endanger Cloudpaw. even now she sits there saying 'i was playing hero'. Sorry, I didn't know caring for my clanmates was wrong."

"This is the truth. I wont deny I was snappish or rude or that I defended myself physically from her accusations, but I will deny her baseless claims." he hissed, standing tall "Lilypaw," he mewed directing his attention towards her, and away from the rest of the clan "It does not satisfy me. Is that petty? perhaps, but I stayed out of your way and you sought me out and you have just lied again. I can't trust your apology, and I can't trust you as a clanmate." The apprentice turned away from her to face Leopardstar "You can make her a warrior, I don't care, but when I'm right about this - which I will be - you were made aware of her character and you ignored it." Nettlepaw let out a huff, he felt constricted from the effort of saying all these things, and knowing deep down Leopardstar didn't care. His leader didn't care. He didn't even want to gloat if he was right, he just worried for what would come if it did happen.