Okay, hi everyone, and thanks so much for reviewing! There could have been more, but I won't complain; the winner is obvious: Emberpaw!
Now, before I tell you that the winner won, I would like to thank the nice people for their nice reviews, and also I would like to thank an indignant Kaloleina, for her lovely name suggestions! Thanks, Kaloleina, for suggesting Sparkpaw and Splashpaw. For those who don't feel like hiking all the way to my profile, there were sadly only two votes in the poll, but I already took it down anyway, and they were both for Emberpaw.
Now, the name; the winner is clear, but I did get a well backed-up suggestion from a nice anonymous reviewer, (thank you, anonymous), and they suggested Flamepaw. Hmm... I liked the way they put it, "her name could be 'Flamebird', or Flamefur, perhaps," it's not a terribly original name, so I didn't originally list it as an option, but hmm... Also, I recently had a talk with Kaloleina, who likes the name Sparkpaw best, and she told me that it, 'describes her personality the best,' and I have to agree with that point. So, to see if it will be the clear winner, the good idea, or the well-made point, you'll just have to keep reading.
And also I apologize, Teddy's name is nothing extravagant or amazing, but it seems like it fits him. Note: disclaimer (a bit late): I do not own Warriors, (that's the Erins), or any of the books, so I don't have any of the exactly correct ceremonies. Oops.
Thanks again for reviewing! Keep it up, please!
Mo0ny
Chapter 14: Ceremonies
The night air was cold and still, as if everyone and everything was holding its breath, waiting. A few dead leaves danced across the silver-gilded stones of SkyClan's camp, each edge of rock outlined with white moonlight, and even the river seemed to whisper more quietly than usual. The stars winked in and out of sight as thin clouds drifted vaguely over them and the waning moon, and when an owl hooted somewhere, it was like a thunderclap in the silent air.
Phoenix crouched under a ledge, watching the world outside as it lay waiting beneath the stars.
An apprentice—a SkyClan apprentice. I'm going to be a warrior! She felt ready to leap into the air and claw the moon, run all the way to the distant mountains and back, swim upstream in the river and sprint home again; a warrior! Her! Phoenix! She had never expected this, that morning she had decided to go outside for the fist time; it had been such a novel thing, outside. Now she was never going back in; she was a wild cat now; a SkyClan cat. Well, she would be soon.
Teddy trotted over to her, looking as calm as the rocks he darted over.
"Hello, Phoenix," he said formally. "Nervous yet?"
"Not until you are," she shot back teasingly. "Are you?"
"Not until you are," he imitated her badly.
"Been taking lessons from Rockpaw, have you?" Phoenix said as she head-butted him in the shoulder. "He must have Blackcough if that's how you imitate him!"
"No," purred Teddy. "Just a slight throat infection from trying to imitate you."
"Excuse—" Phoenixbegan, mockingly indignant, but another yowl cut across her own.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Rockpile for a clan meeting!" called Leafstar, leaping up onto the tumble of stones as cats began to creep out of their dens into the cold moonlight.
Phoenix positively squealed with excitement, leaping up with a cry of delight and anticipation and anxiety. Teddy sprang up as if he'd been shocked by lightning and careened off after her. They sped across the shadowy camp, their paws thumping as fast as their hearts were pounding, fur and ears flat back in the wind, and their tails streaming out behind them.
"... by making new apprentices, we show that SkyClan remains strong as we grow into a sturdy clan," Leafstar was saying. "So today we welcome two kits as apprentices, and two young cats as full members of our clan. Mintkit, come forward."
They skidded to a halt at the back of the crowd, Tinypaw grinned at them from where she sat beside Rockpaw, but they stayed quiet. Mintkit stepped forward, shaking with excitement and pride, groomed so that her tabby pelt shone in the moonlight.
"Mintkit has decided to take on the path of medicine cat, and we all wish her luck as she learns the way to care for her clan and speak with that of the stars. Mintkit, from this day forth, you shall be known as Mintpaw; your mentor will be Echosong. Your formal ceremony will be held in the Whispering Cave on..." Leafstar glanced at Echosong, who leapt onto the Rockpile and mewed,
"The half-moon; her ceremony will be held on the night of the half-moon." Leafstar nodded, turned to Mintpaw, who touched noses with Echosong, and bounded off the Rockpile.
"Sagekit, come here," the leader said in her deep, resonant voice. Sagekit, shaking with nerves and groomed to perfection, clambered awkwardly onto the Rockpile. "I call upon StarClan to look down upon this kit, and protect and teach him as he learns the noble code of the warriors. Sagekit, form this day forth you shall be known as Sagepaw. Your mentor will be Sharpclaw." Sharpclaw, the tabby deputy, stepped forward, and touched noses with his new apprentice. Sagepaw beamed and darted down the Rockpile.
The leader turned to face the kits' mother, Petalnose. "Petalnose, you have not yet learned the warrior code," she said, and Petalnose stood up with a nod. "Is it your wish to become a warrior of SkyClan, in the name of your kits and your mate, who sacrificed himself to save us all, to join us as a fully-fledged warrior of this clan that you now call your home?"
"It is," mewed the she-cat, no longer a queen.
"Then we will all help to train you as you learn the noble code of your ancestors, Petalnose; you will now begin to learn to be a full warrior of SkyClan. We all wish you luck in your future as a warrior."
Petalnose nodded and sat down again. The other cats began to chant, and Teddy and Phoenix joined as their voices rang out in the frosty air; "Mintpaw! Sagepaw! Petalnose! Mintpaw! Sagepaw! Petalnose!" the family smiled, their mother a bit sadly, and Phoenix guessed she was thinking of her dead mate. What had happened to him?
"Alright," mewed Leafstar. "Now we will welcome two new cats into our clan; they were kittypets, but now they will be warriors. They have shown bravery and strength in their escape from the twolegs, and now we will accept into SkyClan; Phoenix and Teddy.
"Teddy, come forward," mewed Leafstar, and Phoenix could see him shaking as he approached the Rockpile and made the leap up to SkyClan's leader. Phoenix was feeling nice, and also rather nervous herself, so she spared him of a shove on his way to becoming an apprentice.
"Teddy," Leafstar mewed. "I call upon our warrior ancestors to look down upon this... young cat, and watch over and teach him as he is trained to learn the ways of your noble code. He has already shown determination and loyalty to his friend and his clan, and we should all wish him luck as he learns the warrior code laid down by his ancestors many seasons ago. Teddy, from this day forth you shall be known as Branchpaw. Your mentor will be Clovertail." The white she-cat stepped up to greet her new apprentice, and she touched noses with Branchpaw, who was glowing with pride.
Branchpaw, thought Phoenix, shaking her head slightly as if to clear it as she tested out her friend's new name. Branchpaw, not Teddy anymore. Ever. Branchpaw. Out of the swirl of thoughts the rattled around her head like leaf-fall leaves caught in a cold wind, Phoenix heard, as if from a great distance, Leafstar's voice.
"Phoenix, come here."
Phoenix rose, saying her name over and over in her head, trying to remember it, as if she was going to forget, but still shaking, with cold, excitement, and fear of the size of the decision she was about to make. She bunched her haunches, and leapt straight onto the top of the Rockpile, the cold air tugging her down, the eyes of all of SkyClan on her, and Ted—Branchpaw's eyes on her, but she wasn't a SkyClan cat, not yet, she was alone, the only one, without any cat—
With a jolt in her thoughts and only a soft thump from her paws, she landed lightly on top of the Rockpile, telling herself to stop; she wasn't alone, Branchpaw had simply joined the clan a few heartbeats early. Phoenix saw Branchpaw looking back at her, and Tinypaw, and Rockpaw, and his gaze was calm and reassuring, as if he knew what she was thinking, and felt all of it. She turned back and looked straight into Leafstar's eyes, calmed by the sight of her friends; it was time to join them, as an apprentice, as a SkyClan cat...
"Phoenix," said Leafstar. "I call upon our warrior ancestors to look down upon this young cat, and protect and train her as she is taught the ways of your noble code. She has already shown courage and loyalty to her friend and her clan, and we will all wish her luck as she learns the warrior code laid down by his ancestors many seasons ago. Phoenix, from this day forth you shall be known as Sparkpaw. As all the warriors now have apprentices, except for Petalnose, and as she is still learning, I will train Sparkpaw as she becomes a warrior in her turn." Phoenix—no, Sparkpaw, she reminded herself, felt herself glowing with pride as she reached forward and touched noses with her new mentor, her new leader, Leafstar.
"Branchpaw! Sparkpaw! Branchpaw! Sparkpaw!" the clan chanted, and Sparkpaw could hear the warmth and welcome in their cries; they were her clan now, not just the clan; Leafstar was her leader, not just SkyClan's; this was her home now, with SkyClan, not just knowing it; this was her home now, with Ted—Branchpaw, and Tinypaw, and Rockpaw, and Leafstar and Patchfoot, this was her home.
With SkyClan. Her home. Sparkpaw's.