Chapter 11: The Ceremony
Froststar yowled from uptop of the highrock. Silverpaw was eating a mouse he caught. As he finished eating, he walked over to the highrock with the others.
"As you remember from yesterday, we had a battle. Thanks to Gingerpad and Brindlepaw, no lives were lost. But, some cats have shown extraordinary work fighting for their clan. I would like to thank them by making them warriors. Yes, the apprentices have shown their skills and selflessness to me and the rest of the clan." Silverpaw was astonished at what Froststar had said.
"SIlverpaw, you will now be known as Silverstripe. Thanks to you, you have saved me, the kits, and other warriors. For that you deserve your warrior name." Silverstripe stept into the middle of the camp for the vergel.
"Unfortunately, Breezepaw has suffered severe wounds and cannot earn his name yet. Once he is better he will get his name." Froststar assured everyone. She continued giving out the names to the apprentices, now warriors. After she was done, she had one last thing to say.
"The Vergel has begun." Silverstripe and the others sat in silence until the sun began to set. After many long hours, Froststar appeared on the highrock once more.
"Silverstripe, Splashfur, Whitemist, and Slatetail. You may speak." Froststar meowed. All the new Warriors except SIlverstripe, went to the prey pile and started to talk about their new names. Silverpaw went out to hunt. Or at least, that is what everyone thinks. He went to the gathering place to see if Nightpaw came. He was supposed to go yesterday but the battle stopped him. Hopefully she would understand. He was almost there when he heard a russell in the bushes. He knew by the sent it was a mouse. He remembered his training that he needed to be light on his feet. He walked slowly to the mouse. Closer and closer. Then it sprang out of the bushes right into Silverstripe's mouth. He set it down and buried it for later. He got to the gathering place and saw a beautiful black she-cat. He knew instantly it was Nightpaw. He called her name. She turned and faced him.
"Hey there! Um, I'm not an apprentice anymore. It's Nightmist now." She meowed.
"Oh, I like that! I'm also a warrior. Now it's Silverstripe. I'm sorry I didn't arrive last night. My Clan had a battle with ShadowClan." Silverstripe meowed.
"I totally understand. I heard about it. I didn't expect you to come anyway." She meowed. They stood in silence for a bit.
"Why doesn't your Clan join the war?" Nightmist meowed.
"Well Froststar doesn't like violence." Silverstripe meowed feeling stupid. Nightmist came closer to him and sat down right next to him. They looked up at the stars.
"The elders in my clan told me when I was a kit that each star is a cat from StarClan watching over us." Nightmist meowed. "Do you believe in that?"
"Yes I do." Silverstripe meowed. A gush of cold wind blew across the ground. Nightmist shivered. Silverstripe wrapped around her to keep her warm. As they fell to the ground to sleep, everything felt perfect for once to Silverstripe. No war and battling, no boring training, and no prophecy to deal with. Just him and Nightmist for the rest of the night.