This Is Wrong But It Feels So Right (Stormwind)

Blackstar followed close behind Swallowflight.

Swallowflight briefly leaned against him before padding back to the nursery.

“Come on, let’s go spend some time with the kits.”  Suggested Blackstar.  “And maybe just a little together with one another once they’re asleep.”  The leader ran his tongue between her ears a few times, grooming the younger she-cat affectionately.

Swallowflight sighed, not appearing to agree with him but not saying anything.

“Of course,” Replied Blackstar, pressing his pelt against hers. “He made a contribution to the welfare of the clan, a significant one at that. It is tradition to reward apprentices for such things.”

Swallowflight blinked at her mate, a faint frown on her muzzle. “Are you sure you should have made Otternose a warrior?” She asked softly. “He’s so young.”

Blackstar dipped his head to Otternose, dismissing the meeting with a wave of his tail. He padded to his deputy and instructed them to begin doubling patrols along Forestclan’s border immediately. Then, finally, he rejoined Swallowflight.

Otternose rasped his tongue over the older tom’s shoulder before stepping back.

“Congratulations,” The tom mewed softly, placing his head on top of Otternose’s so the warrior could complete the ceremony by licking his shoulder.

The Clan cheered while the newly-named Otternose still seemed stunned.

“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name.” Blackstar glanced around at his clanmates, a confident look on his face as he looked back over at the warrior.

“Otterpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Otternose. StarClan honors your courage, tracking ability, and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Lakeclan!”

Otterpaw stared up at the older tom with wide eyes, though he responded almost immediately despite is state of shock. “Yes, I do.”

Despite Otterpaw being fairly young for this, he had made an important contribution oth to the clan and to Blackstar himself. He should be rewarded as such. Turning his mismatched gaze on the apprentice, the tom raised his voice to compensate for the change in direction away from his clanmates as he mewed “Otterpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

The young tom’s eyes widened in surprise in awe. He certainly hadn’t expected that. He’d only been training for four moons!

Blackstar smiled warmly at Otterpaw, his tail twitching with amusement at the nervousness of the apprentice. I bet this makes him feel better, thought the tom, casting his gaze back out to the other cats of the clan before opening his muzzle.

“I, Blackstar, leader of Lakeclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn.”

Otterpaw made his way through the crowd to join Blackstar, neck fur prickling uncomfortably.

Blackstar dipped his head in a slight nod to the tom, his multicolored gaze silently saying Yes, you.

Otterpaw looked startled and alarmed, glancing around as if he thought there was another Otterpaw and Blackstar was looking at someone else.

Blackstar looked down at his paws for a moment, taking a breath to recover his temper. When he looked back up a few heartbeats later, the tom looked directly at Otterpaw. “Secondly, I would like Otterpaw to join me here at my side in the clearing.”

Otterpaw wrinkles his nose at the thought of crowfood but kept his eyes on Blackstar.

“For starters I will be doubling patrols along our border with Forestclan,” Boomed Blackstar, “But besides that, I want any warrior who discovers any more stolen prey on our side of the border to collect it in the small pit between the tall Oak tree and the Adder rocks. When we have a substantial collection, and have allowed it to rot into crowfood, I will be taking another patrol to Miststar and deliver the evidence to him, personally.”

Swallowflight’s eyes widened in alarm. She knew her mate well enough to know that he wasn’t going to let the trespasses stand.

“I called Lakeclan to meeting for several reasons.” Blackstar began, starting to speak once he saw Swallowflight join in in the clearing. “Firstly, Forestclan has continued to cross our borders after I personally headed a patrol into their camp to discuss the issue with Miststar. So far he has been unwilling to work with me on a solution, and does not seem to have done much on his own either.”

Indignant mews and yowls greeted Blackstar’s words, every cat eventually silencing as they wanted to see what the young leader was going to do about it.

Swallowflight told her kits to stay in the nursery and gave them a stern glare before joining the rest of the Clan in the clearing.

More trouble on the Forestclan border, Blackstar growled softly to himself in disbelief as he listened to the accounts from the last hunting patrol in that area. More dead and half-eaten prey, and more border lines blatantly crossed. As much as Blackstar wanted to avoid conflict, he knew he couldn’t simply allow the transgressions to continue lest he look weak to his clanmates and the other clans.

The Tom puffed his chest out, mewing “Let all cats old enough to catch their prey join me in the clearing for a clan meeting.”