IM SCARED TO GET CLOSE AND I HATE BEING ALONE
I LONG FOR THE FEELING TO NOT FEEL AT ALL
THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM
When he'd followed Hyacinthbreath into the crowd to listen, he hadn't been expecting anything out of the ordinary. And the meeting did progress as it normally would, with the clan discussing the most recent events and then eventually moving on the name the newest batch of apprentices. He listened in silence for the most part, not the sort to offer input if he felt he had nothing useful to say. He'd been at the gathering and had seen first-hand how things had fallen apart, but he wasn't overly worried just yet, and let the others work out their concerns before moving on to the kids.
He called out with the rest of the clan for them, though with a fair bit more indifference than some of the others, and then found himself surprised when it was his own name being called next. He shot a narrowed look of suspicion toward his mentor as he got to his feet, but didn't protest as he made his way to the front of the clan to stand beneath Sootstar and the Tallrock, yellow eyes looking up to the smaller shecat.
It didn't take long for the tomcat to realize what was happening, and he had to fight the urge not to turn and glare at Hyacinth. Why didn't she tell him this was happening tonight? His fur wasn't even groomed...
Still, it was hard to be legitimately upset with the shecat when he was being made a full warrior in front of the entire clan. Probably the youngest one, too, and if that realization made him stand a little taller, well, that was nobodys fucking business but his own.
As Sootstars question fell to him, Coldpaw knew he was being given a choice. Before him lay a fork in the road. One path led him down a road where he stuck to his guns, where he clung to that belief that loyalty was dead and there was no point in giving it to anyone since they'd never truly give it back. It was an easy path, well worn and familiar to the dark gray tabby. He'd been walking it ever since the great battle and the split of the Marsh Group.
The second path was also familiar to him, but he hadn't walked it in some time. It was rocky and overgrown from neglect, but along its trail he could see the memories of what he used to have, who he used to be. It was a trail his paws itched to tread once more, but his heart was wary. He knew that path held just as much hurt as it did happiness, and he wasn't sure it was worth it.
For some reason, he found himself thinking back to his conversation with Dandelion, the others words echoing through his head with the same certainty they'd held that night. The healer still believed Windclan was worth saving, that Starclan was worth believing in. But what did Coldpaw think?
"Loyalty can still mean something, it's what you are loyal to that defines you."
Maybe... Maybe there was some weight to those words.
"I do." he replied, the words falling confidently from his lips, and somewhere back on that road, he was taking his first steps down a path he'd been avoiding since his world started falling apart.
Sootstars next words brought with them his name, Coldsnap, and when the crowd began to call out for him - Hyacinths voice rising above them all- he couldn't help the half-smirk his lips pulled into as a moment of genuine happiness seemed to surface. And then it was gone, the newly named warrior slipping back into the crowd to silently take his place beside Hyacinthbeath, this time not as her apprentice, but as Coldsnap, her equal.
windclan warrior - male - 9 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes 
