Heritagepride was a warrior. /A warrior of RiverClan./ Empty pride coated aer paws and hollowed out his stomach. Blue wasn’t there to see her grow up. Neither was Geodecrackle. Where was Geodecrackle, anyways? If they were dead, which Heir had assumed up until now, then why didn’t they bother to visit aer and her brother, Legacyshanty. Could they be alive? Could they be somewhere, adventuring on their own and /still thinking about/ the kits they served as a parent to? Were they…proud? As soon as the thought entered Heir’s head, her mind stomped it out like a wildfire. Aer adoptive parent had left the two to be taken care of by each other and their great auncle as they gained independence. They were not here, and it didn’t matter where they were. They weren’t with their kits, taking them on their first adventure as full warriors. And Blue was gone. She couldn’t see them grow up. She couldn’t be proud. That was the end of that story. But Heir felt at home, strangely. By himself, and with Ace, and taking care of aerself, and governing her own decisions. Governing her own definition of /home/, and of /family/, and all those other little words that affected aer life. It occurred to aer that Heritagepride didn’t need a parental figure to be proud of her. Aer heart swelled. He could be proud of herself. And Heri was. Proud of herself. Proud of aer independence, the way ae could bounce back after a bit of time, at least as well as someone with a story like hers could. Proud that she made a friend. Proud that she made a best friend…or more? That detail bounced away as Eri let himself just be proud. Proud of the way he defined things for aerself. Her pronouns; his home; aer family. Home was not a place for Heir. That was certain. Home was more of a comfortable feeling. Something that can be explored but always stays. Something that you can feel. Something that weighs down your shoulders just enough to be comfortable; just enough to make you feel seen. RiverClan could be home sometimes. So could some aspects of The Edge of The Forest. So could Esperanza, and Legacyshanty; aer best friend and brother respecitvely. And identity. Identity was important to the feline. Ae felt so much better as a nonbinary cat than as a she-cat. That was that story. His identity would always be hers, even if it happened to change. No one could take that from aer. He was a nonbinary cat who happened to like cats who weren’t toms. Though, she didn’t /currently/ have a crush, right? And family. Family. That was a tough one to define for him. Family is someone who sticks by your side. Someone who sticks by your side, in memory or in reality. Blue was family. Sea-snakeshiver was family. Legacyshanty was, /of course/, family. Geodecrackle even, was family. Family /taught you/ something, be it to value others or fend for yourself or to even play a game. Family were those cats. No matter how happy or sad or whatever blend of emotions they made you feel, they were family. And family didn’t dictate pride. Only Heir himself could do that. Eri didn’t need Geodecrackle – wherever they were – to be proud of her. She could be proud of aerself. And she was. Proud of herself. Proud that he was a warrior with a home and a family and an identity. A warrior who’d lived a lot of life and had a lot more left to go. A warrior with intricacies to aer impulsive, ambitious, wild, adventurous self. ......................................................................... wooo! short lil post-warrior ceremony srp!! canonically takes place a moon after his ceremony :]]
