"A falcon…" Leafstar mewed, astonished, "Starclan. And he wasn't hurt?"
"Not at all!" Sharpclaw loudly confirmed.
Leafstar quietly laughed, "He is his uncle's nephew. Come," Leafstar lead him out of the den, yowling before she even made it to the Rockpile. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Rockpile for a clan meeting!" she called as she jumped up to the top.
The sun was already out of view from in the gorge. Half the sky was scarlet, and the other was the dark blue of night. The first stars sat. Leafstar always held ceremonies at sunset, if not for the fact that warriors could immediately start their vigil, then so their ancestors were coming to watch over them.
Sharpclaw took his spot on a rock two tail-lengths under, while Echosong and Frecklewish took their places one tail-length under Sharpclaw. Truthfully, word had spread around camp and most cats were already in the clearing. Sandynose was helping Tangle get down, and as soon as he took his place, Leafstar went on.
"Nettlesplash, Tinycloud, please come forward," she ordered. The two cats came forward, pelts pressed together, strides matched by eachother. They took their seats under Sharpclaw.
"Now, Rileypaw and Bellapaw, please come forward."
Their strides weren't matched whatsoever. Rileypaw was trying to appear taller, older, more authoritative just as his mentor had been. Bellapaw bounced with every step, eyes shining.
Leafstar took two leaps downward, meeting the apprentices' eyes. She sat and turned to Nettlesplash and Tinycloud.
"Nettlesplash, do you believe Rileypaw has met his warrior assessment?"
"I do."
"Tinycloud."
"Yes."
Leafstar nodded, happy glint in her eyes. This was her favorite ceremony. "I, Leafstar, leader of Skyclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn," she turned to Rileypaw, "Rileypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," he meowed confidently, eyes glittering just as much as his sister's.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Rileypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Rileypool. StarClan honors your warmth and resilience," she then turned to Bellapaw, but Rileypool fluffed up a bit, knowing she was speaking of the falcon.
"Bellapaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"Of course!" she squealed.
Leafstar gave a short snicker, Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Bellapaw, from this moment on you will be known as Bellaleaf. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and energy."
She rested her muzzle on Rileypool's head. He anxiously glanced between their mentors and Sharpclaw. Nettlesplash ducked his head around to lick his shoulder. Rileypaw nodded, doing the same to Leafstar. She then did the same to Bellaleaf, who never stopped beaming.
"We welcome you as full warriors of Skyclan!"
"Rileypool! Bellaleaf!" their mentors started the call.
"Rileypool! Bellaleaf! Rileypool! Bellaleaf!"
Bellaleaf let out a loud squeak. Tinycloud gave her head a nuzzle, "Time for your silent vigil, 'paw!" she exclaimed.
"Good luck!" Nettlesplash added.
The two warriors cast a mischievous glance at eachother. Leafstar looked between the medicine cats and Sharpclaw, smiling maliciously. Sharpclaw nodded, leaping down. Leafstar summoned Billystorm with a flick of her tail, and they, along with Echosong retired to her den. Sharpclaw lay in the warriors den, laying in wait.
Skyclan had a tradition of trying to break the new warriors. Whoever managed to break them took the spots of their vigil. Bellapool was well-versed in this game, she'd managed to break Honeytail and Sandynose all on her own.
All night until moonhigh, the warriors den was filled with hushed giggles and whispers of planned jokes. They all waited, sleeplessly yet energized by anticipation, until Egg gave a signal with his tail. Plumwillow rushed out to wake Tangle and the apprentices. The warriors poured out of the den, but before any of them could make a move, Tangle yowled.
"Rileypool!" he called from the lip of his den, "I'll miss you being an apprentice! No one's picked fleas better from my pelt! You'd better teach the apprentices your method, I want them smelling of mouse bile everytime they come in!"
Bellaleaf clenched her teeth, pricking her ears harder. Rileypool made no motion. Macgyver and Harveymoon started, gripping the cats and squeezing their cheeks and ruffling their heads to no avail.
Each cat went on, one at a time, each not working at all on Rileypool, but weakening Bellaleaf every round. Until Leafpool's kits' turn came. Stormpaw laid down right in front of Bellaleaf, her eyes wide. She gasped.
"Bellaleaf, what a beautiful flame-colored ginger pelt you have! How magnificently orange!"
Firepaw and Harrypaw, sitting not too far away gave eachother a glance. Harrypaw spoke.
"Firepaw, what color is an orange?"
Firepaw shouldered him, "The same color as its name, mouse-brain!" She then stared straight at Bellaleaf. She winked, tilting her head, "Just like an apple."
Bellaleaf broke out in laughter. Rileypool closed his eyes tightly, quickly reopening and clearing his throat. Ebonyclaw gave the apprentices a nod, standing right next to Rileypool. She leaned her muzzle almost into his ear, and whispered something. Rileypool laughed, backing away and cuffing his own ear to get the feeling out.
Leafstar, watching from above, her sleepy mate at her side, called down. "Ha! What'd you say, Ebonyclaw?"
"Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me! I ain't the sharpest tool in the she-ed!"
The entire clan was riddled with laughter. After the laughter was reduced to giggles and the clan had retired, save for the newly-appointees and winners. Sharpclaw padded forward.
"Firepaw, since you were the one who said what made Bellaleaf laugh, you are the one who will take her place. Ebonyclaw, you'll be taking Rileypool's," he turned to the new warriors, eyes still bright in laughter, "Congratulations, warriors."
With a flick of his tail, he lead the two warriors to the den. Stormpaw and Harrypaw bounded happily back to their den, happy they didn't have to stay up. Sharpclaw motioned to the two new moss nests, before taking his own right next to Patchfoot. The tom was warm and smelled herby, and soon Sharpclaw fell asleep.
The scent of cold and dew met his nose, but his eyes were too heavy to lift.
"Hey!" came a raspy voice, "Sharpclaw!" a paw prodded roughly into his side. Sharpclaw set up groggily. His eyes widened at the cats. He shot up to his paws. The mottled gray she-cat let out a groan.
"Lichenfur….?" Sharpclaw breathed.
"Who else, mouse-brain?"
He glanced between the other two toms, both black and white but one more black, more scrawny, the other stouter. They smelled like hay.
"Ravenpaw? Barley? Is… is everything alright… is Firestar alright?"
Ravenpaw nodded, "We're not here to talk about Thunderclan."
"Right," Barley nodded, "It's about Skyclan."
Sharpclaw sat, looking between the three cats gazes. "Why aren't you speaking to Leafstar, or Echosong, or Frecklewish…?"
"We, are Sharpclaw," Lichenfur snapped, "We need all four of you aware first-paw, alright? There's trouble in Twolegplace."
Sharpclaw bristled. "Why should I care about Twolegplace cats?"
"Because Snooky just got killed," Ravenpaw gravley meowed.
Sharpclaw froze. "N…" he breathed, head hanging. Snooky… Snookthorn… Snookpaw… He felt every cold memory resurface, every time he'd called him Snookypaw, every time he'd defied Leafstar in her decisions, every time he didn't let her answer for herself. He felt his eyes fill with water. Catiously, he looked back up at the cats.
"...did I cause him to-"
"Oh Starclan, no!" Ravenpaw interrupted, "No! He was murdered, Sharpclaw!"
Sharpclaw unsheathed his claws, "I'll kill the b-"
"Sharpclaw," Lichenfur said, stopping the thought and the kittypet swear.
"There's a cat there," Barley meowed, "Just like Scourge. Just like Bloodclan. He's a murderer with no remorse who kills as a pastime."
The mates nodded at eachother, and Ravenpaw took the speech up. "He won't rest until he's destroyed not just Skyclan, but all the clans."
Lichenfur lowered her voice, calmer than Sharpclaw had ever heard it. "Skyclan is very close. You can stop the monster while you're ahead. You'll need all of Skyclan's paws to do it but…" her eyes glinted in pride at Sharpclaw. Tangle was Sharpclaw's father, but when he and Lichenfur declared their matehood, she refused to accept Sharpclaw as her child. Sharpclaw felt his heart skip a beat at the gaze, "You can do it. I'm sure you can."
Ravenpaw and Barley gave him a nuzzle on either side of his cheek, heading away with their tails intertwined.
Sharpclaw's voice was low in grief, hard to speak with the lump in his throat, "Is Snooky in Starclan?"
Lichenfur nodded.
"...are Jessamy and Flower?"
Lichenfur tilted her head, letting out a breath Sharpclaw didn't know she was holding.
"I don't know. I don't know. But…" she put her muzzle on his head, "I'm sure Tangle will find them once he comes here."
"I can't let him…" Sharpclaw choked.
Lichenfur cuffed his ear, "I'll protect him from all the floodwater and rats, Scratchy. Now you get back there. Your clan needs you."
Her last sentence hung hollow in his ears, echoing as she licked her head. His nose was met again with stone, moss and Patchfoot's herbs. He groggily looked up, out of the den. The sky was turning ever so faintly purple. He sighed, laying back down, shifting closer to Patchfoot, praying he wouldn't have to experience that again.