CHAPTER FOUR

Copperpaw and his brother hadn't found many herbs, but as they were returning, they came upon a great commotion in camp. Copperpaw turned to look at Eaglepaw and would've asked him what was going on if his mouth weren't full, but it was clear from Eaglepaw's face that he didn't have the answer either. Then his hair stood on end as he smelled—and saw—something strange. An intruder! Copperpaw hurried to the medicine den and dropped the herbs before scrambling after his brother, climbing onto a rock for a better look. There was Icestar, there was Mesquitestripe, and with them, there was a cat he had never seen before. As a hot gust of wind blew toward him, he could even smell that it had been associating with Twolegs. This must be a kittypet. But why would Icestar bring a kittypet here?

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Flatstone!" the leader yowled over the din. "I have an announcement for you all! This fine molly here—"

"Kittypet!" Scorpionpelt shouted.

"Silence. This molly has kindly offered, in our time of serious need, to begin warrior training and join our Clan."

There were jeers of disgust and exclamations of shock from the warriors. Copperpaw noticed that Darkpaw's voice went up in protest as well.

"I can understand— I can understand that this breaks from tradition, but in these desperate times—"

"We're not that desperate!" Peccaryfur yelled.

Icestar stood there on Flatstone and waited, staring at the tumultuous crowd below, his eyes narrowing as he waited for the noise to die. Standing beside him, the young molly looked nervous. Her fur was as gray as Smokepaw's, but she was smaller and much fatter, with a dragging belly and a puffy neck. She was shaking, and her fur stood on end. Copperpaw felt bad for her, but then again, she shouldn't have been there.

The Clan was not so willing to calm down as Icestar might have hoped. Bursting to the brim with questions and objections, they continued to yowl, their voices echoing off the rocks and filling the wide open desert sky until the medicine cat emerged from his den. The gruff, dusty tabby was a shabby sight, his fur scruffy, his ears torn, his gait shuffling and stilted. One of his eyes had been blinded long ago, earning him his rename: Deadeye.

Much of the Clan lowered their voices or fell silent as he dragged his paws into their midst. When he spoke, it was in a voice that wavered more than the most precarious balancing rock on the eastern plains: "Icestar is the leader who StarClan has given their blessing. You will listen to him." And then he sat down.

"Thank you, Deadeye," Icestar meowed from his perch.

The tabby grunted.

"Now. You may not like the idea at first, but all I ask is that you give this sweet little cat a chance."

Foxpaw muttered something, but Copperpaw couldn't hear it. The warriors were quiet.

Icestar turned to the newcomer. "It is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Fluffypaw."

Fluffypaw? Did he hear that right?

"Your mentor will be Lightface. I hope she will pass down all she knows onto you. Lightface, come forward."

Lifting her head in pride, the pale warrior went up to join him on Flatstone.

"Lightface, you are ready to take on a new apprentice. You received excellent training from Crookedtail, and you have shown yourself to be determined and brave. You will be the mentor of Fluffypaw, and I expect you to pass all you know to her."

Lightface stretched out her neck, and Icestar nudged the new apprentice before whispering that she should touch noses with her. Fluffypaw looked embarrassed as she reached forward and made contact with a stranger's face.

The Clan, too, seemed uncertain. A few warriors amongst them spoke the new name with hesitance. Then, as Icestar turned to them with an expectant look, the chanting gained momentum. "Fluffypaw... Fluffypaw. Fluffypaw! Fluffypaw! Fluffypaw!" By then, even Copperpaw had joined in, though it felt strange to say. It was such an odd name.

And then it was over.

"Peccaryfur, Scorpionpelt, Yuccaclaw, you will go out and hunt. Mesquitestripe, you still need to arrange an evening patrol. Thank you, everyone. StarClan bless you all. You are dismissed."

There were still many frowns and confused looks around camp, and Icestar's unusual way of closing the meeting didn't help matters, but at least no one could say he wasn't polite.

"Come on, let's go see the new apprentice," Eaglepaw suggested, and Copperpaw agreed it was a good idea. So they stretched their forelegs down the side of the rock and jumped down before trotting over to see the newly-christened Fluffypaw. She had already dropped down from the Flatstone and was looking all around at everyone as if unsure who she could trust.

Skunkpaw had gotten to her first. "Hi! I'm Skunkpaw!" she blurted.

Fluffypaw shrank away and stared at her.

"Don't worry. I don't actually spray like a skunk."

Eaglepaw laughed. At the sound of him, Fluffypaw spun around and stared at him instead. Now she looked even more nervous, her tail twisting to the side as she crouched low to the ground and licked her nose.

Copperpaw stopped a tail-length or so away and tilted his head. "You look funny."

"Copperpaw, don't be rude," came the voice of Mesquitestripe, his mother, behind him.

He made himself small and apologized. That still didn't change the fact that she had a squashed face, though. Now the deputy was monitoring them. Fantastic.

"Do you want to see more of camp?" Skunkpaw asked.

In a low voice, Foxpaw remarked, "It looks like she wants to see more of Eaglepaw." Nobody but Copperpaw seemed to hear.

Fluffypaw looked back at Skunkpaw, just for a moment, and nodded.

"I'll lead the tour!" Darkpaw declared. "Wait, you still haven't met everyone," she realized. Naturally, they should do some introductions. "You've met Skunkpaw," she began, "and I'm Darkpaw. This is my sister, Smokepaw. That's Copperpaw, the medicine cat's apprentice. You'll learn more about what that means later."

"It means you can't mate with him," Eaglepaw interjected, eager to inform.

"Because he's the most special," Skunkpaw agreed.

"Fox dung. Y'all are embarrassing me," he muttered.

Eaglepaw laughed.

"Hey, come on, we're probably confusing her," Darkpaw pointed out. "Let's go back to simply doing introductions first. That one there is Foxpaw. He can be kind of touchy."

" 'Simply doing introductions'? " Foxpaw echoed, displeased with the commentary.

"See what I mean? He's not so bad once you get used to him, though."

"Thank StarClan," he grumbled in mock-relief.

"And that dirt-furred rock-head is Eaglepaw."

"Hey! I'm not the one who's being mean to everyone!" Eaglepaw protested.

"I'm not the one who whines every time they don't get their way!"

"Rut off! You're the last cat Fluffypaw should—"

He was unable to finish his rebuke, however, as his voice was drowned by Darkpaw's laughter.

This time it was Smokepaw who spoke. "What are you laughing at now, Darkpaw?"

"That name," she giggled. "Not even Skunkpaw would come up with something like that." She looked at the new apprentice and added, "I'm sorry, it's not your fault, but... Fluffypaw." Her eyes bugged and though she tried to hold her tongue, the laughter burst out of her and she rolled on the ground cackling.

Fluffypaw was beginning to look angry. "At least my name doesn't sound stinky!" she shouted back. It was the first time that she'd spoken.

"Yeah, she's got a point," Skunkpaw interjected, walking between them. "Everyone better watch out! I might stink you up!" She lowered her head and waved her tail and entire rear end in the air in a silly display, and the next thing Copperpaw knew, she was running straight at him. He yelped and ran away. Skunkpaw gave chase, but fortunately, she left him alone just as soon as Fluffypaw began asking questions about the territory.

The other apprentices were all too happy to fill her in.

"Be careful around Rabbit's Patch. That's a big cluster of prickly pear," Eaglepaw warned.

Smokepaw nodded and added, "Further east is where you can find the sandy slopes. There's less cactus there, but the footing is loose and uneven."

"What you really ought to check out is the Eye of Fate," Darkpaw suggested, and Skunkpaw threw in an enthusiastic, "Yeah!"

Fluffypaw looked confused. "What's the Eye of Fate?"

"It's this hole in the rocky overhang that opens up to the sky. It's so big, you can see it from far away. And if you see a crow fly through it, that means you'll have good luck."

Fluffypaw's eyes were the size of runner bird eggs.

"But Darkpaw," Eaglepaw interjected, "how could you tell her about that without telling her about Warrior's Overlook?"

Darkpaw frowned, and admittedly, Copperpaw didn't see the connection either.

"It's not really important," she replied with a shrug.

"Only if you never plan to grow up."

Darkpaw's fur bristled, and Copperpaw could tell Eaglepaw had gotten under her skin with that remark.

Fluffypaw looked between the two of them with a mystified expression, asking, "What's Warrior's Overlook?"

Copperpaw started to answer, "It's just a cliff that—"

"It's where the grown-ups go," Eaglepaw said, lowering his head as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "With their mates."

"Nuh-uh. Not all the grown-ups go there." Darkpaw was ever the contrarian.

"Well, Deadeye certainly doesn't," Eaglepaw quipped.

Copperpaw tried to keep his laugh a quiet one so that the warriors wouldn't overhear. Meanwhile, Skunkpaw nudged Fluffypaw and explained, "He's the medicine cat. He can't take a mate."

Before Fluffypaw could ask further questions, though, Mesquitestripe came along again and told them that Skunkpaw and Darkpaw had been assigned to go out and hunt with the warriors.

"See you later, Fluffypaw!" Skunkpaw called as she left. Darkpaw didn't add anything.

Eaglepaw straightened up and brought his voice back up to a normal volume. "Okay, listen," he began, once the two of them were gone. "Let me tell you what it's really like around here."