"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Sandra lifted her head as Firestar's call rang out in the clearing. She guessed Thornpaw had passed his warrior assesment. She pushed herself to a sitting position. The Clan warriors were gathering underneath the Highrock. Sandra just stayed where she was. She wasn't about to join the ThunderClan warriors' group if they didn't want her to.

"What do we do Sandra?" Alex asked.

"Stay here unless someone invites you to sit with them. These cats may be nice, but invade their space without asking and they claw your ears off," Sandra answered.

Bramblepaw then walked by with his sister Tawnypaw. He stopped and smiled at Sandra. "Hi. You want to join me and Tawnypaw?" he offered.

Sandra smiled. "Thanks Bramblepaw. I'd love that," Sandra got up and followed the two apprentices to the edge of the crowd. Sandra was surprised to see that Darkstripe had come out for the meeting, but no cat would sit near him except Brackenfur, who had been told to guard Darkstripe. Sandra then directed her attention to Firestar as the Clan meeting began.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, 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. Thornpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Firestar's voice rang around the clearing and it was calm and clear.

Thornpaw replied without hesitation. "I do," he meowed, sounding firm and confident.

"Then by the poers of StarClan," Firestar declared. "I give you your warrior name. Thornpaw, from this moment you will be known as Thornclaw. StarClan honors your loyalty and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Stepping forward, Firestar rested his muzzle on Thornclaw's head. The new warrior licked his leader's shoulder in return. As Thornclaw stepped back Lostface ran up to him.

"Thornclaw!" she purred. Cloudtail walked up to greet the new warrior as well as the rest of the Clan cheered Thornclaw's new name.

"Before you go I've something more to say," Firestar meowed as the Clan settled down. "First I want to honor the apprentice who should have been here, recieving his warrior name along with Thornclaw. You all know Swiftpaw met his death trying to hunt down the dog pack who threatened us. His Clan will always remember him." Sandra bowed her head in sorrow, knowing exactly what had happened. When the murmur of agreement to Firestar's words vanished he continued. "In addition I want to give thanks from the Clan to Fernpaw and Ashpaw. They showed the bravery of warriors in the race against the dogs, and although they are still too young to recieve their warrior names, we honor them."

"Fernpaw! Ashpaw!" The two apprentices look overwhelmed at the praise they were getting. Sandra smiled with amusement when she saw Dustpelt, his eyes shining with delight. She knew for a fact that he really liked Fernpaw. The Sandra's eyes locked on Darkstripe. Despite the fact that it was his apprentice being praise, he stayed silent. Sandra just turned her gaze away and waited for Firestar to continue.

"There's one more ceremony to perform." Firestar flicked his tail, beckoning Lostface out of the crowd. She nervously stepped forward with Cloudtail and tail-lenth or so away. Some cats looked surprised. Sandra knew why. Some of them didn't know what was about to happen. "Spirits of StarClan," Firestar began. "you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the name from this cat you see before you, for it no longer stands for what she is. By my authority as Clan leader and with the approval of our warrior ancestors, I give this cat a new name. From this moment she will be known as Brightheart, for thought her body has been gravely injured, we honor her brave spirit and the light the shines on within her." Firestar rested his muzzle on Brightheart's head and she licked his shoulder in return.

"Brightheart! Brightheart!" The yowl rose from the assembled cats. Sandra joined in, feeling joy that Bright heart had finally gotten a better name, and the last trace of Bluestar's anger was gone. The cats then began to disperce. Sandra thanked Bramblepaw for letting her join him and headed back to her friends.

"That was a long ceremony," Masemune commented.

"He had more than one duty to perform. Besides, you couldn't do it, I'm sure," Sandra meowed.

"I could do anything a Clan leader could!" Masemune snapped.

"Oh yeah? The life of a leader is very tough. They have a lot of different ceremonies besides that one. They also need to decide when to go into battle and when to leave things alone. You can't let ever choice in life be to fight. In the Clans, if a leader does that, the whole Clan will drown in blood," Sandra explained. She expected a smart retort but Masemune kept his mouth shut. Sandra smiled with satisfaction and lied down. She rested her head on her paws and dozed off.