It was in the afternoon when the good news came. Onepaw was going to have her assessment. This meant that she was going to become a warrior soon!
"I hope my name isn't weird! I heard that in the time of four clans there was once a cat named Runningnose! Imagine having a warrior name like that!" All Onepaw was talking about was her warrior name. Cats were getting sick of her meowing on and on about being a warrior. Smoothpelt was getting worried. Would she make a good warrior if all she did was brag about it?
But never the less, her assessment came. She was sent into the moorland by the lake.
Onepaw crouched down and pounced on a rabbit nearby. She bit its neck. It died quickly and she buried it. I have about 3 rabbits, so I'll try and catch some fish. As she headed down towards the lake she sniffed the air. "Mmmm, fish." She murmured. She held out a paw and looked around. She spotted a fairly large fish. She swept out her paw and flicked it onto shore. The fish still squirming, Onepaw bit it around the middle, killing it swiftly. She went back up to the moor after a while to collect her other kills.
She headed back to camp, her mouth full of rabbits, fish, and a mouse or two. When she got back to camp, Rainstar was waiting for her. "Great Starclan! Look how much you've caught! Add that to the fresh kill pile please Onepaw. And the ceremony will take place tonight." Rainstar said, quite pleased.
"Umm, Rainstar? I've just remembered something that Toadkit asked me. He wanted me to be his mentor. It's not for another moon that he will become an apprentice, so I'll have had time to become an experienced warrior. I don't want him to be upset." Onepaw meowed. She hoped that Rainstar wouldn't think she was asking her too much.
"He will be your first apprentice. I promise you." And Rainstar slowly walked off.
* * * * * * *
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here on the island." All the cats perked up their ears and swam over to the island. "Would Onepaw please come up to the great tree with me?" Onepaw sat up and walked briskly over to the great tree. "It is high time Onepaw became a warrior. Smoothpelt, you have taught her well. So I say these words beneath Starclan. Onepaw has fought well, and is one of our best hunters. She is the cat who would run for help when any other cat is in trouble or hurt. Lastly, she has the heart of her ancestors" When Rainstar said those few words, there was a twinkle in her eye. She went on. "From this day forth, she will be known as Onefire. She will sit vigil tonight on the island." Rainstar finished her speech. All the cats yowled, "ONEFIRE! ONEFIRE!" Wildpaw was the loudest of them all.
After the ceremony, Wildpaw came up to her. "I think that you have the best name there is. It's perfect for you." He smiled and swam back to camp, away from the island. Oneheart smiled back.
All night, Oneheart sat silently. She thought about Wildpaw and Smoothpelt, and she wondered what her first warrior duty would be. But mainly, she thought about the prophecy. Was I named after Firestar? And if so, why should I be? It's not that big a deal anyways. She was confused, and worried for what might be coming.
The next morning, she screamed, "I'M A WARRIOR!!!!!!!!!" And Smoothpelt came running. "Are you ok?" but then Onefire explained how excited she was, and how she yelled about it. "Pretty snazzy way to start your first day as a warrior Onepaw. I mean Onefire. Sorry. This will be hard to get used to. Not having an apprentice to look after. But anyway, Iceshadow want you to be on the border patrol." Iceshadow is the deputy. He is a light, light grey tom with a temper. Who knows why Rainstar chose him for deputy after Hawkeye was killed in battle. The two she-cats headed off toward where the patrol was starting. On the way, they caught and shared a small fish.
"I'm here Iceshadow!" Onefire meowed as she came up behind him. "I thought you would have scented me." She added coolly when Iceshadow jumped up like a rabbit in surprise when she spoke. Whitefoot, Mousepaw, and Leopardclaw were also there.
"I…grrrr." His lip curled back to reveal his sharp teeth. "Just get in the patrol. We're going to be re-marking our territory by the Moonpool." And off they went.
When they got there, Whitefoot asked Onefire what she smelled. Onefire got angry with that. "I'm not an apprentice anymore, so don't treat me like one! And I scent Bramblefoot, Rockpool, and Sandstripe from Earthclan. The enemy clan." Onefire added, and she snarled, bearing her teeth. Just as she said this, the three cats appeared.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite warrior, Iceshadow. You wanna know why? Because he's so easy to defeat. And what little kit do we have here?" Bramblefoot mewed nastily. He swung his brown striped head towards Onefire. His ice blue eyes met her bright green eyes. Oneheart growled and bared her teeth. She unsheathed her claws.
"I am a warrior thank you very much. And I would appreciate it if you got off our territory. I don't want to start a fight. Do you?" Onefire meowed viciously. Oh my, oh my, oh my. That was just everything wrong to say Thought Whitefoot.
"Why yes. I think a fight would be quite nice right about now." This time Rockpool, a dark grey she-cat, spoke. And then, before any other cat could speak, Sandstripe (an orange striped she-cat) leaped on top of Mousepaw and flipped her over onto her back, Iceshadow's apprentice who had been staring silently at the three large cats. Mousepaw squealed and pushed her off using her hind legs. "Mousepaw! Go get help!" Oneheart yelled as Bramblefoot bounded on to her back. Mousepaw ran like the wind.
* * * * * * *
Mousepaw skidded to a halt outside the camp. She sat down and yowled. Redstorm, a light orange she-cat, Nightpelt, Swifttalon, a black tom with white blotches, and Spottedheart, a tortoiseshell she-cat dashed to where she was. They stopped short at Mousepaw's feet.
"Great Starclan! Why did you do that?? Are you mouse-brained?" Redstorm shouted. Mousepaw didn't seem to hear her, because she exclaimed,
"Earthclan has invaded! Bramblefoot, Rockpool, and Sandstripe are at the border by the moonpool and probably have even more warriors there by now! We need help!" Mousepaw was rather out of breath by now.
"I'll run back to camp and get Rainstar, Smoothpelt, Clawpaw and Wildpaw." Before any cat could talk, Swifttalon said all that and raced to get the cats she had mentioned.
"Let's go." Redstorm growled and the cats set off.
* * * * * *
By the time the Sandclan cats got there, practically all of Earthclan was there fighting. Smoothpelt, although recently injured, leaped at Runningsky, a grey she-cat with a white muzzle and paws. Smoothpelt latched onto Runningsky, claws unsheathed.
"Get off my back you—you—you" Runningsky stuttered as if he had no idea what to say, trying to hit her each time she growled 'You'.
"What are you going to do? Stutter at me?" Smoothpelt gave out a haughty laugh and leaped off. Before Runningsky could even get a kick in, Smoothpelt brought her front paw down hard onto Runningsky's muzzle. Looking up, Smoothpelt saw a large bloody gash on Runningsky's nose. Looking up barley an inch more, she saw that her eyes were so red with anger, she looked evil. Smoothpelt's eyes grew big and had no time to get out of the way as Runningsky brought her paw down on Smoothpelt's shoulder. She could feel the blood ooze out of her shoulder as she fell to the ground, playing dead. Runningsky leaped over her body gracefully, thinking she couldn't stand. But as soon as Smoothpelt saw her belly, she unsheathed her claws and raked them across her stomach, slowly and painfully. Her body ached as she brought down her feet from the belly rake. I'm getting too old for this thought Smoothpelt, laughing to herself. Just then, Nightpelt came over and helped her up. "You've got to go to Dawnfire. Your shoulder looks very badly hurt." Smoothpelt was so weary her eyes blurred. "No. Must—keep—fighting. Nightpelt. Go back to who you were fighting. Just go. I can take care of myself." Nightpelt looked guilty. "I accidentally killed Scarears as I was fighting him. I did the belly rake, and before she could see what happened, Spottedheart came out of nowhere and came down on top of him. He died on the spot. He already had a slice that was infected on his stomach. I could smell it. I know that Sandclan doesn't kill…but it was an accident." He put his tail between his legs and dropped his head down. There was a wail and a shriek. Nightpelt's ears pricked up and he ran off screaming "Go see Dawnfire! For Starclan's sake!" Using all her strength, Smoothpelt got up and walked towards camp.
Meanwhile…Wildpaw was battling an Earthclan apprentice by the name of Tanglepaw, a beautiful white she-cat who was at an advantage by being the apprentice of their clan leader, Tailstar. But Wildpaw was stronger than the pretty, agile she-cat.
"I hear you like to play with you prey Wildpaw. So I'm just wondering, but am I considered your prey? I would prefer to get right to the fight if you don't mind." She smiled a wicked smile. Wildpaw could see her teeth. Sharp and long. Like her father, Hawkstorm. The two apprentices were circling each other now.
"I don't consider you prey Tanglepaw. You're too small. Oh well." Wildpaw could only think about how he was going to attack, not on his come backs to Tanglepaw's mean comments. Tanglepaw on the other hand could only think about how to insult him. Her smile turned into a grimace and she loathingly scowled.
"Do you dare call me small? I promise you, you'll regret this day." Rapidly, she leaped at Wildpaw. But he was ready. He rolled out of her way and tripped Tanglepaw, putting her off-balance. She fell over, and before Wildpaw could even muse over what to do next, he was flipped over and pinned down on the ground. Play dead? No…that'd be too obvious I was faking. I've got it! Wildpaw thought. As Tanglepaw had done the flip without thinking, she only had his front feet pinned. So Wildpaw took his back legs up, trying to be as quiet as a mouse, and kicked her soft stomach. Hard. She leaped off of him and groaned. "You piece of fox-dung!! I'll get you someday. I swear on Starclan. Watch yourself." Onefire! I must go check on her! And Wildpaw ran to find her.