Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter.
The evening patrol padded proudly through the gorse tunnel just as Jaykit peeked out of the nursery. There was Brackenfur, Sorreltail and Rainwhisker with Honeypaw and Molepaw. As Jaykit watched, Honeypaw glanced at her and flicked her tail eagerly.
"Warrior," the she-cat mouthed. Jaykit's paws prickled. Honeypaw was going to become a warrior! By the purrs coming from Molepaw, he would get a warrior name too.
Jaykit watched Brackenfur and Rainwhisker walk up to Brambleclaw. She couldn't hear their words, but Brambleclaw nodded and led the two cats up to Firestar's den. They disappeared inside the den, and after a minute the warriors along with Firestar stepped onto the Highledge.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Firestar watched as the ThunderClan cats gathered below the rocky overhang.
Firestar raised his head to look at the two apprentices. His clear meow rang around the ThunderClan camp. "I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." The rusty-furred tom looked down at Honeypaw and Molepaw.
"Honeypaw, Molepaw," Firestar continued. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"
The apprentices nodded excitedly. Jaykit watched her friend from the nursery since she could not come to Clan meetings yet as she hadn't caught any prey. If I had caught that mouse, she thought.
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Honeypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Honeystreak. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Firestar bounded down from the Highledge and touched his muzzle to Honeystreak's head, and the new warrior licked his shoulder respectfully. Trembling with excitement, she padded over to the other warriors.
Firestar turned to Molepaw. "Molepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Molefur. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." He rested his muzzle on Molefur's head and the warrior licked her shoulder before stepping away to join Honeystreak.
The clearing was silent for a heartbeat, and then the cheer started. "Honeystreak! Molefur! Honeystreak! Molefur! " All the cat's meows rang through the camp. Poppypaw and Cinderpaw cheered loudest of all for their brother and sister. Berrytail and Hazelwing followed the two apprentices as they moved forward to greet the two cats.
Firestar's meow silenced the cats. "It will soon be moonhigh," he mewed. "In the tradition of our ancestors, Honeystreak and Molefur must sit in silent vigil until dawn, and guard the camp alone while we sleep." The newly made warriors bowed their heads silently, then pressed through the surrounding cats to the gorse tunnel.
Jaykit turned to see Hollykit and Lionkit standing behind her. "Wow!" mewed Lionkit. "Too bad we won't be apprentices for about a moon."
Jaykit agreed. "I'll be Jaypaw, the greatest apprentice. Then I'll be Jay...something, and be the greatest warrior, too!"
"Kits!" meowed Squirrelflight from inside the nursery. "Don't get carried away! You won't be warriors for many seasons." She beckoned with her tail, and the three kits padded to her. "All right, Firestar told me that the fox is gone, so you can go into the forest. But," she added as Jaykit jumped up. "I'll come with you, of course."
"Yes!" cheered Jaykit. "Come on!" She raced towards the camp entrance with Hollykit and Jaykit on her heels.
"Not yet!" yowled Squirrelflight, her ginger fur standing on end in exasperation. "Jaykit! Hollykit! Lionkit!"
The kits skidded to a halt at the gorse tunnel. Squirrelflight was pushing her way out of the nursery. "You can't go outside now," she meowed sternly. "Look at the sky; it's almost dark. I meant that you could go out of camp tomorrow."
"Oh." Jaykit lowered her head and padded reluctantly back to the she-cat's side. Hollykit and Lionkit followed her, glancing back at the darkening trees through the protective tunnel. "Phooey. We'll never get to go outside."
"Tomorrow will come sooner than you think," promised Squirrelflight, pushing her kits forward with her tail. She entered the nursery and padded to a clump of moss. Jaykit clambered onto it, circling around to create a small nest, and the other cats copied her actions. The three kits curled up beside Squirrelflight, who laid her head on her front paws.
In a few minutes, the soft sounds of sleeping cats told Jaykit that her mother, brother and sister were asleep. The dark brown kit looked up at the roof of the nursery; she could just see the night sky through the closely woven branches. Jaykit closed her eyes, locking the image of the stars in her mind.
A soft mew made Jaykit's ears twitch. "Jaykit! Jaykit, look!"
Jaykit pushed herself up sleepily. "Lionkit, what-?" Her eyes snapped open. Lionkit and Hollykit were standing beside her, but they were no longer in the nursery. Instead the lake at the edge of ThunderClan territory glittered before them, shining with all of the warriors of Silverpelt. Jaykit's jaw dropped. "How did we get here?"
"By dreaming," replied Hollykit simply. Her eyes were fixed on the stars, and then they widened in surprise. Jaykit looked up as well, and then her heart skipped a beat.
The stars were moving.
As the three kits watched, stunned, cats appeared around them, their pelts made up of starlight. A gray-blue she-cat caught Jaykit's attention. The StarClan warrior had an air of authority.
"Welcome, Jaykit, Hollykit and Lionkit," mewed the blue queen. "Kits of Squirrelflight, and kin of Firestar. You are young, though StarClan sees great things for you. I am Bluestar, once leader of ThunderClan."
Jaykit blinked, speechless. She had never heard of any cats besides leaders and medicine cats that had dreams about StarClan, much less kits. But these warriors were here, in front of her and Hollykit and Lionkit.
There was a shimmer of light. Jaykit looked down at the ground in amazement as it glowed beneath her paws. Immediately the dirt and stone changed to stars, bright points in the night.
"Take note of what you have seen," meowed Bluestar. She flicked her tail, and as she did so the gleaming cats around her faded away, in what might have lasted a heartbeat or a moon, until the only things left beside the lake were the three kits and the swaths of stars around their paws.