A/N: I am so, so ashamed of myself. I... have no words to say how sorry I am for taking this long, and I bless to high heaven anyone who is still reading this story. I... okay. Shutting up. Enjoy the chapter.

"It's about time." Sorrelpaw.

"BLOODY FINALLY!" Sunpaw.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it the first time I saw you together!!" Heartpaw.

"So THAT'S what you were up to, you scheming cat!" Rainsun, to Hollystar, who was wearing a very self-satisfied smirk on her face.

Snowpaw sighed. The comments hadn't stopped since she and Rustpelt had slipped through the entrance purring with their tails twined. And what's worse, she had run into Heartpaw, who was accompanying Dreamstar to the Moonpool, and so naturally now Heartpaw knew everything. The Clans were still buzzing two moon-phases later, and the Gathering last moon-phase had been unbearable. An apprentice finding her mate so soon was extremely rare. Even Sandfall and Sootwind weren't yet officially mates, although she'd heard they'd reached an understanding. She'd heard whispers of 'destiny' and 'meant to be', but dismissed it as fluffy talk. What worried her more was when her warrior cere-

"Snowpaw!" The young white cat snapped to attention as her leader approached. "You are now ready for your warrior ceremony. Although you would normally have trained for several more weeks, you have worked extremely hard, and I feel you are ready, so you will be made a warrior with Sootpaw and Mosspaw. We will hold it at sunhigh." With that, Hollystar turned and walked away. Dazed, Snowpaw watched her go until she had vanished through the tunnel.

As sunhigh approached, Snowpaw slipped down to the creek, in the opposite direction from Rustpelt's patrol. Sliding into the cool, clear water, she drank her fill and then splashed out to clean her wet fur. By the time she was done her fur was shining, the day was warm, and sunhigh was fast approaching. She leapt easily into a ground-eating run, enjoying the way her muscles stretched and rippled as she raced back towards the camp. As she slipped through the tunnel she could see the cats beginning to assemble, and she slipped to the front of the group right beneath the ledge. And it was lucky she did, because mere seconds later, Hollystar yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Snowpaw's stomach began to jump in excitement as the ritual began. She followed Hollystar's words closely, not wanting to miss a word.

"We have much to do today. In addition to the making of three new warriors, we will be making four new apprentices. So let us begin.

"I, Hollystar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Mosspaw, Sootpaw, Snowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

They answered clearly, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Mosspaw, from this moment on you will be known as Mossflower. StarClan honors your bravery and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Mossflower stepped forward to lick Hollystar's shoulder, trembling from nose to tail-tip. She stepped back to join her Clanmates, and Hollystar continued.

"Sootpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Sootwind. StarClan honors your courage and ability, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Sootwind copied Mossflower's earlier actions, joining his former denmate as Snowpaw began to shake.

"Snowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Snowstorm. StarClan honors your fire and leadership, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." At last she took that step forward, licking Hollystar's shoulder, still shaking, thinking, Snowstorm. Snowstorm. I like it. The Clan began to chant: "Mossflower! Sootwind! Snowstorm! Mossflower! Sootwind! Snowstorm!" Hollystar waited patiently until they had quieted, and then said, "Redcloud, now that Sootwind is a warrior, you are free to take another apprentice. You will be mentor to Wildpaw. I trust you will impart your wisdom and experience to this young apprentice." A ginger tomkit bounced over and touched noses eagerly with Redcloud, tail flicking about wildly. As they joined the crowd of cats, Hollystar spoke again.

"Bluefur, now that Sandfall is a warrior, you are free to take another apprentice. You will be mentor to Foxpaw. I trust you will impart your energy and skill to this young apprentice." A fluffy ginger kit, darker than his brother, stepped up calmly to touch noses with Bluefur. They, too, joined the crowd, and Hollystar spoke once more.

"Sandfall, you are more than ready for your first apprentice. You will be mentor to Silkpaw. I trust you will impart your cleverness and ability to this young apprentice." A silky, white she-kit dashed up, skidding a few kitsteps before sliding to a halt right between Sandfall's legs. Cats purred in amusement around the assembled company, and Silkpaw flipped onto her paws in the most nonchalant manner possible before touching noses with Sandfall before retiring to join her new denmates. Hollystar spoke one last time.

"Whitestorm, now that Lionheart is a warrior, you are free to take another apprentice. You will be mentor to Sweetpaw. I trust you will impart your skill and wisdom to this young apprentice." A pale gray and white she-kit came forward. She was a direct contrast to her sister: where Silkpaw was full of energy, Sweetpaw was quietly dignified. She stepped up daintily to touch noses with Whitestorm. Murmurs of approval arose from the assembled cats. As Mousepelt, Stonepelt, and Hollystar left for the evening patrol, Snowstorm retired to the warriors' den, thinking hard.


Three more moon-phases passed. Snowstorm went on daily patrols, went hunting, and generally lived a normal warriorly existence. The rogues were still firmly encamped above the Clan territories, but nothing enough to warrant excitement happened. And so the time for the next Gathering rolled around.

ThunderClan poured over the branch to the island. ShadowClan and WindClan were already settled around the Great Oak, but RiverClan had yet to arrive. Snowstorm waited impatiently. Was Heartpaw here? And more importantly, was she a warrior?

RiverClan entered minutes later, and the Gathering was called to order. Whitestar began, "WindClan has little to report. The rogues are still encamped above our borders. They tried to cross our upper border and managed to take a rabbit, but we fought them and they have not crossed since. We made three new apprentices. Stormheart is now mentor to Hollypaw. Nightwind is mentor to Breezepaw, and Lightstorm is mentor to Skypaw. Other than that WindClan has nothing to say."

Hollystar nodded and rose. "ThunderClan has much to report. We have made three new warriors: Mossflower, Sootwind, and Snowstorm. We have also made four new apprentices. Redcloud is mentor to Wildpaw; Sandfall is mentor to Silkpaw; Whitestorm is mentor to Sweetpaw; and Bluefur is mentor to Foxpaw."

Brightstar was next to speak. "We have made two new warriors. Larkpaw has taken the name of Larkwing, and Flowerpaw has taken the name of Flowerfoot. Other than that ShadowClan has nothing to say."

Finally Dreamstar rose to speak. "RiverClan has made three new warriors. Mintpaw has taken the name of Mintcloud. Frostpaw is now known as Frostfire, and Heartpaw is now known as Heartlight. We have also made four new apprentices: Grayfrost is mentor to Spiritpaw, Torntail is mentor to Rainpaw, Dewfrost is mentor to Fleetpaw, and Sunlight is mentor to Leopardpaw."

Once again the leaders gathered to discuss the problem of the rogues as the cats meowed to each other. Snowstorm sought out Heartlight immediately. "What a pretty name, Heartlight! And congratulations!"

Heartlight responded shyly. "I love your name too, Snowstorm. How's Rustpelt?"

Snowpaw rolled her eyes affectionately. "He's fine. We're still happily together, but we're going to wait a few moons to have kits. Things are just great in ThunderClan. Our new apprentices are beautiful! Did you hear what Silkpaw did at her apprenticing ceremony? She…" The two cats wandered off to a corner of the clearing as Snowstorm recounted Silkpaw's "headlong dive into her apprenticeship," as Heartlight put it. They also discussed other things… like Heartlight's budding romance with Rainfall.

"I know he's older than me, Snowstorm, but I really really like him. And I think he likes me too. The problem is, there are so many she-cats in RiverClan! Only Rainfall, Torntail, Larchfeather, and Frostfire are toms! Luckily most of the warriors don't want kits. And all four of the new apprentices are toms. I don't know how that's going to work, but I'm guessing it'll be Mintcloud who gets one of them, and Featherfur. They're a lot older, but not by too much. And Tawnytail and Silvertail are both in the nursery now and due soon… I don't know why she didn't announce it, but I guess she was going to wait until the kits are born like she did with Skybreeze. And Grayfrost is going to retire soon."

"Breathe, Heartlight!" laughed Snowstorm. "You've got him, don't worry. I've seen how he looks at you. Do you think there's something between Frostfire and Almondmuffin?"

"I don't know… he is younger than she is, but I remember this one time when…"

The two she-cats only stopped their gossip session when the deputies bellowed for their clans. Snowstorm was sorry to leave her friend, but she had other things to worry about… like rogues who couldn't learn to respect Clan boundaries.