Back! Yay…

CHAPTER 10

Hollypaw crept after the starling, her swollen belly brushing against the ground. She pounced and caught it, killing it swiftly. "Great catch!" Thornclaw called from behind her. "Thanks!" Hollypaw answered, digging up her catch. It was a surprisingly warm leaf-bare day. The sun was shining warmly onto Hollypaw's black fur. She laid down on her back and let the sun warm her belly full of kits.

It had been two moons since Hollypaw and Thornclaw's quarrel, and now Hollypaw was a queen in the nursery. Firestar allowed a warrior to take her hunting, since she was still an apprentice, and Thornclaw offered to. No cat knew yet that Thornclaw was the father of the kits inside Hollypaw's belly.

"Hollypaw, look what I caught!" Thornclaw called to his mate. Hollypaw raced over to the golden brown tabby. She couldn't run as fast, but was still trying to get her strength back and her hunting and fighting skills up, because she knew after six moons in the nursery doing nothing but suckling kits, she could lose all her skills quickly.

Thornclaw had a large fully-grown rabbit lying at his paws with its throat torn open. "Great StarClan!" Hollypaw exclaimed. "That's the biggest rabbit I've ever seen! Where did you manage to catch that in leaf-bare?" Thornclaw flicked his tail towards the WindClan border. "It must've hopped right over the stream, because it smelled a bit like WindClan."

Hollypaw purred. "Maybe we should try hunting more over there," she suggested. Thornclaw nodded. "But I don't want to leave this rabbit lying here, even under the ground. Something might come and steal it! This thing could feed 3 cats fully!" Hollypaw glanced down at the dead rabbit again. Its light brown fur was stained with blood and dust.

"Hollypaw, Thornclaw!" A voice startled Hollypaw, making her jump. A tortoiseshell she-cat bounded over to the patrol. "Poppypaw," Hollypaw sighed to Thornclaw. The golden tabby rolled his amber eyes, but didn't show any disappointment or annoyance to his kin. Brackenfur, Poppypaw's father, was Thornclaw's brother. So the annoying tortoiseshell apprentice was his niece.

"Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, and Mousepaw are becoming warriors now!" Poppypaw reported. "We need to get back to the camp to watch." Thornclaw nodded. "I left some prey over by the stream. We'd better go get it. We'll be there, I promise." Poppypaw shrugged at her uncle. "Okay." The tortoiseshell bounded off and once the very tip of her tail had vanished, Thornclaw sighed.

"We'd better get going now." Hollypaw nodded and followed her mate to the stream. A mouse and a finch were buried in the ground. Thornclaw picked them up in his jaws and raced back to his rabbit. Hollypaw picked it up for him and grabbed her starling.

Once the cats had made it back to the camp, Firestar was already on the Highledge and yowling for the cats to gather below. Hollypaw and Thornclaw dropped off the prey and went over to sit beside Ferncloud and Daisy. Her blue eyes shone with pride at her kits finally becoming warriors.

"I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, Mousepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

Berrypaw bounced a bit, and mewed in unison to Mousepaw, "I do." Hazelpaw seemed calmer. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Berrypaw, you will be known as Berrytail. StarClan honor your loyalty and courage and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Firestar meowed. Berrytail bowed his head and let Firestar rest his chin on it. He licked the flame-colored leader's shoulder and padded off. Brambleclaw touched noses with his former apprentice and watched as Berrytail went to join the warriors.

"Mousepaw, you will be known as Mousefoot. StarClan honor your courage and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Firestar announced. Mousefoot licked the leader's shoulder and padded off to sit beside Spiderleg, his former mentor.

"Hazelpaw, you will be known as Hazelwhisker. StarClan honor your courage and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Firestar meowed. Hollypaw was impressed at the she-cat's calmness, but she knew that Hazelwhisker was leaping inside. She bent her head to lick Firestar's shoulder, and then padded down the Highledge.

"Berrytail! Mousefoot! Hazelwhisker!" the Clan cheered. "Berrytail! Mousefoot! Hazelwhisker!" Firestar flicked his tail for silence. "These new warriors will sit a silent vigil tonight, guarding the camp," he announced. Then he sprang down and padded into his den.

Hollypaw never liked Mousefoot and Berrytail very much, so she went to congratulate Hazelwhisker. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Thornclaw winking at her.

Eh…not much of an ending. Yay! Berrytail! Mousefoot! Hazelwhisker! O.O Omg I just realized that the last parts of the three new warriors' names are all cat body parts. Tail, foot, whisker. o.O oh well. Adios!

Peaceoutyall,

Amberstar