Chapter 12
Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, Firestar, I appreciate all this, but I don't want to stay in the Clan. I told you, I'm bringing Silver home with me."
The ginger tom flicked his tail.
"Echo?" he asked.
"I'd love to join the Clan!" Echo gushed, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
Sandstorm nodded, her countenance warm. Firestar had finally told her about where Silver had come from, and she had fully understood.
"You shall be warriors; Shadow, just until you have managed to persuade Silvershadow to come home–" Firestar broke off, due to Shadow's muttering. "I think that you should have some training."
Shadow shook his head resolutely.
"The Clan aren't going to welcome you," Echo muttered lightly, before strolling out of the den confidently.
Brambleclaw wondered if Echo and Silver could be any different. Silver was prickly, whilst Echo was gentle and kind. Echo was confident, while Silver was covering herself up and hiding. No matter what, he thought resolutely, I still love Silver. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice Firestar, Sandstorm and Shadow move out of the den.
"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon 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," the familiar words echoed through Brambleclaw's head. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend the Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"
"I do," Echo said silkily.
There was an awkward silence, in which Firestar glanced at Shadow, green eyes ablaze.
"I do," Shadow finally grumbled.
"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Echo, from this moment on you shall be known as Echosong. StarClan honours your courage and your diligence, and we welcome you as full members of ThunderClan."
Sandstorm glanced at Firestar meaningfully* as Echosong padded up to touch noses with him. Then he repeated the words.
"Shadow, from this moment on you shall be known as Shadowdance. StarClan honours your loyalty and your determination, and we welcome you as full members of ThunderClan."
Shadowdance touched noses with Firestar somewhat reluctantly. Silver glared at him from amongst the crowd and then turned her head to press herself against Brambleclaw. Hurt circled in Shadowdance's eyes as he stepped away from the leader and jumped off the High Rock, his claws scoring marks across the smooth rocks.
"Echosong, Echosong!" the Clan called.
No cat called Shadowdance's name, and the black tomcat felt it acutely. He stopped right in front of Brambleclaw and snarled,
"How dare you steal my mate?"
Silver blinked at him.
"I'm not your mate and I never was."
Shadowdance slunk off, hurt. There and then, he made a vow that he would never leave the Clan until Silver went with him. And he would make sure she did.
*Echosong is the name of the medicine cat of SkyClan in SkyClan's Destiny and Firestar's Quest.
A/N: First bad review, but I don't blame anyone 'cause last chapter was pretty awful. Tell me what you think of this one! So, basically, review!