The Clan wasn't too upset about Lucifer, but they weren't completely welcoming either. Gingerfoot was determined to keep him away from her kits, as was Snowstorm.

Sparrowstripe was disgusted. "Stormstar!" he called angrily, stalking up to the three cats as they entered the camp.

Stormstar kept his tail in the air. "Yes, Sparrowstripe?"

Sparrowstripe scowled at Lucifer in distaste. "Who is this loner?"

"His name is Lucifer," Skyfeather answered, cutting both Lucifer and Stormstar.

Lucifer gave a short, disdainful sniff and sat down to give his paws a good wash.

"Wash all you want," Sparrowstripe hissed. "You'll never get any cleaner."

Lucifer was about to growl a response when Skyfeather stopped him. "Please, you two!" she meowed, desperate. "Stop, or else you'll end up clawing each other's fur off."

Sparrowstripe twitched his tail rapidly and stalked off to the nursery where Gingerfoot was waiting, watching her playing kits.

As Skyfeather watched her former deputy find refuge in the nursery, Stormstar muttered in her ear, "He's just jealous that you were the one to decide that Lucifer could stay. He definitely would have liked to do it."

Skyfeather squinted her eyes at Stormstar and pressed her nose against his muzzle. (A/N: When cats squint, that means they're smiling at you.)

"So…" Skyfeather looked up to see Frostfur padding up to the group. "This is…Lucifer?"

Lucifer nodded and stood up. He bowed his head down delicately, as if Frostfur were a leader, or even a deputy. "Nice to meet you…?"

Frostfur stepped back in impression. "Um…Frostfur."

Lucifer stood straight again. "Frostfur. Such a pretty name."

Frostfur looked at her paws.

Skyfeather blinked.

"I sense something going on here," Stormstar teased. Skyfeather nodded and padded away from the two. There were patrols to be sent out, and a lot more work to be done. Being deputy was harder than she thought.

Just as Skyfeather was padding to the warriors' den to look for Snowstorm, she trotted through the fern entrance to the camp, Silverpaw right behind her. It was only when Skyfeather realized how proud the two cats looked when she saw how much fresh-kill they were carrying.

"Snowstorm!" Eager, Skyfeather bounded across the clearing to the small patrol. "How did you catch that much prey? The snow is covering the forest all over again."

Snowstorm dropped the prey on the fresh-kill pile and meowed, "The river hasn't frozen over, and the fish are thriving ever since RainClan has stopped fishing. And besides; Silverpaw and I found a squirrel nest with children. That helped a lot."

Skyfeather nodded, grateful. "That's great, Snowstorm." Then she turned to Silverpaw. "I'm so proud of you, Silverpaw. Maybe Stormstar will take you out today and train with you."

Silverpaw dropped his prey on the pile and nodded eagerly. "Thank you so much, Skyfeather." Skyfeather watched the small grey apprentice leap over to Stormstar.

"He's really a great hunter," Snowstorm meowed. "And he'll be a great warrior, too."

Skyfeather nodded and padded away, searching for Sparrowstripe. Speaking of apprentices becoming warriors reminded her of Tawnypaw's assessment.

She found Sparrowstripe in the warriors' den. "Sparrowstripe," she meowed to the washing lump of tabby fur, "I think Tawnypaw's ready to be assessed in her fighting skills. Could you do that, please?"

Sparrowstripe looked up and stifled a scowl. "Yeah, I'll do that."

The two cats padded out of the den and headed to the medicine cat's den where Tawnypaw was padding back and forth, an expression of exasperation on her dappled face.

"Where've you been? I've been so restless!" Tawnypaw exclaimed.

Sparrowstripe chuckled. "I thought I'd assess you today. Let's go."

Skyfeather followed the two to the entrance to see Frostfur and Darkpaw heading out for a patrol and some training. Clan life was going really well so far.

Suddenly, Dustpaw burst out of the entrance to the camp and bounded over to Skyfeather. Shocked, Skyfeather blinked in anger.

"You know what I've noticed, Skyfeather?" Dustpaw mewed, sitting down and giving her paws a good lick. "I've noticed that the river smells sweet."

Skyfeather shook her head. "Dustpaw, where were you?" she hissed. "You know you're not supposed to be out of the camp alone! You're only an apprentice."

Dustpaw shrugged nonchalantly. "I was only out to get a drink." Skyfeather sat down in annoyance. "But I really think the river smells sweet."

Skyfeather nodded. "I'm aware of that, Dustpaw."

Dustpaw got up, instantly changing the subject. "Can we go out to train? I want to be assessed soon!"

Skyfeather chuckled. "Little steps, Dustpaw," she meowed. "And okay, we can go training. Just wait here for me."

Without waiting for a response from her apprentice, Skyfeather ran over to Lucifer and Stormstar, who were crouched over some fresh-kill. "Where are you going to sleep tonight?"

Stormstar spoke. "From now until the time he leaves the Clan, he'll stay in the warriors' den. I thought I could give him a few lessons in hunting and fighting along with Silverpaw."

Skyfeather nodded. "Sure," she meowed. "If he can help us, he might as well."

Lucifer blinked. "Wait, why am I helping you?"

Skyfeather chuckled as Stormstar replied, "The Twolegs are destroying the forest, and all three Clans are going to help stop them. We need as much help as we can get. Do you think you're up to it?"

Lucifer nodded. "I'm fine with that. But I think I'll do much better if you tell me this: What's a bloody Twoleg?"

Skyfeather twitched her whiskers in amusement. "Twolegs are the creatures that live in nests beside the Thunderpath."

"Thunderpath?"

Skyfeather sighed and explained Twolegs and Thunderpaths to Lucifer.

"Oh," the black tom meowed. "You mean Upwalkers?"

Skyfeather shrugged. "If that's what loners call them."

Lucifer nodded. "Okay, I'll call them Twolegs. But they can't be that bad," he mumbled. "They sometimes feed me when I beg at their feet."

Skyfeather and Stormstar wrinkled their noses. "How can you eat that slop?" Stormstar meowed. "It's disgusting."

"How would you know?" Lucifer asked. "You've never tasted it."

Stormstar gave a sniff before padding away. "I'm going out to train Silverpaw now. I expect to see you there, too."

Lucifer nodded before turning to Skyfeather. "Where should I meet him?" he asked.

"Probably beside the river," Skyfeather answered.

As Lucifer padded away, she turned to look around for Dustpaw. The small grey-and-white apprentice was sharing tongues with Silverpaw before the grey apprentice stood up to meet Stormstar at the fern entrance.

"Dustpaw," Skyfeather meowed, trotting over to her apprentice, "let's go out and work on your bird-hunting skills. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of Tawnypaw's assessment."

Dustpaw nodded eagerly. "I really hope she passes," she mewed before the two trotted out of the camp and through the shrivelled up ferns.

The snow had stopped falling when the cats met up with Tawnypaw and Sparrowstripe padding back to the camp.

"How was the assessment?" Skyfeather questioned Sparrowstripe.

Sparrowstripe held his tail high in the air as he responded, "It went very well. Tawnypaw passed, and her warrior ceremony will be held tonight."

Skyfeather looked down at the beaming Tawnypaw. "I'm so proud of you!" she meowed, twining her tail around Tawnypaw's. Dustpaw and Tawnypaw tussled around for a minute in excitement as Sparrowstripe and Skyfeather talked.

"I'm afraid that practicing hunting skills with Dustpaw isn't the greatest idea," Sparrowstripe meowed solemnly. "There's absolutely no prey left in this forest."

"There has to be some!" Skyfeather mewed. "Snowstorm just came back with plenty of prey!"

Sparrowstripe nodded. "Yes, I know," he agreed, "but that was mostly fish from the river. Now that fresh snow has just fallen, the fish are all hiding in their dens under the water. The squirrel nest she found was probably the only remaining squirrel nest in the forest."

Skyfeather pondered Sparrowstripe's words for moment. "Well, there has to be something. Maybe we'll go out hunting instead of training."

Sparrowstripe nodded and called Tawnypaw to him. The two meowed their good-byes and padded off to camp.

"Dustpaw," Skyfeather meowed, "we might not be able to train very much today. We have to hunt as much as we can."

Dustpaw nodded, slightly crestfallen, and the two set off on their hunting expedition. They were out until sunset and had only caught a few pieces of fresh-kill.

When they returned to the camp, Stormstar was atop the Highrock. Just as they dropped the small, pitiful prey on the pile of fresh-kill, he called out, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting."

Skyfeather went to sit next to Frostfur and Snowstorm and watched Dustpaw creep over to the apprentices' side next to Darkpaw and Silverpaw.

Stormstar leaped off of the Highrock and padded up to Tawnypaw, who was seated next to Sparrowstripe. Her pelt was cleaned to a sleek coat and her tail was neatly wrapped around her front paws.

Stormstar sat down and look up at the newly showing stars of Silverpelt as he called out clearly through the crisp air, "I, Stormstar, leader of RainClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." He looked down to an excited Tawnypaw, barely able to keep her fur on her body in eagerness. "Tawnypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Skyfeather quickly glanced over to the middle of the gathered cats where Lucifer sat. He was staring in interest at the ongoing ceremony.

"I do," Tawnypaw mewed softly, gazing up into Stormstar's clear blue eyes.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. From this moment you will be known as Tawnyspot. StarClan honours your speed in hunting, and your bravery and patience. We welcome you as a full warrior of RainClan." Stormstar stepped forward and rested his head on top of Tawnyspot's. She licked his shoulder respectfully in return.

As Stormstar back away, the rest of the Clan started chanting Tawnyspot's new warrior name: "Tawnyspot! Tawnyspot!" Skyfeather chuckled to see Lucifer joining in, puzzled.

When she looked up to the stars of Silverpelt, glinting coldly in the freezing night, she saw a flaming orange star glint brighter than the rest.

A/N: This chappie answered a few questions. How do you like Tawnyspot's warrior name? Her kittypet name, Candy, is actually my cat, and she has dark brown ears with tawny-coloured spots on them. That's why I picked the name. Reviews!