"Do you swear to uphold the warrior code, and to serve and defend your clan, even at the cost of your own life?"
Featherpaw purred, tail flicking proudly. "I do."
Squirrelstar closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. "Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forth, you will be known as Feathercloud. Starclan honors your courage and ingenuity, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Feathercloud stepped forward and licked his leader's shoulder, and his leader laid her muzzle on his head.
Starsplash stepped forward, yowling with her clanmates. "Bramblefur! Feathercloud! Bramblefur! Feathercloud!" The two new warriors stood proudly in the light of the dying sunset, bathed in red beams. As the cheering died down, she quietly linked her tail with Sagewhisker's, purring.
Snakepaw huffed, flicking his tail. "I don't see why I don't get to be a warrior," he grumbled under his breath. Hollyleaf glared and whipped him with her tail, hushing him softly. Though he was rather impudent, Starsplash couldn't help but agree with the young apprentice. He may have been small like his father, but he was dense, soft fat that had melted away into compact muscle. Even now, he could throw his mentor to the ground in training, and Hollyleaf was no small cat.
Feathercloud purred, placing a paw on Snakepaw's forehead. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get to be a warrior soon, okay?"
The apprentice flushed, smiling bashfully. "Yeah, ok." His crush on the tom was painfully obvious, but Feathercloud didn't seem to notice, turning and bounding to the edge of camp with his sister for the vigil.
Wolfkit bounded over, her tail flicking with excitement. Behind her, her littermates watched for a brief moment before going back to their game of mossball. "Starsplash! Starsplash!" she mewed, bouncing this way and that. "I learned my hunter's crouch! Look!"
The little she-kit got into a lopsided crouch, her paws pulled close to her body. She crept forward, paws thumping each time she made them hit the ground. She turned to Starsplash, face lit up with kittish pride.
Starsplash chuckled and adjusted her paws, smoothing out her tail. "If you want to have a perfect crouch, then you shouldn't be trying to slither forward like a snake. The purpose of the crouch is to put as much power into your pounce, in order to quickly pin and trap your target."
Wolfkit turned to her, her once blue eyes now darkened to a golden color. She pouted, frowning so exaggeratedly that Starsplash had to repress the urge to chuckle. "But Staaarsplash!" she whined. "I saw you stalking like this! It's the hunter's crouch!"
Berrynose sighed and padded up, coralling his little kit away from the two warriors. "Come on, dear. It's nearly sundown, and your mother is worried." Mollified slightly, Wolfkit allowed herself to be nudged to the nursery, rambling to Berrynose along the way.
Sagewhisker turned to Starsplash and purred playfully, running her tail along Starsplash's cheek. "Say… how about later on, we go on a nice walk? I'll be sure to make it fun, for both of us."
Starsplash stood up, tail flicking with anticipation. "Oh, really? If you want, I'll be waiting for you to 'hunt' me…"
"Oi, you two! Save that talk of yours for when you're out of camp, alright?" Ferncloud hissed playfully, tossing a bit of moss towards the two she-cats.
Starsplash stuck her tongue out. "Like you're one to talk! I still remember all the lewd things you and Dustpelt used to say to each other, and in the nursery no less." Ferncloud gave her an indignant look and went back to grooming her pelt.
Lakeflower padded up to her, tail flicking softly. "Sagewhisker? Can I steal Starsplash from you for a bit?"
Sagewhisker frowned, but after a moment she acquiesced and stepped away. "Alright, but don't be gone too long, alright?"
The deputy lead Starsplash out of camp, and they slowly made their way southeast to the lake. Lakeflower kept an easy silence as they traveled, sitting by the stony shore.
"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Lakeflower smiled softly, sitting on the cooling dirt. She swept her gaze across the lake, lit up in the colors of the sunset. "So you know that Redfur and I are mates."
"Yes. So does literally everyone in the clan, since you never shut up about it!" Apparently, being made deputy had made Lakeflower confident enough in her clanmates respect for her that the two had finally, finally become public with their relationship.
Lakeflower stared down and chuckled. "I know I'm a bit young for it, but… we were thinking of having kits."
"Kits?!" yowled Starsplash, leaping to her feet. "When are they due? Who's bearing them? Who's the sire?"
Lakeflower shushed her, placing a paw on her muzzle. "We're not definitively having kits, and no one is pregnant right now. I just wanted to know your thoughts on it, that's all."
Starsplash purred. "I think that it's a wonderful idea. After all, Poppyfrost's litter will be moving out of the nursery in a moon or so, and it'll be nice for the clan to have little ones running about."
Lakeflower beamed. "That's good to hear." She flicked her tail, looking to the woods behind them. "I'm facing a lot of responsibilities as deputy that I never could have imagined, but my clanmates make it all worthwhile."
Starsplash nodded. "I imagine that all the pressure seems rather daunting."
Lakeflower laughed, tossing her head back. "Well said, but untrue. Squirrelstar is helping me with things like organizing patrols, and my apprentice is finally a warrior, thank Starclan. Though I imagine she'll have me take on one of Poppyfrost's, when they come of age. I've asked her about whether she'll be taking one on, though, and she seems rather fond of Ashkit, believe it or not."
"Are you talking about me?" meowed a voice behind them. Starsplash turned, seeing the outline of her leader in the bushes. Starsplash purred and butted heads with her grandmother.
Squirrelstar purred and turned to her deputy. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping. But if you're thinking of having kits, that doesn't mean I'll suddenly remove you from your position. Don't worry about that."
Lakeflower bowed her head. "I understand, ma'am. Now, I'd better head out to the patrol I volunteered for."
Squirrelstar nodded. "I understand. And of course, I won't forget the moonhigh patrol you put me in. Now, head on back. I'd like a word with Starsplash, if that's alright."
At this rate, I'll never get to go on that walk with Sagewhisker. Starsplash watched as Lakeflower padded off, tail held high with barely-disguised pride.
Squirrelstar smiled and laid her tail gently on Starsplash's back. "Forgive an old spinster her tales, but I remember when you first ventured outside the nursery. Redkit was a little scared without Lakekit by her side, but you went right on ahead. Well, until a leaf fell on you!"
Starsplash chuckled with embarrassment, remembering how she'd shrieked and screamed until Jayfeather dragged her into the medicine den to calm her down. "Don't bring that up, it makes me feel like a kit."
Squirrelstar scoffed. "In my eyes, you're still a kit." The leader sighed and lay down, her pelt rippling with the bit of fat she had recently put on. "I never knew that being leader would be so challenging, but I still feel as young as when I first stepped foot out of the forest."
Starsplash thought back to when she had sat beside Longtail all those moons ago, listening as he spoke of Sunningrocks. "Grandmother, what was the forest like?"
Squirrelstar hummed, closing her eyes. "Well, it was a bit smaller than the territories we have now, but it was richer, too. An old riverbed served as our camp, surrounded by brambles to protect us."
Starsplash scoffed. "How could a riverbed be big enough to serve as a camp?"
Squirrelstar chuckled and flicked her granddaughter's cheek with her tail. "It was a really big river, and we had done a lot of work on it. Just because we were lucky enough to find a large ravine doesn't mean that everything else left is inferior."
"Lucky?" Starsplash repeated softly. "I thought Starclan lead us to the territories, right?"
The leader didn't answer for a few minutes, and Starsplash briefly worried that she had somehow offended her grandmother. Then, Squirrelstar sighed. "The quest was prompted by Starclan, yes, but we found the territories. And we lost good cats on the journey from the forest to the lake." She turned her gaze to the sky, then smiled sadly. "Starclan are good, but even they were taking a shot in the dark. And it paid off."
Starsplash shuffled her paws nervously. "But surely there has to be someone who knows everything… right?"
Squirrelstar bit her lip. "I don't know. I wish I could tell you. But I don't know."
The woods seemed darker now, the trees taller, the stars dimmer. Squirrelstar stood, flicking her tail. "Come on. It's best not to dwell on what you cannot change." The ginger she-cat flicked her tail, and in the pale moonlight she almost seemed to glow.
Starsplash chuckled and nodded. "Who told you that?"
"No one, actually! Came up with it myself." And together, leader and her granddaughter returned home.
