The sun's early morning light was beginning to shine down weakly through the trees of the forest. Willowpaw had had the privilege of joining the dawn patrol with her mentor, Thornclaw, and Firestar leading the way to Twoleg place, where the black and white kittypet lived. As soon as Spiderleg had mentioned the little battle that he and Willowpaw were in to drive the intruder off ThunderClan territory, Firestar wanted to investigate, to make sure the kittypet had not come back to steal prey. When they reached the Twoleg place, there was no sign that the black and white tom had left his garden to enter ThunderClan territory. Willowpaw could smell that his scent was fresh, but he had taken Spiderleg's warning seriously, and not come back. Firestar nodded, satisfied, and meowed, "it looks as if he has stayed in Twoleg place, and there is no longer a threat of loosing prey, or a cat, like Willowpaw, out on their own being attacked. We'll head to the stream that borders our territory with WindClan, and renew the scents there."
"But Firestar, that's all the way on the other side of the territory! Wouldn't it make sense to just send another patrol up there?" Thornclaw protested. Firestar gave his warrior a hard stare.
"Thornclaw, it is certainly not like you to object from an order I give. You have always been loyal to my word. Or is there some reason you want us to avoid the stream for just a little while?" Firestar was loosing his patience, kneading his paws on the ground, and a look a look of displeasure written on his face. They were wasting time. When Thornclaw shook his head 'no', Willowpaw noticed that it was hard for the warrior to meet his leader's serious gaze, and turned his head away in shame. Firestar was right, Thornclaw had always been a loyal warrior, (not that objecting isn't loyal) and listened to his leader without question. Was her leader right? Was Thornclaw trying to avoid going near WindClan territory? But Thornclaw did have a point. It made sense to take another patrol to the stream and let other cats out and exercise.
"We shall go the stream, and f you don't want to come…go back to camp." Firestar growled and set a swift pace toward the stream, not looking back if Thornclaw had turned to leave. But the tabby warrior stayed with the patrol, his pace slowing with each step he took. That was odd. Was Thornclaw tired, or was he just disappointed that he had made his leader question his loyalty? They had only been out for a little while, wasting most of their time standing around arguing. He's probably just upset, or maybe he didn't get a good night's rest. Willowpaw thought to herself. While Willowpaw had been lost in thought, the rest of the patrol had gotten ahead of her. A loud yowl made her jump.
"Are you coming?!" Spiderleg turned to see Willowpaw straggling behind. Willowpaw sprinted until she caught up to the patrol. It seemed as if Firestar had picked up the pace form a fast trot, to a run, realizing that the sun was high in the sky. Willowpaw was almost out of breath when she caught the fresh tang of blood. Willowpaw stopped in her tracks. There was dry blood on the forest floor, and instantly, Willowpaw knew something terrible had happened. The rest of the patrol noticed to. Firestar's fur bristled from neck to tail-tip, as Thornclaw jumped back a tail-length and let a yowl of terror. Spiderleg almost seemed to shield her from seeing something up ahead…something that Willowpaw was afraid to see because the other cats thought it was so terrible. Firestar moved forward cautiously, keeping his mouth open to scent the air.
"WindClan." He mewed quietly but loud enough for Willowpaw and the rest of the cats to here. Willowpaw moved a few steps forward, following her grandfather, breaking the instinctive shield Spiderleg had made. What the sight Willowpaw saw was the worst thing a cat could have ever witnessed. Willowpaw gave a little yelp of horror and staggered back a few paces. She felt herself getting dizzy, ight on her paws, but kept her footing. The scene was unexpectable: the torn body of a cat lay a few fox-lengths ahead of her, there was a gash that went all the way from it's throat , and to slit the stomach open. There were other wounds of course, that looked painful, but were not enough to kill a cat. The WindClan warrior must have been fleeing from battle, or to go get help form ThunderClan, when the enemy followed them and killed them with a wipe of the claws. There was also a long wound on his back, just as long as the killing stroke, (the one from the throat all the way across the stomach was the killing stroke) that must of made the cat dizzy from the loss of blood when it had tried to flee or get help. The cat was covered in dry blood, and Willowpaw couldn't even make out the color of it's pelt. This cat had died a very painful death. Willowpaw slowly made her way over to Firestar, and asked, "Who is this cat? What happened?"
Firestar's eyes clouded with pain to know that a cat had suffered such terrible wounds . "I don't know who it was except that it was a WindClan warrior." He scented the fur between the dead warriors claws. "they were attacked by ShadowClan." He bowed his head for a moment and then mewed, "Thornclaw, Spiderleg, take the body back to WindClan camp, so it can be honored by it's Clan and share tongues with his Clan mates for one last time." Firestar instructed. "Willowpaw and I will go back to camp. I shall tell the Clan that WindClan has been attacked by ShadowClan and that our turn will probably be soon if WindClan lost the battle." He nodded to his warriors and turned swiftly back in the direction of the camp, almost running full speed.
Xxx
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey come to the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Firestar's yowl was loud and strong as he called his cats to the clearing. Willowpaw was already sitting near the base of the ledge and soon Pinkpaw came to sit with her. She nodded friendlily to the tabby apprentice and turned her head to listen as all the cats began to settle down.
"I have good news and bad news to report." Firestar started, then cleared his throat. "I shall start with the bad news so I can get off what I have to say out of my mouth." The cats shuffled uneasily when Firestar mentioned bad news. Some murmured worriedly to each other casting scared glances up at the Highledge.
Firestar signaled with his tail for silence. "today when I took a patrol to the steam that borders WindClan territory, we saw the most dreadful thing." Willowpaw listened as Firestar described what they had seen near the river…the poor WindClan cat had been ripped apart, and Willowpaw almost wanted to cover her ears as Firestar described the horrible sight to his Clan. Loud yowls of terror rang through the rock clearing and one wailed, "ShadowClan is going to kill us all! StarClan save us!" the cat looked up to the sky as if it expected that cats from StarClan would appear and tell them what to do. Willowpaw new that was hopeless thinking. Just then, Thornclaw and Spiderleg came bursting into the clearing. They looked as if they had seen a whole pack of badgers, and were fleeing in fright. Their faces were both stricken with pure terror and disgust, and Firestar invited them to come and tell the Clan what they had seen, knowing that something had happened to get them so spooked. Surprised, Willowpaw noticed that Thornclaw limped lightly, wincing in pain, but there was no wound on his shoulder.
Spiderleg spoke, "Firestar had told us to take the dead body of the WindClan cat to it's Clan," Spiderleg began and then gave the fiery tom a look as if asking him if he had already told the Clan about the WindClan cat that had been slaughtered. When Firestar nodded Spiderleg continued. "when we came in sight of the camp, a strong scent of rogue cats and ShadowClan cats, mingled with WindClan cats, came to us. As soon as got closer, we could see five cats guarding the entrance to their camp. They weren't from WindClan, so we left quickly, leaving the body behind a bush. I'm guessing that ShadowClan has taken over WindClan territory like we feared they would try to do, and soon they will come for us."
Loud yowls rang through he clearing once more, and some cats huddled together in fear. If Shadowclan were to attack, Willowpaw thought, they would attack tonight.
Firestar nodded to the two warriors and they left Firestar alone on the Highledge and settled themselves among the other cats in the clearing.
"Now, the good news." Firestar mewed, a glow of satisfaction on his eyes that replaced the scared look that had reflected in them not only a moment ago. "Gingerpaw, come forward." Gingerpaw, who sat a few tail-lengths away from Willowpaw, walked up awkwardly, not knowing was about to happen. There was a questioning look on her face, but then she nodded, understanding what was about to happen. Willowpaw didn't understand either for a few moments. What did Firestar want with her sister? Did Gingerpaw have something important to say to the Clan?
"Gingerpaw I have watched your training, and you are getting along smoothly." Firestar started when Gingerpaw had sat down a tail-length away from her leader. Her eyes gleamed with excitement, but she would never show just how excited she was to the Clan. The last of the setting sun's rays shown down brilliantly onto Willowpaw's sister's orange fur, making it shine with a new radiance. She was the most beautiful cat Willowpaw had ever seen, she realized with a jolt. Any tom would go after her, and one day, Gingerpaw would have kits of her own. It would be so terrible if she died in this coming battle. It would break Willowpaw's little heart, and if she did die, it wasn't a wound StarClan could heal like they had on the throat wound Willowpaw had received from the gray ShadowClan at the battle at the Great Oak. This made Willowpaw remember what Spottedleaf had said to her: "where ever you go, the scent of StarClan will be in your paws." Willowpaw shivered at the thought. It was a great honor to be healed by StarClan, but what did it mean? Did it mean that she was half dead, and that she would die easier than a regular death? Willowpaw shook her head and focused on the two cats sitting on the Highledge.
"it is time for you to earn your warrior name." Firestar paused, and then continued, looking up at the sky. "I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan 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 at Gingerpaw, "Gingerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?" Gingerpaw's tail twitched and then replied calmly, "I do."
"then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name: Gingerpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as…Gingerflame. StarClan honors your bravery and will to help the Clan and we welcome you as a full member of ThunderClan." Firestar rested his muzzle on top of Gingerflame's head and she licked his shoulder respectfully in turn.
At once Willowpaw called out, "Gingerflame! Gingerflame!" and the Clan chimed in with her. she noticed Robinwind, sitting among the warriors, a tail-length away from Spiderleg, had a gleam of pleasure in his eyes. He stood up to meet their sister, and Willowpaw joined him, followed shortly by Pinkpaw.
Willowpaw gave her sister's ear a quick lick. "you're a warrior now!" she purred into Gingerflame's ear.
Gingerflame gave her a hard-stare for a moment. "But you should have been made a warrior with me!" she protested. "We trained together…for a while at least! Firestar should have postponed my naming ceremony until you were ready!"
"But you earned this ceremony! You've trained longer than me, and have the right to be a warrior. I'm sure we can sleep together in the warriors den soon. You'll have the company of Robinwind and the others. Even though Robinwind was made a warrior before you, doesn't mean you can't do the same things together that you would do with me." Willowpaw mewed, her voice gentle. She knew that sleeping in the warriors den together wasn't what was bothering her sister. They always did things together, ever since Rustpaw died, and Robinwind was captured. Willowpaw and her sister had steadily drawn further and further away from their two brothers, getting used to the presence of them that wasn't there anymore. But when Robinwind saw the evils of his ShadowClan, he decided to come back to his birth Clan, which made her and Gingerflame form a strong bond again with him.
Gingerflame nodded her head, but the look of disappointment, mingled with joy of becoming a warrior in her eyes.
"Congratulations!" Robinwind mewed at last, and Pinkpaw joined in, her gentle eyes met Gignerflame's for a moment until the tabby apprentice rested on the new warrior's shoulder encouragingly. This brought the life at camp swarming back to her, cats were gathered around, congratulating her sister, and calling her by her warrior name. She was proud of her sister. Gingerflame was obviously popular with the Clan. When Spiderleg came over, his eyes were filled with something Willowpaw couldn't make out…and before Willowpaw could make sense of the expression in the black warriors eye, he turned his back on her to speak with Gingerflame.
Xxx
Willowpaw was just getting ready to head to the apprentice's den for a good night's rest, when her stomach growled loudly. The camp was lit by a dim light coming from Silverpelt, and the half moon shone through some clouds. In the center of the clearing sat Gingerflame, her tail curled neatly around her paws, and a unreadable expression on her face. Gingerflame nodded to Willowpaw, but didn't say a word, because the sacred truce didn't allow her to.
Just as Willowpaw was going to pick up a good looking piece of prey, a loud yowling sounded from just outside the entrance to the camp entrance. A long streak of bad smelling cats burst into the clearing, avoiding the drops that they could have fallen into. ShadowClan and their rogues! Willowpaw thought, disappointment flooding through her. Firestar leaped out of his den, to yowl his Clan to attack, then jumped on the nearest cat to him. Willowpaw felt claws scraping down her side, and turned to see a scrawny, black rogue with his ear torn. He hissed loudly and jumped onto her back, and they tumbled on the ground, a mass of screeching, and hissing fur. Willowpaw felt her heart stop as they came to an edge, and if she fell, she would die. It wouldn't be a wound StarClan would be able to heal She tried with all her might to loosen the cat's strange grip, but even when he saw the danger, the black cat wouldn't let go. StarClan help! Please! Willowpaw prayed silently, and prepared herself for a terrible death.