Yes, I know Cinderpaw's being put off again, but I promise she'll be back next chapter!

EradrinSkyleaf: XD What, so you're proud and determined and loyal? Or maybe vain and can't notice fine details and shy? Because those are their main good and bad characteristics. :P I'm shy personally.

Anova00: Yeah, Cinderpaw's pretty cool. :) But what did you mean by you thought I got it? :-\

ShadowHawk: I've never heard of Hotel before. What's it about? And Rainpaw and Sootpaw are much more like each other than Cinderpaw, so I'm not surprised you paired them together. ;) Also they're pretty cool.

Nightfeather: Yeah, Rainpaw really seems to be sort of helpless. The thing is, I'm trying to show that he, too, can be the best, because he was the one who was "rewarded" with deputyship for a day, not Sootpaw or Cinderpaw, but Rainpaw.

Sootpaw's POV

Later that afternoon, after Rainpaw returned from his hunting patrol but before Larkwing's patrol left, Grayheart leaped onto the Highledge and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

I had been playing with Mistheart's kits that afternoon. At five moons old, they were becoming a handful for Mistheart, so I made a point to help her out and take time to play with the kits every day. At Grayheart's words, however, I glanced up at the Highledge, Shadekit toppling off my back and Twigkit clinging to my tail.

Morningkit bounced over to Mistheart. "Can we go to the meeting? Please?"

Mistheart hesitated, looking her kits over. Their fur was rumpled from playing and a playful gleam was still in every eye.

Shadekit and Twigkit joined in.

"Please? Please? Please?" Shadekit begged.

"We promise we'll be good!" cried Twigkit.

Still, Mistheart hesitated. I quickly glanced from kit to kit and came up with an idea.

"How about I take Shadekit and Morningkit and you can take Twigkit?" I suggested. "Then we can keep them quiet and obedient together. If any of them start misbehaving, then we can send them back to the nursery."

Mistheart looked worried. "Are you sure you'll be able to do that? Shadekit and Morningkit are a pawful together."

"I can," I promised. "And this'll probably be the last ceremony they'll get to see before their own. They can learn how to behave and sort of what to do in a moon's time."

Mistheart finally caved. "Okay," she sighed. In reply to the kits' excited squealing, she added, "One more sound from any of you and all three are going back to the nursery, got it?"

The kits shut their mouths at once. They followed Mistheart and me over to the meeting, where the rest of the Clan had already gathered.

"One of our apprentices has reached the end of her training," Grayheart meowed once every cat had settled down, leaping down from the Highledge. "It's time for her to be made a warrior. Silverpaw, step forward."

Silverpaw padded forward, her chin high and her eyes gleaming with excitement. The kits craned their necks to see her over the heads of the warriors and apprentices in front of us. Morningkit, the smallest, actually sat up on her hind legs to see Silverpaw.

"I, Grayheart, leader of LeopardClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice," Grayheart said solemnly. "She has trained hard to understand the ways of your warrior code and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Silverpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Silverpaw's voice was slightly higher pitched from nerves and anticipation, but her words were strong and clear nonetheless. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. From this moment, she will be known as Silverdapple. StarClan honors your kindness and confidence and we welcome you as a full warrior of this Clan."

Grayheart rested his muzzle on Silverdapple's head and she responded by rasping her tongue over his shoulder. Then, she turned and beamed as the Clan began chanting, "Silverdapple! Silverdapple! Silverdapple!"

I heard Rainpaw's voice rise above the other – "Silverdapple! Silverdapple! Silverdapple!" – and grinned to myself.

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The tests were over. I spent the next quarter moon or so with Rainpaw and Cinderpaw doing apprentice work – cleaning the nursery, practicing our hunting, and training for battle. Rainpaw seemed to be fond of "going hunting" with Silverdapple for an entire afternoon, but they only seemed to be able to catch a couple of mice between the two of them every time.

Grayheart had been generally avoiding the three of us since the last test, when Rainpaw had proved his ineptitude at deputyship. He never even put us on patrols if he could help it. That was probably why, when a patrol raced into camp in terror, he didn't even consider letting Cinderpaw help out.

I was, once again, helping Mistheart with her kits, only this time Rainpaw was with me. Silverdapple was out on a patrol with Aspentail, Crouchfoot, Snowclaw, and Rustpaw, checking out the NightClan border. Cinderpaw was off cleaning out her nest again. She kept telling us it stank, but I thought it was more that she was just looking for something to occupy her time. She never went hunting, so she was basically stuck in camp.

Suddenly, I smelled fear-scent carried on the wind, which was blowing directly through the camp entrance at the time. I exchanged a scared, worried look with Rainpaw before disentangling myself from the kits and padding over closer to the entrance. I didn't have to wait long before five cats rushed through, eyes wide and fur raised along their spines and on their tails.

"Grayheart!" Aspentail called. He had been the first through the entrance and hadn't slowed until he'd raced up the path of fallen rocks to the Highledge and the leader's den.

Grayheart was through the den entrance in a heartbeat. "What's happened?" he asked quickly.

Rainpaw brushed against me as he bounded over to Silverdapple, who was standing in amongst the patrol with her eyes wide, quite obviously spooked.

"NightClan scent," Aspentail gasped, panting for breath, "at the old Twoleg Den! Claw-marks everywhere! Had to tell you. Send a patrol…"

Grayheart didn't pause to listen to the rest of his sentence. He pushed past Aspentail and bounded down to the clearing, beckoning to the warriors with his tail. Every one of them crowded around him except Silverdapple, who was being led gently over to the side by Rainpaw.

"Aspentail, are you ready to fight or do you need some more rest?" Grayheart asked. Aspentail had followed him down the rock pile.

Aspentail flexed his huge claws. I couldn't help but notice one of them was missing, just like Cinderpaw's. "I'm ready for anything, Grayheart," he growled.

"Good. Then you lead one battle patrol and I'll take the other. Molewhisker, Amberwing, and Scorchblaze will accompany you. I'll take Cherryfall, Lilyheart, Snowclaw, and Streamfrost."

The cats divided accordingly. Grayheart nodded to Larkwing and meowed, "You stay here with Sparrowtalon, Crouchfoot, Dewflight, and their apprentices."

Larkwing smiled grimly. "We'll keep the camp safe, Grayheart. You go take care of the NightClan invasion."

Grayheart nodded to her, then beckoned to his patrol and led the way out of the camp, quickly followed by Aspentail's patrol. I watched them go, their tails streaming behind them, until the last cat, Streamfrost, was gone from the camp. Then, I turned to look around at Larkwing, who was talking to Dewflight. I approached her just as Dewflight bounded over to the camp entrance to guard.

"Um… Larkwing?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" she asked tersely, her eyes darting distractedly around the camp.

"Where are Cinderpaw, Rainpaw, Silverdapple, and I supposed to go?"

Larkwing finally looked me in the eye. "Well, I suppose you'd better stay right here for now. There's every chance NightClan could mount a separate raid here while the majority of the warriors are gone battling at the Twoleg Den."

As she spoke, I became aware of a separate scent, coming from the entrance. I wrinkled my nose, wondering where I'd smelled that scent before. Then, it came to me. It had been in the pine forest when we'd first entered the lake territories. I smelled NightClan.

"Attack!" I yowled, dashing for the entrance, where Dewflight guarded, oblivious to the approaching NightClan cats. Before I could go more than a few steps, however, I heard the LeopardClan warrior yowl in pain just as the first NightClan warriors burst into the clearing, yowling battle cries.

AOTD: I think I'm actually a lot like Rainpaw. XD Yup. Shy, loyal, etc. One difference is that I can't run very well (for long distances) and Rainpaw can run very well.

QOTD: Ooh, so it's an attack on the LeopardClan camp! Who do you think is going to die if anyone dies at all? Who do you think has already died if anyone has died at all?