Chapter Seven

My name is Dragonpaw.

I padded lightly through the water, my paws barely touching the surface. The water rushed around me, and would have knocked me down. But I realized I was walking on water. I looked wildly around and saw that there were two cliffs on either side of me. I inhaled and discovered I knew this place: this was just above the falls. I was in WindClan territory!

I have to get home, I thought. How did I get here, anyway? I turned around…but another cat was sitting there, on a rock. I sniffed. It was a she-cat, a blue-gray one. She stood up and touched her nose to mine.

"Beware of your sister, Dragonpaw," she whispered. "Not all cats are in fear of the tiger."

I jerked my head back in shock.

"Wha…what?" I gasped. "What's wrong with Flamepaw? What's she going to do?"

"Beware," the blue-gray she-cat chanted. "Beware, Dragonpaw…beware…"

"Hey! Dragonpaw!"

A sudden poke in my side. I jerked away angrily, then my eyes snapped open. I stared into the amber eyes of my sister, Flamepaw, and leapt away from her when I remembered my dream.

"Ouch!" hissed Spiderpaw crossly as my feet hit his head. "Dragonpaw!"

"What's the matter with you?" purred Flamepaw, sitting down and licking her paw. "You scared I might bite you or something?"

"I…no," I mumbled. "Just a little dream."

Flamepaw shrugged. "Well, whatever. Hurry up. Training starts soon. You don't want to keep Graystripe waiting!" And she tore out of the den.

I sat down and began to wash my fur. It was about a moon after we had rescued Rainwhisker, and the gray tom had recovered well. He had apparently been attacked by rogues after he escaped the Twoleg nest, but couldn't make it farther than ShadowClan territory in his condition. But since then, Flamepaw had been acting…strangely. She hardly paid any attention to me anymore, and was so focused on her warrior training that I never got to see her a lot. Flamepaw had never stopped to make friends with Glacierpaw or Whitepaw, and that worried me.

But what the she-cat had just said to me about Flamepaw…it had me even more worried. Could the tiger she was talking about mean Tigerstar? Did that mean that Flamepaw would behave like Tigerstar?

Well, she certainly had seemed interested in Tigerstar's story when I told it to her.

"Who's Tigerstar?" she had mewed.

I had been surprised. "Don't you know? He's the evil cat that used to be deputy in ThunderClan." I told her the story of Tigerstar.

Flamepaw had listened with great interest, her bright amber eyes not looking away from me until I had finished. Could she have been inspired by what Tigerstar had done?

No, I thought, giving my chest a defiant lick. Flamepaw would never do that. Or would she? I had to find out, I realized. I'd ask Graystripe if we could go with Flamepaw's training lesson. So I padded quickly outside, stretching in the bright sunlight. As I passed the nursery, Ferncloud's kits, Birchkit, Larchkit, and Hollykit, were playing outside. They were about four moons old and would be apprenticed very soon. There weren't a lot of mentors for them in ThunderClan because there were so many apprentices.

I walked over to the Graystripe, who was beside the fresh-kill pile. I swallowed nervously and mewed,

"Er, good morning, Graystripe!"

He swallowed. "'Morning, Dragonpaw," he yawned.

"I…I know that you're the mentor and all, but can we go with Sootfur and Flamepaw to the training hollow?"

Graystripe paused in his eating and looked at me with large green eyes. "Well, I suppose," he mewed. "You and Flamepaw haven't been spending a lot of time together, I've noticed. So, sure, Dragonpaw, because you're such a sweet little cat."

I purred. "Thank you, Graystripe!" I mewed, before bending down and selecting a thrush from the pile.

A few minutes later, Graystripe and I headed for the Sandy Hollow, where Sootfur and Flamepaw already were.

"Hey, Sootfur!" yowled Graystripe.

The gray tom looked up.

"Graystripe," he greeted, dipping his head to his deputy, "good to see you."

"Dragonpaw wanted to train with you and Flamepaw."

I couldn't help but wonder if that was an expression of disappointment on Flamepaw's face, but she didn't say anything.

It was a basic training lesson about crouches and fighting moves. Graystripe and Sootfur even let Flamepaw and I fight each other, but with our claws sheathed, of course. Flamepaw was incredibly strong. If we had been fighting like enemy warriors, she probably would have won. But I pretended not to care and flung myself at her once again. It turned into a playfight after that.

We came back from a patrol about three hours later, paw-sore. The season of leaf-fall was coming very soon, and the air was turning colder. After leaf-fall was the bitter leaf-bare, and the Clan had to prepare itself.

"Hey, Flamepaw," I mewed, walking over to her in the apprentices' den. "Want to go hunting or something?"

She looked away. "Sorry, Dragonpaw," she meowed. "Not now. I've got to go on a patrol with Brackenfur, Thornclaw, and Brambleclaw."

"Well, maybe I can come with you," I suggested.

"No, there are already enough," answered Flamepaw with a shrug. "Oh, there they are. Bye, Dragonpaw." She padded out of the cave order to the three toms.

I sat there, feeling lonlier than I ever had. What had happened to my sister, Flamepaw? She joined the Clan, that's what, I thought. Clanlife had changed her. Now…all she cared about was becoming a great warrior. She never even paid attention to me anymore!

I sighed and walked over to my friend, Glacierpaw. I sat down next to her and mewed,

"I'm worried about Flamepaw."

Glacierpaw looked up. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Well…when we were kittypets, Flamepaw always wanted to spend time with me and play and stuff, you know? But now that we're part of a Clan, she has…changed."

Glacierpaw blinked. "How so?"

"She never wants to do anything with me anymore. I had to ask Graystripe to train with Sootfur just to spend time with her. I think she barely even notices me!"

"Clanlife has changed her," mused Glacierpaw, saying exactly what I had been thinking.

"Yes," I agreed, putting my head on my paws. Should I tell her about what the blue-gray cat had told me? If StarClan had wanted me to tell someone, I thought, they would have said so. At least, I think it was StarClan.

"Just try to spend as much time with her as possible," suggested Glacierpaw. "Go find that patrol that Flamepaw left on and go with them. But if Flamepaw begins to think that you're spending too much time with her, back off for a while, okay?"

"All right, Glacierpaw," I mewed, standing up. "I'll try that."

I walked over to Graystripe and told him I was going to find the patrol that just left before exiting the camp, sniffing hard. They went this way, I thought. To the ShadowClan border. I padded quickly through the forest, until the trees disappeared and I was facing the Thunderpath. Four cats were sitting around the Great Sycamore, with one of them catching prey.

"Hey, guys," I mewed, stepping out of the bushes. Thornclaw looked up.

"Dragonpaw," he meowed, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come with your patrol," I answered. "I told Graystripe where I was going, don't worry!"

Brambleclaw nodded. "All right then."

"But we can patrol the ShadowClan border by ourselves," mumbled Flamepaw. "We don't need your help, sister."

I flinched. She hadn't meant to sound harsh, but her words were like claws.

"Flamepaw!" Brackenfur cuffed her on the back of the head. "She can come if she wants."

Flamepaw said nothing, but looked away.

The patrol went nicely, with no interruptions. ShadowClan was very peaceful, even after we had attacked their camp and taken back Rainwhisker. When we got back, I offered Flamepaw to sit with the elders and me and listen to their stories.

I heard a growl rise from Flamepaw's throat. "I don't want to listen to the elders' stupid stories!" she snarled, whipping around to face me and lashing her tail. "You can't just butt in on my life, Dragonpaw. I am going to be the greatest warrior this forest has ever seen!"

"I'm sure you will be," I mumbled. "But can't you be a good warrior and be close to your sister?"

"I won't be as good!" she snapped, and shot right past me, out of the tunnel.

"Flamepaw!" I called after her. "Flamepaw! Wait!"

I let out a sigh. In an attempt to get the two of us closer together like we used to I had made Flamepaw hate me, and run away. But she'd be back. I hoped.

Not wanting to meet the other apprentices' faces, I sulked over to the fresh-kill pile. Graystripe padded over to me.

"She'll be back," he sighed. "What were you two arguing about anyway?"

I told him everything.

"Ah." Graystripe nodded in understanding. "Well, like I said, don't worry, she'll be back. She just needs to get her head straight."

I nodded. "I'll have to apoligize," I mewed.

But my mentor shook his head. "No, I'll have a word with her," he meowed. "In the meantime, you should get some sleep. You've been training and patrolling all day. Go on, Dragonpaw."

"All right, then," I mewed, and slowly rose to my feet, padding over to the apprentices' den. Spiderpaw, Shrewpaw, and Squirrelpaw were already there.

"Hey, Dragonpaw," mewed Squirrelpaw. "Saw that fight that you and Flamepaw got into. Think it's just part of being a kittypet?"

"I'll bet," agreed Shrewpaw.

"Your father was a kittypet," I mewed to Squirrelpaw.

She shrugged. "He's not soft, like you guys."

"Oh, leave her alone," snapped Spiderpaw. "You're not helping her deal with Flamepaw's disappearance."

"She probably won't come back at all! Kittypets are not made to be warriors!"

"I'm not surprised! Hey, Dragonpaw, when are you going to leave?"

I felt unbelievable anger inside me.

"Want to leave right now, Dragonpaw? I wonder who'd miss you."

"Glacierpaw, probably. But she was a loner! She'll go with you, won't she?"

I leaped.

Sailed through the air, claws extended, ears flat, tail lashing.

Squirrelpaw squeaked as I landed on top of her.

I slashed with all my might. Squirrelpaw bit me but I whipped around, making her release her grip, and clawed at her flank. Suddenly, teeth grabbed me, pulling me off Squirrelpaw. It was Spiderpaw.

"Let me go!" I snarled. "Let me go!"

"Dragonpaw, what has gotten into you?" he demanded. "You're supposed to be the nice one!"

I stopped struggling. I sat on the ground, trembling.

"Sorry, Squirrelpaw," I whispered. "I…I didn't mean…"

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't, kittypet!" she snarled, and limped toward Cinderpelt's den.

"I really didn't mean to," I mumbled to Spiderpaw. "She just made me so mad…"

"I know," he agreed.

At that moment, Glacierpaw entered the den. Her fur bristled slightly at the sight of me.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Dragonpaw made Flamepaw angry, and she ran away," answered Spiderpaw. As I stared into his eyes, I saw not only the fact that he liked Glacierpaw – as everyone knew – but something else – fear. Spiderpaw was afraid of Glacierpaw? "But then Squirrelpaw and Shrewpaw made fun of her kittypet origins, and Dragonpaw…attacked Squirrelpaw." He shivered. "She clawed her up pretty badly, so Squirrelpaw went to see Cinderpelt."

"Oh, Dragonpaw…" sighed Glacierpaw, "I'm so sorry…"

I shrugged. "It's fine." Glacierpaw curled up next to me. I fell asleep quickly.

Something prodded me in the side. My eyes snapped open. I stared into the huge blue eyes of Glacierpaw.

"Flamepaw's back," she whispered, and nudged me.

I rose slowly to my feet, and shook my gray, black, and ginger fur roughly. What a horrible day, I thought bitterly, and padded slowly outside.

Graystripe and Sootfur sat talking to my ginger-pelted sister, both of them looking furious. But Flamepaw looked nonchalant, like she didn't really care. I padded over to them.

"Flamepaw!" I exclaimed, nudging her. "I'm so glad you're back."

She growled and moved away from me. "Stay away from me, sister," snapped Flamepaw.

"Flamepaw!" barked Sootfur. "Your sister has been worried about you. Give her some slack."

Flamepaw said nothing, but whipped around, lashing her tail in my face, and headed over to the fresh-kill pile.

Graystripe sighed. "I don't know what to do with her, Dragonpaw."

"Nor do I," I agreed.

"She's becoming a real pain," he continued. "Maybe we should just leave her alone. Once she realizes that she only becomes a good warrior with friends, maybe she'll be better."

I nodded. "Good idea."

But as the weeks dragged by, and we did indeed leave Flamepaw alone, she didn't seem to notice us doing that. Instead, she took her warrior training even more seriously. I decided not to even bother with her. I gave up, I guess. Flamepaw didn't even like me anymore.

Glacierpaw kept trying to reason with her, but Flamepaw paid no attention. I could tell that she was resisting the urge to swipe a few claws over Glacierpaw's muzzle, but I guess she figured it might damage her chances of being made a warrior soon.

Sickness had been slowly spreading into the camp, and a few warriors had gotten ill. Shrewpaw was resting in Cinderpelt's den, as well as Thornclaw, and Ashfur. I knew that there were a few more than that, but not a lot of warriors were ready to admit that they were sick.

But on a cold leaf-fall day, something terrible happened.

I was eating a thrush by the fresh-kill pile, when suddenly, horrible-looking cats flooded through the tunnel, into the camp. They were very thin, and smelled terrible. But Firestar recognized them instantly.

"They're BloodClan!" he cried. "Scourge's kittypets!"

As if in answer, the cats launched into battle.

A large gray tom tackled me, bowling me over. I hissed angrily. I was a cat that had lost her sister to concentration on being a warrior, and not even Tigerstar's allies were going to defeat me. I yowled and raked my claws against his flank – then I leaped up, my teeth closing around his neck. The tom screeched in pain and ran into the bushes.

I glanced around the clearing. Glacierpaw was wrestling with a she-cat three times her size. Flamepaw was fighting with a tom, clawing at his eyes. Spiderpaw was running to help Glacierpaw. I saw Ravenfur attacking a brown she-cat, with the help of Graystripe, and Sandstorm and Dustpelt were fighting with two toms.

I rushed to help Rainwhisker. The gray tom had recovered well, but it seemed that his wounds were hurting him. I pulled the large black cat off of him and gave the tom a sharp bite in the neck. He yowled. Rainwhisker clawed at his nose and the black tom was sent running into the bushes.

"I am not in as good of shape as I thought I was," admitted Rainwhisker.

"I know," I mewed. "You need rest."

"No. I need to help my Clan."

Before I could stop him, Rainwhisker tore into the crowd of fighting cats. Unable to do anything else, I rushed to help Glacierpaw. The silver and white she-cat was badly injured from battling another she-cat. And it looked as though the rogue was going to finish Glacierpaw off. I leaped onto my friend's attacker's neck, listening to her yowl. The strong cat flung me off, making me land on my back in the dirt. But I wouldn't give up that easily!

I launched to my feet, and flung myself again at the she-cat. She had been preparing to kill Glacierpaw. I gave her a lethal bite to the throat and she collapsed – dead.

I stood frozen. I had never killed a cat before. But before I had time to react, a tom attacked me from the side! He bowled me over, and I felt terribly sharp claws tearing at me. But then, suddenly, he was gone, lost in the crowd of fighting cats. I looked up, and saw that Glacierpaw had pulled him off me. She was bleeding heavily, but could still fight.

I glanced around the clearing. The number of rogue cats were thinning quickly, and Firestar finished off the last one. With a final growl, they carried off their dead and left ThunderClan camp. It was a mess. Fur and blood were everywhere, and nearly every den had been torn apart.

I limped over to Glacierpaw, who was fighting to stay awake.

"Thanks," I gasped. "You really helped me back there."

She managed a shrug. "Yeah, well…" mumbled Glacierpaw, "you're kind of my friend, Dragonpaw…" And she sank into a dead faint.

Cloudtail, Brackenfur, and Glacierpaw suffered from deep wounds, but they made it through all right. The day after the battle was spent making repairs to the camp.

Glacierpaw, Flamepaw, and I worked on the apprentices' den. Even though her wounds were severe, Glacierpaw insisted on helping. And Flamepaw…well, I guess even she could have her good days and bad days.

We froze suddenly when Firestar came padding over to us.

"Well done, you three," he mewed.

"Thank you, Firestar," answered Glacierpaw.

"Are your claws sharp? Are your warrior skills ready?"

Flamepaw leapt to her feet. "Yes! Of course, Firestar!"

He purred. "I see no need to test you," he mewed. "Your warrior ceremony will be in about an hour." The leader of ThunderClan padded away.

I blinked, and turned slowly toward my friend and sister. "Warrior ceremony?" I gasped. "Does he mean…we're going to be made warriors?"

Glacierpaw let out an excited yowl and tackled me. "Of course, you stupid furball!" she mewed, purring with amusement. "We're going to be made warriors! I'll be Glacierfur or Glacierpelt or Glacier something –"

I raised my head high, wondering what my warrior name would be. Dragontail? Dragonfur? Dragonpelt?

We worked extra hard on the apprentices' den while we were waiting. In the last thirty minutes, we groomed ourselves so that we looked nice for our warrior ceremony. I can't wait to see the look on Squirrelpaw's face! I thought happily.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join me beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

It was Firestar's yowl! Glacierpaw, Flamepaw, and I glanced at each other excitedly, knowing what was coming up. We padded out of the apprentices' den, our fur sleeked down, and sat next to Spiderpaw, and Graystripe.

"Yesterday, all of you showed incredible courage," began Firestar. "BloodClan is apparently becoming strong again, and it was terrible luck that they attacked when they did, when we had three warriors sick –"

"They must have had help from the inside!" called Dappletail from the elders' den.

"Surely there can't be another cat like Darkstripe in the Clan," mewed Firestar, frowning.

"You never know," muttered Speckletail darkly.

"But three specific apprentices were one of the bravest," continued Firestar. He flicked his tail at the three of us. Slowly and nervously, we padded up to him. Firestar raised his head to StarClan and began the ritual.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and we commend them to you as warriors in their turn."

I looked down at the crowd, and saw Squirrelpaw's umistakable look of anger and disbelief and I couldn't help but twitch my whiskers with amusement. It was so perfect!

Firestar looked at the three of us. "Flamepaw, Glacierpaw, Dragonpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your own life?"

"I do," mewed Flamepaw defiantly.

"I do," whispered Glacierpaw.

"I do," I mewed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names: Flamepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Flamestorm. StarClan honors your loyalty and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Firestar rested his head on Flamestorm's, before turning to me.

"Dragonpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dragonheart. StarClan honors your loyalty and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Dragonheart! I thought, my heart swelling with pride as Firestar rested his head on mine. I've been made a warrior!

"Glacierpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Glacierclaw," continued Firestar. StarClan honors your loyalty and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Glacierclaw was trembling so much that she could barely bend forward to allow Firestar to rest his head on hers. He let us come down from the Highrock as my Clan chanted our names.

"Flamestorm! Dragonheart! Glacierclaw!"

"Remember, you have to sit vigil for the night," mewed Firestar, padding over to us. "You cannot talk or sleep. Sit in the center of the camp."

We nodded silently and sat in the middle of the camp – my smug, rude, but strong sister Flamestorm, and my loyal, confident, powerful friend Glacierclaw. And me, of course. Dragonheart. Quiet, sensitive, friendly.

We sat there all night, the three of us. And I can tell you one thing: StarClan, it was a cold vigil.

When the sun finally rose the next morning, and cats stretched in the sunlight, Graystripe padded over to me, yawning.

"You can speak now," he mewed. "Your vigil is over."

Glacierclaw leapt to her feet. "Thank StarClan," she mewed. "That was freezing."

"You should have seen mine and Firestar's!" agreed Graystripe. "We were made warriors practically right in the middle of leaf-bare."

"Poor you," I mewed, standing up and stretching.

Glacierclaw yawned. "I'm going to see Spiderpaw," she announced, and headed over to the apprentices' den.

Flamestorm and I walked to the warriors' den. I purred.

"I guess we sleep here now," I mewed.

"I guess," agreed Flamestorm. Her tone was casual, but I could tell she was as excited as I was.

I curled up in my nest and fell asleep quickly.

I had no warning dreams about Flamestorm as I slept, but my doze was interrupted by a sharp poke in my side, and a cat calling my name.

"Dragonheart! Wake up!"

I blinked slowly, and looked into the eyes of Glacierclaw. She was worried.

"What's going on?" I mewed sleepily.

"It's Flamestorm! I can't find her anywhere!"

Haha, cliffy.

So…they were made warriors. Now it gets interesting. To be honest, Flamestorm and Dragonheart05 wanted me to make them apprentices for nine chapters, but I didn't have any more ideas for them.

Also, I know my penname is Glacierclaw, and that Glacierclaw in the story is in love with Spiderpaw…but that freaking does not mean that I like Spiderpaw! Okay? Is that clear, Flamestorm and Dragonheart05? Good. Anyway, review!