Wow, dudes! Ten reviews? Ten? Wow, you guys must really wanted me to rewrite this… (grins sheepishly)…again, sorry for taking a while. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and now, let's get back to the story…

Chapter Three

"Glacierstar?" It was Leafstorm. She must have seen what happened.

I shivered, not from the cold, but from the terrifying images of what I had seen. The Fourtress on fire…horrifying. My brain was swirling with fear, and I tried to remember what Bramblestar had told me, but it made my head hurt. I stood up slowly, padding over to the light brown tabby she-cat who was Firestar's daughter.

"Did you see it?" I asked her.

"Just the fire," she replied nervously. "All I could see were flames." Leafstorm brought herself up into sitting position. "Did you receive your nine lives?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I never knew that the ritual would be so fantastic."

Leafstorm purred. "StarClan surprises us all. Come on, let's get out of here. It's freezing." She led the way into the gladly welcomed outside.

I stood on the stone of Highstones, feeling so proud that I was leader, and one of the most powerful cats in the forest. This would be my first day of leading the Clan, I thought, feeling a rush of pride. I followed Leafstorm across the Thunderpath, being exceptionally careful not to waste the lives I had just acquired ten minutes ago.

As we were walking toward Fourtress, however, we ran into trouble; I scented two, no, three WindClan warriors trotting toward us. I tensed, ready for battle. Leafstorm had not yet scented what I had, and was very scared when the three of them came out of the grass.

One of the cats was the deputy of WindClan, Stonyfoot. He was an admired gray-pelted warrior. The other two were Slatefoot and Palestripe, both of them young but capable.

"Glacierclaw? Leafstorm?" It was Stonyfoot mewing to us. The two other warriors stayed behind, ready for a fight. "What are you doing on our territory?"

"I went to the Moonstone to receive my nine lives," I replied confidently. "My name is Glacierstar now."

"Oh." Stonyfoot looked very surprised indeed to hear this news, and embarrassed that he had not respected a Clan leader. "I'm sorry, Glacierstar. I hope you have traveled well?"

"Well, now we have," I replied, purring in amusement and sitting down. "The Thunderpath is usually quiet this time of night."

"I should have known that ThunderClan would be traveling to the Moonstone tonight," meowed Stonyfoot, still looking sheepish. "After all, WindClan did slain their leader."

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, and Bramblestar also killed Robinstar," I told him coldly. "When is Crowtail traveling to the Moonstone?"

"Tomorrow night," he answered.

I stood up, not wanting to continue this conversation anymore. "It was nice talking to you, but I must return to my Clan," I mewed. "Good-bye, Stonyfoot, Palestripe, Slatefoot."

They dipped their heads respectfully to me and disappeared into the dense grass. I trotted quickly ahead, with Leafstorm behind me, panting a bit as she kept up.

"That was rather rude of Stonyfoot," she mewed. "He's a good warrior, I'll admit, but he has to choose his words more carefully."

"Definitely," I agreed with a purr of amusement.

I was ever so relieved when the scents around me changed into the familiar scent of ThunderClan. I was so glad to be home, to have the recognizable trees over my head. I walked a little faster, eager to reach the camp.

"Glacierstar!"

It was my apprentice, Creampaw, who noticed our arrival first. He was a small white tom with relatively long fur and amber eyes. He had a sister, Glitterpaw, whose mentor was Powderstripe. Creampaw came running right up to me, purring loudly in greeting. He was younger than the other apprentices.

"Welcome back, Glacierstar," mewed an incredible warrior, Skyfoot. "Welcome back." Skyfoot was very ambitious and thought he was better than he really was, but ThunderClan needed his skills and he was great to be around.

"Thanks, Skyfoot. How is Spiraltail?"

My daughter was in the nursery with kits.

"She's doing well," he answered. "The little kit with whitecough is doing much better."

"Good," I mewed, relieved. "I have to name the new deputy. Excuse me."

I padded toward Bramblestar's den. My den, I mean. This would be so hard getting used to. I stopped when I heard a voice calling me.

"Glacierstar!"

As expected, it was Sprucecloud. The ginger she-cat padded toward me, looking anxious.

"I had Mistypaw do the elder's beddings," she mewed. "Was that okay?"

I sighed. Sprucecloud was a very strong, loyal warrior, but she was not very self-confident. Her apprentice, Mistypaw was probably not getting the training she needed.

"Just do what your mentor taught you," I instructed. "Barkstorm, wasn't it? Just tell Mistypaw to do exactly what Barkstorm used to tell you. Yes, Sprucecloud, that was a good job, but that is expected apprentice training. I have my apprentice doing much more training than that. You are acting as though you are still an apprentice, and I am your mentor. Remember, Sprucecloud, that you are a warrior now." I gave her a soft look. "But you are still doing well with Mistypaw's training. Just keep in mind what I have told you."

"Yes, Glacierstar," replied Sprucecloud, sounding relieved, and padded away.

I entered Bramblestar's unfamiliar den. The scents of him still lingered everywhere I turned. I sighed, settling down, wishing I could not be leader, have some other cat take the job…but that could never happen. I had to deal with what had happened. So I concentrated on the naming of the new deputy.

At first, I thought of Squirreltail. She was a swift, powerful warrior. But she might abuse her position as deputy, boss the Clan around, try to make herself more important than she was. Squirreltail was out, though it might have been sweet to allow the old leader's daughter to take his place.

It could not be Spiderpelt, that was for sure. If I named my mate as deputy, that would not be a good start for me as leader of ThunderClan. It couldn't be Ashenwind or Nightcloud, either, same reason.

But then I thought of Dragonheart, my best friend. She was one of the senior warriors in the Clan, strong, brave. I remembered her helping me out of so many predicaments. She had avenged me so long ago by killing my killer, Flamestorm. There's a long story there, but Dragonheart had been brave enough to kill her own sister.

I stretched, extending my claws. Dragonheart will be the deputy, I thought, relieved that was settled. Now all I had to do was announce it to the Clan.

I padded nervously out of my den, and several heads looked up. This would be my first time speaking for the Clan. I hopped up on the Highrock and yowled the traditional call for summoning the Clan,

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

My Clan left their dens to sit before me. I watched them come back from their patrols. I could see some of Amberfoot's older kits coming out to watch. I was glad to see that all these cats, old and young, had the same look of respect deep in their eyes.

"The time has come to name the new deputy," I began, remembering how Graystar had done it, and Bramblestar after him. "May StarClan see and approve my choice." I hesitated, wondering if my Clan would disagree with who I had chosen. "The new deputy of ThunderClan is Dragonheart."

My friend looked up in surprise; I was glad she looked rather stunned, that way the Clan would know she hadn't asked to be deputy. The gray, black, and ginger she-cat had been badly hurt in the last battle with WindClan. There was an angry scar scross her right eye. She stood up, flicking her tail nervously and proudly, and mewed,

"Thank you, Glacierstar. I am honored to be your deputy."

"Thank you, Dragonheart," I replied, and leapt down signaling that the meeting was over. I padded over to Graytail, who was guarding the nursery.

"Glacierstar." The gray tom sneered openly at me. I was shocked; he had always been rude, but I thought he'd have gotten some respect for me after I was made leader. "Going to see Spiraltail's kits, are you? Hope they'll look like Twolegs, too? Or maybe they'll run away like you did when you were a loner…"

I unsheathed my claws. "Oh, shut it, Graytail."

"Yeah," chimed in another cat; it was Burrowfoot, his brother. The dark brown tom was not as fearless as some of the warriors in the Clan, but he was a thinker. "Graytail, don't. Just, don't. It's traditional – no, expected – that you should have respect for your leader."

Graytail snorted loudly and padded away, muttering, "A Twoleg for a leader…"

"I'm sorry about him," Burrowfoot apoligized to me. "He's been grouchy ever since you were made deputy."

I shrugged. "He's probably right, anyway. I am a Twoleg. Literally." I purred with laughter.

Burrowfoot's expression didn't change. "Don't listen to him, Glacierstar," he mewed in a quiet voice. "He wants you to feel worse than you should. Now, go enjoy Spiraltail's kits. They're growing so fast."

He dipped his head respectfully to me before padding away. I walked into the nursery, feeling rather stunned, but brightened up quickly when I noticed Spiraltail's kits.

There were two of them, a tom and a she-cat. Blizzardkit was the male, a very light gray-pelted tom, and Dovekit the female. She was a pretty, purely white she-cat. Spiraltail, their mother, purred at the sight of me. She had an unusually patterned coat – all white except for the black stripe that ran down her tail like a spiral. Hence her name.

Ashenwind, her sister, was sitting next to her. The cream-pelted she-cat was almost asleep. Spiraltail nudged her as I approached, and Ashenwind gave a start.

"Glacierstar!" she mewed quietly so not to disturb Morningcloud's newborn kits. "I can't believe you're leader."

"Neither can I," I replied, tossing my head confidently to show I was being modest. I did not want my Clan to think I was a terrible leader.

"Glacierstar," whispered Dovekit, padding toward me on thick, unsteady paws. Her voice came out more like 'Glakkertar,' but that was okay. She was only about half a moon old. Blizzardkit, on the other hand, kept quietly to himself, sniffing things on the other side of the nursery.

"Blizzardkit," I cooed in a gentle voice. I flicked my tail.

The light gray tom looked up in surprise, and padded over to me, stumbling. They're so cute, I thought.

Yeah, sort of an introduction to the Clan, not a lot happening. Please review!