Lilypaw narrowed her eyes as a rabbit hopped across her path, seemingly oblivious to her presence. As her prey paused for a moment to sniff at a patch of berries, she sent a silent prayer of thanks to StarClan that it wasn't a bird she was stalking. The last thing she needed was to be forced to climb again, especially during her warrior assessment. She wasn't absolutely petrified of heights anymore–she could make it up at least two fox-lengths without hyperventilating–but if she never had to climb another tree, she would die happy.

Almost there, she thought as she crept toward the rabbit, careful not to make a single sound. She pounced, killing it with one swift bite. Yes!

Burying the rabbit under a pile of leaves, Lilypaw glanced up at the sky. It wasn't quite sunhigh yet, meaning she still had time to catch a few more pieces of fresh-kill before it was time to head back to the camp to meet Thrushpelt. She continued on her way through the forest, pausing again a few heartbeats later when she scented a mouse somewhere a few fox-lengths away. Narrowing her eyes, she scanned the area, trying to find the small rodent.

There! Lilypaw spotted the mouse sifting through a pile of leaves.

Quickly, she dropped into a crouch and padded forward, her steps light and swift this time. Before the mouse had time to sense her, she leaped, sinking her teeth into its neck. The tiny gray animal went limp in her jaws. At the same time, another mouse darted across her path, and Lilypaw quickly dropped the one in her jaws and killed the second one as well.

That should be enough for me to pass my assessment, Lilypaw thought happily.

A moment later, her optimism was replaced by dread when she heard a rustling sound from somewhere above her head. Looking up, the young molly spotted a blackbird perched on a branch about four fox-lengths above the ground. It hadn't seen her yet, which was good since if it did, it would undoubtedly call an alarm that would frighten off everyone else's prey. If that happened, she would definitely fail her assessment, never mind how much prey she had caught. As it was, the bird had no idea she was there, so Lilypaw was perfectly content to leave it right where it was.

But what if Thrushpelt sees me leave the blackbird and decides I can't be a warrior? she wondered. Although she hadn't seen him, she knew her sandy-gray mentor was watching her. What if he decides to fail me because I'm still too scared to climb?

Lilypaw stood there for several long heartbeats, torn on what to do. Part of her knew that she was being ridiculous, that there was no way Thrushpelt would fail her after she had done so well. He would never be so unfair, especially when he knew how frightened she was of heights. But at the same time, a shred of doubt lingered in her mind. If she abandoned the hunt now, it would look as though she were running away. Warriors weren't supposed to run away, even when they were scared. Running away was for cowards, and if there was one thing Lilypaw was not, it was a coward.

"Lilypaw, what are you doing?"

With a groan, she spun around to see Snowfur and Thistleclaw standing behind her. Now that the spiky-furred tom was here, she had no choice but to try to catch the blackbird. If she didn't, he would no doubt find great joy in telling the whole camp that she was too afraid to climb a tree. Not that she cared what he thought, but she certainly didn't need any trouble from an arrogant tom such as him.

"My assessment," she replied shortly, glaring at Thistleclaw. "I'm almost finished. Just going to get that blackbird up there."

"Good luck," Snowfur meowed warmly, and Lilypaw gave her sister a friendly look.

"Don't pull any funny business this time," she growled at Thistleclaw, referencing the disastrous hunt at Sunningrocks a few moons ago.

Turning around, Lilypaw tried to ignore her rapidly-beating heart as she tried to find the best way to scale the tree. Using her claws to climb the trunk was the easiest, but she feared that the blackbird would hear her claws scraping against the bark. That meant she would have to jump from branch to branch. Lilypaw searched for a low-hanging branch, finally finding one about three tail-lengths above her head.

Here goes nothing, she thought grimly.

Vividly aware of Snowfur and Thistleclaw's gazes trained on her back, Lilypaw crouched down and prepared to jump. Before she could rethink her decision, she forced herself upward, landing safely on the first branch. To her relief, although it shook slightly, it didn't do anything to alert the blackbird.

One down, way too many more to go.

She leaped up again, landing on another branch two tail-lengths above the first. The next one was just barely above that, so she made quick work of that one as well. As she ascended higher and higher above the ground, Lilypaw kept her eyes trained on the blackbird, resisting the temptation to look back down.

Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down, she chanted silently.

The blackbird was so close, she could almost reach out and snag it. Unfortunately for Lilypaw, she had encountered a new problem. The next branch–the one the blackbird was on, incidentally–was too high for her to leap to from where she was. She had no choice; she would have to climb the trunk while making as little noise as possible. Sending a silent plea to StarClan for help, Lilypaw unsheathed her claws and placed them carefully into the bark. Taking a deep breath, she began to climb.

StarClan, I implore you, don't let me frighten it away now. Not after I've gone to all this trouble to get up here.

It seemed to take an entire lifetime to reach the final branch. Every time Lilypaw moved, she resisted the urge to flinch, paranoid that any movement would alert her prey to her presence. Still, she made her way up, slowly and painfully. At one point, her claws accidentally scraped the bark, and she froze as the blackbird paused for a moment and looked around. Lilypaw held her breath, then relaxed as it settled down again. With one final push, she pulled herself onto the branch, silently letting out a sigh of relief.

Thank StarClan, Lilypaw thought fervently.

She was almost there now. Just a few more steps and the blackbird would be in her grasp. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Lilypaw crouched down and began to stalk towards her feathered prey.

Don't look down, she ordered herself. If she looked down now, there was no doubt she would panic.

There were only three tail-lengths between her and the blackbird now. If she wanted, she could easily catch it right now. Still, Lilypaw hesitated for a few heartbeats. She didn't know if the branch would hold up if she had to jump, not to mention there was the possibility that she might miss her landing entirely. Deciding to go the safer route, she took a few more steps forward until she was only a tail-length away.

Now!

Lilypaw lunged forward, snagging the blackbird in her claws. Not wanting to give it time to call out an alarm, she sank her teeth into its neck, killing it instantly. The bird went limp in her jaws as she sat up, a wave of mixed relief and triumph washing over her.

"Well done!" Snowfur called up to her.

"Thanks!" Lilypaw called back–and promptly made the mistake of looking down.

Snowfur and even the unusually large Thistleclaw looked like mere specks from her perch in the tree. The ground below appeared almost as far away as the sky itself, and Lilypaw thought it might be even further away. Letting out a gasp of shock, Lilypaw stumbled back. Unfortunately, this movement caused her to slip off the branch, sending her plummeting toward the forest floor.

"This is the last time I ever–oh!" she grunted as her body was knocked against another branch.

"I only decided to do this because I had to–ow!"

Another branch.

"I don't even like trees–ouch!"

Another one.

"This stupid bird–ow!"

Another one.

"Well, if it comes to it, I'll just whack Thistleclaw over the head with it," Lilypaw muttered as she finally hit the ground with a grunt of pain. Fortunately, she didn't hear anything snap, so she assumed she had escaped without breaking any bones. "Ouch."

"Lilypaw!" Snowfur cried, rushing over to her. Thistleclaw followed, looking utterly disinterested. "Lilypaw, are you okay?"

"I think so," Lilypaw grunted, pushing herself up. "Just a bit bruised."

"Oh, you really need to stop doing things like that," her sister huffed, giving Lilypaw's fur a few vigorous licks. "Honestly! What were you thinking? You should know to be careful when you're climbing! You're lucky you didn't go any higher or else you'd be in even worse shape!"

"But I caught the blackbird," Lilypaw meowed cheerfully, picking it up from where she had dropped it during her fall.

"Yes, indeed. Well done, Lilypaw," Thrushpelt meowed, striding over towards them. Lilypaw jumped slightly and spun around. "You did an excellent job today."

"Thanks!" she replied happily. "Does that mean I pass?"

"Of course," Thrushpelt purred, flicking her shoulder with his tail. "We'll have Sunstar hold your ceremony at sunset."

"Yay!" Lilypaw cheered, accidentally flinging the blackbird into the air. It soared upward for a moment before bouncing off of Thistleclaw's head. "Ha–I mean, oops."

"Congratulations, Lilypaw!" Snowfur purred, giving her an affectionate lick between her ears. "You'll be sleeping in the warriors' den with me and Bluefur now."

Thistleclaw didn't look at all pleased about this, but Lilypaw was too excited to pay him any attention. Finally, after moons of training, she would be sharing a den with her sisters again. She wondered what her warrior name would be. Personally, she liked the idea of being named Lilystorm or Lilysong. Lilyfur would be a cool name as well, if only because she would match with her sisters. The only names she was completely opposed to were ones related to flowers, such as Lilyspring, Lilyflower, or Lilypetal. Ever since she had been a kit, everyone had assumed that Lilypaw loved flowers because of her name, and she had grown to heartily dislike them because of this.

I have to go. I can't let Sunstar give me a flower name, Lilypaw thought, turning and sprinting back toward the ThunderClan camp.

"Lilypaw, wait! Where are you going?" Thrushpelt called after her. "We still need to take back your prey!"

"I can't talk right now!" Lilypaw yowled over her shoulder. "I have to stop Sunstar from giving me a flower name!"

Fortunately, she didn't have anything to worry about. As the newly-named Lilyspark settled down in the middle of the camp for her vigil, she reflected on the amusement on her father's face when she had all but threatened to kick him from the camp to Highstones if he even thought about giving her a flower-related name. In hindsight, it probably hadn't been the best course of action, but Sunstar had simply rested his tail gently on her shoulder and assured her that he would never do such a thing. Instead, he had named her Lilyspark, a name that she was definitely pleased with.

It is a strange one, though, Lilyspark mused. I don't think any cat has ever been given "spark" as a suffix. Hey, maybe I'll become part of ancient history as the first cat to ever have it! No, wait...that's stupid...

She turned her head to look at the moon shining high in the night sky. It hadn't quite reached its peak yet, which meant she still had a long night of waiting ahead of her. Resisting the temptation to yawn in boredom, Lilyspark glanced over at the entrance to the warriors' den. Through the dim light, she could faintly make out the shapes of her sisters and mother as they slept on. Lilyspark purred silently to herself, remembering the pride in their gazes as she received her warrior name.

The entrance to the warriors' den rustled as Stormtail pushed his way out. Lilyspark glanced away uncomfortably, well aware of the history between the blue-gray tom and Moonflower. Moreover, Stormtail had never been friendly to her. He had never been rude like Thistleclaw often was, but he seemed to go out of his way to ignore her. Most of the time, Lilyspark couldn't care less whether he spoke to her or not, but right now she was supposed to be sitting vigil and she was wondering if she was meant to ask him where he was going.

"Don't mind me," Stormtail grunted in a low voice as he passed her. "Just going to use the dirtplace."

Lilyspark just nodded and turned to watch the apprentices' den again. It was empty at the moment, which worried her slightly. Tigerkit was the oldest kit in the nursery, and he wouldn't become an apprentice for a few more moons. Until then, the Clan would be without any new warriors to train.

Oh well. We'll just have to make do with the ones we have now, she thought.

Letting out a sigh, Lilyspark gazed back up at the moon, waiting silently for her night of solitude and silence to end.

As soon as she was given permission to abandon her post, Lilyspark wasted no time in heading inside the warriors' den to her nest. It was on the outer edge, which didn't surprise her since she was the newest warrior. She curled up inside as Moonflower walked past her, pausing momentarily to murmur a greeting to the white-furred molly as she padded out of the den.

"Sleep well, dear," Moonflower meowed softly.

Lilyspark was about to do just that when Snowfur's voice piped up from the other side of the den. Curious as to what her sister was talking about, Lilyspark closed her eyes while straining her ears to listen in on Snowfur's conversation.

"Thistleclaw, wake up. I have news for you," the older warrior meowed excitedly.

"What is it?" Thistleclaw grunted, still sounding as though he were half-asleep. Lilyspark turned her head ever so slightly to see the gray and white warrior push himself out of his nest.

The next words out of Snowfur's mouth made her wish that she had fallen asleep instead of listening in on their conversation.

"I'm going to have your kits."

Good news, our girl is a warrior now! Bad news...Snowfur is going to have Thistleclaw's kits. But hey, at least it means Whitestorm will still be a thing later in the story.

Lily finally managed to climb a tree! Although, the climb down could have gone a lot better...poor Lily. I don't think she'll be trying that again anytime soon.

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior