"Right then, Cinderpaw," Fireheart meowed. "I'm going to keep your assessment fairly simple. All I want you to do is engage in a mock battle with me. We'll keep our claws sheathed, but other than that, I want you to treat it as you would any normal fight."

"I understand, Fireheart," Cinderpaw meowed obediently.

"Good. Go to the other side of the training hollow, and we'll start the battle on my command," Fireheart replied, taking a few paces backward.

Cinderpaw nodded and hurried to the opposite end of the sandy hollow. Once she had gathered herself, she gave a quick nod to her mentor to indicate that she was ready for him to give the starting command.

"Ready, two, one, start!"

Fireheart crouched down and took a few steps forward, hissing. Cinderpaw mirrored his movements, her injured leg hovering just above the ground as she moved towards him. After a few heartbeats, he shot forward before swerving in the direction of her crippled leg, forcing her off balance as she tried to turn to meet him. She stumbled, but instead of collapsing into a heap, she used the momentum from her fall to roll away. Before Fireheart had time to react, the dark gray molly leaped back to her paws, leaping at him and pinning him down into the soft sand. He flipped her off of him, but she simply rolled over again and jumped back to her feet. Fireheart rushed forward again, but this time, Cinderpaw was ready. Before he could swerve, she ducked and twisted underneath him, flipping him over onto his back and landing squarely on top of him. To finish off the mock battle, Cinderpaw pretended to sink her fangs into his shoulder and raked her hind paws over his stomach.

"I did it!" Cinderpaw cheered, jumping off of him. "I really did it!"

"Well done, Cinderpaw!" Fireheart purred, clambering back to his feet. He touched his nose to his apprentice's ear and meowed softly, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Fireheart," the dark gray molly purred happily. She hesitated, then asked, "Does this mean I get to become a warrior now?"

She looked so anxious, her paws kneading the ground as she awaited his response. Fireheart knew better than almost anyone how much this meant to her. Although Cinderpaw had shown no sign of jealousy when she watched her littermates earn their warrior names before her, he knew it had to sting a little, especially knowing that she would have been there with them if not for her accident. But she had never allowed herself to become bitter or resentful, and she had worked three times as hard as anyone to get to where she was now. If there was anyone who deserved to become a warrior more than Cinderpaw, Fireheart had yet to meet them.

"Of course," he replied finally, his voice full of conviction. "I couldn't think of anyone more deserving."

Cinderpaw let out a yelp of joy, chasing her tail around in excitement as though she were a tiny kit again. Fireheart purred in amusement, gently touching his tail to her shoulder and leading her out of the training hollow. Together, the two cats padded back towards the ThunderClan camp, where they found nearly half the Clan waiting for them expectantly. As soon as she saw them, Frostfur rushed forward, followed closely by Bluestar, Brackenfur, Brightheart, and Thornclaw.

"Well? How did your assessment go? Did you pass?" Frostfur asked anxiously, her white fur fluffing up slightly.

Cinderpaw lifted her chin up proudly and replied, "I did it. I passed."

There were mingled exclamations of joy and relief at the young molly's declaration. Cinderpaw's family rushed forward to congratulate her, while Fernpaw and Ashpaw started up a celebratory chant that was quickly picked up by Squirrelkit, Redkit, Spotkit, Bramblekit, and Tawnykit. Even Snowkit, although he couldn't hear what was being said, was chasing his tail around in excitement, the joyous mood of the surrounding warriors clearly infectious.

"Congratulations, Cinderpaw!" Brightheart meowed excitedly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Brightheart," Cinderpaw purred.

"Thornclaw and I already made a nest for you in the warriors' den," Brackenfur told his sister. "You'll be sleeping right in between us."

"Well done indeed, Cinderpaw," Bluestar meowed warmly. "The sunhigh patrol is still out right now, but as soon as they return, we'll hold your naming ceremony right away. In the meantime, go take a piece of fresh-kill and then have a nap. You've earned it."

Cinderpaw nodded and headed over to the fresh-kill pile, her tail high and her fur fluffed up with excitement. Her siblings followed close behind, still talking enthusiastically amongst themselves. Frostfur went to follow her kits as well but paused briefly to look over her shoulder at Fireheart. She didn't say anything, but there was no need for her to do so. The warmth and gratitude in her blue eyes told him more than any words ever could.

Briefly, Fireheart wondered if Cinderpaw's father, Lionheart, was watching over his daughter from StarClan. The golden warrior had died in a battle with ShadowClan when Cinderpaw and her siblings were still in the nursery, and Fireheart wished they could have gotten to know him better. He had helped with Fireheart's own training as well, after all, and the flame-pelted warrior could only hope that he had returned the favor. Perhaps, in some way, Lionheart would be at his daughter's side when she received her warrior name today.

It was nearly sunset when the patrol, consisting of Longtail, Ravenflight, and Runningwind, finally returned to the camp. As soon as they padded through the gorse tunnel, Bluestar leaped on top of the Highrock and gave the command that signaled the start of a Clan meeting. Fireheart padded over to sit beside Sandstorm near the center of the clearing, brushing his cheek gently against her's in greeting. Ravenflight and Dustpelt sat down a few tail-lengths away, and Fernpaw and Ashpaw took a seat near the edge of the clearing. They were joined by their mother, Brindleface, and Willowpelt, who had to struggle to untangle herself from Sorrelkit and Rainkit before she was able to join her Clanmates. Sorrelkit looked disappointed, but Bramblekit gave her a comforting nudge, which seemed to do the trick in cheering her up.

At last, Cinderpaw emerged, her dark gray pelt glowing. She was surrounded by her family, who settled down in the center of the clearing. Cinderpaw kept walking until she was right in front of Bluestar, looking up at the ThunderClan leader with shining blue eyes.

"ThunderClan, our Clan has suffered greatly in the past few moons. But today, we have an occasion we can all celebrate. One of our apprentices has completed her training, despite a hardship that most of us can only imagine, and I am proud to announce that her hard work is about to receive its long-overdue recognition. Therefore, I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard–harder than most–to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. So Cinderpaw," she meowed, looking down at the younger cat. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Cinderpaw meowed, her voice ringing out clear and firm.

"Then by the power of StarClan, I grant you your warrior name. Cinderpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Cinderheart. StarClan honors your free spirit, your positivity, and your unwavering determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

She leaped down from the Highrock and padded forward to touch her muzzle to Cinderheart's head. Cinderheart licked her shoulder respectfully and stepped back, her eyes glowing, if possible, even more brightly than before.

"Cinderheart! Cinderheart!" Brackenfur, Brightheart, Thornclaw, and Frostfur cheered the young warrior's new name.

"Cinderheart! Cinderheart!" Fireheart, Sandstorm, Ravenflight, and Dustpelt picked up the call, with the rest of the Clan quickly doing so as well. Even the kits were cheering as well, much to the amusement of the queens.

"As per Clan tradition, Cinderheart will keep a silent vigil tonight," Bluestar announced as soon as the chants had died down. "That is all for today. Meeting dismissed."

"Come on, Cinderheart!" Brightheart meowed eagerly. "Let's have a meal to celebrate. Your first piece of fresh-kill as a real warrior!"

"Sure, Brightheart," Cinderheart agreed, padding off in the direction of the fresh-kill pile with her sister. The rest of her family joined them as well, taking a piece of prey each before walking over to the clump of nettles near the spot where the warriors shared their meals.

"Come on, we should get something to eat ourselves," Sandstorm meowed, getting to her paws. "You can pick something for us to share, and I'll get something for our kits."

"Might as well take the entire fresh-kill pile with their appetites," Fireheart joked. Sandstorm chuckled and shook her head fondly.

Now that Cinderheart had her warrior name, it was time to turn his attention to other pressing matters. Snowkit would begin his training within a few days, and Fireheart knew they were about to enter uncharted territory. Never before had a Clan trained a deaf apprentice. Not only that, but there were still several repairs to the camp that needed to be made. The Clan had been working from sunrise to sunset ever since they had returned home, but with all the damage the fire had caused, their efforts had seemingly remained unrewarded.

However, they could worry about that in the morning. For now, the Clan could bask in the enjoyment of seeing Cinderheart become a full warrior of ThunderClan at last.

SHE DID IT, EVERYONE! TIME TO PARTY!

So yeah, I decided to change her warrior name to Cinderheart. I figured that would suit her better than Cinderpelt, and considering the real Cinderheart doesn't exist in this AU (since, you know, the entire reason for her reincarnation was BS and isn't even a thing in this series), it seemed like the perfect suffix to use. I also just...don't really like the name Cinderpelt. Even if she didn't become a warrior, considering how much she went through in order to get to where she was as a medicine cat, you'd think that they'd try a little harder in coming up with a suitable name for her. Now, it is possible that she was named for Silverpelt, but it still reads more like, "Your pelt is the color of cinders, so I'm going to name you Cinderpelt, perfect!"

Responses to a few reviews:

Dave: Thank you! Yes, Fireheart is incredibly salty. We all know where he gets it from too (*looks pointedly at Bluestar*).

scarlett quagmire: Oh, don't worry. Fireheart will forever be a salty, unapologetic little devil even after he becomes Clan leader. But he's still nice. So there's that.

Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Hmm, a good Tigerstar...well, the only problem with that is I still need someone to bring Scourge and BloodClan into the forest. But who knows, maybe I can figure something out. No promises, though. You'll just have to find out as the story progresses :).

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior