Nightpaw woke with a start, laying in the clearing with Halfpaw curled up next to her, the sun shining down on the two cats.
With a yawn and a stretch, Nightpaw stood and tapped Halfpaw's head to wake him up.
"Hey, We should probably be getting back. I'm sure our mentors will be looking for us." Nightpaw said, nudging the sleepy apprentice again with her nose.
Halfpaw stood drowsily, trying to get his paws under him correctly before following Nightpaw out of the small clearing.
They walked towards the clan camp for a moment before the black she-cat stopped suddenly.
"Wait. I think I smell something."
Halfpaw paused and looked back at her, a questioning look on his face.
"Huh? What do you mean you smell something?" He asked.
"I...I'm not sure. Maybe we should check it out?" Nightpaw muttered, walking up beside Halfpaw again.
The black and brown cat hesitated for a moment, his curious look even more defined now.
"I don't think so. Wispclaw always told me if there was anything strange on Rubyclan territory, then I need to have a warrior for backup."
"We don't have a warrior here now. It may be something important. And if we find out, then we can report back to Wickerstar."
Halfpaw hesitated.
"Well, If you want to get a warrior, that's fine. I'll go look for whatever it is. I'll leave a trail from here ok?"
"I don't want to leave you to do this by yourself. What if it's something that you can't handle alone?"
Nightpaw bristled and narrowed her eyes at him.
"What, do you think I can't handle it?" She said, a hint of indignation in her voice.
"Uhh…" Halfpaw murmured, his eyes flickering in the direction of the Rubyclan camp.
Nightpaw lashed her tail in irritation but quickly composed herself.
"Fine, go get somecat while I go make sure whatever this is isn't dangerous." Nightpaw said, turning to head towards the smell.
"No, wait, I'm coming. I can't leave you to do this by yourself." Halfpaw said quickly, bounding up next to her.
The black apprentice flicked her tail in acknowledgement. As she crouched down and made her way through the bushes.
Above them, the sky grew darker as the clouds covered the sun, a smell of water clearly on the air.
The two apprentices snuck through the underbrush, Nightpaw leading the way as they pressed on.
The bushes got a bit thicker as they moved on, giving the young cats trouble making it through.
"Oh starclan, Whatever that is, It smells disgusting." Halfpaw said.
Finally they push through with Nightpaw in the lead as they came out to see a pile of dead and rotting prey.
Nightpaw recoiled in disgust, putting a paw over her nose.
"Ugh! What is this?" She said, her eyes taking in the pile of...what looked to be half eaten carcasses.
"Maybe We should leave and tell Wickerstar or Wispclaw." Halfpaw said, His fur fluffing out as his claws slowly unsheathed.
Nightpaw's pelt began to prick as well as a feeling of dread washed over her.
She looked to Halfpaw and nodded slowly.
Sensing her fear, he forced his fur back down and brushed his tail against her side.
Together, they both slowly turned and came face to face with a massive, mangy grey cat.
Both apprentices screeched in terror and scrambled back.
The grey cat watched the two with unreadable yellow eyes.
Halfpaw was the first to speak.
"Wh-Who are you?" He asked, standing confidently despite his shaky voice. "You are on R-Rubyclan territory!"
"What are you doing?" Nightpaw hissed quietly "Are you trying to talk to him? Concentrate on being ready to fight!"
The grey cat smirked slightly.
"Your friend's smart. Willing to try stopping a fight before it starts."
Nightpaw hissed in return.
The grey cat slowly padded forward towards the two, causing nightpaw to pull her lips back in a snarl.
"Stay back!" She snarled as Halfpaw readied himself to a fight beside her.
The grey cat paused, flexing his claws and gently scraping the ground.
With a vicious hiss, the grey cat launched at the two apperentices.
Halfpaw rolled to the side to dodge, but Nightpaw didn't budge, and leapt forward into the face of their attacker.
"Nightpaw!" Halfpaw youwled in fear as the apprentice took the grey cat completely by suprise.
He stumbled back with a pained screech as he clawed at Nightpaw's pelt.
When he finally managed to pull her off, he snarled and leapt at her, but got distracted by Halfpaw slamming into his side with a yowl.
Bristling, the massive cat turned and bit hard into Halfpaw's lashing tail, causing him to howl, but he refused to let go.
Nightpaw stood, limping slightly as a massive scratch deep in her front leg leaked blood down her fur, stainig her brown paws crimson.
She crouched and struck out, catching the grey tom across the muzzle as he turned his head.
With a snarl, he finally shook Halfpaw off, throwing him to the ground and backing up slightly, twitching his wiskers to clear them of blood.
The three faced off, Halfpaw returning to Nightpaw's side as a drizzle of rain began to fall, washing the blood from the pelts of the cats, staining the ground red.
"We aren't afraid of you, rogue!" Nightpaw growled viciously.
"Yeah! We'll protect our clan's terriory with our Lives!" Halfpaw snarled.
The grey tom narrowed his eyes, his lips drawn and fur fluffed.
"Cocky little clan kits think that they can beat a full-grown cat. Well I'll-"
Suddenly he was cut off by a white and golden-brown blur bashed him into the bushes.
The two apprentices stood shocked as loud caterwauls emanated from the bush, until suddenly everything fell silent.
The two apprentices looked at eachother, bewildered.
The bush began to shudder, and the young cats prepared once again for a fight, but relaxed once they saw who was coming out.
"Emberpelt! Wispclaw!" They said in unison.
The two warriors stood side by side, The grey cat draped over Wispclaw's shoulders.
Emberpelt padded forward, her eyes glinting with rage.
"What in Starclan's name are you two doing out here?! The whole clan's been going mad looking for you both! What were you thinking? You both could have been killed!" She spat, batting Nightpaw hard on her ears.
"Emberpelt is right. You both have some serious explaining to do." Wispclaw said, moving forward.
Halfpaw Hung his head, but Nightpaw puffed her chest, meeting her mentor's gaze.
"I was checking to make sure that what I smelled wasn't a threat. If I didn't, that mange-ridden cat could have eaten our prey or come into our clan!" Nightpaw argued.
"You should have come gotten me or any other warrior from camp!" Emberpelt hissed, her fur fluffing as her purple eyes glittered with undisguised fury.
The two stood, snarling and hissing at each other defiantly.
Their stalemate was broken by a small black and white tom crashed ungraciously through the bush.
Crowface stood, barely coming to Emberpelt's belly.
"Did you two find your troublesome apprentices yet?"
"Yes, Crowface, we did." Wispclaw said smoothly, discreetly positioning himself between Emberpelt and Nightpaw. "Thank you for coming to help us find them."
The small warrior gave a hearty "Harrumph" as he turned and made his way back towards camp.
Emberpelt turned her wrath back towards Nighpaw and opened her mouth to berate her again, but Wispclaw intercepted before she could speak.
"This cat is heavy. Let's get back to the camp, shall we?"
Emberpelt nodded stiffly, glaring at the apprentices before turning and leading the way back to the clan, tail and head high.
Nightpaw looked dolefully at Halfpaw, her fur flattening as guilt and rain seeped into it.
The four cats walked in silence all the way to the camp, their progress only slightly hindered by Nightpaw's heavy limp from the wound in her leg.
Once they finally made it back into the camp, Wispclaw turned to the two young cats as Emberpelt stormed off to the warrior's den with an almost visible aura of fury around her fur.
"You both are to go to Greenmane's den. Wickerstar will know about this, as I'm sure you know. I am honestly quite disappointed in you both. Especially you Halfpaw."
He turned away, still with the grey cat on his back as he made his way to Wickerstar's den.
Head and tail drooping, Halfpaw made his way to the medicine den, Nightpaw limping along behind.
Greenmane had nosed out at the sound of his name, and watched the apprentices as they made their way to him.
He stood aside as they entered, saying nothing until they both were settled on nests next to each other.
"So. Ya both went out and got yerselves hurt, eh?" He said without looking at either of them as he padded to the back of the den, where herbs were stacked on the shelves of rock.
"Where's wolfpaw?" Nightpaw asked, unwilling to answer his question.
"Out." Greenmane grunted.
Nightpaw fell silent as Greenmane dug in the stores of herbs.
Soon after, he came back to Nightpaw carrying a poultice made from herbs she couldn't Identify.
He licked the blood, both wet and partially dried from the wound on Nightpaw's leg, causing her to flinch, He then licked the poultice onto it.
"I'm back!" Wolfpaw said as he padded into the den, carrying a stick covered in cobwebs.
He took a quick look around and paused.
"Nightpaw? Why are you here? Halfpaw? What happened to you guys?" He said, almost dropping the stick.
"Wolfpaw!" Greenmane barked."Stop yapping an' get those cobwebs over ere!'"
The grey apprentice nodded and hurried over to Nightpaw's side, Skillfully placing the cobweb over it.
"That looks bad, It may not heal entirely." Wolfpaw whispered, making sure to keep his mentor from hearing it. "You might get a really cool scar though."
Nightpaw said nothing as her head laid on her paws.
Guilt, hot under her pelt, drowned out Wolfpaw.
She felt like she had failed Emberpelt, what with the way she reacted.
With a soft whimper, she tucked her nose under her paw, mentally kicking herself for upsetting the Golden-Brown cat.
Greenmane and his apprentice silently patched up the two.
"Would either of you like to have some poppy seeds? For the pain?" Wolfpaw said, as Greenmane left the medicine den.
The two cats shook their heads.
Wolfpaw dipped his head and turned away.
"Ok, Well, I'm going to get something to eat. If ya need me…"
Once he was gone, a long silence stretched through the medicine den.
Finally tired of the silence, Halfpaw slowly got to his paws and laid next to Nightpaw in her nest.
"Hey, Are you ok?" He asked in a low voice.
Nightpaw said nothing, unwilling to talk at the moment.
He gently prodded her with his paw.
"Nightpaw, I know you're sad about Emberpelt, but she was just worried. I'm sure she wasn't…"
"They'll throw me out." Nightpaw muttered."They already don't trust me, and bringing a rogue into camp…"
Before Halfpaw could say anything else, Skypaw nosed her way into the medicine den.
"Hy guyph." She mumbled over the fur of a large squirrel.
She spat it out and wrinkled her nose.
"Squirrel fur gets everywhere, I swear. Anyway, wanna share? I kinda thought at least one of you would be hungry."
Halfpaw nodded enthusiastically, his hungry eyes trained on the fresh-kill in front of him.
Skypaw looked curiously at Nightpaw.
"Do you want to share too?"
She looked away, tucking her nose under her paw.
"Nightpaw...You need to eat." Halfpaw whispered gently, pushing the squirrel towards his friend.
The black she-cat's stubbornness didn't last long in the presence of the smell, and soon enough, she turned and took a bite out of the squirrel, her belly rumbling obnoxiously loudly after the fresh-kill touched her tongue.
With a smirk, Halfpaw looked back to Skypaw.
"So, did you pass your assessment?" He asked, taking a bite for himself.
"Of course I did!" She said, sitting tall and puffing her chest. "I'll be a warrior soon! Probably today as a matter of fact."
"I'll probably never be a warrior. I'd become a rogue sooner." Nightpaw said darkly.
"Oh, quit yer whining. You're not gonna be kicked outta 'ere." Greenmane said, coming back and settling down in the very back of the medicine den.
Nightpaw shot a rueful look at the grey-furred medicine cat.
Suddenly a yowl from outside cut the air.
"Will all cats who can catch their own prey gather beneath the cliff for a clan meeting!"
Skypaw sot to her paws, her eyes suddenly wild.
"Oh, Oh no, she's calling for a meeting! Do you think...?" Suddenly she turned and without finishing her thought, she shot outside, likely to be with her mentor.
Nightpaw looked at Halfpaw curiously.
"The cliff?"
"Right, you wouldn't know. The last time we had to gather, Wickerstar used the Boulder, but there's a tunnel in the mountain that leads to an open cave. She usually addresses the clan from there. Come on, we can go look."
Together, the two Apprentices padded from the den into the clearing. True to his word, Wickerstar was indeed sitting high above the camp, looking down from a cavern big enough for three cats to stand comfortably.
Nightpaw wondered how she didn't ever notice it.
"I call my clan today to welcome two new warriors to Rubyclan. Badgerpaw, Skypaw, please step forward."
Looking to the space left in the middle of the clan, Nightpaw saw the white and black apprentice pad proudly towards the cliff and sit with his tail curled curtly over his paws.
Skypaw, however, could barely even contain her excitement, and practically vibrated on her paws as she took her place next to him.
"Badgerpaw, after long moons of training and learning the ways of a true Rubyclan warrior, Your mentor, Greyfang, believes that it is time."
She turned to Greyfang, who came forward to stand next to Badgerpaw.
"Greyfang, do you truly believe that Badgerpaw has learned to his greatest ability, and is ready to receive his warrior name?"
"He is indeed Wickerstar." Greyfang drawled, his tail flicking being the only sign of his excitement and pride.
With a nod, She looked to Groundpelt, who came forward as well.
"Groundpelt, do you believe the same of Skypaw?"
"She will make the clan proud." He said, his eyes glittering.
"Then Badgerpaw, Skypaw, do you both swear to your starclan ancestors that you will uphold the warrior code, and serve and defend this clan with tooth, claw, and life?"
Badgerpaw stood, his pelt rippling as he looked up to his leader, determination in his eyes.
"Yes Wickerstar. I will." He said.
"I will protect this clan with everything I have!" Skypaw shouted, standing proudly.
"Then with the blessing of Starclan, I give you both your warrior names. Badgerpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Badgerstrike in honor of your tact and strength in battle, and your hunting skill. Skypaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Skywish in honor of your unshakeable optimism and your ability to soothe cats in a time of stress or fear. I, and the rest of rubyclan are proud to call you both full warriors of Rubyclan. May you serve your clan long and well!"
The clan erupted into cheers of "Skywish! Badgerstrike!"
Nightaw and Halfpaw chanted alongside them, cheering their white-pelted friend on, earning a bright smile from the newly named warrior.
Once the clan had quieted, Wickerstar continued.
"You both will sit vigil upon the cliff, watching over the clan tonight. Tomorrow, you both may rest."
With that, Wickerstar whisked down to the two new warriors, and touched noses with each.
"Wow." Halfpaw said. "I can't wait until we have our warrior ceremony. Do you think we'll have it together even though you came from another clan?"
Nightpaw shrugged, and glanced over the camp, trying to find something to change the subject.
"Hey, Has Underfur always been so...Large?" She asked, her eyes trained on the brown she-cat's bulging belly.
"She's gonna ave kits soon." Greenmane said behind them.
"Kits? Whose?" Nightpaw asked.
"No Idea. She came back to camp one day like that and ain't say where she got 'em from."
The two apprentices looked at each other for a moment before Halfpaw stood up.
"Hey greenmane, you think we can leave now?"
"You can." He said, nodding to him."Nightpaw stays. That's a nasty scratch she has."
"Oh. Ok, I might…" He looked to Nightpaw.
She flicked her tail nonchalantly, signaling that he could just go.
As Nightpaw put her nose beneath her paw once more, Halfpaw turned and left, giving a slightly wounded look back over his shoulder towards the tabby as he did so.
With a soft sigh, Nightpaw closed her eyes, hearing the clan settling down as the sun started to sink below the horizon.
Her last thought before sleep claimed her was dread at seeing her mentor again when she woke.