"Runningshadow, will you ever wake up?" A sharp jab was pointed at the young warrior's side, and he instantly went back to the battle when he was getting repeatedly poked by claws.

Runningshadow slowly lifted his head, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He saw Flamemoon towering over him, glaring down at him nervously.

Runningshadow nodded. "Yeah, I'm up, I'm up," He mewed, pushing Flamemoon out of the way. "Why did you wake me up?"

"Ceremonies," Flamemoon replied. "And lots of them. Come on, Ashstar just called the meeting!"

Runningshadow wanted to mew, "Who died and made you deputy?" but changed his mind. There was no reason to be smart around fellow warriors- this must be a happy time.

Greenleaf air welcomed him in a warm embrace and ruffled his fur. Runningshadow appreciated it and thanked StarClan for the wonderful weather.

The whole Clan were gathering under the Highrock, even the kits that weren't even old enough to attend were sitting themselves down beside their mother.

Ashstar settled herself at the top of the Highrock and proudly watched her whole Clan gather under the rock she was on.

Runningshadow wondered what ceremonies were going on but figured it was warrior ceremonies for the apprentices. That was good, as they were now older than he was when he was made a warrior.

Ashstar looked over the crowd. "ThunderClan, we gather here to name our three apprentices warriors. Brindlepaw, Chasepaw, Bloodpaw, come forward."

The three apprentices looked at each other excitedly. "Really?" They asked, wide smiles on their faces. Even Chasepaw was grinning broadly.

Ashstar nodded. "Brindlepaw, Bloodpaw, Chasepaw, you pinned down ShadowClan's leader, which made the ShadowClan warriors flee. It is now time for you three to become warriors."

Brindlepaw and Bloodpaw came forward nervously, while Chasepaw trotted up proudly, making sure that a pregnant Ratfur could see him.

"I, Ashstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained well to learn your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in turn. Chasepaw, Brindlepaw, Bloodpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do," Brindlepaw whispered, kneading her paws. The light of the sun shone down onto her fur and made it dappled and beautiful.

"I do," Chasepaw mewed, a glimmer of ambition and happiness shining in his eyes.

"I do," Bloodpaw meowed confidently, looking over at Brindlepaw nervously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Bloodpaw, you are now Bloodflower. Chasepaw, you are now Chasewind. And Brindlepaw, you are now Brindlerose. StarClan honors your bravery and strength and we welcome you as full warriors of ThunderClan."

The three new warriors stepped up to Ashstar. The leader licked each one of them on the top of the head. She seemed to murmur something in Brindlerose's ear as she gave her the lick, but Runningshadow couldn't make it out.

"Also, today we have five kits that are ready to become apprentices. Come forward," Ashstar called to the kits.

Runningshadow craned his head to see, to his excitement, that they were the kits that he, Cinderhope and Skycloud had saved. At least three of them were.

The five kits came forward: One of them was a black tom with yellow ears and tail tip, one was the beautiful gray and white she-cat, one was a silver tabby tom, one was , and one was, to Runningshadow's delight, Cloverkit. She looked as proud as her mother.

Ashstar looked down at the gray and white she-cat. "Catkinkit, you are now Catkinpaw. Cinderhope, you are ready for another apprentice and will be Catkinpaw's mentor."

Next came the silver tabby. "Poisonkit, you are now Poisonpaw. Thornclaw is ready to have an apprentice and will be Poisonpaw's mentor."

After that came the kit. "kit, you are now paw. Spiritwing is ready for his last apprentice and will be your mentor."

"Starkit, you are now Starpaw. Thistletail will be your mentor."

Ashstar turned to Cloverkit. "Cloverkit, you are Cloverpaw. Runningshadow proved himself ready in the battle and will be Cloverpaw's mentor."

Runningshadow felt a flare of happiness in his chest as he heard his leader's words. It all turned out how Cloverkit had said! He would be Cloverpaw's mentor now!

He trotted up with Cinderhope, Thornclaw, Spiritwing, and Thistletail to touch his new apprentice's nose.

Runningshadow smiled down at Cloverpaw. "How does it feel, being an apprentice?" He asked gently.

Cloverpaw shuddered with delight. "Oh, it's a mixture of happiness and nervousness."

"Don't worry, that's exactly how I felt," Runningshadow purred. "Just be yourself and don't worry."

She closed her eyes and purred. "How's it feel becoming a mentor?" She asked.

Runningshadow shrugged. "Well, just excitement and surprise. But also, it's happiness. I guess that I am your mentor, huh?" He asked warmly.

Cloverpaw nodded and buried her fur in his chest. "Yeah," She mewed quietly. "Yes, you are."

"And we still have two more apprentices to name," Ashstar called to the crowd, who were filing out to Cinderhope to see where to go on patrol.

"Who could it possibly be?" Asked a voice from the crowd. Runningshadow looked above the rest of the cats to see that Mudpelt was shouting up at the Highrock, with an embarrassed Deerpaw by his side. "All the kits are too young!"

Ashstar sighed and kneaded her paws on hard rock. She gave Runningshadow a questioning look. He nodded to encourage her on. He knew what was happening- joy flooded through his body.

"A couple of outsiders. Molly, Brian, come up here."

Molly and Brian looked shocked. They looked at each other happily and bounded up to the Highrock.

"Molly, you were wonderful when defending your Clan, even though you haven't had many fighting skills. You are ready to receive your name as an apprentice."

Runningshadow scowled. Why was Ashstar treating this situation as if it were a warrior ceremony? He guessed that it was only normal for a kittypet that didn't have a normal name to be named like this, and needed to be named this for a good reason.

"Molly, you are now Owlpaw. Strikefoot is going to be your mentor."

Runningshadow was horrified to see the black and white tom come forward with a scowl on his face. He sat himself down beside Owlpaw disgustedly.

"Brian, you assisted Owlpaw and fought fine for a cat that hadn't been trained. You are ready to be an apprentice. Brian, you are now Oakpaw."

The dark ginger tabby smiled at his own name. "Oakpaw," He whispered, repeating his new name over and over. "Oakpaw, Oakpaw, Oakpaw…"

"Honeystorm is going to be Oakpaw's mentor."

At least Honeystorm looked happy when she touched Oakpaw's nose to hers.

"But who are they?" Deerpaw called. "Where do they come from?"

She must have gotten that question from Mudpelt, who must have asked her to say that.

"They…" Ashstar started uneasily. "They're rogues. We took them in when they proved themselves worthy. And yes, Mudpelt," She growled to the dark brown warrior, "They wanted to come. If you want to ask controversial questions, then do it yourself and don't get your apprentices to do it for you."

Mudpelt cursed under his breath and glared up at the leader with suppressed rage and hate.

"The meeting is over. See Cinderhope for your duties or go back to your dens."

As the crowd disappeared, Runningshadow looked down at his new apprentice. "Ready to go out on our tour?" He asked.

"You bet!" Cried Cloverpaw willingly.

Runningshadow smiled and led the she-cat out of the clearing.

M.U.D

Meanwhile, a very angry Mudpelt watched Owlpaw prance through the tunnel with her new mentor, Strikefoot. What a fool, Strikefoot was, for actually accepting to be this outsider's mentor.

Where did this Owlpaw actually come from? Why was she here? He knew that Ashstar was telling lies to the Clan. But he knew that he would find out- he would find out soon.

That was a bad cliffie. But anyway, how did you like the apprentices' warrior names? Sorry I didn't ask you reviewers, but I wanted it to be a surprise that they even become warriors. so yeah, there. :)