By the time afternoon had arrived and the sun was beginning to move further to the west, Grasspaw was satisfied that he had caught just enough prey to please his mentor. He had to admit that he felt pretty good about himself, having caught another rabbit and a few more smaller creatures, including as blackbird that he'd nabbed just before it could fly away. Grasspaw kind of hoped that his assessment would be over soon so that it could end on a good note. He was just beginning to wonder if it would be ending soon when a frantic voice rang through the air, startling him.

"Grasspaw! Come quick!" Grasspaw stiffened; that was Applepaw's voice! He whipped his muzzle around to see his sister running up to him with wide, panicked eyes. Her ears were pressed back against her head and her white-and-red fur was standing on end.

Any further hunting abandoned, he quickly padded over to her. As soon as he reached her, she started running in the direction she'd come from; Grasspaw followed along after her, doing his best to keep up. "What is it?" he asked, worried by Applepaw's urgency. "What happened?"

"It's Berrypaw!" she wailed. "She was stalking a rabbit and stumbled across an adder and-" Grasspaw tensed, certain that Applepaw was going to say that Berrypaw had been bitten by the adder. He couldn't decide if what she did say was better or worse: "Owlwing jumped out to protect her and she killed the adder, but… it bit her!"

Grasspaw's breath caught in his throat. He found himself coming to a halt, his paws immobilized with horror. Applepaw urged him on, but he couldn't move. He could barely bring himself to ask, but he had to. "Is she alive?" he whispered hoarsely.

Applepaw looked from side to side fearfully; Grasspaw knew she was in a hurry to get back to their mother fast. "She was a minute ago," she mumbled, but her mew warbled and Grasspaw knew she suspected that might have changed. Then Applepaw's features sharpened, and she prodded Grasspaw's hind legs. "Hurry up! We have to go!"

Blinking, Grasspaw complied. He stumbled along after Applepaw in a daze, staring down at his paws, until she came to a stop. He kept his eyes trained on his paws, wincing as he heard Applepaw fall completely silent. He didn't dare to look up and see Owlwing…

Even so, out of sheer curiosity, Grasspaw raised his head slightly and wished he hadn't as soon as he did. He saw Spikeear, Runningfoot, and Berrypaw clustered around a lifeless mound of cream-coloured fur. Even from where he stood, he could see tiny flecks of foam in her mouth, and although she still twitched, her eyes were glazed over. Berrypaw in particular looked distressed, clambering over Owlwing's body. Since WindClan had so few warriors, Owlwing was Berrypaw's mentor despite also being her mother, which had brought Berrypaw no shortage of joy, especially with how kitlike she was. But what Grasspaw's childish sister had once perceived as lucky had now led to tragedy for him and his sisters.

Runningfoot cast his gaze low, hanging his head as Applepaw ran up to Owlwing's side and exchanged a dreading glance with Berrypaw. "I'm sorry," he told her, his deep voice trembling. "There's nothing we can do."

Grasspaw tried to pretend he didn't know what those words entailed. He fought to keep his breath even, but it was a lost cause, he sucked in air too fast to exhale it all, becoming dizzy. The ground that he kept his eyes fixed on became blurry; his paws doubled in front of his eyes. His short, frantic breaths became louder to block out the sound of Berrypaw wailing in despair, and Applepaw trying to calm her down but clearly being far too distraught herself for it to do any good.

Spikeear must have noticed Grasspaw hyperventilating, because he padded over to his side and sat down next to him. "Hey, kid, slow down your breathing, okay?" the white warrior murmured, his voice far softer than Grasspaw had ever heard it before. "We don't want you to pass out."

Grasspaw did his best to comply, drawing in larger gasps of air and trying to pause a moment before breathing back out. Finally, he broke off into a coughing fit, and when it subsided his breath was ragged bit not too fast-paced. "Better," Spikeear said. Then he rested his tail on Grasspaw's back reassuringly, opening his muzzle to add something but choosing to remain silent.

"We must return to camp," Runningfoot muttered. His pale brown face was dark, but his meow was steady. "Grasspaw, Applepaw, and Berrypaw- retrieve all the prey you caught today. Needless to say, the final assessment is over."

He and Spikeear picked up Owlwing and took off back to the WindClan camp first, while Grasspaw, Applepaw, and Berrypaw went back to the spots they'd buried their fresh-kill. Grasspaw felt empty while retrieving his rabbits and the grouse he'd been so proud of killing. They all remained silent as they trudged home; having lifted his gaze from his paws, Grasspaw now kept his eyes trained blankly ahead. How could something like this have come out of nowhere?! He was positive his life was cursed so that he could never be happy.

As they entered the camp, Seedpelt's eyes lit up and he began to wave his tail at them until he saw the looks on their faces. His tail drooped; he mouthed "what happened?" to Grasspaw as he walked past. Grasspaw didn't answer. He couldn't bring himself to answer.

His world was spinning as he stumbled into the apprentices' den and collapsed in his nest. It was still daytime, but as far as he was concerned, this day was over. His whole life might as well have been over. Grasspaw buried his muzzle between his paws and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out his sorrow but quickly giving way and letting it overwhelm him, like water closing over his head.

A few minutes later, Applepaw came in and spoke gently to him for a while. Apparently Runningfoot and Spikeear had rushed Owlwing to the medicine den, but from what Grasspaw understood about snakebites, he didn't see the point. She'd clearly been moments away from dying, and besides, Runningfoot himself had said that there'd been nothing they could do for her. Was he just trying to give them false hope? That seemed cruel, particularly for Berrypaw. The poor cat was closer to her mother than Applepaw and Grasspaw, and knowing that Owlwing had sacrificed herself for her must have made it even more devastating.

Well, even if Applepaw and Berrypaw were that gullible, Grasspaw wasn't. He wouldn't let his hopes up, because he knew his mother wouldn't survive. What was the point in trying to elongate her life another few minutes?

What was the point of any of this?

"Miststar, may I speak with you for a moment?" Waterpaw meowed, doing her best to keep her voice steady and her eyes looking up. "I need to report a violation of the warrior code. It has to do with one of your warriors having a relationship outside of their Clan…"

She trailed off, frowning. That sounded too formal, didn't it? As much as it was her duty to inform the Clan leader of Patchfur's forbidden relationship, it just felt so wrong to refer to what her friend was doing as a violation of the warrior code- even though that was exactly what it was.

She shook her pelt out and tried again, reflecting that it was a good thing she'd decided to practice before talking to Miststar. Even though she knew he thought very highly of her- because every cat did- it was still a bit unnerving to have to talk directly to the Clan leader.

Waterpaw stared back at the wall of the apprentices' den, focusing on one slightly crooked stone that she was pretending was Miststar's face. She figured it would help her when she had to make eye contact with him. Looking down at her paws was a very tempting thing to do when she was going to be talking to the most important cat in the Clan (Waterpaw knew there were some cats- such as Minnowleap- who would have considered her to be the most important cat in the Clan, but she hadn't really done anything too important yet, so until she did, that distinction still belonged to the leader).

With a slightly less formal approach in mind, Waterpaw took a deep breath and tried again. "Hey, Miststar, I've got something I need to tell you," she began. "Patchfur has been seeing this cat from ShadowClan, and he's really serious about it." She broke off, realizing that now she was sounding too formal.

With a sigh, Waterpaw tried one final time.

"Miststar, I really need you help," she meowed, trying to keep the edge of desperation out of her voice. "One of my friends- Patchfur- is breaking the warrior code by having a mate outside of his Clan. What should we do?!"

Against her expectations, she got a reply- not Miststar, of course, but Shellpaw, who had appeared at the entrance to the den and was regarding her curiously. "Uh, what's up, Waterpaw?" she asked. "Talking to yourself again?" she added teasingly, although her purr held a detectable amount of concern.

Waterpaw spun around to face her puzzled friend. "Oh, hi, Shellpaw," she muttered sheepishly, hoping Shellpaw hadn't guessed what was going on. "Um, yeah, I was just… testing the acoustics in here."

"Testing the acoustics by making a fake confession to Miststar, huh?" Shellpaw muttered, her eyes narrowed. "Interesting method of choice. Personally, I would have just meowed a whole bunch of times."

"Whatever," Waterpaw mewed quickly. "Anyways, what did you come here for?"

"This is my den too, fish-brain." Shellpaw's whiskers twitched with concerned amusement. "Me and Oakpaw and Mallowpaw all sleep here too, in case you'd forgotten."

"Oakpaw, Mallowpaw, and I," Waterpaw corrected her quietly.

"Huh? No, me," Shellpaw mewed. "I mean, I guess you sleep here too, but I was talking about us as littermates."

Waterpaw sighed. "No, no, it's-"

"Well, who even cares about that," Shellpaw interrupted. Her eyes sparkled as she mewed, "I actually came here to let you know that me and my littermates are-"

"My littermates and I."

Shellpaw wrinkled her nose. "What are you talking about? You don't even have littermates. Anyway!" Waterpaw wanted to explain that she'd been trying to help Shellpaw with her grammar, but she knew her friend wouldn't even care, so she just stayed quiet and let her talk. "We're probably going to be warriors really soon," the white apprentice squealed, hopping up and down with enthusiasm. "Our mentors pulled us over the other day and said that our training is almost done!"

"That's great," Waterpaw purred. She was happy for her friend until she remembered that Shellpaw, Oakpaw, and Mallowpaw were all just over a moon younger than Waterpaw. She'd started training before them, so home come they were going to be made warriors first?! In fact, why hadn't Foxfang even mentioned making her a warrior yet?

Well, maybe she could talk to Miststar about it while she was reporting Patchfur's little love affair. Either way, there was no reason to be bitter toward Shellpaw about it. She'd be a warrior soon enough.

"To be honest, I can't even imagine myself as a warrior," Shellpaw confessed. "And I always figured either Oakpaw or Mallowpaw would want to become medicine cats because, you know, they're smart or whatever. But I guess my littermates are just going to let their talents go to waste."

Waterpaw had to admit she agreed. Mallowpaw in particular had always seemed very drawn to herb studies, and often spent time with Mossnose in the medicine den. But maybe the shy young cat just wasn't equipped to actually treat sick and injured cats. She'd always been the most squeamish of her littermates, and Waterpaw related to that. In a way it was hard to imagine having a cat's life in her paw, even though she was supposedly going to have every cat's life in her paws someday.

None of that mattered right now, though. Waterpaw reminded herself of what she had to do: tell Miststar that Patchfur was seeing a cat outside of RiverClan. She dipped her head to Shellpaw and quickly padded outside, heading over to the leader's den, which was located at the back of the Shale Hill.

"Are you there, Miststar?" she called, poking her head into the small opening where the shale had crumbled away, leaving a hole in the rock where the leader slept. "I need to talk to you!"

From inside the small, cramped space came an answer. "Yes, I'm right here," the leader meowed. Waterpaw could just make out his figure getting up and padding over to the opening, where his gray pelt was washed in sunlight. It looked like he had dark circles under his eyes. "What do you need to tell me, Waterpaw?"

Waterpaw glanced warily around the camp. She didn't want anyone to listen in- especially not Patchfur. He'd hate her if he found out she told. "Can we talk about this in your den?" she whispered. She shuddered internally at the thought of being inside such a small space, but they needed privacy.

"Of course; come right in."

Nodding, Waterpaw ducked her head down so she could squeeze into the den. The shale brushed her whiskers and scraped her pelt, and cobwebs hung everywhere. Waterpaw hoped there were no spiders. She hated spiders. It was hard to believe that this was where the Clan leader slept, but she supposed that if the hole was any bigger, Shale Hill would collapse. Then Miststar would have nowhere to stand to address RiverClan at meetings. Waterpaw liked to think that if she ever became leader, she'd either just go no sleeping in the warriors' den or make a whole new den for herself. If she was leader, she could do whatever she wanted, right?

Once she had settled in next to Miststar, she cleared her throat and prepared to tell him everything.

"…So. Um. There's this thing," she began, instantly cringing upon hearing herself. This was not off to a very good start. "I mean, it's something very important," she continued, already squirming with embarrassment as Miststar cocked his head. "So, you trust and respect every RiverClan cat, right? Especially the warriors?"

"I suppose so," Miststar said slowly. Realization dawned in his eyes. "I think I know what this is about," he murmured. "But go on…"

Waterpaw took his response as a good sign. "Well, keeping that in mind," she explained. "There's kind of a problem right now."

Miststar stood up, shaking out his pelt vigorously. "Say no more," he meowed. "I'll go talk to Foxfang right now."

Before she could say any more, he trotted out of his den; Waterpaw followed in confusion. Why does he want to talk to Foxfang? She got the feeling that Miststar had seriously misunderstood what she'd been trying to tell him.

The day after Grasspaw and his littermates' final assessment, Sandstar called a Clan meeting just as Grasspaw had known he would. It was their warrior ceremony- something he'd been looking forward to until what had happened yesterday.

Just as he'd thought, Owlwing had died shortly after being brought back to camp. Applepaw had appeared in the den and told him; she hadn't made eye contact with him or Berrypaw as they'd settled down to drift into uneasy sleep. Grasspaw had expected to stay awake all night, but he'd found himself falling asleep fairly quickly. Maybe it was because he'd already known that his mother was doomed that he didn't feel particularly sad. He merely felt empty.

When he woke up that morning, though- then he began to feel sad. Maybe it was seeing Berrypaw so upset, or maybe it was the way that Applepaw still wouldn't look him in the eye, or maybe it was when he ran into their father, Rabbitleap, at the fresh-kill pile (none of them felt like eating, but Grasspaw forced himself to gulp down a shrew to sustain himself) and he just stared at them with wide, mournful, and vaguely angry eyes until he turned away without a word. But whatever it was, Grasspaw was overcome with sorrow that he did his best to ignore.

He'd barely even interacted with his mother since becoming an apprentice, and he'd been training for moons now! She'd been Berrypaw's mentor, not his, and Grasspaw had done his best not to associate with his littermates any more than he'd had to. He had no reason to care, even though he had every reason to care. He was going to become a warrior, and how was he supposed to do that if he was acting like some mewling little kit?!

Grasspaw worked his claws into the ground and rocked angrily back and forth as he and his littermates sat beneath the tussock that Sandstar hoisted himself onto to address the Clan. His fur was a mess, but he didn't care- although he did notice with a pang of irritation that Berrypaw somehow was immaculately groomed. No doubt Applepaw had done it- maybe to try to console her sister about Owlwing. Not that it had done any good. Berrypaw's eyes were fixed on her paws, which she shuffled sadly as Sandstar introduced the apprentices.

"Take a good look at these cats. They've all worked very hard, and they've done a good job," Sandstar was saying. In his old age, he tended to forget the proper words for ceremonies, and instead liked to use his own words to get the message across. "In spite of the tragedy yesterday, they still deserve this moment after all the prey they caught." He raised his head, pointing his muzzle at Applepaw.

"Applepaw, you promise to always defend the Clan, don't you?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "I mean, I do."

"Of course you do. Why'd I even have to ask?" Sandstar murmured. "In that case, by the power vested in me, I give you a new name. From this moment on, you will be known as Appleshine, for you find a way to shine on every cat you know even in the hardest times. We welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan."

He touched his muzzle against Appleshine's forehead, and she licked his shoulder. Grasspaw gave his sister a proud smile as she sat back down next to him. Although he couldn't help but cringe a little at Sandstar butchering the words to the ceremony, he was sure that StarClan approved nonetheless.

Next, Sandstar turned to Berrypaw, whose head still hung low. "I'm very sorry about your mother, little one," he murmured. "But today is a day for joy, not for sorrow. Do you also promise to protect the Clan?"

Berrypaw nodded vigorously.

"Good, good. Then from now on, you will be known as Berryheart. StarClan values your youthfulness and kindness. Congratulations on becoming a warrior."

"How come he was so much more accurate to how it's supposed to go with her?" Appleshine muttered. "I mean, he didn't even say what my virtues are!"

"That's because you don't have any," Grasspaw teased. She gave give a friendly scuff around the ears and he ducked, starting to purr before catching himself. He was at his warrior ceremony; there was no time to be goofing off! Besides, how could he play around like this when his mother was dead? Immediately sobered by that last thought, Grasspaw straightened up just as Sandstar turned his attention to him.

"Last but not least, we have Grasspaw." Sandstar paused for a moment, scrunching his face up as thought trying to remember what he was supposed to say. That hasn't stopped him before, Grasspaw thought irritably. Come on, you old fleabag, just make up your own words like you always do! "Grasspaw, do you promise to do the same things as your littermates did?" the old leader asked finally. He was obviously very embarrassed to be so unable to recall the proper words for the ceremony, and Grasspaw felt sorry for the old cat… but if things were this hard for him, why didn't he just pick out a new deputy and then retire along with Roseflower?!

Pushing all his negative thoughts about the WindClan leader aside, Grasspaw meowed, "I do."

"Okay. Good. That's good…" Sandstar mumbled. He then muttered inaudibly to himself for a while before raising his voice enough to proclaim: "From this moment on, you will be known as Grasstail! StarClan honours your honesty and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan."

Hey, he actually got part of it right for once, Grasstail thought in happy surprise. However, Sandstar forgot to touch his muzzle to his forehead, instead simply ending the meeting with a flick of his tail and stumbling off back into his den.

Nonetheless, his Clanmates shouted Grasstail's new name along with his littermates'. "Appleshine! Berryheart! Grasstail! Appleshine! Berryheart! Grasstail!" No cat shouted Appleshine's new name louder than Barkstripe, who was sitting next to Seedpelt and watching with glittering eyes.

Even after the chanting had died down and the crowd had dispersed, Grasstail was left feeling happier than he felt he should have. He stopped himself from wondering whether Waterpaw was a warrior yet. That was none of his concern! Even so…

He cast a longing look in the direction of the RiverClan border. However much he told himself no, he had to admit he could have used some companionship right about then.