Chapter 37

Leafstar's POV

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather by the Rockpile to hear what I have to say!" Leafstar proclaimed.

Ever since Sharpclaw had visited her, things had gotten better in SkyClan. The greencough outbreak had subsided, leaving the cats healthier than ever. She was now here on the Rockpile, about to perform four warrior ceremonies, Waspwhisker standing at the bottom next to it.

"SkyClan is ready to accept four new warriors here among us. Badgerpaw, Talonpaw, Foxpaw, and Gingerpaw, come forward."

The four apprentices bounded forward, whiskers twitching with excitement. Leafstar remembered becoming an official member of SkyClan. She stared at amusement as the apprentices shook with excitement.

"Harveymoon, Mintfur, Cherrytail, and Harryfur, do you think that these apprentices are ready to become warriors?"

All four senior warriors nodded. "They are truly ready to become warriors of SkyClan," Cherrytail said.

"I, Leafstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. Badgerpaw, Talonpaw, Foxpaw, and Gingerpaw have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn."

She turned to face the apprentices, "Do you four promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," all four apprentices said simultaneously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you four your warrior name," she turned to face Badgerpaw, "Badgerpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Badgerpelt. StarClan honors your bravery and patience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

She turned to Talonpaw, "Talonpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Talonfoot. StarClan honors your thoughtfulness and fighting skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

Leafstar gazed at Foxpaw, "Foxpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Foxtail. StarClan honors your forethought and toughness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

Gingerpaw was last, "Gingerpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Gingerstripe. StarClan honors your grace and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

"Badgerpelt! Talonfoot! Foxtail! Gingerstripe!" the Clan cheered.

Leafstar saw Plumwillow and Egg make their way towards the newly named warriors, congratulating their sons and daughter. Leafstar felt nostalgic as she remembered naming her own kits.

She leaped down from the Rockpile, and saw Waspwhisker nodding in approval. "Those were really good names," he mewed.

"It took me a while to find the perfect name," she replied.

"Not as long as deciding your own kits' names," he said tauntingly.

"Well, they have to be special too!" Leafstar said.

Billystorm padded up, "Good names, Leafstar! Now all they have to do is their vigil."

Leafstar snuggled up to Billystorm, "Thanks."

She turned to Waspwhisker, "Go and start assigning some patrols. We'll need some fresh prey and our borders guarded."

Waspwhisker nodded and started to call out names for patrols.

Leafstar padded towards the nursery, where her daughter, Firecloud, was resting. "Do you know when they're due?" she purred, seeing her daughter's swollen belly.

"Frecklewish says not for another quarter-moon," Firecloud replied. "I do hope they'll come easily," she joked.

"It'll be okay. I'll be here when the time comes," Leafstar said soothingly. "Sandywind must be proud. I heard him boasting about how his kits will be the perfect warriors."

"Of course he is," Firecloud mewed amusingly. "I would be too."

"Oh I can't wait! Soon SkyClan will have more kits."

"Yeah, the nursery was feeling empty ever since Copperpelt and her kits had moved out."

Leafstar remembered delivering the apprentice ceremony to Copperpelt and Icicletail's kits: Lavenderpaw, Peanutpaw, and Dustypaw. Dustypaw, of course, had become Frecklewish's apprentice, collecting herbs and helping any cat that was hurt. Lavenderpaw had become Sagepelt's apprentice, and Peanutpaw had become Fallowfern's apprentice. They were all learning quickly, and hunting for the Clan.

"It does seem empty," Leafstar agreed. "But when your kits come, the warriors will be tripping over them once again."

Firecloud purred, "It'll be wonderful to have such beautiful and cute kits around once again for the elders to entertain."

"I'll be back soon," Leafstar said, heading for the exit.

"Come visit me again soon!" Firecloud said.

Leafstar exited the nursery and scanned the Clan. Most of the cats had gone out on patrol. She spied Dustypaw carrying a bundle of herbs toward the elders den, probably comfrey to ease their creaking bones. She saw Sandywind out of the corner of her eye, entering the nursery with a sparrow in his mouth, Firecloud's favorite kind of prey. Leafstar felt thankful that Firecloud had such a wonderful and caring mate.

"Leafstar!" Sagepelt called. "We're going to give the apprentices an assessment to see how they're doing. Can you help us observe them and give them some advice?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Leafstar mewed. "What are they going to do?"

"Oh, just a hunting assessment," Sagepelt replied as they headed towards the forest. "We're going to see if they've got their bird-hunting techniques down."

Leafstar nodded, "Okay. Let's get going."

Leafstar followed Sagepelt as they made their way through the forest, where Lavenderpaw, Peanutpaw, and Fallowfern were waiting.

"Leafstar," Fallowfern dipped her head, "thank you for coming. These apprentices are getting better and better at hunting everyday, and we want to see their progress. Would you mind assessing these two?"

"Not at all," Leafstar replied.

"Thank you," Fallowfern replied. She turned toward the apprentices, "I want both of you to hunt today, and find the elders a juicy, tasty bird to eat. Be careful, and remember what we taught you. Lavenderpaw, head towards the Sandy Gorge. Peanutpaw, you can hunt near the river. We'll be following you, but you won't be able to see us. Ready?"

The apprentices nodded eagerly.

"Begin!" Fallowfern exclaimed.

The apprentices bolted towards their respective hunting places. Leafstar waited until Fallowfern and Sagepelt started for their apprentices, then turned and followed Fallowfern.

Leafstar padded through the trees, spotting Peanutpaw heading towards the river. Peanutpaw jumped, clawing his way up the trunk. Soon, he was balanced on a branch, and Leafstar could see that his gaze was focused on a thrush in the tree. She watched as Peanutpaw crept up, silently and stealthily, making no noise.

Just as Peanutpaw was about to spring for the thrush, there was a shriek. The thrush flew away, startled, and Peanutpaw jumped in surprise and tilted off the branch. He swung his front legs and hooked his claws onto a branch, and managed to lower himself down the tree. Leafstar rushed towards Peanutpaw, and she could see Fallowfern hurrying towards him as well.

"Peanutpaw, are you all right?" Fallowfern asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, just shaken," the apprentice said. "It's the cat that shrieked that I'm worried about… it sounded like Lavenderpaw."

'Lavenderpaw!' Leafstar thought. "The scream came from the Sandy Gorge!"

She turned to Peanutpaw, "Go back to camp and alert Frecklewish and Waspwhisker. Ask them to send a patrol to the Sandy Gorge."

Peanutpaw nodded and sprinted. Leafstar turned towards Fallowfern. "Let's get moving."

They hurtled through the trees, jumping over gnarled roots and swerving around trees. Leafstar ran as fast as she could, stretching her legs wider. Fallowfern matched her pace, his breath heaving.

They reached the Sandy Gorge, where Leafstar found Sagepelt hunched over Lavenderpaw. He was speaking to her in soft, concerned tone.

"It'll be all right. I'm going to get help. Frecklewish will help you."

Leafstar rushed to Sagepelt's side. The sight of what happened made her cringe. Lavenderpaw's back leg was bent at the wrong angle; it looked like she had broken it.

"What happened?" Leafstar asked.

"Lavenderpaw was stalking a starling," Sagepelt said, "She pounced, but misjudged the branch, and fell from the tree. Her leg's broken."

"It'll be okay," Leafstar said to the shaken apprentice, "Frecklewish and Dustypaw will be here soon; they'll help you."

"What happened?" Leafstar heard Frecklewish ask from behind her.

Leafstar backed away and turned around, finding Frecklewish, Dustypaw, who was carrying a bundle of herbs, Wildfoot, Talonfoot, and Harveymoon.

"Lavenderpaw has a broken leg," Leafstar said.

Frecklewish and Dustypaw padded closer. As Frecklewish examined the leg, Dustypaw began unwrapping the bundle of herbs.

"Wildfoot, fetch me some sticks. Dustypaw, hand me some bindweed, cobwebs, and rush," Frecklewish ordered.

Wildfoot raced off to find sticks while Dustypaw handed Frecklewish the herbs. Frecklewish started to bind up her leg. "Watch, Dustypaw. This is how you bind a broken leg."

Wildfoot returned with some sticks, and Frecklewish put the sticks next to Lavenderpaw's leg and used bindweed, cobwebs, and rush to tie the sticks to the leg, so that the leg would be immobilized.

"There, stand up now, Lavenderpaw," Frecklewish said.

Sagepelt bent down and helped Lavenderpaw up. Lavenderpaw winced as she stood up. Talonfoot and Harveymoon moved closer to Lavenderpaw to help support her.

"Don't put your full weight on it," Frecklewish warned. Then she turned to Dustypaw, "What herbs do you put in a poultice to help a broken leg heal?"

Dustypaw thought for a moment, "Um, stinging nettle, broom, and comfrey?"

"That's right!" Frecklewish exclaimed. "You'll make a great medicine cat one day."

"And you line a nest with comfrey to help it heal faster," Dustypaw added.

Leafstar saw Frecklewish glow with pride, "Echosong would be so proud of you."

"It's only because I have the best mentor," Dustypaw replied.

Leafstar twitched her whiskers at the courtesy and respect Dustypaw showed. He was certainly different from his littermates.

Her thoughts drifted back to what Sharpclaw had said. Oh, how she missed him, her faithful, honorable, deputy. 'He would have made a fine leader.' she thought. 'But who are these cats that I will meet? Will it be someone like Firestar? Or perhaps someone like Stick and Cora?' Whoever they were, Leafstar would be prepared to meet them.