For the next few moons, it felt as if everyone was holding their breath. Just waiting for something terrible to happen. The only thing out of the ordinary that had been reported was increased Twoleg activity, which was to be expected until well into leaf-fall at the Greenleaf Twolegplace. I was grateful that I had chosen to give the main Greenleaf Twolegplace back to ShadowClan at the start of greenleaf. Despite my attempts at being peaceful, Rowanstar had seemed overly eager to start arguments at the most recent Gathering. He had accused ThunderClan of making "illegal alliances" with WindClan and vice versa, as well as RiverClan of stealing ShadowClan prey. I was beginning to wonder if Rowanstar really was going to be the kind of leader Blackstar had envisioned. His feeble attempts at stirring up discontent and anger among the Clans seemed to me like an act of desperation rather than pure loyalty and dedication to the warrior code. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to ShadowClan to make their leader so desperate.

At that moment, my thoughts were cut short as a group of cats returned to camp. Two patrols- one with prey, the other without. I had sent a border patrol to the ShadowClan border today to see if they could see anything out of the ordinary. I jumped down from Highledge to greet them. "Any news?"

Cloudtail, who I had assigned to lead the patrol, nodded. "There were a lot of Twolegs around the Greenleaf Twolegplace. They seemed to be doing somewhat... abnormal things."

"Like what?"

He twitched an ear. "Well, for one, they seemed to be measuring things. That's the only thing I could really make out. Others were sticking these grey sticks in the ground with weird colored things on the top. Some others were using these things to dig up the ground around the pelt-dens and Twoleg nests and using other things to make markings on these flat white things."

Next to him, Millie looked like she was waiting patiently to speak. I nodded to her once Cloudtail was done.

"We also saw them lifting pieces of wood and throwing them into a pile." She said, her voice quiet but firm. "I think the pieces were from the Twoleg den that got crushed during the greenleaf storm."

Dewdrop lifted a paw, licked it, and drew it over his ears."It sure is taking them a while to clean that up. Warriors are so much more efficient."

I was too focused on what had been reported to acknowledge Dewdrop's comment. He was right; the Twolegs had taken a particularly long time to clean up the storm damage. But that wasn't what concerned me. The fact that they were doing things other than cleaning and repairing concerned me.

"I think we're all forgetting something." I looked up sharply as Stormcloud stepped up to stand beside the older warriors. "Remember how Rowanstar reported that a couple of Twolegs had been killed during that greenleaf storm?"

We all stared at him. Back when Rowanstar had revealed the news to us all, it hadn't really been much of a shocker. Cats from all four Clans died during that storm. I lost a life trying to reach Dovewing's body after she had been killed. So it wasn't much of a mind-blower that a Twoleg or two should get killed, too. But now... Was it possible that these new Twolegs were here for more than just repairs and clean-up?

"They might close the Greenleaf Twolegplace." I commented. "After those Twolegs died, the others might have decided that the Twolegplace wasn't safe anymore."

Dewdrop sniffed. "Good. It'll be one less thing for that fox-heart Rowanstar to complain about."

I glared at him. "Show some respect for your superiors, Dewdrop."

He looked surprised. "But-"

I cut him off. "Rowanstar is a fine leader for ShadowClan. Obviously these Twolegs have been bothering his Clan more than he will let on. It's understandable that he's a little tense."

Dewdrop snorted. "A little? Bramblestar, have you forgotten what he said at the last Gathering? He publicly accused us of allying ourselves with WindClan! He should know better than to think we are on good terms with those rabbit-munchers."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to argue with you about this, Dewdrop. A warrior doesn't go around publicly accusing a leader of being a fox-hearted brute. Now, seeing as you now have nothing further to do, you can go and see Brightheart about joining another patrol and making yourself useful."

"But, Bramblestar-"

I narrowed my eyes. Dewdrop padded away.

Millie's tail-tip twitched nervously. "Maybe we should pay a visit to ShadowClan." She suggested.

I snorted. "A visit to ShadowClan is out of the question. Rowanstar made it very clear two nights ago that he will kill any cat that steps paw on ShadowClan territory without invite."

She cast her gaze downward. "The warrior code says we need to help other Clans in times of need."

"The warrior code says that we are to help a Clan when they are desperately in need, not when they are facing a problem they can easily solve. These Twolegs will be gone by leaf-bare, and then ShadowClan's biggest problem will be gone."

Millie didn't push the issue any further. I jerked my head towards the camp entrance. "Millie, it may do you well to go out again. Get your thoughts off of ShadowClan and onto something more productive. Take Birchfall and Whitewing and go hunting."

As Millie padded away, Stormcloud looked at me eagerly. "Is there anything you need me to do, Bramblestar?"

I twitched an ear. "Go and see if Brightheart has anything she needs done. The same with you, Cloudtail. I need time to reflect on what has been revealed."

As the warriors left, I started wandering around camp. I knew there was no way Rowanstar would welcome us warmly into his territory right now. I had to focus on my Clan right now. The Greenleaf Twolegplace may not be in ThunderClan territory anymore, but it was still the border between my Clan and ShadowClan. If I wasn't careful, something bad could end up happening. I reminded myself tonight to call a Clan meeting and explain our current predicament.

"Bramblestar! Bramblestar!"

I turned as I heard my son's voice. Firepaw and Thornpaw ran up to me, their mentors following close behind.

My spirits lifted a little when I saw how excited they looked. "What is it?"

Thornpaw circled me, tail whipping back and forth in excitement. "Our mentors said we can take our warrior assessment soon!"

I looked over at Mousewhisker and Molewhisker. "Is that so?"

"Yeah!" Thornpaw purred. He stopped his circling and jumped on Firepaw, who let out a squeak of surprise.

Mousewhisker flicked his tail. "They're plenty ready to take their assessments, Bramblestar. When we went for battle training this morning, they both demonstrated the control and stability of warriors."

Molewhisker lifted his nose. "Of course, Firepaw never stood a chance against Thornpaw."

I fought down a flare of irritation. Molewhisker had inherited his father's arrogance, and I recalled how he had often put down Thornpaw's siblings whenever they had training sessions together.

Mousewhisker looked a bit annoyed. "Both apprentices are equal in skill, Molewhisker."

The brown-and-cream warrior shook his head. "I wasn't calling Firepaw useless, I was simply stating the obvious. Thornpaw will make a fantastic warrior, just like his mentor."

I decided to interrupt the conversation before it turned into a heated argument. "I can tell both of you have great confidence in your apprentices. I'll speak to Sunpaw and Barkpaw's mentors, and as long as we are all in agreement, my kits will become warriors in three days' time.

THREE DAYS LATER

"I, Bramblestar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Firepaw, Thornpaw, Barkpaw, Sunpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to defend and protect this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

Thornpaw jumped at the chance to be first. "I do." His brothers and sister quickly followed suit.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Firepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Firelight. StarClan honors your determination and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." I rested my muzzle on my daughter's head, and she licked my shoulder in response.

I stepped back. "Thornpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Thornsting. StarClan honors your courage and your readiness to fight, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." I did the same thing with Thornsting as I did with Firelight, and as I did so, my eyes met Squirrelflight's across the crowd. She was sitting just outside the nursery, our most recent litter sitting quietly around her paws. Squirrelflight seemed to have a knack for having large litters- this one had four kits, the same as her previous one. Redkit, Stormkit, Thunderkit, and Windykit were all growing fast. I pulled back from Thornsting and turned to face Barkpaw.

"Barkpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Barkfoot. StarClan honors your patience and compassion, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Despite being the biggest of his littermates, Barkfoot was the least willing to fight. He was very thoughtful, taking every situation and thinking up a dozen different possible solutions to use. He would make a great warrior. Perhaps he would even make a great deputy and leader one day.

"Thank you, Bramblestar." He murmured as I stepped back. I nodded and turned to face my final kit from this litter.

"Sunpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Sunflight. StarClan honors your bravery and your fighting skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

I stepped forward to rest my muzzle on Sunflight's head. As he licked my shoulder, the Clan cheered the new names of him and his littermates.

"Firelight! Thornsting! Barkfoot! Sunflight!"

I smiled warmly as I stepped away from my son. All of my children would leave their mark on ThunderClan in one way or another. I had no reason to doubt that.

"We want to be warriors too!"

I turned as Whitewing's kits, Foxpaw, Icepaw, Tumblepaw, and Blizzardpaw, ran up to us. Foxpaw's green eyes were wide as he stared up at me. "We want our warrior names, too."

"That's right." Tumblepaw lifted his muzzle so he could look at my face. "I want my warrior name to be Tumblefall, so I can be like my dad."

"Tumblepaw, you don't ask to be a warrior." Berrynose, Tumblepaw's mentor, padded over to him. "You need to wait until Bramblestar says it's time. Now-"

"Bramblestar! Bramblestar!"

I whipped around as Snowwhisker came crashing into camp, Bumblestripe and Fernpaw sprinting after him.

I bolted forward. "What is it?"

Snowwhisker was completely out of breath as he cried,

"Rowanstar is waiting to speak with you! He says that a Twoleg has killed Tawnypelt!"