Hey everyone! I hope you're still enjoying reading as much as I'm enjoying writing! This chapter may or may not have a couple of things that may or may not be important later on, so I hope you all like it! And to my reviewer:

Kai Lover911: She sure is ;) I think you'll like this chapter xD

Chapter 10

Hollypaw flicked her tail-tip contemptuously as she twisted to lick the healing wounds on her flanks. True to his word, Blackstar continued sending raiding parties to ThunderClan. But instead of weakening them, the constant battles were making ThunderClan stronger. They were lean and quick, eager to defend their territory. Still, the border skirmishes had been dragging on for almost three moons.

Surely Blackstar isn't as mouse-brained as to not know when to let it go?

Pleased with her now-sleek pelt, Hollypaw stood and stretched luxuriously. It was hard for her to keep a bad temper now that leaf-fall was setting in. The forest was stained with beautiful ambers and warm browns, and the stifling heat of green-leaf was behind them.

"Hollypaw!"

The dark tabby trotted to her mentor, her eyes widening slightly as Firestar joined him at the same time. "Good morning," she dipped her head respectfully to Firestar, then Cloudtail.

"Cloudtail tells me he thinks you're ready to take your warrior name," Firestar meowed proudly. "We'll be taking the dawn patrol this morning."

Hollypaw's jaw gaped. "Is this an assessment?" Her voice cracked like a tiny kit's.

Cloudtail slapped his tail over her open mouth, his whiskers twitching. "It could be, if you keep your fur on."

"R-right," stammered Hollypaw. She licked her ruffled chest fur self-consciously. When she looked back up at her leader she was composed. "I'm ready."

Firestar dipped his head. "Good." He padded towards the thorn tunnel, his head and tail held high. Hollypaw followed with Cloudtail. The apprentice's heart was racing in her chest—she was certain her mentor could hear it.

"We'll head towards the WindClan border," Firestar explained as they turned towards the border. His eyes glimmered as he glanced at Hollypaw. "You've already shown me how well you can fight." Hollypaw accepted the praise with a proud tilt of her chin. No warrior could doubt her battle skills.

After they had travelled a ways, Cloudtail beckoned her forward with his tail. "What can you smell?"

Hollypaw parted her jaws and inhaled deeply. "We're getting close to the border," she reported, flicking her ears towards the stream. She could clearly smell WindClan's markers, and could hear the burble of the stream. "We're upwind though, so if a patrol were there now they'd be able to tell we were coming long before we knew they were there." Firestar looked impressed. Another scent tickled her nose, and Hollypaw dropped into a crouch. "And vole," she hissed softly.

Cloudtail and Firestar stood still as stones. With the smallest twist of his ear Firestar gave her permission to catch it. Hollypaw felt her paws tingle at the chance to show her Clan leader that she could hunt as well as the other warriors. She stalked forward carefully, swallowing a satisfied purr as she saw the plump creature nibbling at a nut. She pounced quickly, killing it before it could make a sound.

"Great catch!" Cloudtail called. The white warrior joined her. "This isn't a hunting patrol, so you can eat it if you'd like."

"May I?" She glanced at Firestar, who nodded.

"I think I'll catch something, too," the flame-pelted leader added with an amused twitch of his whiskers. Hollypaw tucked neatly into her catch as her leader and mentor quickly brought down prey of their own. With a delighted purr, she jumped to her paws.

"The wind has changed," she mewed, closing her eyes as the breeze blew in from the uplands. It carried the scents of heather and rabbits. Suddenly, she stiffened.

Cloudtail, who had been drawing his paw over his whiskers, blinked curiously at her. "Hollypaw?"

"I smell blood," she whispered.

"Blood?" Firestar looked alarmed. "Coming from WindClan's territory?"

Hollypaw shook her head, following the trail. Cloudtail exchanged a worried glance with Firestar, but they followed her wordlessly. The stench grew stronger and stronger, until Hollypaw spotted a puddle of the dark liquid. They were close to the edge of ThunderClan's territory, near the path Leafpool followed to reach the Moonpool.

"Oh no," Hollypaw shouldered her way through the ferns, freezing in horror when she saw what lie at the center. "Firestar, you need to see this!"

ThunderClan's leader came to stand beside her, his fur bristling as he looked down at what she had discovered.

Before them lay the body of a cat. Around its neck there was a shiny metal clamp, closed so tightly that its throat was mangled and its bones crushed. Nearby, a stick was dug into the ground, attached to the clamp by more metal two-leg stuff.

"That's terrible," Cloudtail choked out, his ears flattened.

"It's near that fox den, isn't it?" Hollypaw murmured. "The one on WindClan's territory?"

"Do you think it's meant for foxes?" Firestar sniffed cautiously at the cat's fur. "She carries no Clan's scent. She must have been a rogue."

Hollypaw stepped closer, despite Cloudtail's warning growl. Rogue or not, the cat had once been beautiful. Her fur was thick and white, touched at the ears and paws with dark gray. A scent lingered on her—one that reminded Hollypaw of Whitewing. Try as she might, the apprentice couldn't put her paw on why it was so familiar.

"We must report this," Firestar was meowing, stepping away with a shudder. "There may be more."

"Come on, Hollypaw," Cloudtail gave her nudge as he passed, but the dark tabby didn't move.

Oh. The realization dawned on her like a wave of cold water. Hollypaw parted her jaws again, tasting the air desperately. There! She brushed her cheek along the dying ferns. The scent was faint, but it was definitely there. She slipped further into the undergrowth, coming to the roots of a sorrel bush. Nestled between the roots and nearly covered by amber leaves were two kits.

"Hollypaw?" She heard Cloudtail's pawsteps approaching.

Taking great care, Hollypaw bent and nosed the tiny scraps. One of them parted its jaws in an attempt at a pitiful squeak, but the other didn't move. Dead… As gently as she could, Hollypaw grasped the surviving kit's scruff and backed out of the tangled sorrel branches.

Cloudtail's blue eyes widened in surprise. "Kits?"

"Just one," Hollypaw mumbled around the dirt-covered kit in her jaws. "The second was already dead."

"I'll catch up and tell Firestar right away." The white warrior raced into the trees. Hollypaw followed more slowly, careful not to jostle her precious bundle too much. He was much too light—his mother must not have been able to feed him well. How long had they been lying there, waiting for her to return? The thought pierced Hollypaw's heart. She valued her relationship with Ferncloud and Dustpelt, and knew she could always look to them for support. She couldn't imagine what she would've done if she'd been abandoned.

By the time she reached the camp, Firestar was wrapping up his announcement about the fox traps. Spiderleg and Thornclaw were sent to bury the bodies. Curious eyes greeted Hollypaw as she walked towards Firestar, who had come down from the Highledge to speak with her.

"Cloudtail told me you had found kits," he leaned forward and sniffed cautiously at the pathetic scrap of fur.

Ferncloud was there in an instant. "Poor thing," she murmured. "If I had kits I'd gladly nurse him. No kit deserves this."

"What about Whitewing?" Firestar asked the pretty gray queen.

"She only has two," Ferncloud acknowledged with a thoughtful nod. "I could ask her. She's got plenty of milk to spare."

Relief rushed through Hollypaw. She would never forgive herself if the tiny kit were to die alone because she brought him away from his brother's body. The tabby apprentice followed her mother to the nursery.

"Whitewing?" Ferncloud asked softly. "Hollypaw's here, too. Did you hear Firestar's announcement?"

When the young white queen shook her head, Ferncloud explained what had happened quickly and quietly. While she spoke, Hollypaw sat the tiny kit down between her paws and began licking its fur the wrong way, cleaning it and simulating breathing as she had seen Sorreltail do when Sunkit had been feverish. Slowly, she felt the kit responding. As the dirt came away, Hollypaw realized that his fur was as white as snow, save for the gray tips on his ears.

"Is that the kit?" Whitewing blinked warmly at the tiny bundle.

"Yes," Hollypaw looked hopefully up at the queen. "He needs you, Whitewing."

Hollypaw's former denmate purred. "How could I say no? I have plenty of milk. Sorreltail managed three, there's no reason I can't." She beckoned Hollypaw forward with a sweep of her tail. "Bring him here."

Hollypaw picked the kit up again and put him gently in Whitewing's nest. He let out a feeble mew as Whitewing's milk-scent reached his tiny pink nose. His little paws scrabbled for purchase as he squirmed towards the warmth of her belly fur, and Whitewing nudged him closer with her hind foot. Hollypaw held her breath as the tiny tom nudged his way in between Whitewing's two kits. Though he was small and weakened by hunger, it was easy to tell that he was older than Whitewing's—which had been born only three sunrises ago.

Hollypaw's breath came out in a heavy sigh of relief as he latched on and began suckling contently. "Thank you, Whitewing." She murmured, leaning forward to lick her friend's ear.

Ferncloud stood. "I'll go tell Firestar you'll nurse him."

As she left, Whitewing blinked warmly up at Hollypaw. "Why don't you name him?" She offered. "You seem to really care about him."

Touched, Hollypaw bent her head and touched her nose to his fluffy white pelt. She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling the cool scent of leaf-fall that clung to him. "Snowkit," she finally mewed.

"That's perfect," Whitewing bent and licked each kit's head. "Spottedkit, Nettlekit, and Snowkit."

"Alright, let me through," Leafpool's authoritative meow had Hollypaw shuffling out of the way. "Let me look at the poor thing." She dismissed Hollypaw with a wave of her tail, and though she regretted having to leave the kit she had rescued, the tabby apprentice wouldn't dare argue with Leafpool. She slipped out of the den to see Sorreltail.

"I heard Whitewing's nursing him," she sounded as relieved as Hollypaw felt. "If mine hadn't stopped needing milk so long ago I would have gladly taken him.

Hollypaw followed Sorreltail's fond gaze to where her kits tumbled and played. They would reach their sixth moon any day now, Sorreltail and Whitewing were constantly complaining about how loud the nursery was with the three of them jumping about all the time. For a moment, Hollypaw wondered if there was a chance she could mentor one, but she dismissed it quickly. There were far too many more-experienced warriors ready for an apprentice.

Still, she thought as she watched them play. I'd love to mentor Fennelkit. The dark tortoiseshell-and-white tom wasn't the most outgoing of the litter, but he wasn't one to let himself get outdone and was quick to speak his mind. Sunkit was gentler, and Hazelkit was constantly charging off without thinking.

Hunger began to gnaw at Hollypaw's stomach. Her vole seemed to long ago, and the sun was at its peak. Meowing a quick farewell to Sorreltail, Hollypaw trotted across the clearing to join her mentor beneath the Highledge.

"Cloudtail," she called as she got close. "May I hunt?"

The white warrior nodded. "Feel free. And put everything you catch in the fresh-kill pile—Birchpaw's assessment is hunting, so he'll be taking care of the elders tonight."

A fresh thrill of excitement shot through Hollypaw's veins. We're finally going to be warriors!

She spun around, spotting Rainwhisker as he emerged from the warriors' den. "Hey sleepy paws!" She teased as he padded towards her. "Want to go hunting?"

"Sure," Rainwhisker's blue eyes glowed. "I heard today's your last day as an apprentice."

"You should feel honored," Hollypaw danced towards the thorn tunnel on feather-light paws. "You get to be a part of my very last hunting trip as 'Hollypaw.'"

The dark gray warrior rasped his tongue across her ear. "Let's make the most of it then."

"Right!"

The sun was setting by the time Hollypaw and Rainwhisker managed to carry the rest of their catch back to camp. The hollow was calming as cats gathered to eat and share tongues. Hollypaw kept a blackbird for herself and hurried to eat with Birchpaw.

"How did your assessment go?" She asked breathlessly as she settled beside him.

"Great!" Birchpaw's eyes shone like stars. "I heard all about yours when we got back."

"Have you been to see him?" Hollypaw asked between famished bites.

Birchpaw shook his head. "Not yet. I'll go first thing tomorrow, once our vigil is over."

Hollypaw purred. "I'll go with you."

They finished their meals in a companionable silence, and shared tongues as dusk fell upon the forest. Finally, as the moon peeked over the horizon, Firestar yowled his familiar summons. Hollypaw and Birchpaw exchanged an excited glance and hurried to the front of the gathering Clan.

"As you may have heard," Firestar began once the Clan was sitting quietly before him. "On the dawn patrol this morning Hollypaw found a rogue queen who had been killed by a fox trap. One of the kits was still alive, and Whitewing has agreed to nurse him. We will welcome Snowkit as a member of ThunderClan." There were some unsettled murmurs, but Firestar silenced them with a raised paw. "No warrior of ThunderClan will sit by and let a kit die when we could something to help. We need warriors more than ever now." His eyes flashed as he turned his gaze to Hollypaw and Birchpaw.

"That brings me to my next reason for calling this meeting—one of my favorite duties." Excited whispers rippled through the Clan like wind through grass as Firestar looked up to Silverpelt. "I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He paused and looked at each of them in turn. "Birchpaw, Hollypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Hollypaw felt a chill shoot down her spine, setting fire to her veins as she lifted her head and answered proudly, "I do."

"I do." Birchpaw echoed strongly.

Firestar's eyes sparked with approval. Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names: Birchpaw, from this moment you will be known as Birchfall. StarClan honors your courage and dedication, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." He rested his muzzle on the top of Birchfall's head, and the newly-named warrior gave Firestar's shoulder a respectful lick. He brushed against Hollypaw as he moved to join Ashfur and the other warriors.

Firestar turned his clear green gaze to Hollypaw. She met it evenly with shining amber eyes. "Hollypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Hollystep. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and independence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." He leaned down to touch his muzzle to the top of her head, and as she stretched her neck up to lick his shoulder he whispered, "You'll make an excellent mentor to Snowkit one day."

Hollystep trembled with emotion as she let out a grateful purr before turning and padding towards Cloudtail and Birchfall. Her former mentor looked ready burst with pride as he jumped to his paws and greeted her by her new name.

"Hollystep! Birchfall!"

The cats of ThunderClan pressed around them, congratulating them warmly. Rainwhisker was among the first to greet Hollystep, his blue eyes blazing with excitement for her.

"It is time for the vigil," Firestar rasped finally. "You must guard our camp in silence until dawn."

"It's going to be a cold one," Spiderleg teased. "I don't envy you a bit!"

Hollystep sniffed haughtily, but didn't dare speak as she followed Birchfall to the middle of the clearing. They sat side by side, their pelts brushing as the cold leaf-bare night enveloped the camp. The chill didn't touch Hollystep, though her breaths came out in tiny clouds.

I'm a warrior!