Icekit wriggled around and stared at Hollykit with round blue eyes. “You won’t be sleeping in the nursery tonight,” she mewed.
Hollykit blinked at her. “No. Hopefully I’ll be in Leafpool’s den.”
Foxkit pushed away from his mother. “I’d rather be in the apprentices’ den with Lionkit!”
“You will be soon,” Hollykit promised.
“Not soon enough!” Foxkit mewed. He reached out and caught Icekit’s twitching tail between his auburn paws. “I can’t wait to be a warrior.”
Icekit flicked her tail away from him. “Will you come back and tell us what it’s like being an apprentice?”
“Of course,” Hollykit purred. She dipped her head to their mother. “Bye, Ferncloud.”
Foxkit and Icekit scrambled out of Ferncloud’s nest.
“Bye, Hollykit,” Icekit mewed, reaching up to push her white muzzle against Hollykit’s cheek.
“Bye, Icekit.” Hollykit bent down and licked Foxkit between the ears. “Don’t get into trouble.”
With a twinge of sadness she turned and squeezed out of the nursery.
The clearing sparkled with dew. Mist clouded in the bushes and clefts that ringed the base of the enclosing rock wall. Hollykit stretched, first her forepaws, then her hind, arching her back and enjoying the fresh scents of the forest.
“Good morning!” Squirrelflight called. She was sitting in
front of the warriors’ den, a paw raised, ready to wash behind her ears. Brambleclaw sat next to her.
“Hi!” Hollykit mewed, trotting over to greet them.
Brambleclaw purred loudly. “It’s your big day!” He touched Hollykit’s head with his muzzle.
“It sure is,” Hollykit agreed, trying not to think how close she had come to ruining her chance of being made an apprentice.
The thorn barrier trembled; the dawn patrol was returning. Cloudtail emerged from the entrance with his apprentice, Cinderpaw, and Stormfur trotting behind. They each carried prey in their jaws.
Brambleclaw padded away to meet them as they dropped their catch, his dark tabby pelt glistening where it had brushed dew from the branches overhanging the warriors’
den. “All clear?”
“No cat has crossed the boundaries,” Cloudtail reported.
“Although WindClan and ShadowClan are keeping their markers fresh.”
Hollykit noticed Squirrelflight’s ears prick warily.
“Do you think that’s a problem?” Brambleclaw asked.
Cloudtail looked thoughtful. “No, but it feels as if they’re both making an effort to remind us that they’re there.”
“You think they’re showing signs of aggression?”
“Not aggression,” Cloudtail corrected. “But they never used to be so thorough about marking their boundaries.”
“Should we be stepping up patrols?” Ashfur slid out of the
warriors’ den, making Hollykit jump. He padded toward Cloudtail and Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight followed him, leaving Hollykit alone.
“We’ll ignore it for now,” Brambleclaw decided.
“Isn’t that a decision for Firestar to make?” Ashfur meowed.
Brambleclaw looked sharply at the gray warrior, but Ashfur’s eyes showed no disrespect, only concern.
Brambleclaw nodded. “I’ll speak to him about it, of course,” he meowed. “But there’s no point overreacting if ShadowClan and WindClan are just trying to provoke us.”
Squirrelflight looked at Cloudtail. “Did you refresh our boundary markers?”
Cloudtail nodded.
Hollykit felt another pelt brush her side. Lionkit had joined her, and Jaykit was scrambling out of the nursery after him.
“What’s going on?” Lionkit mewed.
“The dawn patrol’s reporting back,” Hollykit told him.
The idea that ShadowClan and WindClan were pressing on their borders worried her. But if she was going to be a medicine cat, she must learn not to be so bothered by warrior concerns and concentrate instead on the needs of her Clanmates.
She glanced around the clearing. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw shared a pigeon beside the halfrock.
Honeypaw and Poppypaw were play fighting on the grass patch outside their den. As she watched, the apprentices
stopped and looked up at Highledge. Hollykit followed their gaze, her paws pricking with anticipation.
Firestar was leaping down the tumble of rocks that led from his den. Sandstorm nimbly picked her way after him.
Hollykit’s heart felt as if it flipped right over when Firestar called to the Clan: “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge. It is time to fulfill a promise I made to three of our kits.”
Hollykit glanced at her brothers. This was it! The moment when they would begin serving their Clan!
Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight hurried toward them.
Squirrelflight quickly smoothed the fur between Lionkit’s ears.
“Are you ready?” Brambleclaw’s eyes were shining.
“Totally!” Hollykit mewed.
“Good.” Brambleclaw padded away and sat beside
Birchfall.
Squirrelflight licked Jaykit’s cheek. “Good luck, all of you.”
She went to join Brambleclaw.
Mousefur emerged stiffly from the elders’ den, guiding her blind denmate, Longtail, with her tail. Honeypaw, Poppypaw, and Berrypaw clustered together, whispering. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw padded over from the halfrock, leaving the remains of their meal behind. Within moments, the whole Clan stood gazing at Firestar. For the first time
that morning, Hollykit’s excitement felt closer to anxiety.
The expectations of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight, of Firestar, of the whole Clan, pressed down on her shoulders like a badger’s paws.
She felt a soft muzzle nudging her from behind. She turned to see Leafpool ushering her toward the circle. She searched Leafpool’s eyes, but they gave no clue about what would happen next, only encouraged her forward with a gentle blink.
Hollykit pushed her way between Ferncloud and Daisy and halted. Lionkit and Jaykit squirmed into place beside her, and she felt herself trembling against Daisy’s flank. The cream-colored queen glanced fondly at her and ran a smoothing tail over her black pelt.
“I gather you all for one of my favorite duties,” Firestar announced. “Hollykit, Lionkit, and Jaykit have reached their sixth moon.”
So Jaykit was going to be included in the apprentice-naming ceremony after all.
“They have had an adventurous kithood,” Firestar went on with a hint of amusement in his voice, “but I hope they have learned valuable lessons, and I believe they are ready to become apprentices.”
The Clan meowed in approval. Firestar waited for the noise to die away before going on. “Lionkit!”
The golden brown tabby kit bounced forward, quivering with excitement.
“From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Lionpaw.”
Berrypaw called his name and the other apprentices joined in. Firestar looked at the cloud-darkened sky. “I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior.”
Lionpaw’s eyes sparkled as he gazed up at his leader.
“Ashfur,” Firestar called.
The pale gray tom lifted his head. His eyes brightened, and excitement showed in the tiny twitch of his tail as
