Dark River

and she’d helped him on the long journey back to his Clan. But did that make her a warrior? Hollypaw didn’t even know if Millie believed in StarClan.

Mews of approval rippled around the edge of the clearing.

“About time!” Whitewing called.

Birchfall kneaded the ground. “She has the heart of a warrior!”

Hollypaw stared at them in surprise. Surely it wasn’t that simple? The daylight Gathering had helped to smooth the ruffled fur of the other Clans, but making a kittypet a warrior? Wouldn’t that stir up hostility again? Millie was a good hunter and had proved her bravery and loyalty in battle, but to make her a ThunderClan warrior . . .

“Millie.” Firestar beckoned the striped gray tabby.

She stepped forward, chin high. Hollypaw couldn’t help admiring her. And yet she had never trained as an apprentice.

How could she possibly have a warrior name? Hollypaw felt her chest tighten with anxiety.

“You have fought bravely in battle,” Firestar meowed. “You have made sure the Clan has been fed through a bitter leaf-bare. No cat here doubts your loyalty or your skill. You have

earned the warrior name I give you.” He paused for a moment. “From this day on you shall be known as —”

“Wait!”

Mews of surprise rippled among the Clan as Millie interrupted Firestar.

She gazed steadily around the cats, her blue eyes glowing.

“I’m privileged to be considered a ThunderClan warrior,” she meowed. “I could ask for no greater honor. And I am grateful to Graystripe for rescuing me from my life as a kittypet.”

She blinked warmly at her mate. “If I’d stayed my whole life as a Twoleg companion, it would have been only half a life.

But—”

Graystripe stepped forward. “Millie?” His eyes were clouded with anxiety. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

“Never.” Millie padded toward him and brushed her muzzle against his. Then she turned back to Firestar. “You can rely on my loyalty until the day I join StarClan, and you must believe that I will live and die to protect ThunderClan. But I don’t want to change my name. I have always been Millie, and I see no shame in it.”

A shocked silence gripped the Clan. Ashfur flicked his tail.

Sandstorm narrowed her eyes, studying the former kittypet.

Brambleclaw’s whiskers twitched.

Graystripe lifted his chin. “Millie is right. It doesn’t matter what she’s called. It only matters how she acts, and I know that she will always put the Clan first.”

Hollypaw watched Firestar, wondering what he would do.

The ThunderClan leader shifted his paws uneasily, glancing

from Graystripe to Millie.

Suddenly, another mew sounded. “May I speak?”

Hollypaw spun around. Daisy was padding forward. The cream-colored queen slid between Spiderleg and Birchfall and stepped into the center of the clearing. Hollypaw pricked her ears. Daisy had never spoken at a Clan meeting before.

“I am glad Millie has chosen to keep her name,” the she-cat began. Her soft mew trembled a little. “I am no warrior, but I am a ThunderClan cat. I stay in the nursery rather than hunt and fight because that is what I do best. I care for our young as though each kit were my own. This is my gift to the Clan, but I do it in my own chosen name.”

“She is right!” Brook stepped forward. “My loyalty lies with ThunderClan, but I would never give up the name given to me by the Tribe.”

Stormfur padded forward and ran his tail along his mate’s flank. “Is there any cat here who would not trust Millie or Daisy or Brook to fight on their side?” He stared challengingly around the Clan.

“No!” Graystripe led the call and Brambleclaw, Cloudtail, Whitewing, and the others quickly took it up. Daisy’s kits, Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, and Mousepaw cheered loudest of all.

Hollypaw watched uneasily.

Suddenly, Thornclaw’s mew rose above the others. “Stop!

What would the other Clans say if they could see us now?”

Dustpelt nodded. “ShadowClan has already tried to take territory from us because we are no longer a pure forest-born Clan.”

Spiderleg narrowed his eyes. “Naming ceremonies are part of the warrior code. Can we ignore them and still keep the respect of the other Clans?”

Hollypaw swept her tail over the ground. Dustpelt and Spiderleg were right. Millie, Daisy, and Brook were important to the Clan, but unless they accepted all the customs of the Clan, how could they truly be part of it?

Firestar’s eyes flashed. “Silence!” he snapped. “Don’t forget you’re talking about your Clanmates! I invited Daisy, Brook, and Millie to join ThunderClan because they make us stronger.” He glared around the clearing. “You are happy to eat their fresh-kill and to have them fight beside you. Do you want me to throw them out because they have the wrong names? Do you want the other Clans to tell us what to do?”

“Of course not!” Graystripe meowed.

“Millie and Brook are warriors already,” Brambleclaw put in. “Names make no difference.”

That’s not true! Hollypaw dug her claws into the earth. They had not had proper naming ceremonies; the Clan was ignoring a ritual that had been followed for countless moons.

What would StarClan think? We must live by the warrior code! She stared at Thornclaw, willing him to speak, but he only dipped his head to their leader.

Firestar blinked at him and turned once more to Millie.

“You may keep your name. We have seen your courage in battle and your skill at hunting. You are ThunderClan now. May StarClan recognize you as a true warrior.”

“ThunderClan! ThunderClan!” Birchfall began the

chant and the others quickly joined in. Hollypaw watched in silence, noticing Dustpelt and Thornclaw exchange anxious glances.

“Don’t you feel like cheering?” Squirrelflight had weaved her way to Hollypaw’s side.

Hollypaw’s whiskers quivered. “What if StarClan doesn’t recognize her as a true warrior?”

“Do you really think StarClan is narrow-minded?”

Squirrelflight murmured.

“We have the warrior code for a reason and this goes against it.” Hollypaw’s fur rippled along her spine. “Brambleclaw should have spoken out. He knows how important it is to follow the code.”

Squirrelflight smoothed Hollypaw’s fur with her tail.

“Brambleclaw is Clan deputy. He must support Firestar.” Her green eyes glittered. “And don’t forget that Firestar was a kittypet once.”

“But he still took a warrior name!” Hollypaw mewed hotly.

“He followed the warrior path and trained as an apprentice.”

The cheers were dying away as the cats began to return to their duties. He never tried to change the warrior code!

“Hollypaw!”

Brackenfur’s mew jerked her from her thoughts. He was standing beside Cloudtail and Spiderleg. Their apprentices, Cinderpaw and Mousepaw, were pacing back and forth.

“It’s time we assessed your progress,” Brackenfur told her.

“I want you, Cinderpaw, and Mousepaw to go hunting. Catch as much prey as you can.”

Squirrelflight’s eyes glowed. “An assessment already?”

Hollypaw forgot her unease, excitement pulsing through her pelt. At last she would have a chance to show everything she had learned.