Chapter 11

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey—um, which is everyone—gather beneath the, um, the Log for a—er—four-cat…Clan meeting?”

Moonshine smiled up at her friend, who was sitting gracefully on the Log. “That wasn’t…um, what I expected.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Silverfur meowed. She raised her voice and bellowed, “HURRY UP AND COME ALREADY! THIS IS IMPORTANT!”

Golden and Shadow came bounding out of the leaders’ den, the only den that existed right now. The nursery and the warriors’ den were still in progress, but now they only looked like a messy pile of brambles and branches and rocks. Moonshine had suggested to push one of the many trees around the rocky clearing into the camp for a den, but Silverfur had meowed outrageously, “Push a tree?! What if it falls the wrong way? What if it crushes someone? There’s a thousand things that could go wrong with that!” and then Moonshine had argued that it was a good use of their resources and then Silverfur had stubbornly declared that it was a bad idea.

“What is it? What is it?” Shadow exclaimed, jumping up and down as if it was the best day of his life. “A real Clan meeting? Does that mean Silverfur is going to be the leader? Well, of course she is! Who else! Ha! Silly me!” He and Golden burst into laughter.

Over the past several days, Golden had recovered enough to complete some training, Shadow had definitely beat him in a hunting competition since Golden always stomped around noisily and scared off all the prey, and the four cats had finished the camp entrance.

“Listen up, guys,” Silverfur commanded hotly. “There’s something really important to announce.”

“Really?” Golden gasped. “Something important! Wow! Sooooo important! I love important stuff! It’s so important to see important things happening to important cats!”

Silverfur had to wait for the two toms to stop laughing before continuing. “Listen, it’s not happening to us. It’s happening to you two. You’re getting your warrior names.”

That finally silenced Shadow and Golden. The two cats exchanged surprised and elated glances. Moonshine could almost hear the unspoken words between them. Warrior names?! Now?! This is so cool!!!! Is this really happening?!

“I, Silverfur, um…” Silverfur paused awkwardly. “That won’t work. Okay, um…” Her gaze traveled to Moonshine uncertainly.

What? What am I supposed to do? Moonshine thought frantically, though the bigger part of her was screaming, Help her! Think of something! “Um,” she stammered, “er, uh…would ‘former warrior of SkyClan’ work?”

Silverfur frowned at her. “I don’t want to mention my old Clan. This is our Clan.” Her tone surprised Moonshine for a moment. “Buuuut I guess it’ll work. Okay.” She cleared her throat. “I, Silverfur, um, former warrior of SkyClan…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 even though they were rogues, they have the heart of a true warrior. I commend them to you as warriors in their turn.” She hesitated, and then her gaze hardened with determination.

“Shadow,” she went on, “do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

Shadow took a deep breath. “I do,” he meowed. “I’ll do my very best! Truly!”

Silverfur smiled at him. Moonshine thought she caught something else in her gaze. …Love? Like, not the friend love, but the LOVE love? “Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Shadow, from this moment you will be known as Shadowclaw. StarClan honors your stealthiness, loyalty, and enthusiasm.”

“Touch your nose to his forehead,” Moonshine whispered to her, recalling her own warrior ceremony.

“Oh, right.” Silverfur leaped down from the Log and obeyed, then continued, “Golden, from this moment you will be known as Goldenclaw! StarClan honors your loyalty, strength, and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of—um—er…whatever! We welcome you as a full warrior!”

“Shadowclaw! Goldenclaw!” Moonshine cheered, then looked at her friends—no, Clanmates. “Um. This feels really weird.”

“Yes, it does,” Silverfur agreed. “Then you know what time it is—let’s go find more cats!”

 

 

Moonshine padded through the forest, her belly tight with anxiety. What if Rock was here and he killed her? After the encounter with the two gray rogues, she wasn’t going to let herself be tricked or killed that easily.

A twig snapped somewhere in the distance. Moonshine froze, her gaze darting around, scanning the bushes and the trees. Was someone there? No, she told herself, taking a deep breath. Go on. You can be braver than this, Moonshine! Remember when you were an adventurous apprentice!

Well, she didn’t feel adventurous now. In fact, she felt the exact opposite. Maybe I should have offered to guard the camp. Oh, wait, I really should have! No one’s guarding it! What if something happens when everyone’s away?

She hurried back the way she had come. She wouldn’t leave the camp unprotected if she could do something about it. She pushed herself harder.

As she pelted through the forest, Moonshine realized she’d actually been a long way from camp. She was already tired when she stopped by an oak tree that she was sure wasn’t very near the camp.

Suddenly she heard a shriek. Moonshine’s fur immediately started to bristle in fear. Who was that? Should she leave or help whoever was in trouble?

Go, she thought. Go see! Come on, you weren’t this scared of screams before! Think of the rogue attacks!

Yes. She hadn’t hesitated to help a Clanmate in danger when the rogues had attacked them. Why should she be scared now? Moonshine gritted her teeth in determination. She would do this. Besides, that sounded like a cat. Maybe she could ask them if they wanted to join her Clan.

Moonshine padded through the forest, following the sound of continuous shrieks. She burst through the bushes at last and her breath caught in her throat.

It took a heartbeat for her mind to process what was going on. A light brown-and-white tabby she-cat was halfway up a tree, her claws clinging desperately to the bark. Below her, a brown dog was up on its hind legs, snapping at her tail. The cat shrieked every time the dog caught her tail, though only fur came off. Her claws looked like they were slowly slipping. She didn’t have much energy left, and she seemed too scared to climb higher.

A thought barely had the time to flicker through her mind before Moonshine lunged at the dog. She raked her claws across its side as hard as she could. The dog whirled around in surprise, and Moonshine slashed its nose. Blood splattered onto the ground.

The other cat slid down the trunk with a yelp and sank her teeth into the dog’s tail. It yowled and spun around to face her, and Moonshine slashed its back.

It went on like that a few times, until the dog finally gave up and ran away, howling with pain.

The light brown-and-white tabby turned to Moonshine. “Thanks,” she gasped. “Thank you so much.”

“Anyone would have done it.”

The cat shrugged. “Not anyone.”

Moonshine remembered that this was a rogue, a rogue who’d never experienced being in a Clan before. How do I ask her? I’ll slowly approach the topic. First things first… “What’s your name?” she asked.

“Heather.” She blinked in surprise as if no one had ever asked her that before.

“W-we made a pretty good team, didn’t we?”

For a moment Heather was quiet, and Moonshine wondered if she’d asked the wrong question. What else should I have said? “Yeah,” Heather finally replied.

“Um,” Moonshine meowed, “I’m part of a small group of cats that live near here. We’re looking for more cats to join us, so…would you like to?”

Heather just stared at her, her mouth opening and closing. Moonshine’s heart skipped a beat. Will she say no? Please say yes! There was another moment of silence, and then she blurted, “I-I c-can’t just trust a random stranger that comes to me! It’s not wise! I’m sorry!” and bolted away into the trees.

Oh. I understand.

Her tail drooping with disappointment, Moonshine headed home.