Warriors: The Prophecy of Frost - Apprentice's Journey

Chapter 25- The Stars in the Skies

"Attack me," Timberclaw mewed. Frostpaw hesitated.

"Come on," he sighed.

Frostpaw sprung at her mentor and swiped at him with a sheathed paw. Timberclaw ducked and Frostpaw leaped onto him.

When she landed, he shook her off easily. Frostpaw kicked his side while she was still laying on the ground and rolled to away before Timberclaw could strike back.

Let's try the new move, Frostpaw thought.

She leaped onto her mentor and held on without hurting him. As he tried to shake her off, she let go and sprinted to a tree.

By the time Timberclaw's sight was back to normal - he had made himself dizzy by trying to shake Frostpaw off, Frostpaw was already on a branch, ready to drop onto her mentor.

She dropped down and landed squarely on Timberclaw's back. She heard a grunt and he collapsed.

"Timberclaw, are you hurt?" Frostpaw asked anxiously.

"No," he meowed, shaking his head. "I'm a bit winded. That was an interesting move you used on me."

"I spent at least a moon trying to master it," Frostpaw mewed.

"It was exemplary," Timberclaw mewed, getting up. "Let's revise the moves."

"Do the back kick on me," he ordered.

Frostpaw used her hindlegs to kick at Timberclaw's pelt.

"You will have more balance if you put more weight on your front paws," he advised. "But other than that, you're quite good at this."

He paused. "It's almost time for you to get your warrior name," he meowed. "You have learned a lot of things from me and the other Clan you were in. But there's always something else to learn. Follow me."

Timberclaw led her out of the Training Hollow and towards one of the streams in ThunderClan territory.

"I'm not sure if you would find this useful, but it's better to be safe than sorry," he mewed. "I'm going to teach you a few swimming techniques. But if you are really interested, you can ask Silverstar."

"Do I have to jump in the stream?" Frostpaw eyed the flowing stream warily.

"Not yet," Timberclaw replied. "First thing about swimming is that you need to keep moving, unless you can already swim very well. Move your paws in a circular motion."

"Can you show me?" she asked.

Timberclaw sighed but he nodded reluctantly. He put one of his paws into the water and pulled it back out.

"Never mind," Frostpaw meowed. "You don't have to."

"Okay," he mewed. "If there's nothing else, it's time to get back to camp."

~~~~

(A moon later)

"Today is your assessment," Timberclaw mewed. "You have to bring back at least three pieces of prey before sundown. You wouldn't have a fighting assessment as I have already tested you on that yesterday."

Frostpaw nodded and sped off. As she padded closer to Tallpines, she heard a squirrel.

She looked up and spotted the brown shape. It was on a tree, unconcerned that its predator is below it.

Should I catch it? Frostpaw wondered. I think I could catch it if I'm careful enough.

She slowly climbed up a tree opposite of the tree the squirrel was in. She jumped and landed on another branch. Slowly but surely, she was getting closer to the prey.

Frostpaw pounced quickly and managed to catch the squirrel. She struggled to balance herself as the squirrel tried to break free.

Frostpaw managed to end the squirrel's life with a quick bite on its neck and she climbed back down awkwardly.

By the time she had caught three pieces of prey, it was becoming sundown. She carried the prey she had caught to Timberclaw, who nodded curtly.

"I'm pretty sure there's a warrior ceremony to arrange," he smiled, walking into Silverstar's den.

When he came out a couple of heartbeats later, Silverstar followed him and she leaped onto the Highledge.

"Let all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey to gather at the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" she yowled firmly.

When the Clan have gathered, Silverstar spoke, "Timberclaw, are you sure that Frostpaw is worthy of becoming a warrior of ThunderClan?"

"I am never surer," Timberclaw replied proudly.

"I, Silverstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you in her turn."

After speaking, Silverstar turned to look at her.

"Frostpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?" she asked.

"I do," Frostpaw replied seriously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name: Frostpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Frostblaze. StarClan honours your determination and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Silverstar finished.

"Frostblaze! Frostblaze!" the Clan yowled.

As the new warrior watched her Clan call out her new name, she looked at the stary sky above her.

Thank you.

------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Thank you all for reading! The epilogue is left, and look out for book 6 where things get really messy.