Dappled Shadows

Chapter Nine

Dapplepaw padded into camp and deposited a few mice onto the fresh-kill pile. The young she-cat looked up at the Great Rock where Tornstar and Sunflame were talking quietly. The deputy looked concerned as she padded over to the camp entrance to meet Aspenrose's returning patrol. Aspenrose and Sunflame exchanged a few words before walking back over to Tornstar and disappearing into his den.

That was odd, Dapplepaw thought padding over to where the other apprentices were gathered near their den. "Hey Dapplepaw!" Ravenpaw purred moving to make room for the tortoshiell she-cat.

"Hey," Dapplepaw replied settling down and turning towards Acornpaw who was retelling the events of the patrol. "...the scent of ShadowClan was overwhelming," she was meowing. "Aspenrose made us come back in case there were any ShadowClan cats still hanging around."

The she-cat was interrupted by Tornstar's yowl from the Great Rock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather." The apprentices bounded over to the center of camp and tried to get a good view of their leader. "In light of recent events I can think of no better time to make some of our apprentices into full warriors of ThunderClan," Tornstar meowed. "Morningpaw and Acornpaw come here."

Acornpaw exchanged an excited look with her sister and the two cats slowly padded over to Tornstar and stopped in front of him. "I, Tornstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard in the ways of your noble code and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." he meowed. "Acornpaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" "I do." Acornpaw replied reverently looking up at the leader. "Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Acornpaw, from this moment you will be known as Acornfall. StarClan honors your warmth and dedication and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Tornstar finished. He rested his muzzle on the new warrior's head and she licked his shoulder before Tornstar turned to Morningpaw.

"Morningpaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Tornstar meowed. "I do." Morningpaw stated, looking straight into Tornstar's steely blue eyes. "Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Morningpaw from this moment on you will be known as Morningshade. StarClan honors your intellect and independence and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

"Morningshade! Acornfall! Morningshade! Acornfall!" the Clan cheered loudly for the two new warriors who looked ready to burst with pride. Tornstar raised his tail and silence fell over the clan. "On a much darker note, a patrol has recently scented ShadowClan inside of our borders. Use caution when you're out and report anything odd to Sunflame or myself immediately. Apprentices are not to leave the camp alone and Queens watch your kits carefully." Tornstar stated.

"Let's attack!" the obnoxious yowl came from Nightfang, his orange eyes glowing in the light. "Yeah! Let's get attack them instead of waiting here like cowards!" Quailfeather piped in, lashing her tail. Within moments the Clan was a mob, arguing with each other about attacking their neighboring clan.

"Enough!" Sunflame yowled from her spot at the bottom of the Great Rock. "Do none of you remember what happened last time we attacked ShadowClan in their own territory?! Cats were lost on both sides," she spat. "That's exactly right Sunflame," Tornstar meowed calmly regaining the attention of the Clan. "We will not attack ShadowClan unless they give us a legitimate reason to."

"Oh so coming into our territory and stealing prey that could be used to feed our kits isn't reason enough for you?" Nightfang challenged. Sunflame looked about ready to claw his pelt but Tornstar merely looked amused. "If you were leader you could make these decisions Nightfang. For now its my job." Tornstar meowed calmly, leaping off the rock. "Remember, be careful when outside of camp alone. ShadowClan has proved to be quite unpredictable these last few moons."

The next day Shadowpaw was back to her old ShadowClan hating self. "If those pieces of fox dung come near me I'll claw their fur off." she spat sharpening her claws agains an old log. "I know, you've told me every day since we were kits," Dapplepaw sighed burying her face into her paws. "You can never be too careful Amberwind says," Shadowpaw continued, totally disregarding her sister's words. Shadowpaw continued on about how awful ShadowClan was and how good at fighting she had become until Dapplepaw finally had enough and retreated back to the apprentice den where she hoped to find peace and quiet. To Dapplepaw's relief, the den was empty except for Shimmerpaw and Flowerpaw who were sleeping quietly.

Dapplepaw padded over to her nest and curled up as sleep overcame the young apprentice.