Embers

Chapter 19

Today was the day, Emberstripe thought to herself. The last moon with her kits on has passed quickly, and now all four of them stood in front of Mothstar. Dustfur curled his tail with her's and looked at her, giving her ear a lick before turning back to his kits.

"Thrushkit , you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Thrushpaw. Your mentor will be Flowerpetal. I hope Flowerpetal will pass down all he knows on to you. Flowerpetal, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Cherrystrike, and you have shown yourself to be clever and understanding. You will be the mentor of Thrushpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Thrushpaw,"

The little light brown tom touched noses with the she-cat , then looked at Emberstripe and Dustfur excitedly. Mothstar then called up Foxkit.

"Foxkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Foxpaw. Your mentor will be Appleclaw. I hope Appleclaw will pass down all she knows on to you.
Appleclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Hollysong, and you have shown yourself to be smart and loyal. You will be the mentor of Foxpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Foxpaw,"

Emberstripe watched as the ginger she-cat touched noses with Foxpaw, both looking genuinely excited. Shadekit was called up, looking a bit nervous.

"Shadekit , you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Shadepaw. Your mentor will be Nighthawk. I hope Nighthwak will pass down all he knows on to you. Nighthawk , you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Oakpelt , and you have shown yourself to be skillful and patient. You will be the mentor of Shadepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Shadepaw,"

Shadepaw padded up to his new mentor, trying to look more dignified then his siblings, but his excitement was given away by his tail twitching as he looked at his parents. Finally, Moonkit was called up his green eyes wide.

Moonkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Moonpaw. Your mentor will be Cloudshine. I hope Cloudshine will pass down all she knows on to you. Cloudshine, you have asked to take Moonpaw in as a apprentice. You have received excellent training from Dappledleaf, and you have shown yourself to be wise and understanding. You will be the mentor of Moonpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Moonpaw,"

Moonpaw hurried over to touch noses with the medicine cat, who looked at him happily. He looked excitedly back at her as they all began to chant their new names, Emberstripe calling out their names the loudest. The apprentices then were greeted by Lightpaw, Sunpaw, and Petalpaw, who quickly began telling them about being an apprentice. Moonpaw stayed with Cloudshine, who took him into the medicine den.

"They'll be fine," Dustfur saw Emberstripe's distressed look. "Come on, let's go hunting and let them get used to their mentors,"

She followed Dustfur as he began to ask cats to go. Soon Hazelwood, Oakpelt, and Hollysong accompanied them as they left the camp. She tried to get her mind off her kits by focusing on the hunt. It paid off well, and she caught two thrushes. She felt satisfied with herself, and it felt good to be going hunting regularly and doing patrols. But prey began to thin out the more Leaf-bare came, and she noticed this as she went back to camp with the thrushes. Hazelwood and Hollysong had nothing, and Oakpelt and Dustfur only had a small shrew each. The thought of her clanmates starving worried her until the sun set early, when she saw that every cat had something to eat. She had gone on three hunting patrols, and she was exhausted. She shared a squirrel with Dustfur as the sun began to set.

"You hunted a lot today. You should go get some sleep," he said to her. She didn't feel like arguing, so she headed back to the warrior's den and curled up, wrapping her tail on her nose. Later, she heard Dustfur walk in and lay beside her. The den felt warm with the bodies of the sleeping cats, and the warmth lulled her into a deep sleep.

The next day passed easily until the sun began to set and Thunderclan headed out for the gathering. She walked with Dustfur and Oakpelt to the island, watching their kits happily as they hurried beside their mentors through the frosty moor. The moon shone brightly above and no clouds were in the sky. Soon they reached the island and the smell of fish hit their noses.

"I guess we know Riverclan is here," Oakpelt said while they were crossing the tree. Emberstripe kept an eye on her children as they crossed, and breathed a sigh of relief when each jumped off the tree and onto the island easily. Soon she hopped down, followed by Dustfur and was met by Shadowclan, Skyclan, and Riverclan. She followed Dustfur to a group of cats that looked familiar.

"Look who's back," the dark brown she-cat said. They greeted her and she realized they were the cats she met on her first gathering. She greeted her and the rest of the cats. "Where have you been?"

"In the nursery," Dustfur said. He turned and whispered to Emberstripe, "Aspenpaw and Sprucepaw are Aspenfall and Sprucetail, Birdpaw and Stagpaw are Birdsong and Stagclaw, and Seedpaw and Foxpaw are Seedfur and Foxwind,"

She nodded and looked at the cats.

"In the nursery? Dustfur's, I'm guessing?" Birdsong said.

"How'd you know?" She asked.

"I had a feeling," She replied.

"Ooh, kits! They must be apprentices by now. What are their names?" Seedfur asked, perking up.

"Moonpaw, Shadepaw, Thrushpaw, and Foxpaw," Dustfur said, his tail up happily. Seedfur looked at her stomach and nodded.

"You're expecting?" Emberstripe looked at the she-cat. She looked surprised.

"How'd you know that?" she asked, embarrassed. Foxwind laughed.

"Well, you have gotten really close with  Sandydawn at camp," Foxwind said. Her sister flicked her with her tail when Larkstar yowled to get everycat's attention.

"Who would like to go first?" he asked, looking at the other leaders.

"I will," Ebonystar said. "Leaf-bare has been difficult, but my warriors have hunted well. Slatefur has also moved to the nursery expecting Aldershade's kits,"

She nodded to Spottedstar, who announced that Rushpaw was now Rushwind, and the clans chanted the new warrior's name. Emberstripe didn't see who the tom looked like, so she focused back on the leaders.

"We have four new apprentices, Foxpaw, Thrushpaw, Shadepaw, and Moonpaw," Mothstar said. Each clan chanted their names, and she saw Thrushpaw give his chest fur a few embarrassed licks, while Foxpaw puffed out her chest. She looked at Dustfur, who looked at his kits pleased.

"I have important news to share," Swanstar said once the cats settled. "Flintfoot and Silverbird found a cat on our land. We were about to chase him off when he said he was looking for his daughters. He said one was black with amber eyes and the other white with unique orange stripe and green eyes,"

Emberstripe gasped, and cats looked at her. Dustfur looked at her and gave her a surprised look. Mothstar and Swanstar began talking among themselves quietly, and Larkstar ordered some cats to settle down.

"Is that your dad?" Foxwind asked her. She said nothing, only shrugged her shoulders. Thoughts swirled around her head. She always thought her father was dead or gone, but he was here, looking for her and Madeline. 

"It is decided that the tom will be brought to Thunderclan. This gathering is over," Swanstar said, and the leaders lept down from the great rock and their cats began to follow them off the island. The Thunderclan cats trekked along the Windclan border. 

"Emberstripe? Who's the tom?" Thrushpaw asked from behind her.

"It might be my father, little one," she said to the light brown tom. He nodded and headed back towards Flowerpetal, who said nothing. They entered camp and Madeline padded up to Emberstripe.

"Anything happen at the gathering?" she asked her casually.

"Our father is here,"