Thistle's Mistake

Chapter 12

"May all cats old enough join me under high rock for a clan meeting!" Thistle jumped in his nest, he only used to a cat yelling if it was Birch or an attack on the camp. It was the next morning, close to sunhigh but not quite. Every cat in the clan swarmed around the leader's den, where she stood on top of.
"Today, three apprentices will become warriors as well as Mistyheart's and Sapwhisker's kits will become apprentices today." Thistle woke up Fox, he quickly explained what information he had gathered and gave it to Fox. Walking out of the den, Thistle sat near the outskirts of the group of cats, sitting near the den where he was sleeping in. Most cats where gathered. Thistle was amazed at how many cats there was in camp. A wide array of pelt colors become on large mass of splotched fur. "Vinepaw, Cinderpaw and Leafpaw." Those must be the apprentices. Thistle slowly trailed off, watching Darkmoss hurry out of the larger den, her fur still messy from sleep. His attention snapped back when Ashstar started talking again.

"I, leader of BirchClan, sincerely hope that our warrior ancestors will look down at these apprentices as they have trained hard in their noble code to become mighty warriors." Thistle could barely make out three excited figures in the front of the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye he saw DarkMoss give herself a quick groom, although she wasn't seen by any cat so why would she clean herself? "Leafpaw, you have shown great courage and excellent swiftness with your warrior training, do you promise to uphold and protect the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" Ashstar asked him. I know many cats that wouldn't save another cat from a coyote!
"I do." The cat's tone was very sure of his answer, not showing much excitement from what seems to be a major ceremony to Thistle.
"Then from this moment on, you'll be called Leaffall. May StarClan light your path." StarClan? DarkMoss didn't tell me there was another clan! Hopefully Birch doesn't know this. The thought settled hard in Thistle's stomach like a stone. He didn't want to go though whatever was going to happen again.
"Leaffall!"
"Leaffall!"
"Leaffall!" Thistle jumped when all of the cats cheered the tom's new name. Will I get a new name?

"Cinderpaw, you have shown lots of spirit and loyalty to BirchClan. Do you wish to serve and protect the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" Ashstar asked after all of the cats stopped cheering.
"I do." It seemed that Creekpaw was a bit more excited than Leaffall's.
"From this moment on, you'll be known as Cinderstripe. StarClan honors you." Ashstar's voice was lost as cats started to cheer her name.
"Cinderstripe!"
"Cinderstripe!"
"Cinderstripe!" He couldnt help jumping a bit when the cheering started again. Thankfully Fox wasn't there or else he might think something's wrong. The red tom must have found the white she-cat, which her name was Sootnose. Hopefully he just dose his own thing, I don't want to drag another cat down with me because of some stupid grudge that started for no reason, Thistle thought.

"Vinepaw, you have shown lots of dedication and determination with your training. Do you wish to risk your life upholding the warrior code?"
"I do." The tom decarared.
"Then from this moment on, you'll be know as Vineclaw. May StarClan light your path."
"Vineclaw!"
"Cinderstripe!"
"Leaffall!"
"Vineclaw!"
"Cinderstripe!"
"Leaffall!" Thistle finally got a decent glimpse at the three new warriors. One was the largest, an orange tabby, the next was grey cat with barely noticeable tabby stripes and the last was a pale tan tabby. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the new warrior, almost thinking it was Birch for a second.

"Lillykit, Quailkit and Snowkit." Ashstar called out. The crowd of cats shuffled over to a side, leaving a walkway for the kits, which he still couldn't see. "You three have reached the age of six moons, your finally ready to receive your own mentors." Ashstar jumped down from high rock.
"Sageheart, step forward." The clan made way for her to to walk up to the front. "Quailkit, until you are ready to receive your warrior name, you'll be known as Quailpaw. Your mentor will be Sageheart. I believe she'll make you a great warrior."

"Aquaspear, step forward." A white and blueish grey she-cat stood up next to where Silverpatch and Darkmoss sitting. She must be a friend. "Snowkit, until you become a warrior, you'll be known as Snowpaw, your mentor will be Aquaspear, I hope she passes on her spirit to you." Ashstar told the clan once Aquaspear was at the front of the clan.

"Darkmoss, step forward." Thistle immediately looked over to the brown and black she-cat. A faint glimpse of fear flashed in her green eyes before she made her way up to the front of the clan. This stupid quest or whatever you'd call it would be so much easier if I didn't like Darkmoss. Wait, no I don't like her, I can't. Nearly the same argument popped up in his head while sitting vigil.
"Lillykit, until you can earn your warrior name, you'll be know as Lillypaw. I'm sure Darkmoss will pass on her excellent skill of hunting on to you."

"Lillypaw!"
"Quailpaw!"
"Snowpaw!" Thistle gave another small flinch, the random attacks from Birch had made him a nervous wreck most times.
"Vineclaw, Cinderstripe and Leaffall will sit vigil tonight, clan dismissed.

A grey tabby and white tom was surrounded by the cats as he called names. Darkmoss, Aquaspear and Sageheart left with their new apprentices. Thistle wanted to follow them, just to give him something to do, but he figured that he should know some of the cats in camp. After a few long moments, most cats had left camp. Three older cats had found sunny spots to sun themselves. A few cats including Fox and Sootnose was by the prey pile. A bright orange tom was next to Sootnose. A foul stench started to drift into camp. It was familiar but he just couldn't figure out what it was. A flash of Sunfish falling out of the tree was replaced with the snarling jaws of a coyote that was climbing up the tree. He froze at the memory. A coyote was attacking camp. He wanted to tell every cat in camp but if it was a false alarm it could be bad.

Luckily, he didn't have to answer. Two cats darted into cat, fear lingering around them. A skinny coyote jumped into camp, nearly landing on one of the elders, a brown she-cat. The coyote opened it's wide mouth down at the elder, snapping down on her back before she could get up. Although he figured he shouldn't be helping, he lunged at the coyote who just nocked him out of the way. He landed heavily, nearly flipping onto his other side. He could hear many screeches, mostly battle cry's but one came from Embertail. She was slung from the coyote's foaming jaws. As if Embertail was a toy, the coyote pounced on her before grabbing one of her paws and shaking it's head vigorously. With lots of wailing, the paw was nearly ripped from the older cat as she was slung from the coyote again. Cats started to claw at the skinny beast. For such an under fed coyote, it could fight. Thistle bolted up behind it, which was the only other spot to attack it at. Thistle grasped it's tail and bit down hard, draining some blood.

Deciding it was useless to bite at it's tail all day, Thistle leapt up onto it's back. Scratching it's back till Thistle's claws where matted with blood soaked fur, the coyote still growled, never once did it yelp. It quickly whipped around and grabbed Thistle's tail. Without any sort of warning, Thistle was ripped from it's back. Determined not to end up like the elder that was probably dead by now, Thistle heaved his body upward. It put more pain on his tail, which the coyote still held, but he wasn't going to get away without a fight. He lashed a paw at the coyote's eye, hitting it dead on. It finally gave a yelp of pain. It dropped Thistle onto the dusty floor that became mud from blood. Thistle flipped himself away, just before a foamy set of blood stained teeth would've grabbed him. By the time Thistle rolled to his feet, the coyote was jumping over the camp's walls.