Pineshade's Loss

Chapter 29

Frogpaw is finally taking his warrior assessment. Pineshade and Milktail sit beside each other in camp, waiting impatiently for their friend to return.

"He was an apprentice for unnecessarily long," Pineshade points out, looking into Milktail's purple eyes.

"I agree. The two of us had a good reason to stay behind, but Frogpaw has been ready to become a warrior for many moons. I wonder if Boulderstar held him back," Milktail meows, intertwining her tail with Pineshade's.

"I hope not. I have been wishing he got over what he had against cats that don't have pure ShadowClan blood," Pineshade responds.

Then, at that exact moment, Frogpaw bursts back into camp with Hawktalon and Boulderstar following closely behind him. Pineshade watches as his father heads directly over to the Highbranch and leaps onto it.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the high branch for a meeting!" Boulderstar calls out. The rest of the Clan then gathers beneath the high branch.

"Young Frogpaw has passed his warrior assessment and is now ready to become full warrior of ShadowClan," Boulderstar announces. Pineshade can't help but feel excitement for his friend.

"Frogpaw, please come forward," Boulderstar says. Then, Frogpaw steps forward as he is told.

"I, Boulderstar, leader of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn," Boulderstar meows. He then looks down Frogpaw.

"Frogpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" He asks.

"I do," Frogpaw promises.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Frogpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Frogleap. StarClan honors your bravery and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan," Boulderstar meows.

The clan begins to cheer his new warrior name. "Frogleap! Frogleap!" They cheer.

"The Clan meeting is now dismissed," Boulderstar meows, leaping down from the highbranch.

"I'm going to go speak with Frogleap," Pineshade meows.

"I'm coming with you," Milktail quickly adds as the two cats begin to walk side-by-side towards their black-and-white friend. As they come close, fighting through the crowd of cats, Frogleap notices the couple and speaks up.

"Pineshade, Milktail, I finally did it!" Frogleap meows happily with a bounce, although he seems overwhelmed by the crowd of cats.

"Congratulations," Pineshade meows.

"You deserve it," Milktail adds with a purr.

"Thank you!" Frogleap responds. Pineshade watches as a smaller gray-and-white blur bounds into view.

"Frogleap! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" The gray-and-white blur, which Pineshade quickly identifies as Ivypaw, meows. Ever since the incident with Swiftpaw, Ivypaw has been a big fan of Frogleap's, following him around a lot and asking him questions. She seems to consider him a hero. Pineshade could tell that Frogleap is overwhelmed by it though.

Now he knows what it feels like to be constantly followed around. Pineshade thinks, remembering when Frogleap was like that with him.

"Thank you, Ivypaw!" Frogleap calmly replies.

"I'm gonna miss you the next time we do the training tradition," Ivypaw meows.

"I'm going to miss taking part, but I'm a warrior now, which is what I've wanted ever since I joined ShadowClan. You'll be fine, just don't let Swiftpaw bother you," Frogleap meows.

"Pineshade, do you want to go play?" Milktail asks teasingly, mocking their apprentice days. She doesn't remember their earlier apprentice days, but she has heard stories, especially from Pineshade.

"Of course," Pineshade answers with a purr of amusement. The couple then leaves ShadowClan's camp together, purring in sync with each other as they dash side-by-side. Once they are far enough away from camp, they begin to slow down, catching their breath. Pineshade and Milktail enjoy the peaceful sounds of the birds and the chilly wind blowing through their fur. The leaves on the deciduous trees just began changing colors, signaling the beginning of leaf-fall.

"Pineshade, when do you think we should have kits?" Milktail asks him, looking into his eyes.

"Why are you asking me? It's up to you, Milktail. You're the one who has to give birth to the kits and stop doing your warrior duties," Pineshade responds. "So, whenever you want to is when we should have kits."

"I definitely don't want them yet. I want to enjoy my warrior duties a bit longer before sitting sound. Although it is a dangerous time to have them, I think right before leaf-bare would be the best for the both of us. It's soon, but not too soon. We still have moons," Milktail meows.

"That sounds like a plan," Pineshade replies.

"Greencough and fresh-kill scarcity will be worrying during their early moons, but since the last leaf-bare was bad, I don't really expect this one to be any worse," Milktail meows.

"Hopefully it won't," Pineshade meows, thinking back to when greencough killed Gorsefall, Bluepelt, Silvertuft, and Silentstream last leaf-bare.

"I'll put our kits' health before anything else," Milktail meows. "Even if this leaf-bare ends up being bad, they will be fine, even if it means I get sick or starve."

That comment causes a lot of concern in Pineshade, but he doesn't say a word about it.

"We shouldn't worry too much, it's not even close to leaf-bare yet," Pineshade meows.

"You're right," Milktail meows. "We need to live in the present and not worry about the future," she adds as the two mates relax in the sun, enjoying the sounds of birds around them.