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  Seventh year, green-leaf.

    “Thawpaw! Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

    “I promise!” the apprentice said firmly, and Rainfall couldn't help admiring his daughter as the long-legged she-cat with fluffy grey fur and clear green eyes kept her gaze level with Sorrelstar's.

    She had to wait for this day for way too long. If it weren't for that ill-fated run-in with two hungry foxes, Thawpaw would've become a warrior during the previous green-leaf. Rainfall still blamed himself for failing to send out a bigger patrol that day, and the cost of his mistake was the life of Turtlespots, Thawpaw's mentor and daughter of Redpelt and Beesong while Thawpaw herself got her paw so severely bitten by the fox that the apprentice had to spend almost whole leaf-bare in Hazelbush's care. That's why Thawpaw had to stay an apprentice for almost twice as long as any other young warrior, and now she was twice as big as her denmates Russetpaw and Coalpaw, the kits of Redpelt and Beesong’s second litter.

    “Then by the power given to me by StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Thawpaw! From this moment on you will be called Thawdrop. WindClan honors your strength of spirit and perseverance, and I gladly welcome you as a new warrior of our Clan!”

    “Thawdrop!” Rainfall called out, and many other voices repeated the name. “Thawdrop! Thawdrop! Thawdrop!”

    But even all the cats in the Clan couldn't down out one rumbling meow. “Thawdrop!” Large brown-furred tom with white muzzle and chest headbutted the new warrior in her flank. “You had earned this honor long ago, sister.”

    Content purr reverberated in Rainfall's chest at the sight of his son Brownfoot. Any cat that had seen these powerful shoulders, wide paws and sturdy muscles rolling under thick fur would've said that Brownfoot was a born warrior. And they would've been mistaken, because Brownfoot had dream of being a medicine cat even when he'd been in the nursery, and so Sorrelstar made him Hazelbush's apprentice when he became six moons old. In all the countless sunrises that had passed since that day neither Brownfoot nor Hazelbush regretted this decision. Brownfoot had become an excellent medicine cat and already earned his full medicine cat name, though he was still considered to be only Hazelbush's assistant.

    “I told you that I'll become a warrior till leaf-fall!” Thawdrop laughed.

    “Thawdrop! Thawdrop!” Slipping between the paws of older warriors, four tiny kittens rushed to the Tallrock and pounced on Thawdrop. The grey she-cat readily allowed them to bring her down to the ground and began to swipe at them in an imitation of mock battle.

    “Get back into the nursery, little terrors!” Grassstripe commanded, chasing her litter off Thawdrop. “I allowed you to watch the ceremony, not interrupt it!”

    “But the ceremony is already over!” squeaked one of the kits, a tiny ginger tabby tom. “And we want to be warriors, too!”

    “And you decided that the best way to become one is attacking one of your Clan's warriors, Kestrelkit?” Sorrelstar asked as she walked up to the kittens.

    For a moment, the kits stood transfixed, in awe that the leader herself addressed them, but Kestrelkit came to his senses quickly enough. “We wanted to show Thawdrop our battle moves. Look!” The kit rose to his hindpaws and pummelled the air with his forepaws, growing so engaged that he fell over onto his back.

    WindClan cats gathered near the Tallrock purred in amusement, and Sorrelstar smiled at the kitten. “Do you want to know the first lesson that all apprentices have to learn?”

    “Yes! Yes! We do!” The kittens squeaked, speaking all at once, and Kestrelkit began to claw the air again. “Is it a special hunting leap of WindClan warriors? Is it a tricky battle move? Or...”

    “It's discipline,” Sorrelstar meowed. “A good warrior always follows all the commands of his deputy and leader, just as the apprentice follows the commands of his mentor and the kits – the ones of their mother.”

    “Oh... does that mean we can't become apprentices right now?” Kestrelkit sighed.

    Grassstripe brushed her tail over her son's pelt lovingly. “You'll have to wait only three more moons. And now you can start training in your first lesson, so go into the nursery and no more leaping at Thawdrop!”

    The Clan gathering was over, and cats began to leave the hollow, one by one and in groups. Rainfall had already assigned patrols for the day, so everyone knew what they had to do. Two hunting patrols had left the camp, and the mentors led their apprentices for the training while the rest of the cats headed to the fresh-kill pile or just lounged by the heather.

    “Hey, Rainfall! Do you have any task for me?” Swifteye called to the deputy.

    The grey tom shook his head. “You already did a lot of work preparing Thawdrop to her final assessment. You earned some rest, though you can join Grainwhisker's hunting patrol if you want to, of course.” The black she-cat shrugged and turned to leave, but Rainfall wasn't finished yet. “And Swifteye – thank you. You made an excellent warrior out of my daughter.”

    If he were to be honest, Rainfall had to admit that he doubted Sorrelstar's choice when she made Swifteye Thawdrop's mentor after Turtlespots' death. He thought that the black she-cat had not enough patience and tact needed for mentorship. But it turned out that Swifteye had a lot of other important qualities: persistence, determination and the ability to make her apprentice give as much as she could, no matter the pain and fatigue. In the end it were these Swifteye's qualities that little Thawdrop needed when she was afraid that she would have to stay in the medicine cat's den for the rest of her life.

    “I only performed my duty for the Clan,” Swifteye replied, flicking her tail indifferently. Rainfall followed his former ill-wisher with his gaze as the black she-cat joined Grainwhisker's patrol. Yes, he and Swifteye would never be friends, but maybe it was enough that they weren't enemies any more.

    “And you, Thawdrop, should pick yourself some fresh-kill and rest well,” Rainfall told his daughter. “Then you can join a dusk patrol or go hunting. You did well on your assessment.”

    “I'm not tired at all!” Thawdrop laughed, her green eyes alight. “I feel as if I can run all the way to Moonstone! I'm going to run and catch up with Grainwhisker's patrol!” She leapt up to her father and nuzzled his ear. “I promise I'll bring you a fat vole!” And the newly made warrior raced out of the camp.

    “Hmm, a vole!” Rainfall murmured. “I'm not an elder yet to have fresh-kill brought for me.”

    “Well, you grumble just like an elder,” Pheasantflight teased him.

    “I'm not an elder!” But nothing could spoil Rainfall's mood. “Hunt with me, and I'll show you who is an elder there!”

    A mischievous twinkle flashed in Pheasantflight's eyes. “Is that a challenge? Then race me to the rabbit burrows!” And she darted off without waiting for his answer, already halfway to the exit tunnel.

    “Hey, that's not fair!” Rainfall meowed to his mate and started off after her.

    Despite his feigned indignation, Rainfall purred loudly when he set off after Pheasantflight. Before running out onto the moor, the grey tom stopped and turned to look the WindClan camp over once more. In the shadow of gorse wall Redpelt and Beesong were sharing tongues. Some distance away Russetpaw was stalking a butterfly while his mentor Spottedheart nodded in approval. Near the elders' den Lightfur and Greythroat were talking quietly, and Clayfoot lounged in the sun, surrounded by Kestrelkit and his littermates. Hazelbush dozed off over a stack of his herbs, and Rainfall smiled knowingly, thinking that the old medicine cat would soon move into the elders' den and leave his den in care of Brownfoot. For a moment, Rainfull recalled Snowstorm with sorrow: the white-furred queen never recovered from her mate's death and died quietly during the last leaf-bare - withered away from grief, as Hazelbush had said. Rainfall never found out whether she had forgiven him, though Mistcloud, Snowstorm's littermate, believed that before her death she finally saw StarClan's light.

    Rainfall was distracted from his sad thoughts when Thymeleaf, who was standing guard at the camp’s edge, caught Rainfall's gaze and bowed his head slightly, as if saying that he would keep WindClan safe while the deputy was away. Rainfall nodded in return and raced out of the camp. The life was going on, and at the end of the day he would return to his Clan's camp to his Clanmates, friends, kits and grandkits. But now he was going to catch up with Pheasantflight, hunt down a fat rabbit for her and tease her all the way back to the camp.

Description

  Seventh year, green-leaf.

    “Thawpaw! Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

    “I promise!” the apprentice said firmly, and Rainfall couldn't help admiring his daughter as the long-legged she-cat with fluffy grey fur and clear green eyes kept her gaze level with Sorrelstar's.

    She had to wait for this day for way too long. If it weren't for that ill-fated run-in with two hungry foxes, Thawpaw would've become a warrior during the previous green-leaf. Rainfall still blamed himself for failing to send out a bigger patrol that day, and the cost of his mistake was the life of Turtlespots, Thawpaw's mentor and daughter of Redpelt and Beesong while Thawpaw herself got her paw so severely bitten by the fox that the apprentice had to spend almost whole leaf-bare in Hazelbush's care. That's why Thawpaw had to stay an apprentice for almost twice as long as any other young warrior, and now she was twice as big as her denmates Russetpaw and Coalpaw, the kits of Redpelt and Beesong’s second litter.

    “Then by the power given to me by StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Thawpaw! From this moment on you will be called Thawdrop. WindClan honors your strength of spirit and perseverance, and I gladly welcome you as a new warrior of our Clan!”

    “Thawdrop!” Rainfall called out, and many other voices repeated the name. “Thawdrop! Thawdrop! Thawdrop!”

    But even all the cats in the Clan couldn't down out one rumbling meow. “Thawdrop!” Large brown-furred tom with white muzzle and chest headbutted the new warrior in her flank. “You had earned this honor long ago, sister.”

    Content purr reverberated in Rainfall's chest at the sight of his son Brownfoot. Any cat that had seen these powerful shoulders, wide paws and sturdy muscles rolling under thick fur would've said that Brownfoot was a born warrior. And they would've been mistaken, because Brownfoot had dream of being a medicine cat even when he'd been in the nursery, and so Sorrelstar made him Hazelbush's apprentice when he became six moons old. In all the countless sunrises that had passed since that day neither Brownfoot nor Hazelbush regretted this decision. Brownfoot had become an excellent medicine cat and already earned his full medicine cat name, though he was still considered to be only Hazelbush's assistant.

    “I told you that I'll become a warrior till leaf-fall!” Thawdrop laughed.

    “Thawdrop! Thawdrop!” Slipping between the paws of older warriors, four tiny kittens rushed to the Tallrock and pounced on Thawdrop. The grey she-cat readily allowed them to bring her down to the ground and began to swipe at them in an imitation of mock battle.

    “Get back into the nursery, little terrors!” Grassstripe commanded, chasing her litter off Thawdrop. “I allowed you to watch the ceremony, not interrupt it!”

    “But the ceremony is already over!” squeaked one of the kits, a tiny ginger tabby tom. “And we want to be warriors, too!”

    “And you decided that the best way to become one is attacking one of your Clan's warriors, Kestrelkit?” Sorrelstar asked as she walked up to the kittens.

    For a moment, the kits stood transfixed, in awe that the leader herself addressed them, but Kestrelkit came to his senses quickly enough. “We wanted to show Thawdrop our battle moves. Look!” The kit rose to his hindpaws and pummelled the air with his forepaws, growing so engaged that he fell over onto his back.

    WindClan cats gathered near the Tallrock purred in amusement, and Sorrelstar smiled at the kitten. “Do you want to know the first lesson that all apprentices have to learn?”

    “Yes! Yes! We do!” The kittens squeaked, speaking all at once, and Kestrelkit began to claw the air again. “Is it a special hunting leap of WindClan warriors? Is it a tricky battle move? Or...”

    “It's discipline,” Sorrelstar meowed. “A good warrior always follows all the commands of his deputy and leader, just as the apprentice follows the commands of his mentor and the kits – the ones of their mother.”

    “Oh... does that mean we can't become apprentices right now?” Kestrelkit sighed.

    Grassstripe brushed her tail over her son's pelt lovingly. “You'll have to wait only three more moons. And now you can start training in your first lesson, so go into the nursery and no more leaping at Thawdrop!”

    The Clan gathering was over, and cats began to leave the hollow, one by one and in groups. Rainfall had already assigned patrols for the day, so everyone knew what they had to do. Two hunting patrols had left the camp, and the mentors led their apprentices for the training while the rest of the cats headed to the fresh-kill pile or just lounged by the heather.

    “Hey, Rainfall! Do you have any task for me?” Swifteye called to the deputy.

    The grey tom shook his head. “You already did a lot of work preparing Thawdrop to her final assessment. You earned some rest, though you can join Grainwhisker's hunting patrol if you want to, of course.” The black she-cat shrugged and turned to leave, but Rainfall wasn't finished yet. “And Swifteye – thank you. You made an excellent warrior out of my daughter.”

    If he were to be honest, Rainfall had to admit that he doubted Sorrelstar's choice when she made Swifteye Thawdrop's mentor after Turtlespots' death. He thought that the black she-cat had not enough patience and tact needed for mentorship. But it turned out that Swifteye had a lot of other important qualities: persistence, determination and the ability to make her apprentice give as much as she could, no matter the pain and fatigue. In the end it were these Swifteye's qualities that little Thawdrop needed when she was afraid that she would have to stay in the medicine cat's den for the rest of her life.

    “I only performed my duty for the Clan,” Swifteye replied, flicking her tail indifferently. Rainfall followed his former ill-wisher with his gaze as the black she-cat joined Grainwhisker's patrol. Yes, he and Swifteye would never be friends, but maybe it was enough that they weren't enemies any more.

    “And you, Thawdrop, should pick yourself some fresh-kill and rest well,” Rainfall told his daughter. “Then you can join a dusk patrol or go hunting. You did well on your assessment.”

    “I'm not tired at all!” Thawdrop laughed, her green eyes alight. “I feel as if I can run all the way to Moonstone! I'm going to run and catch up with Grainwhisker's patrol!” She leapt up to her father and nuzzled his ear. “I promise I'll bring you a fat vole!” And the newly made warrior raced out of the camp.

    “Hmm, a vole!” Rainfall murmured. “I'm not an elder yet to have fresh-kill brought for me.”

    “Well, you grumble just like an elder,” Pheasantflight teased him.

    “I'm not an elder!” But nothing could spoil Rainfall's mood. “Hunt with me, and I'll show you who is an elder there!”

    A mischievous twinkle flashed in Pheasantflight's eyes. “Is that a challenge? Then race me to the rabbit burrows!” And she darted off without waiting for his answer, already halfway to the exit tunnel.

    “Hey, that's not fair!” Rainfall meowed to his mate and started off after her.

    Despite his feigned indignation, Rainfall purred loudly when he set off after Pheasantflight. Before running out onto the moor, the grey tom stopped and turned to look the WindClan camp over once more. In the shadow of gorse wall Redpelt and Beesong were sharing tongues. Some distance away Russetpaw was stalking a butterfly while his mentor Spottedheart nodded in approval. Near the elders' den Lightfur and Greythroat were talking quietly, and Clayfoot lounged in the sun, surrounded by Kestrelkit and his littermates. Hazelbush dozed off over a stack of his herbs, and Rainfall smiled knowingly, thinking that the old medicine cat would soon move into the elders' den and leave his den in care of Brownfoot. For a moment, Rainfull recalled Snowstorm with sorrow: the white-furred queen never recovered from her mate's death and died quietly during the last leaf-bare - withered away from grief, as Hazelbush had said. Rainfall never found out whether she had forgiven him, though Mistcloud, Snowstorm's littermate, believed that before her death she finally saw StarClan's light.

    Rainfall was distracted from his sad thoughts when Thymeleaf, who was standing guard at the camp’s edge, caught Rainfall's gaze and bowed his head slightly, as if saying that he would keep WindClan safe while the deputy was away. Rainfall nodded in return and raced out of the camp. The life was going on, and at the end of the day he would return to his Clan's camp to his Clanmates, friends, kits and grandkits. But now he was going to catch up with Pheasantflight, hunt down a fat rabbit for her and tease her all the way back to the camp.