Sparks of a Fire

Chapter 23

It was evening, and by now most of SkyClan was settled down, sharing freshly caught prey, grooming each other and sharing the latest gossip. Patchkit and Dapplekit were parked directly in front of the elders den, listening to Mothflame, Echolight, and Glimmerwing talk about the days when they were warriors, young and strong.

Cloverpaw was sharing a mouse with her sister, Softpaw, when she heard Kestrelstar's yowl from on top of a branch above the Willow bush.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the Willow Bush for a Clan meeting!" Kestrelstar said loud and clear. Cloverpaw and Softpaw nodded to each other and patted over to join the warriors and apprentices around the Willow bush.

At the SkyClan leader's summoning meow, cats began emerging from their dens and trotted over to sit around the Willow Bush to see what was happening.

"The biggest honor a leader can do is to turn an apprentice, or two in this case, into warriors. Honeypaw, come forth." Honeypaw then went to the base of the Highrock to meet Kestrelstar. "I, Kestrelstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked at Honeypaw, who raised her head. "Honeypaw," Kestrelstar continued, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Honeypaw replied. "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Honeypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Honeypool. StarClan honors your loyalty and quick-thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan." When she was done, Kestrelstar then rested her muzzle on Honeypool's head, who then licked the leader's shoulder. "Honeypool! Honeypool! Honeypool!" the whole Clan cheered. Ashpaw and Nightfang chanted the loudest.

After Honeypool stepped back it was Ashpaw's turn to step forward. "I, Kestrelstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked over at Ashpaw as she raised her head. "Ashpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?" Kestrelstar said. "I do." Ashpaw replied with determination. "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Ashpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Ashscar. StarClan honors your kindness and spirit, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan." She then put her muzzle on Ashscar's head, who licked Kestrelstar's shoulder.

"Ashscar! Ashscar! Ashscar!" the Clan chanted Ashscar's new name. Ashscar then went to sit beside her sister. "As of tradition, Honeypool and Ashscar will sit in silent vigil all night and guard the camp while the rest of us sleep. You are all dismissed." When Kestrelstar was finished a few cats went to the prey pile to get something to eat before going to sleep for the night.

•••

When the first rays of Sun began peaking through the canopy of the medicine cat's den, Cloverpaw slowly began to stir, her tail flicking lazily from left to right and her amber eyes half-opened in the early morning light.

The dark-furred she-cat yawned and slowly stood to her paws. Shaking out her fur, the young medicine cat apprentice patted outside and breathed in the crisp newleaf air. Her whiskers twitched and her tail swooshed from side to side. She waved her tail in greeting to Honeypool and Ashscar as she slowly approached the fresh-kill pile to get something to eat.

It was still quite early but Cloverpaw soon caught sight of Shadowpaw and Flowerpaw coming out of the apprentice's den. She waved her tail in greeting and the two apprentice's raced over to join her near the entrance of the medicine of the den.