Hollystar jumped on the highbranch covered in Leaf-bare snow and summoned the clan. It had been almost six moons since Badgerpaw wanted to leave, and the three apprentices passed their final assessment and she was about to make them warriors.
"Today the clan will gain three warriors," Hollystar announced as the apprentices sat in the middle of the clearing, "I, Hollystar, leader of LightningClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices. They have trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and now I present them to you as warriors in their turn. Firepaw, Oakpaw, Badgerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your own life?"
"I do," Firepaw mewed.
"I do," Oakpaw chirped.
"I do," Badgerpaw murmured.
"Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Firepaw, from this moment, you will be known as Fireblossom. StarClan honors your courage and we welcome you as a full warrior of LightningClan. Oakpaw, from this moment you will be known as Oaktail. StarClan honors your strength and we welcome you as a full warrior of LightningClan. Badgerpaw, from this moment you will be known as Badgerheart. StarClan honors your bravery and loyalty and we welcome you as a full warrior of LightningClan," Hollystar jumped down from the highbranch and touched her nose to each of the new warriors' heads and they licked her shoulder in return.
"Fireblossom! Oaktail! Badgerheart!" the clan cheered.
"Is StarClan really proud of me, or were you just saying that?" Badgerheart asked as Hollystar got to him.
"Of course they are!" she assured him.
"But I tried to run away!"
"You're still here, aren't you?"
He didn't protest any more, but Hollystar could see he wasn't fully convinced. She noticed that Stripefur had his head down and he was sitting alone. She ran over to him, "What's wrong?"
He kept staring at the ground as he replied, "My son should be here."
"You have a son?"
"Had a son," he corrected her.
"What happened?"
"When the foxes killed most of the clan, including his mother, we ran away and Treeheart came with us. Then we got captured by Twolegs, and," there was a pause, "and they took him from me. That's when Badgerheart saved us," he looked up and met Hollystar's gaze. His amber eyes were full of grief, "I lost him and his mother on the same day."
She touched the tip of her tail to his shoulder to comfort him, "I'm sure he's okay," she meowed, "I used to be a kittypet, and most Twolegs don't hurt cats."
"Stripefur!"
She turned to see Nightfall organizing evening patrols.
Stripefur shook his head to clear it, "I have to go."
After he left, Hollystar went to her den. I need to help him. She thought. Should I look for his son? She left her den and ran over to Badgerheart, "How do I get to the Twoleg den where you saved Stripefur and Treeheart?"
"It's the first Twoleg den you see if you go that way," he flicked his tail toward the entrance, "but why do you want to know?"
"I'm going to find Stripefur's son."
