Lightpaw stretched, stepping outside into the crisp air. It had been a quarter-moon since the strange encounter with the pool, and by now she knew her way around StarClan territory like it was ThunderClan's.

Outside, Sparkstar was seated on the Highrock, opening her mouth to yowl the summonings.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" she yowled, and the Clan obeyed, gathering in the shadow of the enormous rock.

"As you all know, Leafbare is fast-approaching. I feel that to prepare, we need as many extra paws as possible to gather prey, so I've decided to make some new warriors." The tortoiseshell she-cat stopped, then turned to face Applepaw, Dovepaw, Jaypaw and Dapplepaw.

The four apprentice stared at each other, glee filling their eyes.

"Slipstream, Flamewisp, Slashfur and Blazeglow, do you agree that your apprentices are ready for this new responsibility?" Sparkstar asked, turning to the mentors.

They all nodded, eyes shining with pride.

"Then I, Sparkstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Applepaw, Dovepaw, Jaypaw and Dapplepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Sparkstar meowed.

"I do!" came four strong replies.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your new names. Applepaw, from this moment forward, you will be known as Applebreeze. StarClan honors your strength and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Sparkstar leaped down and rested her muzzle an Applebreeze's head, receiving a respectful lick on her shoulder, then turned to Dovepaw.

"Dovepaw, from this moment forward, you will be known as Doveleap. StarClan honors your gentleness and kindness."

Sparkstar copied the same procedure on the other two apprentices, giving Jaypaw the name of Jaystripe and Dapplepaw the name of Dapplenose.

Sparkstar leaped back up onto the Highrock as the Clan chanted "Applebreeze! Doveleap! Jaystripe! Dapplenose!"

The four new warriors gazed proudly at the Clan, pride shining in their eyes.

Finally, then Clan fell silent, and started to disperse, when Sparkstar called "Wait a moment. There are some new apprentices to be made today!"

The Clan sat back down, and watched as Swallowkit, Firekit, Sandkit and Petalkit stepped forward, their fur glowing from when their mother had groomed them.

Lightpaw felt pride rising through her. Her littermates would finally be made into apprentices!

She turned to Brokenpaw, and she could tell he felt the same, eyes sparkling and chest puffed out.

Sparkstar gazed down at Lightpaw's littermates, and mewed "Swallowkit, Sandkit, Firekit and Petalkit, you have all reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you all to be apprenticed. From this day forward, until you have received your warrior names, you will be known as Swallowpaw, Sandpaw, Firepaw and Petalpaw."

Sparkstar paused dramatically, then turned to the rest of the Clan.

"Goldenflash, you will mentor Swallowpaw. You have received excellent training, and have shown to be loyal and caring, and I hope you will pass this on to Swallowpaw."

The golden she-cat went up to Swallowpaw, and touched noses with her, purring loudly.

Sparkstar watched for a moment, then turned to Clouddrop.

"Clouddrop, you will mentor Petalpaw. You have received excellent training, and have shown to be courageous and quick-thinking, and I hope you pass on all you know to Petalpaw."

The pale gold she-cat touched noses with Petalpaw, then quickly turned as Sparkstar started speaking again.

"Littleleaf, you have proven through your dedication to the Clan that you are ready for your first apprentice. You will mentor Firepaw, and I hope you pass on all your knowledge to him." Sparkstar mewed.

The little brown tom beamed at his leader, eyes shining and purrs rumbling as he stooped down to touch noses with his first apprentice.

"And finally, Crookedtalon, you will mentor Sandpaw. You have proven time and again that you have shifted your loyalties to ThunderClan, where they have not once wavered. I feel that you have shown amazing strength through this time, and I hope you will pass that on to your first ThunderClan apprentice."

The huge grey tom looked at Sparkstar, surprised, before touching noses with Sandpaw, who looked devastated.

Poor Sandpaw, Lightpaw thought, he has to deal with the one cat who might randomly leave to go back to SkyClan.

Lightpaw shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking such horrible things about a cat who hadn't done anything yet.

The cats gathered in the clearing raised their voices in a second chant "Swallowpaw! Petalpaw! Firepaw! Sandpaw!"

Lightpaw could see that Hollycloud and Flamewisp were bursting with pride, eyes shining and purrs rumbling from deep in their chests.

The camp finally fell silent, and dispersed back to their duties.

Lightpaw walked up to her littermates, purring.

"Finally we won't be alone in our den!" she meowed.

"Can you show it to us?" Firepaw asked, eyes wide.

"Sure!" Brokenpaw replied.

The littermates all sped away to the apprentices' den, where Lightpaw, Applebreeze and Robinpaw had prepared four extra nests for Lightpaw's littermates.

Firepaw sniffed one of the new nests, and sat down in it, feeling how soft it was. Soon after, the other three had joined in, curling up in them or kneading them with their paws.

Lightpaw stepped back outside, finding that the sun had already started to sink, and also seeing Applebreeze, Doveleap, Dapplenose and Jaystripe sitting their vigil.

She ran up to them and congratulated them one last time before going back to her den, finding her littermates already asleep.

Sandypaw and Robinpaw were sharing tongues, and looked up as Lightpaw stepped in.

"Good night!" they both mewed, and Lightpaw swished her tail in response, curling up in her nest, and closing her eyes, giving in to the world of dreams.