"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

   Berrystar's voice rang around camp clearly, not a single falter in his tone. Lichennose padded over to sit next to Stormgaze and Sorrelclaw. There was a light drizzle, but he ignored it, twitching his whiskers quietly.

   "Mothpaw, Elmpaw, Nettlepaw. Step forward." He swished his snow-white tail and jumped down from the Highledge, coming forward a few paces to face the apprentices. They carried the scent of dried leaves as they eagerly hurried up to him, and Lichennose guessed they hadn't fully groomed all the leaf litter out of their pelts the former night.

   "I, Berrystar, 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 warriors in their turn." Lichennose felt a shiver run down his spine at the ancient words. He hadn't heard them since his own warrior ceremony, back in Greenleaf.

   Berrystar stepped forward to be face-to-face with Elmpaw. She puffed her fur out with excitement. "Elmpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Elmpaw drew in a deep breath, eyes full of starry wonder, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Elmpaw, from this moment you shall be known as Elmclaw. StarClan honors your strength and skill in battle, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

   Berrystar rested his milky-white muzzle on Elmclaw's forehead, and she licked his shoulder. Immediately yowls erupted from the gathered cats, calling out the new warrior's name.

"Elmclaw! Elmclaw! Elmclaw!"

Lichennose joined in on the cheers, a grin spreading across his muzzle. Soon after, Berrystar went on with the other two, naming them Mothwhisker and Nettletail. All three cats swelled with pride, their old mentors looking on happily.

   "Nettletail! Mothwhisker!" The loud yowls drown out any other sound. The gathered cats got to their paws and hurried to greet the new warriors face-to-face, welcoming them as full members of the Clan.

   Lichennose smiled at the warm sight. He recalled his and Bramblefoot's warrior ceremony, the proud gleam in their mentors' eyes and the joy of their names being called out by the entire Clan.

   He trotted up to Elmclaw, chuckling lightly as he realized she was nearly bouncing off her paws. "It's good to have new warriors, nobody's been named one since Greenleaf!" The pale tabby moved aside a bit as Asterfoot trotted up, touching his nose to Elmclaw's, "I'm proud of you, Elmclaw."

   After a few minutes, the cats slowly started to clear, breaking into groups and returning to their daily duties. Lichennose stayed at the three's side, though, watching Asterfoot hurry to join Webtail on a hunting patrol.

   "I have some tips for your vigil tonight." Lichennose looked at the new warriors with warm eyes. Nettletail grinned, "Of course, we'll need all the advice we can get!"

   Lichennose nodded, "How about we go chat in the warriors' den?" He suddenly remembered the steady patter of drizzle on his back, and realized how cold he was.

   The three cats nodded, and padded with him to the den, settling down in Lichennose's nest. "Wow, it's so big! Much bigger than our old den!" Elmclaw exclaimed, staring around the cave wide-eyed. Nettletail looked ready to burst with excitement, and Mothwatcher examined every corner of the den.

"The first tip of advice I can give you is to huddle together. Me and Bramblefoot didn't on our vigil, but that was in Greenleaf, when it was much warmer." Lichennose began. The three warriors snapped their attention to him, nodding.

"You also need to keep your senses alert. Perhaps stroke each others' backs with your tails every once in a while." The new warriors appeared confused, and Nettletail commented, "But what do we do if something bad happens?"

"If there is any danger, you have to make as much noise as possible, even if it means scaring everyone awake." Lichennose was surprised himself at the commanding tone in his voice. They nodded their heads, and Elmclaw asked, "When do we make our nests?"

   Lichennose flicked his ear happily, "Now. That way, when your vigil's done, you can come get cozy." Nettletail, Motherwatcher, and Elmclaw nodded in agreement, beginning to scrape up moss to form their own nests. Lichennose watched them with a flicking tail, remembering that since they were new warriors, they had to sleep near the colder edges. Only older warriors, like Cedarwatcher, slept in the center.

   "I'll be going now," Motherwatcher meowed when she'd finished, "I want to go hunting by myself before the vigil." She slid from the den with a single twitch of her tail. This is their first time out of camp without agreement from someone older, Lichennose thought.

   "We'll be going to see the new WindClan border." Nettletail and Elmclaw mumbled, following Motherwatcher out. Lichennose felt a purr deep in his throat. New warriors were always a good thing, especially so late in the seasons.

   Lichennose padded out of the den, flicking his ear as cold water splashed on it. The drizzle had worsened to a rain, and he heard the distant rumble of thunder. The pale tabby sighed and headed over to the elders' den, remembering that he'd heard Hollyfire complaining about thorns in her nest that morning.

   The tom shivered as the rain-wet ferns brushed against his pelt, soaking down to his skin. He tried to ignore it and poked his head into the den.

   Amberblaze was asleep, the other elders grooming quietly. Morningbelly raised her head and pricked her ears, "What is it?"

"I'm here to clean the thorns from the branches." Lichennose twitched water droplets from his whiskers. The elders seemed pleased with this, Hollyfire grumbling that he'd better hurry up and be quiet.

The pale warrior rolled his eyes at the grumpy elder, slipping back out and sitting back on his haunches. He felt cold drops of rain hit his head, dripping from the sodden branches. He gently glided his paws along the bark, searching for anything sharp.

He felt the jagged edge of a thorn, and pulled away before it cut his pad. Lichennose took it in his teeth and yanked it out, tossing the thorn into the thick foliage beside the den where nobody would step on it.

Suddenly, a deafening crack of lightning lit up the sky, and Lichennose nearly jumped out of his pelt in shock. Rain started to pour from the sky, forming a torrential storm in a matter of heartbeats. Surprised, Lichennose scrambled back into the den.

The elders were all sitting up with pricked ears. Aldertuft's breathing was quick and shallow, pressing up against Amberblaze. "You can stay here and wait out the storm." Morningbelly mumbled, her eyes full of unnatural fear.

   Lichennose nodded and huddled against the far wall, pressing his ears back at another loud boom of thunder, seeming to shake the ground beneath him. He felt a sharp chill in his bones, an odd feeling that something bad would happen, like an unseen enemy stalking in the shadows waiting to strike. He shivered.

   Morningbelly quickly stood from her nest near the front of the den and retreated to where Lichennose crouched. Her legs were stiff, and her eyes troubled.

   "Have you ever seen a storm this sudden and terrible?" Lichennose asked in a low tone, as though if he spoke any louder the walls would collapse. Morningbelly shook her head, staring with wide eyes out at the torrential storm and lightning.

   Lichennose recalled his chat with the new warriors, and hoped they wouldn't have to hold vigil in such bad weather.

   Lichennose must've fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew he was being violently woken up by a startled yowl raking through the horrible storm.

   "Everyone, evacuate! Evacuate!"

   It was Berrystar.

   Lichennose felt the horrible feeling again in his bones, and scrambled to his paws, racing from the den. Morningbelly followed close behind, helping her fellow elders along.

   Lichennose pushed through the beech branches, eyes widening at the dark camp. It must've been past moonhigh by now, but no gentle breeze stirred the trees, instead a deafening racket that he was sure would wake the entire world.

   He saw Berrystar and Juniperwhisker hurriedly rounding everyone up, and shivered as rain painfully spiked against his back, thunder and lightning filling the sky.

   This isn't a regular storm, Lichennose realized with terror. He was sure that, whatever this night would bring, it would change the Clans forever.

—

almost done. the climax has hit!