“I haven’t asked them,” Sharpclaw admitted, “but they must. They carry out all the warrior duties, and they never talk about leaving.”
Oh, no? Leafstar remembered her conversation with Cora earlier that day. The black she-cat obviously didn’t believe that the visitors were going to stay permanently. But what she had said was so vague that Leafstar didn’t feel she could tell Sharpclaw about it.
Standing beside Sharpclaw and looking down into the camp, Leafstar watched Stick and Coal settle down to eat near the fresh-kill pile with Sparrowpelt and Cherrytail. Shorty was playing some sort of game with the apprentices, trying to jump on one another’s tail, while Cora sat outside Echosong’s den talking to the medicine cat. No cat who looked at them would think they were any different from the rest of the Clan.
I didn’t want Cora to tell me they were going to leave, Leafstar remembered. This would be a good way of making them part of SkyClan for good.
“You’re right,” she meowed to Sharpclaw. “It’s time we honored them by making them warriors.”
Sharpclaw’s eyes glowed with approval. “I’m glad you agree. Would you like me to talk to Stick about it?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, do you? It’s a huge honor we’re giving them, and I want the entire Clan there to witness it. It might not make them stay, but how else can we thank them?”
For a moment Sharpclaw didn’t reply; then he gave a brisk nod. “Right. When do you want to do it?”
Leafstar stretched out her front paws and flattened her back, feeling the tension ease from the muscles in her shoulders. “I think now would be a good time.”
With Sharpclaw following her, Leafstar padded down into the gorge. Glancing around, she saw Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw returning from their battle training. She was glad to notice that even though their session had been short, they looked more at ease with each other. Petalnose and Sagepaw followed close behind them. Cherrytail, Macgyver, and Patchfoot were getting ready to go on the final border patrol of the day. Echosong and Cora still sat outside the medicine cat’s den. Shorty had joined Stick and Coal near the fresh-kill pile. The two elders were sunning themselves beside the river in the last of the sunlight, while Fallowfern was rounding up her kits, ready to return to the nursery. There was no sign of Billystorm; Leafstar guessed that he had gone back to the Twolegplace to check on Snookpaw.
Bunching her muscles, Leafstar bounded up to the top of the Rockpile. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Rockpile for a Clan meeting!”
The cats in the gorge looked up at her in surprise. Mintpaw shot out of the apprentices’ den and scrambled down to join her fellow apprentices. Shrewtooth popped his head out of the warriors’ den, staring wide-eyed as if he expected to see a horde of attacking badgers charging down the gorge. Waspwhisker followed him out, giving him a shove from behind to get him started down the trail.
Rockshade, Bouncefire, and Tinycloud all appeared at a run from somewhere downstream; Tinycloud had a vole in her jaws, which she tossed onto the fresh-kill pile before sitting down with her brothers. Clovertail poked her head out of the new birthing den, but stayed where she was.
“This is an important time in the life of a Clan, the naming of new warriors,” Leafstar announced.
She saw Mintpaw and Sagepaw give each other a startled look; then Mintpaw shook her head and shrugged. The apprentices couldn’t possibly think it was their turn yet, but clearly no cat expected Leafstar to name the visitors.
“Stick, Coal, Cora, and Shorty, come forward, please.”
A murmur of surprise passed through the Clan as the four cats padded hesitantly forward to stand below the Rockpile. They looked puzzled—but only Cora looked wary, as if she was worried that Leafstar was going to say something about their plans to leave.
Leafstar steadied her paws on the warm stone. “Though these cats were not born and brought up in a Clan, they know the skills they need as warriors and they are ready to become full members of SkyClan.” She gazed up at the sky, reddening with the streaks of sunset. “I, Leafstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon—”
“Hang on,” Stick interrupted. “You’re making us warriors?”
There was a gasp from more than one cat behind him. No cat interrupted a warrior ceremony, least of all one of the cats who was being named!
“Yes—yes, I am,” Leafstar stammered, suddenly afraid that he was going to refuse. She gazed down at Stick, trying to read his reaction in his face, but he was completely closed to her. I don’t know this cat at all, she realized with something like panic.
Catching Sharpclaw’s gaze, Leafstar figured her deputy looked as alarmed and unsettled as she felt. You were right. I should have let you talk to Stick first.
The visiting cats had drawn together into a huddle, meowing quietly to one another. They kept casting swift glances at Leafstar. Finally they broke apart and faced her.
“That’s okay,” Stick mewed. “You can go ahead.”
He and his companions looked interested, and mildly pleased, but they obviously had no idea what the ceremony represented. They’re not Clan cats, Leafstar realized. This isn’t an honor for them.
It was too late to back down. Taking a deep breath, Leafstar continued. “I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these four cats. In the time they have spent with us they have come to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors.”
Jumping down to stand in front of them, she meowed, “Stick, Cora, Coal, and Shorty, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your own lives?”
“I do,” all four cats replied.
Was Cora a bit hesitant there? Leafstar wondered. Or am I imagining things?
“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names,” she continued. “Stick, from this moment—”
Stick raised his tail. “Wait.”
“Yes?” Leafstar asked, trying not to sound impatient. That’s the second time he’s interrupted. They really don’t understand what this ceremony means.
“We’ll keep our own names,” Stick meowed.
Leafstar stared at him. Was this something StarClan would allow? Even the kittypet warriors had taken warrior names, more or less.
“We don’t feel the need to change who we are by name,” Coal explained. “We haven’t acted differently by becoming part of the Clan.”
Leafstar could see the point of that, and she spotted Sharpclaw nodding as if he agreed. “Very well,” she mewed, rapidly revising the words with which she would conclude the warrior ceremony. “StarClan honors your courage and skill, and we welcome you as—”
“What’s going on?” The outraged yowl came from behind Leafstar. She turned to see Harveymoon pelting down the gorge from the direction of the training area. He skidded to a halt beside her.
“Why are you making them warriors?” he demanded.
Chapter 16
Every cat turned to gaze at the kittypet. Harveymoon’s eyes were glaring and his fur was fluffed up in anger so that he looked twice his size. “Well, why are you?” he repeated.
“I don’t know,” Sparrowpelt replied with biting sarcasm. “Could it be because they’re brave and loyal and good at hunting, or is that just crazy?”
“But they haven’t had any proper training,” Ebonyclaw pointed out.
“They didn’t need any,” Patchfoot retorted.
Frecklepaw eased herself closer to her mentor, backing her up. “I bet they don’t even know the warrior code!”
“And what about apprentice tasks?” Sagepaw chipped in with a mutinous look on his face. “We all have to do them!”