Chapt 23

"I'm gonna' beat all of the Dark Forest!" Mountainkit squeaked as he landed on Maplekit's shoulders. Maplekit flipped him off her back and scratched her paws along the side of Mountainkit and bit his tail. Mountainkit let out a squeal of pain and jumped back on Maplekit. He batted her ears and flipped her on her belly once more. She kicked at his belly fur and struggled feebly. Mountainkit had won, but before he could gloat, Tawnypelt picked them up.
"Why don't you 12 show Lionblaze what you do if a Dark Forest warrior attackes the Nursery?" Tawnypelt suggested. The kits scrambled up and began to growl. The circled the toirteshell warrior and lunged forward each nipping the she-cat. Then, the each jumped on her one-by-one until Tawnypelt was covered in a swarming mass of kits. It wasn't random attacks though, one kit would bute while one would scratch and some would be on the belly and the others would be on the face of the attacker. Suddenly, they were on the defensive as one of the kits fell off and Tawnypelt sprang up. She gently swatted at the fallen kit, which Lionblaze saw with horrow was his own daughter, Leopardkit. He was about to spring in to protect her when Mountainkit surged forward and bit Tawnypelt's paw. He stood infront of his sister and blocked every attack Tawnypelt had. All the other kits were stalking around her and then lunged all at once. Tawnypelt yelled out a squeal and the kits topped, panting.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Lionblaze was really impressed.
"Half of the attack was Mountainkit's idea. He suggested that if any cat falls off, he would protect them and the others would attack from behind." Tawnypelt said between breaths,"It will surely surprise any warrior!" Lionblaze left the kits to their training and went to the elder's den. Heathertail was helping to train them, but they weren't too enthused.
"Come on, Slatepelt, you have to attack me!" Heathertail sounded exasperated.
"But I might hurt you, I am much heavier than you," The gray elder mewed. Lionblaze stepped forward.
"Pretend I'm a Dark Forest Warrior, and I'm attacking Junipertail." He suggested. Slatepelt growled and launched himself at the golden warrior. Lionblaze dodged to the side and raked his clawsdown the elders side. Slatepelt skid to the side, hissed, then slipped under Lionblaze and raked his paws on his belly fur. Lionblaze jumped upward, landed next to the elder and held him down.
"Well done," Lionblaze breathed. The elder had been faster than he expected.
"He's only been an elder since New Leaf, you know." Heathertail padded up to the cats.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their prey, gather beneath the highledge for a clan meeting!" Onestar called out. Lionblaze jumped off the elder and padded to the center of the clearing. He sat next to his mate and his kits. Mountainkit sat defensivily in front of Leopardkit, who dabbed at a butterfly that flew around them. Lionblaze admired his kits, Mountainkit for his strength, yet thoughtfulness of other cats, and Leopardkit, her gentleness with everything and everyone.
"Today, we have great news. Will Gingerpaw, Cherrypaw, and Cedarpaw step forward?" Lionblaze saw the three apprentices quiver with excitement as they stepped in front of the four clan leaders.
"I belive that Gingerpaw is ready to become a warrior. I, Rowanstar, leader of Shadowclan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Gingerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?" Rowanstar spoke with calm seriousness.
"I do." Gingerpaw spoke with the same tone.
"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Gingerpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Gingerstep.  Starclan honors your bravery and thoughfulness." Rowanstar rested his head on Gingerstep's and she licked his shoulder.
"Gingerstep! Gingerstep!" The clans broke in a chorus.
"Gingerstep, you will not sit vigil alone tonight, Cherrypaw, would you please step forward." Bramblestar spoke up after the cheers had died down. Cherrypaw nervously stepped forward. "Bumblestripe, do you believe that Cherrypaw is ready to become a warrior?"
"She had trained hard, so yes I do," Bumblestripe calmly replied, but Lionblaze could see the excitement in his eyes.
"I, Bramblestar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her as a warrior in return. Cherrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this clan?" The broad shouldered warrior mewed.
Cherrypaw hesitated, as if thinking about what the words meant. She looked at Bramblestar with a look of certainty,"I do,"
"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Cherrypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cherrynose. Starclan honors your courage and honesty."
"Cherrynose! Cherrynose!"
"Frogpaw, please step forward. Cedarpaw is ready to become a warrior. I, Mistystar, leader of Riverclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him as a warrior in return. Cedarpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this clan?" The blue gray she-cat mewed cooly.
"I do," He replied quickly.
"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Cedarpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cedarclaw. Starclan honors your loyalty and generousity."
"Cedarclaw! Cherrynose! Gingerstep!" The clan yowled. Lionblaze congratulated the young warriors as Onestar's voice rang out again.
"We also have other news. We belive that the Dark Forest is recruiting warriors and apprentices through their dreams. If you are having any dreams from these dark warriors, please realize that these cats are not on your side. Also, we are planning to attack the Dark Forest before they attack us, the only way we can do that is to get to the Dark Forest. We would like the medicine cats to ask Starclan for a way there at the next visit to the moonpool." Lionblaze flashed Jayfeather a look. Dovepelt did the same. Suddenly, Jayfeather looked at them both and mouthed the words, 'I'm sorry'. Jayfeather got up and looked at the leaders.
"I can get there. I can get there without Starclan."