“Really?!” Squealed Specklepaw, rushing around. The big tom nodded. “Specklepaw, please step forward.” Eagerly, bouncing up and down, Specklepaw stepped forward, her head high in the air with pride. “Do you promise to uphold the Warrior Code, and defend your Clan, even with your life?” “Yes?” “Then with the power vested in me, by Starclan, you will be known as Specklecream.” “Specklecream! Specklecream!” The Clan chanted. Suddenly, new voices rallied with them. “Oreooo! Oreo!” Midget and her kittypet friend, Crow, walked in. The whole Clan stopped to look at them. “MOM!” Specklecream jumped up, screaming from embarrassment. Stormpaw tapped his tail impatiently. “Oh ... Are we interrupting something, Mangledstar? You said this would be her Warrior ceremony.” “Er- That’s right. Stormpaw, do you do the same?” The black tom nodded. “Then by the power of Starclan, your new name will be Stormhawk.”

“Stormhawk! Stormhawk!” The Clan called together, along with the kittypets in the later chants. The calling of the cats died down slowly. “So- It’s vigil time?” Specklecream asked. Mangledstar nodded. Specklecream nodded and sat down, ignoring her own mother who was prodding to talk to her. Mangledstar walked to Midget. Midget purred. “Hi.” “I think you should let Specklecream be.” “Why! She’s my daughter!” “Her vigil is meant to be silent.” “How long will it last?” “Until tomorrow morning.” “Alright!” She purred. “May I stay here?” He nodded. “Yes.” The Kittypet nuzzled him. “Thank you.” The tom pulled away and folded his ears back. Midget purred as she walked inside an empty den. Blacklion was pacing back and forth. He walked up to Berryeye. “When do you think Willowdusk will be back?” “In a moon. I know she could easily claw away those mouse dungs.” “But what if she can’t?” Berryeye huffed, “Then the others will help. Now stop worrying.” “Oh- Fine.”

“Good… Now get me a mouse, please.” Blacklion huffed as he walked towards the fresh-kill pile. Specklecream looked at him and sighed, “I can handle it. You get some rest.” The tom nodded and walked into the Warrior’s den. *** Shadowleg sighed, “You're doing good at deceiving Mossheart, Robin.” Robin nodded. “Thank you.” “Deceive them more, though." “How?” “Pretend to run away with him, so you know any escape routes.” Robin twitched his tail. “But won’t the other cats of Rogueclan think I'm a traitor?” “We'll tell them.” “You’ll have to do it in secret…” “I know.” “Ok, I’ll do it.” The blue-gray tom walked out of Shadowleg’s, Ice’s, and Darkthorn’s den. “Thanks!” He called out. Robin raced towards the tom’s den. “Mossheart! Mossheart!” “Shhh! Not so loud!” Mossheart hissed lightly. “I’ve decided. I’m going to run away back to Crystalclan with you. We need to do it now, right away!”

“Good! Get me out of this den first!” He was trapped by pillars of rocks. Robin worked quietly, for Applestar was sleeping. He slowly pushed the rocks out of the way. Mossheart swiftly darted out and glanced around, “What now?” “We’ll have to sneak out.” “Where do we go though?” “I haven’t found any escape tunnels yet.” Suddenly, Mossheart jumped up and pointed to a large crack. “We could squeeze through that.” “But is it big enough?” “We're skinny enough.” The large muscled tom began to squeeze through. Robin glanced back at Twig. Twig! He had no idea about the plan. He grimmly glanced at the two. “Robin. Do you need help?” He swatted Mossheart’s side. “Er-.” Robin stopped. He didn’t know what to do. Mossheart screamed out as Twig rammed him out and shoved him back into the den. With blazing eyes, he looked down at the smaller cat, Robin. “We need to talk.” “Um… Yes?” “I think Milk is pregnant.” He said bluntly. This was the first time he spoke in- kinda- a conversation.

“Really? Why do you think that?” “She's been ill. She can’t hold up food, and her stomach is solid. We think Bearflinch is pregnant too.” Twig’s voice began to croak out, strained and tired already. “I’ll see to them after I talk with Shadowleg.” Shadowleg walked out and whispered the plan to Twig, who simply nodded. Twig twitched his tail and left. “Yes, darling Robin?” “Mossheart was able to find a crack big enough to squeeze through.” Mossheart blinked, “Robin.” Robin froze. He then slowly turned around. “Er- You’re still here… Why aren’t you back in the tom den?” “But! You said!” The tom was truly betrayed, “We were going to run away together!” “I lied.” “Why?” “Because I was told too.” “Why did you listen?”

“Because he’s the third-in-command.” Robin shrugged like nothing was wrong. Mossheart hissed, “You’re going deep into the rottest parts of the Dark Forest for this.” “What’s so bad about a forest?” Robin asked, confused. “It’s rotting, the streams are blood...” Mossheart spoke with a hushed haste, “Everyone there is evil.” Robin folded his ears back and stood up. “I am not evil!” “Yes you are!” Mossheart launched up, his claws extending. Swiftly, he battered him, “You ripped these cats away from there's homes!” The blue-gray tom jumped back. “That wasn’t my decision!” “You backed them up though! You fueled them! YOU HEALED THEM.” He hissed and turned his back to the tom. “Just get back to the den! I have something to do.” He turned and started to head towards where Bearflinch and Milk were sitting.

“I hate you!” He cried, then suddenly, he whipped into the crack, and pulled out. He was out on the run and confused. Shadowleg yowled and slammed into the crack- But the den shook- Pillars of rocks began to fall around them, but not all over the den. Emeraldspeck flinched. Shadowleg bounded away from the falling rocks and cried out to Ice. “Mossheart escaped!” The big black tom growled, running out of the cave and around to the side with the cracks. There- The other black tom was darting away into a ditch, at blinding speeds. “I can’t see him anywhere.” “He’s over there!” Shdowleg darted in his direction, but soon lost him. Ice ran towards where Shadowleg said he was. Shadowleg darted up and began to run blindly. He dragged his heels in and glanced around. “We lost him.” He said in a big breath. “Meh, not a big loss. I doubt he’ll find his way to a Clan.”

Everything from Warrior's Thunder:

Chapter 3: