A few sunrises later, Poolpelt approached Icefrost, who was washing below Highrock.

"I'll go on the sunhigh patrol," she offered, relieved to catch her before she called the Clan together to assign duties for the day.
The IceClan deputy blinked. "You've been volunteering for a lot of patrols lately. Have you forgotten how to hunt?"
Poolpelt paused.
She was hoping she hadn't noticed she'd been tagging to any border patrol she could.

She wanted to check any signs of Silverstar.
It seems her condition has gotten worst, she has gotten more bone-ier. Her ribs were showing now.
Also, she'd want to check if she's still hunting in Twolegplace.
There's been no scent of her on the Twoleg border so far, and she was beginning to wonder if she'd let her imagination run away with her.

"I just like patrolling," she told Icefrost lamely. "But I'll hunt instead, if you like."
"Perhaps you might find it a little more interesting if you led a hunting patrol," Icefrost suggested.
Poolpelt pricked her ears. "Yes, please!"
"Good." Icefrost signaled with her tail.

As the Clan gathered, worry fluttered in Poolpelt's belly.
She'd never led a patrol before.
Would she know what to do?
Would she have to decide where to hunt, what prey to chase, how much to catch?

"Fine weather again," Briarfang observed as he padded towards the IceClan deputy.
Blackpaw was at his heels, eager for any assignment that took him closer for being a warrior.
The other warriors and apprentices padded after them.
Briarpool was licking her lips; swallowing the last of her meal, while Bladewing kept bending to lick his chest; his morning wash was clearly not finished.

Icepaw was not with Ravenbird.
For three sunsets she'd lain in her nest, too weak to move, unable to eat.
Briarpool had taken to sleeping outside the apprentices's den, too worried to leave her ailing kit.
Ravenbird had kept himself so busy helping Rainpelt with Amberpaw's training that the dark-ginger tabby she-cat apprentice had passed two assessments in as many days.

Thornpaw was sick with envy.
"She'll be a warrior before me!" he complained.
"She started her training before you," Poolpelt had pointed out.

"Feathershine!"
Icefrost's mew snapped Poolpelt from her thoughts.
"You'll patrol the DawnClan border with Braveheart, Rainpelt, Hawkflame, and Crowfur."

"Bladewing and Amberpaw, you check the SmokeClan border with Dawnstripe."
Icefrost glanced at Briarpool, hollow-eyed beside the apprentices's den.
Was she wondering if she'd be better off patrolling than fretting over her kit?
Her gaze flicked back to her assembled Clanmates.

"Briarfang, Blackpaw, Ravenbird, and Snowheart."
The cats straightened as she called their names. "You will hunt."
Blackpaw circled his mentor, tail up.

"Poolpelt will lead the patrol," Icefrost added.
"What?" Blackpaw stared at Poolpelt.
"You heard me." Icefrost padded away to join Briarpool, leaving Poolpelt to face the black apprentice's disbelieving stare.

Blackpaw cocked his head to one side. "So where are we going to hunt?"
"Snakerocks." Poolpelt blurted out the first place that came into her head.
Briarfang watched her coolly. "Risky," he meowed. "But it might be worth it. No cat has hunted there for moons."
"Because it's infested with adders and foxes," Blackpaw sneered.
"You're not scared, are you?" Poolpelt teased.

She glanced at Snowheart and Ravenbird. "Ready?"
Ravenbird nodded and Snowheart shifted the snow with her paw as if she couldn't wait to get moving.

"Good." Poolpelt headed for the stone tunnel, praying her patrol was following.
As she padded out of the camp she heard, with relief, paw steps following behind.
She led her Clanmates up the ravine and into the snowy forest.

"Why are we taking the long route?" Blackpaw called as Poolpelt headed into a gully toward Snakerocks.
Poolpelt hesitated, suddenly doubting her sense of directions.
"This way's not so steep," Snowheart meowed. "And it's softer on the paws."
"Yeah, right." Blackpaw muttered.

Poolpelt pressed on.
"Why don't we take this shortcut?" Blackpaw scampered ahead of her and leaped onto a fallen snow-covered log. He flicked his tail toward a thick snow-filled bramble.
"We'd lose our pelts in there," Poolpelt replied.
"Just fall in behind, Blackpaw," Briarfang ordered. "Save your energy for hunting."
Blackpaw padded sulkily to the back of the patrol.

Ahead of them, a snow-filled branch rustled with life.
Poolpelt halted and crouched, signaling for her patrol to copy her.
There was no harm in bagging a bird or two on the way.
She crept slowly forwary, eyeing the frozen leaves as they twitched to reveal a small song thrush.

"Are we hunting at Snakerocks or what?" Blackpaw mewed.
The thrush fluttered up into the higher branches calling on alarm.
"Blackpaw!" Ravenbird scolded. "Now every piece of prey will know we're here."
But Briarfang had already turned on his apprentice. "We're hunting for the Clan!" he hissed.
Blackpaw crouched apologetically as Briarfang bared his teeth.
"Come on," she sighed. "Let's get to Snakerocks."

They arrived at the snowy rocky outcrop.
She sniffed the air, remembering the fox that had chased her and Feathershine last time they'd been there.
No fresh stench.

She padded to the clearing at the foot of the rocks. "You guard here," she ordered Blackpaw. "Tell me if you scent danger. We'll look for prey up there." She nodded toward the wall of boulders rising behind them.
Glancing around the rest of the patrol, she added, "Don't forget, there might be adders hiding in the crevices."

Ravenbird and Snowheart nodded.
Briarfang watched her, his expression impossible to read.
Poolpelt felt very uncomfortable giving instructions to senior warriors, but Icefrost had put her in charge of the patrol and she was determined to do things properly.

"Why do I have to be guard?" Blackpaw complained. "It's boring."
Briarfang lashed his tail. "Because you proved back there that hunting is the last thing on your mind today."
Blackpaw silently flicked a frozen leaf with his paw, but didn't argue.

Poolpelt leaped up the rocks, her mouth open to taste the air for prey signs.
Ravenbird disappeared under the frozen undergrowth while Briarfang and Snowheart each took a different route up the boulders.

Mouse.
She scented it a moment before she saw a shadow flicker in the crevice between two boulders.
Pricking her ears to check for slither of scales, she crouched.
No sign of any snakes.
She shot a forepaw down the fissure and hooked out the mouse.

Killing it quickly, she tossed it down onto the snow beside Blackpaw.
"Guard it, don't eat it," she told him.
Blackpaw rolled his eyes, but she just turned and climbed to the top of the rocks.

Something white was twitching beneath a frozen bush ahead.
Poolpelt tensed and dropped into her hunting crouch. Drawing herself silently forward, she breathed in so her belly didn't crunch the snow. The rabbit scent made her mouth water.
It bobbed deeper into the frozen bush.

Poolpelt followed, slowly pushing her head between the leaves.
There it was, grazing on the frozen berries from the bottom.
Poolpelt unsheathed her claws, stilled her tail, and leaped.

She landed squarely on the rabbit and made the killing bite before it realized what was happening.
A twitch, then another, and it was dead.
Poolpelt dragged it out from the frozen bush, pleased at the weight of it.
It would feed the elders and Duskwing.

"Watch out! DOG!" Blackpaw's shout pierced her ear fur. There was fear in his wail.
Poolpelt's pelt stood on end as she smelled the dog stench and heard giant clumsy paws thundering on the snowy floor only tail-lengths away.

With the rabbit still in her jaws she launched herself at the nearest tree trunk, scrabbling it up like a squirrel, her neck straining from the weight of her catch.
Jaws snapped below her and she flicked her tail out of the way just in time as the dog jumped around the base of the tree, snarling and snapping, its eyes wild with excitement.
Poolpelt scrambled higher, her claws gouging bark, sending it showering down as the dog stretched its forepaws higher up the trunk.

Heart thudding, she scanned the snowy forest.
She could make out Snowheart's white pelt on a snowy branch of a tree nearby.

"Blackpaw!" Briarfang was calling.
"Up here." The answer came from somewhere level with her head, and Poolpelt guessed the apprentice was safely up a snowy tree as well.
She was relieved when Briarfang yowled Ravenbird's name and Ravenbird replied, sounding breathless but intact.
"Safe!"

"Poolpelt?" Briarfang was calling for her now.
Poolpelr tightened the grip on the rabbit, unable to reply.
How could she get down?
This dog would never give up the promise of cat and rabbit.
The blood tang must already be singing on its tongue.

A Twoleg barked.
The dog froze, then growled with annoyance as the Twoleg barked again.
Whining, the dog finally dropped to the ground and lolloped away.

Her jaws ached from the pull of the rabbit, Poolpelt waited until the swishing of both Twoleg and dog had faded; then slowly, shakily, she let herself drop, paw over paw, down the trunk.
She landed on all four feet, claws burning, and hurried to the top of Snakerocks.

"Poolpelt!"
Her Clanmates were circling in the snowy clearing below, calling anxiously.
Quickly, she bounded down the rocks and flung the rabbit at their paws. "Sorry," she panted. "Couldn't answer before."
Snowheart's eyes glowed. "Nice catch!"

Ravenbird trotted to the roots of an ash tree and dug a sparrow from the snow.
Briarfang scooted up Snakerocks and retrieved a freshly killed shrew just between boulders.

"What about my mouse?" Poolpelt asked Blackpaw. Her heart was slowing down and her legs had stopped trembling.
"Don't worry, it's safe," Blackpaw replied, his eyes glittering. He dug in the snow ad un-snowed the mouse.
"Well done," Poolpelt congratulated him. "I think we have enough."

"Back to camp?" Snowheart asked.
Poolpelt nodded. She picked up her rabbit and headed back toward the ravine.

Blackpaw was muttering under his breath as she passed him. "What's the point of making me guard if no one takes any notice?"
"I climbed a tree as soon as you yowled," Ravenbird objected.
"Stop complaining." Briarfang shooed his apprentice forward. "We all escaped."
"And kept our prey," Snowheart added.

Poolpelt's neck was aching from the weight of the rabbit by the time they neared the ravine.
She was trying her best not to let it drag along the ground, but the closer they got, the more its pelt scruffed the snow.
She couldn't wait to drop it in the fresh-kill pile.

Blackpaw raced into the lead as they reached the edge and scooted first down the snowy cliff.
Poolpelt thumped down after him, the rabbit swinging awkwardly from her jaws.

"Listen!" Blackpaw skidded to a halt in front of her, and she almost crashed into him, her face full of rabbit fur.
"Whaf?" She mumbled.
Blackpaw's ears were pricked, his pelt bristling. "I can hear something."
The rest of the patrol had stopped behind Poolpelt.
"Me too," Snowheart hissed.

Briarfang was scenting the air as Poolpelt turned to look back up the path. "It's that dog!" he warned. "It's coming back."
Ravenbird spun around. "It can smell the rabbit."

Paws thudded over the snowy forest floor near the top of the ravine; snow swished. The dog was charging toward them, fast.
"It mustn't find the camp!" Briarfang growled.

Poolpelt pictured the dog rampaging through the dens; Duskwing's kits would never survive.
She dropped the rabbit. "I'll take this to the top and leave it. It might be enough to stop the dog following."
"Good plan." Briarfang nodded. "Ravenbird, warn the Clan. Get warriors to guard the entrance in case the dog does follow."
As Ravenbird hared away, Poolpelt picked up the rabbit and began to shoulder past her Clanmates, praying that leaving her catch would be enough to distract the dog.

"No!" Blackpaw's angry yowl made her freeze. "We caught that rabbit. We're going to keep it."
He bounded past Poolpelt and disappeared over the top.
"Blackpaw!" Briarfang chased him up the stack of boulders.
Poolpelt tossed the rabbit at Snowheart's paws. "If the dog comes over the top, leave it here. It might stop it."
She pelted after Briarfang, bounding up the rock and over the edge of the ravine in time to see the dog crash from the frozen undergrowth.

Blackpaw faced it, his back arched and his tail bushed out.
As the dog lunged at him, he swiped a forepaw across its muzzle, then aimed another slice at its eye.
Blood sprayed the snow.

Yelping, the dog sprang back and bared its teeth before lunging again.
This time Blackpaw swerved, diving under its belly and twisting to rake it with hind claws.
The dog howled with rage, but Blackpaw was ready, rearing up, his claws glistening with blood.
He swiped again at the dog's muzzle, batting it with blow after blow until the dog began to back away.

"Run back to your Twoleg!" Blackpaw hissed, aiming a vicious swipe that missed the snapping jaws by a whisker but sliced open the dog's nose.
Howling, the dog turned and fled into the snowy forest.

Briarfang's eyes were wide. "Blessed StarClan!" he breathed.
Blackpaw stared triumphantly at his mentor. "There was no way it was going to steal Clan prey."

Poolpelt blinked. She'd never seen such courage.
She stepped back, speechless, as Blackpaw shouldered past.

Hawkflame, Darkcloud, Icefrost, and Silverstar were standing with their hackles up at the base of the ravine.
They watched in amazement as Blackpaw bounded down the snowy cliff.

"The dog's gone," he announced, hardly out of breath, before brushing past them and heading for the stone tunnel.
Poolpelt picked up the rabbit and followed.
While Blackpaw accepted the praise of his Clanmates, she quietly placed it on the fresh-kill pile.

"He nearly sliced off it's nose," Briarfang was boasting.
"How big was it?" Darkcloud breathed.
"Bigger than a badger," Blackpaw mewed.

Stormclaw and Swiftwing padded from the elders's den.
"He fought a dog?" Stormclaw gasped. "No Clan cat's tried that since ThunderClan walked the forest."

Silverstar leaped onto the Highrock, despite her blood-shot eyes and bonier structure. "Clanmates!" she called. "I can think of no better moment to give Blackpaw his warrior name."
The Clan cheered its approval.
Silverstar leaped down from Highrock to meet Blackpaw in the center of the snowy clearing. "Step forward, young tom."

"A warrior already," Crowclaw murmured proudly.
Briarpool glanced over her shoulder at the apprentices's den.

Icepaw's drawn face poked out, her eyes shining as she watched her brother.
Icepaw drew her frail body from the stone den and crouched down, trembling, just outside the den.

Silverstar looked down at Blackpaw. "Blackpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Blackpaw dipped his head. "I do."
Silverstar purred. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Blackpaw, from this moment you will be known as Blackfrost. StarClan honors your courage and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of IceClan. Serve your Clan well."
She pressed her muzzle to Blackfrost's head.

Blackfrost gazed proudly around at his Clanmates as Feathershine hurried to his side and pressed her muzzle against his, purring.

Icefrost padded to her fresh-kill pile and began tossing pieces of prey to her Clanmates. "If this doesn't call for a feast, nothing does," she meowed, flinging the rabbit at Swiftwing's paws.
The elder's eyes sparkled.
Stormclaw nudged her aside. "I hope you're going to share that!"

Swiftfur took a blackbird to the nursery for Duskwing, slipping out a moment later to join Briarfang and Bladewing.
The Clan shared the fresh-kill and listened to the elders's stories till the moon was high overhead.

Eventually Silverstar yawned and got to her paws.
The Clan cats fell silent as their leader gazed around the clearing.
"I could not be more proud of my Clan," she began.
Poolpelt narrowed her eyes. Blackfrost's warrior ceremony was over, and it was unlike Silverstar to make unnecessary speeches.
"Thank you, all of you." Dipping her head, she ducked away and disappeared into her den.

It almost sounds as though she was saying goodbye.
She'd overheard Swiftwing telling Stormclaw that Silverstar was on her last life.
Perhaps that's why the Clan leader had sounded so somber.
Each battle could be her last.

Poolpelt got to her paws, her neck aching again, and headed for her den again.

Feathershine was already there, circling into her nest.
Blackfrost was curled on the stone beside her.
He'd have to build himself a nest tomorrow, and Poolpelt guessed with a purr where he'd built it.

She shivered, missing the comfort of her sister's pelt.
Feathershine used to press against Poolpelt's pelt, keeping her warm with her fluffy pale-white fur, but at least she gets to sleep with her mate now.

She looked at the night sky, thinking of a handsome, golden-tabby tom.
If Feathershine was able to get a mate, was it possible for Poolpelt as well?