"Dodge!" Sparrowpaw ducked Batpaws swipe and leaped in the air, twisting so that he landed  on her back.

Stormheart was watching with Mudpool from the side, barking orders.

Batpaw threw Sparrowpaw off, sending him skidding into the dirt. Sparrowpaw quickly recovered and ducked another swipe. Batpaws miss left her off balance and Sparrowpaw took advantage by knocking her down and pinning her.

"Good job!" Mudpool praised from the side. Sparrowpaw smiled and got off of Batpaw.   Batpaw smiled at him and nudged him affectionately

"Well fought." She meowed, nodding. "Thanks." Sparrowpaw replied, nudging her back. Batpaw stumbled a little.

Sparrowpaw flattened his ears. Did he do that? He then looked down at himself and gasped. As much as he hated to admit it, Stormheart's method of training helped him a lot. His legs and chest were toned and muscular. His mentor was right. After a while, the running did help. He found hunting and battle training to come easier after he had mastered running the moor.

He smiled a little, proud of himself. "Did you hear that?" Batpaw asked, looking at Sparrowpaw excitedly, breaking him from his thoughts. "Mudpool says we're going to have our warrior ceremony soon!" Sparrowpaw smiled "That's great!" He purred, waving his tail happily.

Stormheart looked back at the two apprentices. "You both have done excellent in your training. Windclan needs new warriors." Sparrowpaw looked at his mentor as if he had three heads. Was Stormheart praising him? Had he finally made his mentor proud?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Batpaw, step forward." Hawkstar's voice boomed. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code even at the cost of your life?" "I do." Batpaw replied, looking up at Hawkstar. "Then from this moment on, you shall be known as Batfeather." Batfeather smiled and looked back at Sparrowpaw, before stepping to the side.

"Sparrowpaw, step forward." Sparrowpaw gulped and took a step, nervously glancing at Batfeather. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code even at the cost of your life?" "I do." Sparrowpaw meowed, sounding more confident than he felt. "Then from this moment on, you shall be known as Sparrowflight. You both will guard the camp tonight with your silent vigil. You may not talk until morning." Hawkstar instructed, before jumping down from the rock.

The Clan chanted their new names. Dustbreeze nuzzled them both affectionately. "I'm so proud of you. You'll make wonderful warriors." She purred. "You've grown up so fast." Dustbreeze sat back, admiring her two kits.

Sparrowflight looked up at her, before noticing a pair of eyes, glaring at them. It was Blazefire, who was made a warrior not long before them. What's his problem? Sparrowflight wondered, looking at him. Blazefire turned and stalked out of camp.

Sparrowflight turned and saw him and Batpaws mentors, Stormheart and Mudpool walking towards them. Batfeather dipped her head "Thank you Mudpool. You've taught me so much." Mudpool smiled at her "You've taught me a couple things too."

Sparrowflight sighed, wishing he could have a relationship like that with his mentor. As Batfeather and Mudpool broke into conversation, Sparrowflight glanced up nervously at Stormheart. "Sparrowflight, I need to tell you something." Stormheart meowed. Sparrowflight then sat down, listening. "I..I know I pushed you hard in your apprenticeship. But it was not because I wanted you to suffer. Every time you sighed, or looked exhausted from your training, it hurt me. But I kept training you hard, maybe perhaps too hard. I...I don't blame you for not liking me." Stormheart finished, looking down at his paws, as if he was relieved to get that off his chest. Sparrowflight looked at him in surprise. "I...I don't know what to say." He murmured. "Then don't say anything." Stormheart meowed walking away, flashing a rare half smile. It wasn't a full smile, but it was at least something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sparrowflight shivered in the cool breeze. He glanced over at Batfeather and she met his gaze. It was almost dawn and the two siblings had been sitting their silent vigil. Sparrowflight began pawing at the ground in anticipation.

He pricked his ears and looked over to see Blazefire. The ginger tom looked at him and smiled. Sparrowflight narrowed his eyes. Blazefire wasn't normally kind or friendly.

"You guys can talk now." He told them. Sparrowflight opened his mouth "Finally! I thought the night would never end." Batfeather still hadn't talked.

"What are you doing?" Sparrowflight turned around to see a bristling Antfoot "Who said you could talk yet?" Sparrowflight looked around to point out Blazefire, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Only Hawkstar, or me can let you talk. You're not making a good impression as a warrior." The deputy growled. Sparrowflight flattened his ears in shame. Batfeather tried speaking up "Blaz-" Antfoot silenced her, raising his paw.

"Batfeather you may go and sleep." Batfeather nodded and went to the warriors den, brushing Sparrowflight's cheek with her tail as she walked by.

Antfoot then turned to Sparrowflight and curled his lip "You may start out your warrior duties by tending to the bedding in the nursery." He growled, walking away.

Sparrowflight looked at his paws and walked to the nursery, trying not to wake the kits. He was unsuccessful.

"Attack!" Sparrowflight was ambushed by Tigerkit and Gingerkit "Do you surrender, Thunderclan warrior?" Tigerkit asked, placing a tiny paw on his chest. Sparrowflight lightly brushed the kits off.

"Hey, you're not playing the game!" Tigerkit whined "I'm not in the mood for games." Sparrowflight grumbled, still ashamed from his punishment. He was forced to do an apprentice job! Why would Blazefire try to get him in trouble?

His thoughts were interrupted by Icesplash. "Sparrowflight, don't be rude to the little ones. They're just playing." Sparrowflight looked at the queen, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry Icesplash. Do you need me to clean your bedding?" Icesplash shook her head "We're fine thanks."

Sparrowflight sighed and turned, exiting the nursery. He didn't blame Icesplash for sending him away after being so rude to the kits. They didn't deserve that.

He looked back to see the kits play fighting. He took a piece of moss out from his nest and rolled it into a ball. He gently tossed it towards the kits and disappeared into the warriors den. The kits pounced on the ball, turning their fight into a game of moss ball. Icesplash looked to see where the moss ball came from, and Sparrowflight didn't know if she saw him or not.

Sparrowflight curled up into a ball in his nest. He pricked his ears and saw Blazefire walking back into camp, but was too tired to confront him. Sparrowflight fell asleep before he had seen whose body he was carrying....

Ooohh, a cliffhanger! Leave your thoughts in the comments!