Chapter 19

                Nothing interesting happened. Days of training and patrols dragged by. Her dreams would’ve been occupied by Stonepaw if she wasn’t stuck training with Thunder.

                She forced herself to fake eagerness, ask for the tom’s advice, and watch closely as he demonstrated each move, knowing she would one day have to use these against him and even that might not be enough. It was possible, very possible that “the dark splash of murder and betrayal” could be Thunder, but for some reason, it didn’t make sense. Why would the prophecy contain the words “dark splash” if it was Thunder? She knew words in predictions often were related to a cat’s name. There was no cat she knew named Darksplash.

                Stonepaw hadn’t spoken to her since the Gathering. He’d said he’d send a message, but it’d been a little over a half-moon and she’d heard nothing.

                Crazypaw dragged herself out of the comfortable apprentices den and into the dawn light when Liontail called her name. She stretched briefly in the sunshine and then padded leisurely over to the camp entrance, where five cats were waiting. “What patrol are we doing now?” she asked, yawning with boredom.

                Liontail gave her a disapproving glance before responding. “Dawn patrol along the WindClan border,” he explained. “Your siblings and their mentors are going with us.”

                The walk to the WindClan border seemed slower than ever, but Crazypaw didn’t dare ask them to hurry in fear of angering Liontail.

                But suddenly, Liontail halted before reaching the WindClan border. The rushing of the stream wasn’t even audible and the stream itself wasn’t visible. “WindClan,” he hissed.

                Crazypaw lifted her head and sniffed the air. Sure enough, the strong, pungent odor of WindClan filled the air. “They’ve tried to move the border!” Splashheart shouted angrily.

                A dark gray tom slithered out of the bushes and looked up at the three menacing warriors, seeming completely fearless. “Oh, really?” the WindClan deputy meowed sarcastically, raising an eyebrow mockingly. “Reach that conclusion finally? How’d you figure it out, Splashpaw?”

                Splashheart marched forward angrily and swiped his claws across Smokewhisker’s face. He stumbled backwards and cried, “WindClan, attack!”

                A group of warriors dashed out from their hiding places, quite possibly as much as half of the Clan. The patrol was instantly outnumbered and outmatched. One warrior leapt onto Crazypaw’s back and she tumbled onto the ground. Liontail was defending himself from two warriors almost as big and muscular as him. “Streampaw, return to camp! Reinforcements!” Liontail yowled, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother dash off.

                Crazypaw tried not to get distracted but she couldn’t help wondering, Is Stonepaw here?

                For the first time since her dream about Thunder’s evil plans, she was glad for his training. His voice was in her head. If you get pinned to the ground, you’ll need to do something unexpected to escape…

                The warrior seemed prepared for her to try to roll off to one side. But no cat around the lake could possibly expect Thunder’s move. She pressed her hind legs against the ground and pushed backwards. She scrambled back onto her feet and hit the warrior hard on the head. One shove was enough to send him plummeting down the hill towards the border stream.

                She spun around, lashing out with her claws and fighting multiple opponents at once. Her wounds stung, and she was quickly growing tired, but she realized she was defending herself as well as Liontail and almost as well as Splashheart. The gray-and-white tom was fighting Smokewhisker with ease while at the same time managing to defend himself from three other warriors.

                Suddenly, a familiar tom appeared in front of her. Her heart’s beating sped up. Stonepaw tensed his muscles and then relaxed as he recognized her. “Crazypaw,” he whispered. “I missed you…”

                Crazypaw was about to leave to find a different opponent when she felt the feeling of being watched. She looked behind her and saw Liontail and a light brown she-cat she assumed was Heatherstorm standing off to the side, watching them. She had no choice. If Liontail saw her not fight Stonepaw, they would both be in serious trouble. She launched herself through the air and crashed into the beautiful apprentice. He yelped with surprise and they both rolled down the hill. Crazypaw swiped sheathed claws down his face and Stonepaw pushed away from her. He rose slowly to his feet. “Is that the best you can do?” he taunted her, but his voice was trembling. “Couldn’t even hurt me, is that…”

                “Stonepaw, I’d never intentionally hurt you,” she whispered. “Our mentors are watching us! Now attack me, claws sheathed please!”

                Relief flooded through his gaze as he leapt towards her. She quickly slipped off to the side and as soon as he landed she swept his paws from underneath him. She risked a glance up to where Heatherstorm and Liontail had been watching. They were gone. She looked down at him as he stood up. “They’re not watching anymore,” she told him.

                They stood there, away from the battle and the fighting cats. “ThunderClan, attack!” a voice that she identified as Cloudstar’s, shouted.

                The white tom was leading a large group of cats towards the battle. Suddenly, ThunderClan had the upper hand. And then, to every cat’s surprise, another voice yowled, “STOP!”

                A distant figure was rushing towards the scene. It was Rabbitstar, the WindClan leader! “What in StarClan’s name is going on?” he demanded, marching angrily over to Smokewhisker. “Does this have something to do with you?”

                “It’s all too easy to take territory from these fools,” the WindClan deputy snarled. “An extra bit of territory never does hurt.”

                Rabbitstar glared at him. To Smokewhisker’s credit, he looked back at his father steadily, without flinching. “Did I tell you to cause trouble and steal territory?” Rabbitstar growled and then rushed on without waiting for an answer. “I am tired of you planning and start fights with ThunderClan and ShadowClan because of Whiteflame! You no longer deserve to hold your current position and I, Rabbitstar, leader of WindClan revoke your title of deputy before the eyes of StarClan. The new deputy will be Heatherstorm.”

                “Cloudstar, I am sorry about my son,” Rabbitstar meowed in a less hostile tone of voice. “We will leave.”

                “Yes, you will,” Cloudstar agreed. “Now. We won’t require anything as of now to make peace, but if we catch the slightest taste of WindClan on our side of the stream again, you can expect us to take that stretch of woodland on your side of the border. ThunderClan, return to camp.”

                “Meet me here, by that bush with the purple flowers tomorrow night,” Stonepaw whispered.

                “We could easily be caught by the moonhigh patrols!” Crazypaw worried.

                “It’s worth the risk,” Stonepaw responded. “And I’ll think of a better place soon.”

                Crazypaw nodded and then ran to catch up to her Clanmates, who were already leaving.

***

                Cloudstar called a Clan meeting as soon as they arrived back at the stone hollow. “Our apprentices fought well against WindClan to protect our territory and I feel there is no need for a final assessment. It is time for them to receive their warrior names,” he yowled, and Crazypaw felt surprise and excitement race through her. “I, Cloudstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these four apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Mudpaw, Streampaw, Morningpaw, and Crazypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

                “I do,” Crazypaw promised confidently, perfectly in unison with the other three apprentices.

                “Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names,” Cloudstar continued. “Mudpaw, you reacted bravely and volunteered immediately to assist your Clanmates. From this moment on, you will be known as Mudsplash. StarClan honors your courage and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.”

                “Morningpaw, from now on, you will be known as Morningblaze,” Cloudstar named Crazypaw’s sister. “StarClan honors your enthusiasm and persistence, and we welcome you as a full warrior to this Clan.”

                Streampaw shifted anxiously on his paws. “Streampaw, nervous as always, aren’t you?” Cloudstar purred with amusement. “From this moment on, you will be known as Streamsplash. StarClan honors your intelligence and dedication, and we welcome you as a full warrior of our Clan.”

                And then it was her turn. “Crazypaw, I hear from Liontail you’re a marvelous fighter, is that right? Liontail says that one of these days sometime soon, you’ll be twice as good as him!” Cloudstar joked, but Crazypaw thought that she might actually be that good in the near future. “From this moment on, you’ll be known as Crazyflame. StarClan honors your skill and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.”

                Crazyflame respectfully licked the white tom’s shoulder as he briefly rested his muzzle on the top of her head.

                And the ceremony was over. The Clan chanted the new names a couple times and then cats were surrounding them to congratulate them. “We have more good news,” Cloudstar announced. “Honeywhisker says that tomorrow Mousepaw will be allowed to resume training.”

                Mousepaw sat alone at the back of the crowd glaring with undisguised hatred at all of them. No, at Crazyflame.

                And Crazyflame? What did Crazyflame do?

                She smiled pleasantly and shouted, “Hi, Mousepaw!”

                Mousepaw looked confused for a moment. She was probably thinking, Isn’t this the part where she glares back and says, “Your warrior name will be Mousebrain if you ever get one!” Not smiles and says hi?

                Then, Mousepaw narrowed her eyes even more and marched away.

A/N: I was going to update Peace Never Lasts For Long and Graystripe's Decision first, but decided to update this since it's my most popular book of the three I'm currently working on. Please tell me what you think of the names, particularly Crazyflame's, and possibly about Smokewhisker and the battle.