Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 30

"It's about to start!" She gasped, then seemed to notice me. "Oh, Ferretpaw! Yay! Shadestar asked me whether I wanted to be an apprentice or warrior but I said an apprentice, even though you're gonna be a warrior. I thought you could be my...metro?...mento?...the word was something like that, anyway. I told him that I wanted my warrior name to be Minnowfern. It sounds super cool, right? Right?"

"Yeah, it does," I purred to the lilac she-cat who suddenly looked nervous. "But as an apprentice your name will be Minnowpaw."

"Coolio!" Minnow purred, doing a few circles around me before racing back through the spiky thorn tunnel. "They're coming! Shadestar, they're coming!"

"I guess it's time then," I glanced over my shoulder to see Puddle eyeing Bubble affectionately. The two mates had their tails entwined. I smiled before turning away.

As I exited the thorn tunnel, I was suddenly met with a massive group of cats. At least half of them seemed to be Sea Wolves; the only non-Sea Wolf cats were Frogstream, Silvershine, Bushpaw, Honeypaw, Stormwing, Goldspike and Shorefeather.

"Sea Wolves and ShoreClan!" Shadestar yowled from the centre of the semi-circle of cats (he had yet to call the cats by a unified name).

I weaved among the cats, looking for Ripplepaw and Littlepaw. At last, I found them near the centre of the crowd, sitting beside the two other apprentices, Bushpaw and Honeypaw.

Honeypaw looked very unsteady on her paws. Cobwebs were plastered across her flank, and she kept shifting from side to side, as though she couldn't get comfortable. As I sat down beside Littlepaw, Honeypaw glanced up at me sharply. As I met her gaze, she seemed to wince and look away.

Some wounds took longer than others to heal. Honeypaw was young, and she had been manipulated, but she had stuck to Dewstar's side, even going as far as to kill Moonpoppy. Many cats were very angry with her. She had a long way to go to redeem herself, but I could tell that she was trying.

"Is the meeting about to start?" I queried, glancing up at Littlepaw.

My friend ran her tail along my back. "Yes. Shadefa-Shadestar was just waiting for you to get back."

Bushpaw glanced over at me from the opposite side of the row of apprentices. His amber eyes were wide with excitement. "Shadestar said we are going to be made warriors, Ferretpaw. Warriors."

I laughed. "Having a warrior name sounds pretty cool, doesn't it." Bushpaw looked at me nervously, and I added. "You totally deserve it, though, even if you're a lot younger than me. My ceremony got held up, and you did so much for the clan in the battle and even before that you fought against Dewstar."

Bushpaw positively beamed at my praise. Before I had time to say anything else, Shadestar gave a yowl for silence. Almost at once, the clearing was so quiet that a seagull could be heard flying in the far distance.

"Thank you for coming!" Shadestar meowed. He gazed at the crowd of cats with a small smile. "Today is the day we give names to some of our newest members. But before that," he added as the crowd shifted with restless excitement, "another change is in order.

"I have asked StarClan, and they too are in agreement that this is the best choice to make. Our clan's culture is changing." Shadestar glanced at Frogstream. "The idea of having 'Bottom Feeders' is a foxdunged one. Therefore, I terminate it. All warriors are equal."

"WHAT?!" Goldspike shrieked.

Shadestar smiled pleasantly at his mother. "Goldspike, if you have any issues with that, I would prefer you ask me maturely. I do not exist to be yelled at. I understand that change can be jarring, but believe me, this is for the best."