Path Of A Warrior

Willowpaw lay down next to Redpaw and pressed her side against his. “I was so frightened when I saw you were still on the bridge,” she confessed, her voice unsteady. “What if that hawk had carried you off?”

Redpaw shuddered at the thought and pushed his nose against his sister’s shoulder, inhaling her comforting familiar scent. “It didn’t, though,” he mewed, to himself as much as to her. “I’m still here. Tigerclaw saved me.”

Willowpaw blinked slowly at him, her gaze warm. “I’ll never call Tigerclaw a show-off or an arrogant furball again,” she promised. “He saved your life, and he can be as proud as he wants to be.”

Redpaw’s heartbeat had only just calmed down when Sparrowpelt suddenly stiffened. “Here they come,” he meowed, lashing his tail.

“It hasn’t been very long,” Willowpaw muttered, getting to her feet, and Redpaw shook off his shakiness and rose, too. “Is everything okay, do you think?”

Sparrowpelt didn’t answer, but stepped forward to greet the other warriors. He and Bluefur touched noses briefly, and Bluefur sighed. “We were too late.”

“The fight was over?” Sparrowpelt asked.

Poppydawn’s tail drooped. “The rest of ThunderClan had to retreat,” she mewed. “There were just too many RiverClan cats.”

Because we didn’t get there in time. Redpaw’s mouth went dry.

“We weren’t there to fight, because of me,” he blurted guiltily. “I’m sorry!”

Sparrowpelt sighed. “We’ll talk about this when we get back to camp, Redpaw.”

“The important thing is that you’re all right,” Poppydawn meowed firmly. “Let’s get back and see if we can help Featherwhisker and Spottedpaw with any injuries from the fight.”

Redpaw trailed behind the other cats as they headed back toward the ThunderClan camp, his head bowed. This is all my fault. The thought kept repeating in his head. My fault. If only he hadn’t frozen in his panic! If he had run with the other cats, maybe they would have arrived at the RiverClan camp in time to be of use in the battle.

Tigerclaw dropped back to walk beside him. “Hey,” he meowed, bumping his side against Redpaw’s reassuringly. “Stop worrying.”

Redpaw’s whiskers twitched miserably. “I’m not sure I can.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tigerclaw assured him. “We might have lost this battle because of you, but we’ll have other chances to beat RiverClan.”

Redpaw stumbled. Because of me? Tigerclaw was confirming all his worst fears.

“I’ll back you up when we talk to Sunstar,” Tigerclaw went on. “He’ll see that you just didn’t know any better. It’s not like you ruined everything on purpose.”

Redpaw’s heart sank. “D-do we have to tell Sunstar what I did?” he asked, his mew quavering.

Tigerclaw’s ears twitched in surprise. “Of course we do,” he replied. “Sunstar’s our leader and he needs to know why his plan failed. But I’ll stick up for you, no matter what the others say. After all, every warrior in the Clan did some dumb things as a ’paw.” He shot Redpaw a glance out of the corner of his amber eyes. “I mean, those things don’t usually have such awful effects, but that was just bad luck, really.”

Redpaw felt sick. What was Sunstar going to say, what would he do, when he realized that Redpaw had lost ThunderClan the battle? Still, at least Tigerclaw was on his side. He breathed out a small sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Tigerclaw,” he mewed meekly. “I really owe you one.”

Tigerclaw’s tail curled high above his back. “You owe me more than one,” he purred cheerfully. “You owe me your life!”

Chapter Four

“Redpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your own life?” Sunstar’s eyes, warm and steady, gazed into Redpaw’s.

“I do,” Redpaw promised. He realized that he was trembling. Willowpaw—no, Willowpelt, since a few heartbeats ago—stood shoulder to shoulder with him, a steady support.

“Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Redpaw, from now on you will be known as Redtail. StarClan honors your bravery and your loyalty. We welcome you as a full member of ThunderClan.”

With a purr, Sunstar rested his muzzle briefly on Redtail’s head. “Serve your Clan well,” he mewed. “You’ll be a fine warrior.”

Joy ran through Redtail as he bent his head and licked his leader’s shoulder. A fine warrior. Six moons ago, back when he was that scared ’paw who’d been responsible for losing the battle with RiverClan, he’d hardly dared to imagine he might someday hear those words.

The cats around them cried out, “Willowpelt! Redtail! Willowpelt! Redtail!” As their Clanmates chanted their new names, Redtail could hear their father Adderfang’s voice rising, loudest of all.

As Redtail broke away from Sunstar, he saw Sparrowpelt, usually so stern, looking at him proudly. Beside him, White-eye purred. Their kits, Runningkit and Mousekit, tumbled around her paws.