MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders/2/21

### Chapter 21: Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Quailclaw, Robinpaw & Soarpaw

Quailpaw and Icepaw caught their golden eagles, too, which the former found within a few minutes of Shadowpaw, and the latter a few minutes after *him.*

Shadowpaw watched Quailpaw and he caught the eagle with less effort than Shadowpaw needed, but he knew that he should congratulate his friend for doing so. They were both good, after all, and jealousy wouldn't be tolerated. Quailpaw sneaked up on the eagle from behind and bit its neck, which made the eagle die shortly after.

As for Icepaw, she was a bit jittery and almost lost it when she pounced on it and only got its flank, but she managed to swipe its wings using her both claws, making it more difficult for the eagle to fly. Then when the eagle was hovering above a branch, she pounced on it and bit its neck, earning the kill.

The three mentors greatly approved of this and deemed them excellent hunters, which the three apprentices took pride in. They went back to the camp for rest, bringing back the three golden eagles.

Most of the apprentices, kits and queens awaited their return, especially Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Birchpaw. Petuniaheart's eyes were also gleaming as she watched her son come back with Shadowpaw and Icepaw and asked her mate how they did. Snowstar explained the accuracy and skill they had, saying they would be invaluable to the Clan. Shadowpaw and Quailpaw accepted Snowstar's praise as he was their mentor or father. Icepaw looked a little nervous but bouncing with joy at the same time, with anticipation of what her warrior ceremony would feel like. She wondered what her warrior name would be.

Everyone praised them greatly, since finally, the first three of the apprentices after Violetrain and Fireclaw being seven moons older than them would finally become warriors, after a very long line of apprentices, and previously, a very long line of kits and queens, of which there still were, of course.

Swanpaw and Birchpaw shared Shadowpaw's eagle, saying that it was extraordinary to Shadowpaw, which boosted his confidence and pride and happiness through the sky. Shadowpaw, Zebrapaw and Rainpaw tasted Icepaw's eagle out of kindness. Icepaw interpreted Zebrapaw willing to eat it as something positive. And Petuniaheart and Snowstar tasted their son, Quailpaw's eagle and said it was juicy.

Shadowpaw went to sleep happy, hoping the next day being the fighting exams would be as successful as the hunting exams.

The next day, Shadowpaw felt bliss. He was the first apprentice out of the den (and soon, permanently, too) and bounced over to the prey pile and ate a small mouse. Snowstar was also there and asked Shadowpaw if he was feeling confident about his assignment. Shadowpaw said yes in a very audacious way.

Snowstar just nodded and said that his fighting assessment would be a pretty difficult one, but he would have to do it with Icepaw and Quailpaw as he needed to see good teamwork. Shadowpaw just nodded but he wondered what it would be that it would be so difficult on his own.

Then when Icepaw, Quailpaw and their mentors woke up, they all set out into the mountainous forest. Then Snowstar whispered something to his brother and his mate's brother, and they both nodded. Then Snowstar straightened up and told the three apprentices, "There is a secret fox den somewhere in the mountains within our territory. The den is in the ground, but of course, we won't go too close. But we will go a distance from it to see if we can find a fox."

The three apprentices were a little bit startled. They remembered the fox that came into camp many moons ago. Shadowpaw remembered that he was too frightened to stop it at the time, even with a ton of warriors around, but Zebrapaw and Swankit took the lead and jumped on it bravely. He wasn't sure how he could stop one with only the three of them, even if they were almost warriors.

Snowstar, Blazesky and Forestcreek noticed their anxiousness and Blazesky reassured them, "Don't worry, we will help you in case of dire emergencies. My sister and Snowstar, Snowpool at the time, also did this test with Forestcreek's children, Redwater and Flameeye respectively. And I, Flipsnow and..."—Blazesky paused for a moment—"Goldenlily... also did this test with Sealbranch, Sandleap and Hailstream respectively. And they did pass, of course."

Shadowpaw remembered that Hailstream was the former apprentice of Goldenlily. When she was finished giving birth to Swanpaw, Swankit at the time, she finished training Hailstream, Hailpaw at the time. Flipsnow also finished training Sandleap, Sandpaw at the time, after giving birth to Mountainpaw, Mountainkit at the time. Otherwise their unoffical mentor for physical training was Blazesky, which made sense since their sister and littermate, Sealpaw, was his official apprentice. Shadowpaw also knew that Redwater and Flameeye's mentors were Petuniaheart and Snowpool, and they became warriors one moon before the three sisters did. Petuniaheart was still a queen when she became a mentor, but she got pregnant with Quailpaw and his littermate soon after, and Redwater also had to train with her brother. After Petuniaheart gave birth, though, she got pregnant again with Birchpaw and Rainpaw, and only after she finished nursing them could she fully train Redwater.

Hailstream had witnessed Goldenlily's death personally, but she was too shocked about it and ran to Sandleap's side along with Sealbranch and Nightnose instead. Later on Shadowpaw saw that she told Sandleap and Primrosepaw that Goldenlily's death made her very sad since she was her old mentor. They both understood.

"Oh yeah, and Violetrain and Fireclaw also did this with their mentors, Maplestripe and Littleclaw," Blazesky continued. "They all passed, and we are confident that you can, too. You should be confident, too."

All three apprentices understood. Shadowpaw wondered about Nightnose and Nutclaw, but he figured they didn't do the test with the three sisters. Snowstar did tell him that he wanted to test them to see if the skills were good enough to become warriors and too many cats would make it hard to assess especially in fighting exams (and make it much easier to do), so the max was three apprentices. Nightnose and Nutclaw's mentors were Rosepetal and Daisyfoot. Shadowpaw thought it was a little weird that the latter was Snowstar and Forestcreek's cousin, especially with her daughter Applefall and Zebrapaw's brother Fireclaw being together, but he shrugged it off.

Then Snowstar said after Blazesky was finished, "We have to go to the fox den now. We will help you in case of a dire emergency, as Blazesky said. And if there is another fox, we will chase them off. Six warriors can fight off two foxes." Then he flicked his tail. "It's not too far either, but it is somewhere near our border."

The apprentices understood, but they were still a little nervous.

They started walking for a little bit of time into fox territory, and they noticed they saw no foxes so far, until they saw a fox burrow.

Snowstar padded in front of the other cats and peered inside very cautiously to see if there were any foxes. Shadowpaw walked next to him and looked inside, too. He saw a medium-sized nest with a sleeping baby fox inside. Shadowpaw knew he shouldn't hurt baby foxes or sleeping ones as they could get aggravated and attack, or the mothers of the baby foxes can also come and attack.

But then, they heard a fox growl behind them.

All six cats heard and their instincts were ready to fight. Snowstar, Forestcreek and Blazesky nodded to the apprentices to do it and they stepped back from the fox. Quailpaw and Icepaw immediately started cornering the fox from its flanks, and Shadowpaw cornered it from the front. Naturally, the fox leaped on Shadowpaw, but he leaped out of the way. Icepaw jumped onto the fox and repeatedly slashed its left flank. Quailpaw tried to crawl under and scratched its belly.

Shadowpaw decided to do the amazing feat that Zebrapaw and Swankit did. Except he would try to jump on its head.

He tried to slash the forehead but the blow hit its nose instead as it was trying to bite Shadowpaw. Then it turned towards Icepaw and tried to pounce on her. Quailpaw slashed its right flank. Shadowpaw slashed its cheek and its upper jaw, and it growled ferociously at Shadowpaw. Icepaw shrieked and slashed its nose. Shadowpaw saw an opening and leaped onto the fox's head.

The fox hadn't seen it coming and started shaking its head ferociously while trying to back away from Quailpaw but pursue Icepaw. Shadowpaw had dug his claws deep into the fox's fur so that he would be firmly lodged onto the fox and not be shaken off. He wondered how to scare the fox away and finish the test, but then Quailpaw scratched its tail, and crawled under its belly and toppled it over.

Shadowpaw also fell down but not as hard. He lightly scratched its neck and it got up and ran back into the burrow after hissing threateningly at them. It attempted to swipe the mentors, but they backed off and so did the fox.

When all was calm, the mentors congratulated them, saying that they passed with flying colors and were ready to be received as full warriors by all of the Clans, especially MoonClan and StarClan. The three apprentices were very proud of themselves and were soaring over the moon.

They went back to camp with a ton of excitement and anticipation for new and better things.

#### Hours later

Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw were all really excited to become warriors. Icepaw was still wondering what her warrior name would be and she hoped it would be something memorable. She had noticed a lot of warriors' suffixes were "-claw", but she wanted to be named differently. She even told Snowstar this and he understood. He said he had something in mind and he winked, making Icepaw relieved. But she was still curious.

Shadowpaw and Quailpaw were both fine with "-claw". After all, the suffix "-claw" meant that they would be strong warriors with sharp claws. Littleclaw, Peonyclaw, Fireclaw, Nutclaw and Begoniaclaw also had this suffix.

While sitting next to the leader's den, Shadowpaw noticed his mentor come out and ruffle his fur. Snowstar noticed him and gave him a smile. Shadowpaw smiled back respectfully but then he remembered he had a question in mind. He had realized that Robinkit and Soarkit would also become apprentices because they were six moons old, too. "Um, Snowstar, I have a question," he said. Snowstar stopped walking and waited for him to continue.

Shadowpaw was a little nervous to ask this, but he asked it anyway, "Um, is there a way I can mentor Robinkit or Soarkit in the same ceremony?"

Snowstar smiled again. "Well, I know it is certainly not against the rules. But I have never seen it happening in my lifetime. Something similar happened with Sealbranch and Quailpaw, where Moonstar gave Blazesky Quailpaw as an apprentice when his former apprentice became a warrior in the same ceremony, though."

Shadowpaw just nodded. "Well, I thought so. But I was just curious though."

"Don't worry, though, I was already planning for a long time to give you Jumpkit," Snowstar replied warmly. "I had already chosen the mentors for Robinkit and Soarkit."

Shadowpaw understood, but he still had another question which had to do with Thymekit and Violetrain. "What about Violetrain? How come she wanted to mentor Thymekit when Robinkit and Soarkit were becoming apprentices first?"

"I figured that Violetrain would do much better, and she did, too, with Redwater's son, Thymekit," Snowstar explained. "After all, she and Redwater were close as kits and apprentices, best friends, I guess you can say, like you and Quailpaw and Zebrapaw. She and Thymekit hit it off as well, so why not? As for Robinkit and Soarkit, I wasn't really sure that they would do well with Violetrain as one of their mentors. Also, they're very shy and mostly never left the nursery despite being old enough so they may not know Violetrain well. So I decided two queens for them, who are not expecting or nursing, Flipsnow and Redwater, whom they have known for three to four moons already. This would be Redwater's first apprentice, and Flipsnow's second, of which her first was Sandleap, of course." He flicked his tail. "Of course Heronwing wouldn't be their mentors since it is uncommon, unless there are a lack of cats."

Shadowpaw nodded and understood what he said. He wondered what it would be like to be a warrior. Snowstar padded away over to the prey pile but Shadowpaw stayed where he was, thinking about Robinkit and Soarkit.

The morning passed and all the cats had woken up and eaten. It was now time for the ceremony.

Shadowpaw, Icepaw and Quailpaw were really excited and so were all of the apprentices, kits and warriors and queens, especially the ones who were related to them. So was Snowstar. It would be the first time he was doing a warrior ceremony as leader, after Violetrain and Fireclaw, of course. He thought Icepaw would love her new warrior name.

Snowstar leaped onto Highrock and announced, "All cats awake come under Highrock & the moon!"

Everyone was already there. They looked up at Snowstar already knowing whose ceremonies they were. Shadowpaw and Quailpaw looked up at their mentor or father with proud eyes and Icepaw was bouncing in her place with excitement and joy.

Snowstar began, "I, Snowstar, second leader of the ambitious Mountain Clan known as MoonClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He flicked his tail and nodded towards the fourteen-moon old apprentices.

He continued, starting with Shadowpaw, "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Shadowpaw. From this moment on, under the moon, you will be known as Shadowclaw. StarClan honors your spirit, quick thought and humility, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

*"SHADOWCLAW! SHADOWCLAW!"* the entire Clan cheered. Shadowpaw, now known as Shadowclaw, felt very happy and proud of himself now. He thought about his three virtues, which would be based on actions and personality. He had really good spirit in everything and probably the least hostile to Stonepaw... after Birchpaw and Primrosepaw, of course. He also remembered when Quailpaw fell into the river when they were kits and almost the waterfall. He had not waited a moment to run back to camp immediately and tell everyone, and so got all the warriors in time to save Quailkit. And he was very humble, too. He never bragged about anything, especially about being a leader's apprentice.

And now he had the opportunity to jump onto Highrock and touch noses with his mentor, as a way to symbolize the feeling of becoming an apprentice while becoming a warrior. He watched other cats do so with their mentors except they didn't jump onto Highrock. He only heard of Maplestripe who touched noses with Moonstar on Highrock. Shadowclaw only knew that Maplestripe was chosen because his father and Moonstar's brother was the deputy at the time, before he retired and gave responsibility to the traitor, Falconblue. But Shadowclaw's case was different. Moonstar had died making Snowstar the leader. Shadowclaw was obviously sad for her but he figured he would have some benefits being a leader's apprentice. He wouldn't have been one otherwise.

Shadowclaw felt very special now, too. He never expressed it in words, but his expression was always happy, never sad. Except when Goldenlily died, of course. But he knew that his mother was always watching from StarClan and very proud of him and Icepaw, too.

Snowstar nodded at him to come up and so he leaped onto Highrock and touched noses with Snowstar, with everyone still chanting his name. Snowstar nodded again for him to come down and stand next to Icepaw. Shadowclaw nodded back and jumped off. He looked at the cats still chanting his name and noticed Stonepaw looked the least enthusiastic. *I don't care about her, though,* Shadowclaw thought positively. Icepaw and Quailpaw were chanting his name the loudest, probably. But Dandelionpaw and Rainpaw were very enthusiastically chanting his name, too. Even Swanpaw made the movements of his name with great energy.

Then when the chanting died down, Snowstar nodded towards Icepaw. "Icepaw, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment on, under the moon, and in honor of our former leader,"—a lot of cats were surprised especially Shadowclaw but in a good way—"you will be known as..." He paused for a little moment to make it a surprise. "Icemoon. StarClan honors your spirit, enthusiasm and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

All the cats started chanting Icemoon's new name in a very vivacious light.

Shadowclaw was very surprised but he remembered Moonstar in a good light. She knew that he had the best relationship with Snowstar, Snowpool at the time, as a kit, she thought it was the best that they were mentor and apprentice. And she was also the one who gave him that big, juicy mouse as a reward for alerting the warriors in time despite some other cats' objections, including Goldenlily herself. But she still scolded him and Quailkit for leaving camp, for a good reason, obviously.

Petuniaheart and Blazesky also looked very happy that their mother's prefix was used as Icemoon's suffix. And so did Wisdomheart, Pinetail and Maplestripe.

Begoniaclaw looked at Icemoon in a way that reminded her of someone for some reason, but Shadowclaw didn't know what it could be.

Icemoon looked very, very proud of herself and it almost looked like she could bounce to the moon with joy. *Almost.* Shadowclaw knew she was enthusiastic and had good spirit, too (to cats she liked, anyway). Not to mention her skill was top-notch, especially when fighting with Stonepaw.

Then it was Quailpaw's turn. Snowstar continued, "And finally, Quailpaw. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment on, under the moon, you will be known as Quailclaw. StarClan honors your quick thought, kindness and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

The entire Clan cheered Quailclaw's new name in vivacity, too.

Shadowclaw knew that Quailpaw was also quick in thinking as he knew exactly what to do in a moment, kind of like Snowstar of SnowClan. He was kind to everyone, especially ones with disabilities like Primrosepaw, and ones going through tough times like Shadowclaw and his sisters. The only time when he wasn't kind if there was something really terrible happening to him, but even then he didn't necessarily try to be rude. And Quailclaw was also good in fighting and hunting.

Birchpaw and Rainpaw were cheering the loudest of all, but so were Primrosepaw and Shadowclaw.

Snowstar nodded towards Robinkit and Soarkit to come forward afterwards. "Robinkit and Soarkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, under the moon, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Robinpaw and Soarpaw. Your mentors will be Flipsnow and Redwater respectively. I hope they will pass down all they know onto you."

Everyone cheered for Robinpaw and Soarpaw, especially Heronwing and their paternal grandfather, Redear. Heronwing looked happy that she was no longer a queen and could do normal warrior duties. Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit were a little confused that their mothers were chosen but they cheered anyway. Flipsnow and Redwater touched their apprentices' noses.

Then Snowstar concluded the ceremony and all of Shadowclaw, Icemoon and Quailclaw's friends and family promptly congratulated them.

"Looks like you joined *our* ranks now," joked Violetrain. "Interestingly you're closer in age to Zebrapaw."

"Aw man, now I want to be a warrior, too," quipped Zebrapaw. "It seems cool."

"I do, too, but Birchpaw once told me that every time you wait, you get closer to something, so you just have to wait," Mountainpaw quipped back.

"I guess so," agreed Zebrapaw, flashing a humorous look towards Birchpaw.

"Actually, when you wait, you get closer to *everything* in the *future,* and farther away from everything in the *past,* too!" Shadowclaw jested with everyone. "So waiting is also great!"

Everyone laughed. Dandelionpaw joked, "I think I can wait, but not *that* much longer."

"Don't worry, you can wait without having to do anything. Although as an apprentice you have to do a lot of things," Quailclaw replied jovially.

Birchpaw and Primrosepaw agreed. Icemoon quipped, "Well, yeah, luckily no more tick-picking for me! I was getting pretty bored, even with so many apprentices already."

Shadowclaw agreed. "Yup, I don't think the elders would miss us having their ticks cleaned because there are so many apprentices left, with some becoming one, too." He looked over at Robinpaw and Soarpaw who were bragging to their mother and mentors about being apprentices now. A few other cats also looked at them, too.

Hailstream said, "I remember that, but I am way past that now." She looked at her apprentice, Primrosepaw, and continued, "Although my apprentice still has to do that from time to time."

Rainpaw added, "I don't have to do that, though, because I am a medicine cat, haha. Well, apprentice of one, anyway. But congrats, Shadowpaw—I mean claw, it will be hard to get used to, hehe—I look forward to seeing you patrol by yourself without a warrior or their permission. Must be fun having a ton of freedom."

"Now I feel a tad bit jealous, too," Spottedpaw bantered with Shadowclaw, looking at Zebrapaw and Mountainpaw.

Shadowclaw nodded eagerly. "Yes, it is fun"—he turned to Spottedpaw—"and no need to be jealous! The kits must be jealous of the apprentices, so you are better off than them! Wait, I hope they didn't get jealous of me from my joke. Or of my excellent joking skills!" Everyone laughed positively at his excellent joke.

The sky never seemed so high for Shadowclaw, and the moon never so bright before, so he thought this was going to be the best day of his life, hanging out with all of his best friends and Clanmates, with no negativity even leaking into his mind. He looked forward to new things, especially things like what Rainpaw said, and wished to see his fellow apprentice friends become the same rank as him soon, too, one by one, all of them together. He thought that he could do anything, and he remembered Goldenlily at that moment.

*Don't worry, Shadowclaw, I am very proud of you. I am one of those many StarClan cats that watched your ceremony, and I was surely the proudest cat in the Clans of all at that moment,* he thought he heard Goldenlily speak to him, and he felt a longing for his mother. But at the same time he felt pride and love for her, too.

Shadowclaw looked up at the evening stars and thought with great love, *I know, Goldenlily. I am your only son, and oldest kit. I was destined to make you proud the first, and the most at this very moment. And I feel great pride and love for you, too, for giving birth to me and raising me all these moons with selflessness and great care. I think about you a lot, but now I feel like my life is full, and I found peace with your departure, too. I love you the most, Goldenlily.*

He thought he saw the stars twinkle at him brightly and playfully, and he smiled with great positivity back at them. The stars twinkled back in the same way they did before, representing the sign of spiritual peace, pride, wisdom, hope and kindness.

**This is a chapter subpage of MoonClan's ambitious story (1): The First Four Leaders.**

*← Previous Chapter: Chapter 20: Shadowpaw's ExamsNext Chapter: Chapter 22: Zebrapaw's Warrior Name →*

*← Previous Part: Part 1: Little Birchkit's LifeNext Part: Part 3: Birchcreek's Selflessness →*