Chapter 57

## Plot

(Continued from Chapter 53)

We’re in ShadowClan, and Dovepaw is all down in the dumps about her unsuccessful love confession to Moonpaw. Cinderglow tells her to ‘stop being so mopy’ – her warrior’s assessment is today, so she needs to focus. When Dovepaw seems unconvinced, Cinderglow launches into a pep talk of sorts. The main points are a) Dovepaw shouldn’t just give up on Moonpaw, but b) she should forget about Moonpaw for a bit and focus on the assessment instead. Dovepaw is suitably pepped by the pep talk. She is ready to start the battle segment.

Moonpaw pokes her head out of a tree. She can hear the assessment taking place nearby. She overhears Cinderglow saying the battle segment is complete, and she can start the hunting segment. Dovepaw and Cinderglow become closer. Suddenly Moonpaw overbalances and falls out of her tree, just in time for Cinderglow to walk past very near. Moonpaw freezes. Lucking Cinderglow passes by without seeing her. Phew. Okay. Moonpaw looks down at the cool feathers she found for Dovepaw.. Alright, let’s do this, Moonpaw thinks determinedly.

Dovepaw leaps upon a toad and kills it. She notes that something smells familiar, but she can’t figure out what it is. Suddenly she sees a bird. It has no idea that the chirp it just chirped will be its last. Nice, thinks Dovepaw, with the bird in her mouth. Oh, look, Moonpaw is clinging to a tree branch. Wait, wHAT??? Dovepaw blinks, slowly and hard. By the time she opens her eyes, Moonpaw is gone – she has fallen off the branch. All Dovepaw knows is that she appears to be having hallucinations of Moonpaw. This does not seem to be a particularly good sign. She tells herself to ‘get it together’ and walks off to finish the assessment.

The assessment is done and Dovepaw has passed! Mudstar calls a clan meeting. He announces Dovepaw’s success. Dovepaw has a look at the crowd that has shown up. No sign of Softfur or Boulderpatch, though Dovepaw isn’t surprised. At least other cats care about her. Mudstar asks if she accepts the ‘terms and conditions’ to become a warrior. She does.

Mudstar gives Dovepaw her new name: Dovestrike.

The cats of the clan chant this name. Mudstar announces that Dovestrike must ‘hold a silent vigil’ to ‘reflect on her new name’. Dovestrike thinks about her name. She likes it. At least it was more original than something like Dovewing. Okay. She wonders what she does now – she’s finished reflecting, but there seems to be a lot of time left on the vigil. She has a listen to the gossip of the clan. There isn’t much of note in the gossip, apart from one cat mentioning that Boulderpatch used to be a loner, and a possible prediction of the rain at the end of Chapter 70. Dovestrike does not find the gossip particularly interesting. Suddenly she realises Moonpaw is right next to her. She asks Moonpaw stutteringly how she managed to get into ShadowClan camp. Moonpaw says she covered herself in herbs to remove the RiverClan smell, and that somehow no-one has thought it odd for her to be there. Splashflight passes by, apparently thinking Moonpaw is Frecklenose, a cat who looks similar to Moonpaw. Dovestrike is, if anything, more confused, but Moonpaw puts that behind them by apologising for her obliviousness in Chapter 53. She gives Dovestrike the feathers and then arranges for them to meet in a week. Moonpaw leaves.

Dovestrike, realising Moonpaw was wearing her flower, cries tears of pure joy.

## Characters

### Major

* Dovestrike
* Cinderglow
* Moonpaw
* Mudstar

### Minor

* Bubblepool
* Stalkleaf
* Bloomnose
* Eveningcloud
* Splashflight
* Various other cameos

#### Mentioned

* Softfur
* Boulderpatch

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