A TERRIFIC TAIL - CHAPTER TWELVE

*Silv's POV*

I stared around camp. *I can't believe we're finally a real Clan!* I thought to myself. Sure, we were still humans at heart, but for the moment, I let myself relax and relieve myself of our lives back home.

All the cats wove excitedly around each other. Even Duskwind's amber eyes were shining as she bowled Lightningstrike to the ground. The two wrestled with each other playfully as Nightfrost looked over with annoyance in her eyes. But Moonbreeze-- no, Moon*star*-- wasn't done yet.

"Now for the apprentice ceremony," she announced, and the Clan quieted down. I looked around and caught Nikki's eye. She looked nervous, but smiled as she saw me staring at her. I nodded my head and stepped back next to Ottie.

"I know many of you were eager to be warriors," Moonstar began, "but apprentices are important to a Clan. They train, and they contribute to the Clan in their own way. Without them, a Clan would not be able to grow. They are just as important as any warriors in this Clan." She looked around, gathering the attention of all the cats near the Swaying Tree.

"Josh, please step forward," she commanded, leaping down gracefully from the Swaying Tree. "From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Blizzardpaw. Your mentor will be Windfeather." The tom looked up, surprised as Moonstar continued. "Windfeather, I trust you will pass on all the skills you will learn to this apprentice." She beckoned Windfeather forward, and he touched noses with the new apprentice.

"Blizzardpaw! Blizzardpaw!" I took on the cheer, voices of other cats following me.

Moonstar repeated the gesture for Nikki, Isabelle, and Ally, taking on the names Maplepaw, Ivypaw, and Amberpaw. Finally, she apprenticed Foxfeather to me as medicine cat apprentice.

“Foxfeather, do you except the role of Silverleaf’s apprentice?” Moonstar asked.

“I do,” Foxxy dipped her head in reply, then I bent over and touched noses with her.

"Foxfeather! Foxfeather!" The Clan cheered. Moon stepped back, brushing against Ottie and I.

"Did I do okay?" She asked. Her icy blue eyes shone with relief and happiness as she gazed at our Clan.

"You did fine," Ottie murmured, brushing her muzzle against Moon's ear. I pressed my cheek against hers.

"We should send out patrols," Moon said, straightening up. "Ottie, you can organize them, being deputy and all."

Ottie smiled and replied, "okay," before gathering all the cats beneath the Swaying Tree. I turned to Moon.

"I guess I'll bring Foxxy out and see what herbs we can find here," I looked around and found my apprentice's fluffy ginger pelt as Moon nodded.

"Then I'll start figuring out how to start training the warriors and apprentices," she murmured to herself as I walked away.

"Foxxy!" I called, beckoning her forward. "We're going to look for herbs."

"Okay!" She nodded to Waveflower, who she was talking to, then bounded up to me. "Let's go!"

I nodded and started out of the camp entrance, my apprentice following me. The sun cast dappled shadows on the tall trees, making the forest shine brighter than it was. I stared as a leaf fell gently from a tree and out in front of me. *Leaf-bare will make things harder when it comes around,* I thought to myself. *Let's hope that we are back home when it comes.*

 "Look!" I heard Foxxy exclaim. She pointed to golden orange flowers on her left, hidden by-- I think-- a juniper bush. I wouldn't have seen either if she hadn't pointed it out. "That's marigold, isn't it?"

I remember growing marigold in my garden back at home, never watering it because of how lazy I got. A pang went through me as I thought of my parents. They were always very protective of my sister and I. They never let us go girl scout camping if one of them wasn't a chaperone, and they always made sure we were cared for, regardless of what day it was. I know they were overprotective and I hated it at times, but now I missed them more than ever.

Shaking my head to clear the grief, I started forward and sniffed at the plant carefully. "Yes, this is marigold. And the bush that surrounds it is juniper. See the purple berries?" I picked the blue-purple berries and dropped them on the ground. Foxxy padded forward to help me, plucking the marigold from their stems.

Suddenly, I heard rustling behind us. I quickly glanced behind me, my fur sticking up. I relaxed as I saw Snowfrost's white pelt and Boulderclaw's gray-brown fur.

"What are you two doing here?" Foxxy asked curiously.

Snow looked embarrassed, scuffling her paws at the ground. "We were, er, hunting," she improvised, glancing at Boulderclaw briefly. "Ottie sent us for a hunting patrol."

Boulderclaw nodded, his mismatched eyes gleaming humorously. "And it's because you missed your catch we're here talking to these two now!" He nudged Snowfrost's shoulder teasingly.

Foxxy didn't look convinced, but glanced at me, shaking her head. I smirked at her, then turned back to Snowfrost and Boulderclaw. "Fine. Since both of you are here, would you mind helping Foxxy and I carry our herbs back to camp? We may have picked more than we can carry."

Snowfrost rolled her eyes. "Of course *you* did, Silv." But she bent down and took in her jaws as many as she could carry. Boulderclaw helped while Foxxy and I took the last of it, and together the four of us walked back to camp, the final rays of the sun shining on our backs.