MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders/2/32

### Chapter 32: The New Warrior

"Blazesky!" *Rainpaw had yowled at her uncle.* "Where is the safest spot to jump into the lake?!"

*"Um, over there," Blazesky had quickly pointed to the spot where he caught Primrosepaw, which was a clear and deep water spot with no rocks.*

*Birchpaw had already jumped into the lake. It looked like he was nearly about to drown, but Primrosepaw knew she couldn't do anything due to her condition, since swimming needed quick constant movement, especially when rescuing, which she couldn't do at* all.

*AdderClan had already left by this time, looking satisfied at their achievement. But Primrosepaw didn't care about that. She could only think of her three fallen friends, one who was trying to save the other two.* No. No, I fell off the cliff but I didn't get hurt and now they fell off the cliff and- *She could only feel herself hyperventilating as she watched her best friend Rainpaw jump into the creek as well with a huge bundle of cobwebs, moss balls (which were originally for soaking up the water) and other herbs, but in a safe location much farther away from the others.*

*As she watched Birchpaw finally rescue them, she still felt like she was suffocating. She vividly remembered what happened to Quailclaw and herself as kits, and how Shadowclaw and Blazesky were able to save them. Birchpaw finally collapsed on top of Whitestripe and Swanpaw.* No, they're injured. I can't do anything from here, even if I knew everything about medicine, I can't do anything, I can't do anything at all-

Primrosepaw woke up from her nightmare twitching and sweating all over, which had horrifying reflected the events that happened yesterday. She looked over at the other apprentices who also looked like they were disturbed, but not quite awake.

She remembered a few seconds before she went out of reality, the other MoonClan warriors were climbing down the mountain except for Peonyclaw, since she was still in shock (but she was also in shock, definitely from her son and apprentice being unconscious), and Dandelionpaw who didn't know how to climb that well. Peonyclaw also needed to stay with the other two apprentices, Dandelionpaw and Primrosepaw, of which Primrosepaw had fainted from the shock.

She was told the details of what happened after that. Birchpaw had also fainted (as it was discovered that he had a broken hind leg, probably by the rocks), but Rainpaw managed to get to the three before they bled too much, and covered their wounds up with cobwebs. *Birchpaw and Rainpaw were the real heroes,* Primrosepaw knew gratefully. *Just like Blazesky, Quailclaw and Shadowclaw were those other times.* It took two minutes for Rainpaw to get to them, which would have been too late without Birchpaw as they would have drowned, but it would have also been too late for Birchpaw if it weren't for Rainpaw treating them in time.

Sealbranch, Blazesky and Maplestripe had all got to the three of them, and along with Rainpaw, they safely used the shortest trail through the forest all the way to get up to the cliff. Primrosepaw had woken up by this time, very relieved that they were saved, and together the ten cats went home, but very downheartedly. *With three cats being unconscious and having to carry them.* She was secretly glad no SnowClan cats were there, though, or that would have exacerbated the issue.

When they went back to camp, though, it was a completely different story. When the entire Clan saw them, they looked even more shocked and traumatized than they were at Stonetooth defecting to AdderClan. Shadowclaw and Icemoon immediately started hyperventilating, as they already had to go through two close deaths to them before. It was also a double whammy as Whitestripe and Swanpaw was their close friend, crush or sister, and perhaps a triple whammy for Shadowclaw as he also liked Birchpaw.

It was also a double whammy for Peonyclaw, Blazesky, Petuniaheart and Snowstar, who witnessed both their son and nephew getting nearly killed. Sandleap, Hailstream, Quailclaw, Mountainpaw, Berrypaw, Spottedpaw and Thymepaw looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The queens didn't even let their kits see what was going on (except for the oldest kits, Lilackit and Jumpkit, and they definitely looked shocked that they were so broken) as it would have been too horrifying. Fireclaw looked worried that his kits could be a bad omen as they were born just two days before this, and Violetrain looked like she had nearly lost all the excitement she used to have with mentoring Thymepaw. Nutclaw was also shocked at his apprentice being in a coma and seemed to feel guilty for it, as he had suggested her to go in the first place. Flameeye, Redwater and Forestcreek were also devastated that their cousin or nephew was in a coma.

And Lilypool was the most devastated, as she had to take care of them now. The entire Clan had pleaded desperately to her and Rainpaw to save them all, of which Rainpaw was already dutifully doing so. A similar situation had occurred after Goldenlily and Mousekit's deaths and Birdkit's birth, except now Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw were camping in the medicine cat's den. But for the night they had to go back to their dens.

*Why did* I *have to witness this happening?* Primrosepaw internally screamed, wishing she didn't have to see that. *Things were so calm before, even light-hearted! We were teasing each other about our mates before!* Now she was getting nightmares about this incident, and she didn't like this at all. And she was still too traumatized about it (along with her sister). Sealbranch and Hailstream seemed traumatized, too, as they didn't even mention it once, much less anything about training. *Hopefully... they wake up soon. I don't want to be too stalled from being a warrior. And I don't want my heart to break from all this trauma. Please, StarClan, please.*

She tried to sleep again as it was still nighttime, but she still felt too anxious. She tried to take deep breaths, short walks and praying to StarClan for peace, which were few of the calming methods Quailclaw and Hailstream taught her. To her, it seemed that it took her way too long of a time to calm down, but the harrowing thoughts finally managed to go away and she felt StarClan lull her to sleep.

#### Few days later

*"He's moving! His tail, it's twitching! Look, Rainpaw and Lilypool!"* exclaimed an extremely relieved voice. Birchpaw could barely make out who it was until he heard a voice he recognized. His loving littermate, Rainpaw.

*"He-he is, he's waking up! Dandelionpaw, you're right!"* exclaimed Rainpaw in delight. *"Birchpaw, do you-do you hear me?!"*

Birchpaw just groaned in response. He felt like he was continuously dreaming about StarClan before he thought he might actually be in StarClan. But now that he saw them, he realized he must be alive as he felt alive. However, he felt some numbness in his right hind leg and struggled to get up.

Then he saw multiple cats in the den where he was, and he wondered for a moment if he was in the apprentices' den until he looked to his right. And saw two cats who were lying down. Unconscious.

Birchpaw gasped, even more confused now. *What had happened? Why am I here?* he wanted to ask, but he felt too weak.

*"Birchpaw!"* wailed another she-cat. It was his mother, Petuniaheart. *"Birchpaw, are you* okay?! *Can you stand?! Oh, Rainpaw told me your leg nearly broke into many bits!"*

Birchpaw looked at her before blinking furiously to see if where he was was real and to force light into his eyes. *Is that why my leg feels numb?* He looked to his right again, trying to see what happened to Whitestripe and Swanpaw. They were still unconscious, and Birchpaw didn't know for how long. Then, he started remembering the details of what happened.

*Moonstar. She appeared,* he remembered with a jolt. Whitestripe and Swanpaw fell off the cliff into the creek. He also fell in on purpose to try and save them. They had fallen into the water, on the rocks. They were bleeding profusely with their tails at odd angles. Their heads were under the water. Birchpaw remembered what he did. He didn't want them to drown.

Birchpaw groaned as he tried to lift his right hind leg, but Rainpaw firmly held it still, saying, *"Yes, your leg, it* did *get broken! Luckily Lilypool and I managed to treat it because it was also bleeding!"*

Birchpaw groaned in pain again, trying to say, "I'm... I'm okay." By now, he realized he was in the medicine cats' den, because he was pretty injured and injured cats only stay in the medicine cats' den.

"Oh, I know you did something great," Lilypool said gratefully, coming into view. "Your injury is a sign of true Clan selflessness." She gave him a genuine smile.

"I know what you did was great," Petuniaheart said, agreeing with Lilypool. Mountainpaw and Primrosepaw also came into view looking very relieved.

*"I'm so glad you're awake, Birchpaw!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed tearfully. *"It was the hardest time not being able to talk to you for* three days! *I barely not talk to you for more than an hour!"*

Primrosepaw nodded quickly. *"I know! I couldn't... sleep proper...ly for those... many nights!"*

Birchpaw smiled at them. "Well, I'm awake now." He looked at Mountainpaw. "And we usually sleep for more than an hour, you know."

Mountainpaw looked even more relieved that he seemed to be back to normal. "I know, but when we're awake, anyway."

"We still go out on patrol," Birchpaw replied.

"Fine, then maybe not more than four hours."

"I was so worried, too!" Dandelionpaw exclaimed, entering the conversation. "I-I didn't want you to die!"

"But I'm not dead," was all Birchpaw could reply.

"Thank StarClan!" said Shadowclaw, also entering the conversation. "I-I was worried, too!"

"What about his leg?" Quailclaw asked anxiously, his voice booming throughout. He was standing next to Shadowclaw. "Will it heal?"

Lilypool sighed somberly. "Fortunately, yes, but unfortunately it will take a while. He will probably not be able to do duties for about a moon."

Birchpaw's face fell. He was utterly shocked at this revelation. *A moon? How damaged is my leg that I need to stay in here for about a moon?* He wondered about his mentor and how she must have been feeling nearly losing her son and apprentice, also her mate's nephew. And now she wouldn't be able to train him.

*But I broke my leg to do something entirely selfless. Otherwise... the events would have turned out vastly different,* he justified himself. To him, he would gladly trade a moon of his life to stay in the medicine cats' den without being able to walk properly, only for the chance that Whitestripe and Swanpaw, two of his closest friends, would be alive to see the rest of their lives. *Hopefully to StarClan, they live for a long time. And I do, too.* He briefly remembered when he saved Swanpaw from that ditch. *I guess that means I saved her for the second time.*

Suddenly, while he was thinking, Peonyclaw and Snowstar came in. *"Birchpaw's awake?"* Snowstar's voice boomed with joy. *"That's great!"*

*"I know!"* Peonyclaw agreed with emotion in her voice. *"Birchpaw, I am so thankful to you!* I'm glad to have had an apprentice like you."

Birchpaw looked at Peonyclaw with a little confusion. *She usually doesn't say stuff like that, especially in the past tense.* But he figured that she was just thankful to him.

"Wait, are we going to do it now that he's awake?" Nightnose asked curiously, but Birchpaw couldn't see him as he was behind the others.

"Of course, he deserves it," Hailstream replied enthusiastically. She was also behind the other cats. "Same for Rainpaw. Otherwise we wouldn't have these two in our medicine cat den in the first place."

Lilypool smiled at Hailstream. "I also wanted to reward Rainpaw, but she insisted that she learn everything about medicine and become a great medicine cat first." Rainpaw just laughed at that and nodded.

*"I'm so excited!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed brightly. "Birchpaw, I'll help you outside!"

"I'll help, too," Primrosepaw added helpfully. "I can support your leg." Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw and Dandelionpaw nodded, too.

Birchpaw looked at everyone in even more confusion. *What are they...* he thought, until an epiphany came to him. The reward was usually not given to most senior apprentices, only ones that expressed the selflessness and sacrifice for their Clan. And that included *him.*

"Am I... becoming... a *warrior?"* Birchpaw asked everyone slowly and meekly. Everyone smiled at him and nodded with a few cats saying "Yes" and "Of course" cheerfully.

"Yes, Birchpaw. You're becoming a warrior," Snowstar said happily. "I had this thought ever since this happened, but I waited for you to wake up. I believed your actions were enough to be a warrior early, for doing this exceptionally good deed. I think all the Clans, including StarClan, should be ready to receive you as a warrior."

"Yes, I even recommended you," added Peonyclaw. "No warrior exams or more training needed. Your selflessness is enough for the Clan."

Birchpaw kept looking between both of them. *What... really? No exams? No more training?* He felt a little proud of himself, but he also felt awkward at this, being a hero and all. *Well, I'd better get used to it,* he thought and smiled happily. It *was* a very good deed to get injured severely just to save one's Clanmates, despite one not being in trouble at all. *But it's not being a warrior one moon early that counts. It's my deed.* He thought he wouldn't be able to do warrior duties anyway if he had to rest for a moon, so that would match up with the fourteen moon mark.

"Okay, I accept it," he replied, and all the cats looked happy for him. "Are we doing this on Highrock?" he decided to ask, because he felt like he couldn't even walk, much less stand under Highrock, which was a much worse position than Primrosepaw was in.

"To make it more official, yes, but we can do it in here if you feel too weak to walk," his father said.

"That's fine, we can do it on Highrock. I'm *mostly* okay, I guess," Birchpaw replied, trying to ignore the pain. He looked one last time at his two unconscious friends, Whitestripe and Swanpaw. *Hopefully they wake up soon,* he hoped silently. They wouldn't be able to witness his ceremony, but he figured he could always tell them about it.

"Then we'll help you," Mountainpaw said, and proceeded to stand by Birchpaw's side. Petuniaheart, Shadowclaw, Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw also followed his suite.

Together they helped Birchpaw outside. Getting up wasn't too hard as long as he didn't put weight on that leg, but he still struggled painfully to walk as he needed to carry that leg while walking. He was sure he would have fallen over if it weren't for the others supporting him.

Snowstar jumped up on Highrock and announced, "All cats come under Highrock and the moon!" He quickly scanned the area to make sure everyone was here.

Then he began, "I, Snowstar, second leader of the ambitious Mountain Clan known as MoonClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."

Birchpaw didn't know what to feel as everyone was looking at him like a hero. His heart was pounding, but with anticipation for something better to come out of this.

Snowstar continued valiantly, "By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Birchpaw. From this moment on, under the moon, because of your deed of saving Whitestripe and Swanpaw from the creek, you will be known as"—his eyes went over his brother, Forestcreek, for a moment—"Birchcreek. StarClan honors your selflessness, bravery and resilience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of MoonClan."

*"BIRCHCREEK! BIRCHCREEK! BIRCHCREEK!"* the entire Clan cheered. Birchpaw, now Birchcreek, felt extremely happy over this. He hoped his suffix didn't remind anyone of bad memories, especially Whitestripe or Swanpaw, but he felt happy nonetheless.

*"YOU'RE THE BEST!"* Mountainpaw cheered additionally.

Peonyclaw nodded and touched his nose gracefully. Birchcreek touched it back and felt overjoyed. He was also grateful to his mentor for teaching him everything. Even if she didn't teach him much about external Clan affairs, the training she gave made all the difference.

Now Birchcreek looked at the sky, and squinted at the sun, which reminded him of what he did right before his apprentice ceremony.

He decided to pray to StarClan, *I am now a warrior. And with my higher rank, hopefully to StarClan, better things come to MoonClan. Hopefully, just hopefully.*

The cheers of his new name and the feeling that he was finally useful filled him up and spread throughout the afternoon sky, and throughout the Mountains.

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

***This is the last chapter of Part 2: Birchpaw's Training.***

*← Previous Chapter: Chapter 31: The Creek of BloodNext Chapter: Chapter 33: Right Hind Leg →*

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